Happy Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween!

Flip's counting down to Halloween.  He'll be relaxing inside when all the neighborhood kids run from door to door getting candy.

I found this little piece of fabric at The Crafty Crow quilt shop in Boxborough, MA.  It took me a short time to quilt it up.  I worked on the red work pumpkin pillow on the plane to Alaska.  It was so relaxing I can't wait to take another trip. 

We visited Salem, MA over Labor Day weekend.   These are some of the sights we saw.  It's Salem is still fun no matter how old you are.

The closer it gets to Halloween the more stores are open but these guys hang out all year.

There weren't as many shops as I remembered from visiting other years but I managed to find things to buy.  And NO this $2 rock DID NOTHING for me!

I always research places before we visit even if we've been there before.  This year we decided to have lunch at Hawthorne Hotel in the center of Salem.  This hotel has quite a past.  It's worth reading about.  It's quaint and has a lot of character and great atmosphere.  It's also supposed to be haunted.

I was especially interested in it's history.  One of the many "recent" stories about this hotel is that in 1970 the cast of "Bewitched" filmed there.  This is a statue of Elizabeth Montgomery in the center of town.  "Bewitched" was one of my favorite TV shows so it was really fun to see this statue.

This past weekend Kristen made these wonderful brownies.  I love pumpkin.  Luke loves cheesecake and everyone loves chocolate so I hoped this would be a winner.  It was!  They are even better after a day or two because the flavors blend together more.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies

Submitted by: SHAKE_IT_CALI 
 

Number of Servings: 25

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, melted 
1 cup sugar 
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract 
4 egg whites or 2 large eggs
1/4 cup all purpose flour 
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder 
1/4 tsp salt 
2 tsp cinnamon
1 T instant coffee

Cheesecake Batter

6 oz neufchatel cheese, softened 
2 egg whites 
1/3 cup sugar 
2 tbsp flour 
1/2 cup pumpkin puree 
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract 
1/2 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp each ground nutmeg and ground cloves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x9" square metal baking pan with baking spray

Beat together melted butter, sugar, and vanilla, then beat in 4 egg whites. Combine dry ingredients and then gradually stir into butter mixture. In separate bowl, beat together cheesecake batter ingredients.

Spread about 2/3 of brownie batter into pan, and spoon cheesecake batter over. Drop remaining brownie batter over cheesecake batter. Swirl the batters using the toothpick.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack and chill before cutting and serving.

Number of Servings: 25

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user CALICAT1977.

So, we've done some stitching and quilting, visited a spooky town, ate great dessert and now it's time to just hang out and wait for Friday!

There's a fabulous 3 story Barnes & Noble in Burlington, MA right near the Burlington Mall.  They not only have loads of books on every subject (especially all kinds of art) but a great gift area.  I thought this saying was pretty neat.  When I read it I thought of our quilt/craft group.  The more we share and the more we laugh together the closer we become.

Finally, I hope you have a wonderful Halloween and eat lots of candy and can sleep after all that chocolate!!

See you soon!!  Thanks for visiting!!

Fall 2014

Fall 2014

I've been busy since our amazing trip to Alaska (see Part I and II in the previous two posts).  It took a few weekends to pack up all the summer treasures.  Then it took a few more weekends to get all of the Fall treasures out.  Here's the hutch all dressed up and ready for Fall.  

The hutch hold so much.  It's my favorite piece of furniture.  No matter the season it takes on everything and always makes the room feel so homey.

Leaves are everywhere in our house this time of year.

Every year I decorate differently.  Some pieces rotate rooms, others are placed in different spots.  I should have been a "stager" because I love taking my time when I place everything.

Yep, not all witches live in Salem!  My kids will verify that!

For the first time in ten years I have my whole house back.  I'm so excited now I can decorate every room. 

I've had these patchwork pumpkins for over fifteen years.  I store everything with care so I'll find them in good shape every year.

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I've wanted to distress and paint this little table for years.  My father-in-law gave it to us when we got married 25 years ago.  It was old and scratched and tired looking.  Finally, this summer it was time to give it a make-over.  First I sanded it down.  Fortunately it didn't have a finish on it so it didn't need much more than a good buff.  

Deciding on a color was easy.  I love the color I used to restore my hutch.  Benjamin Moore Jamestown blue is a neutral color and seems to go with just about everything.  I wanted to keep the feel of the dark wood so I used the same oil finish on this table that I used on the hutch but this time I didn't layer on the paint.  After a few coats I stopped and wiped off the places I wanted to highlight.  During this process I realized it didn't need to be distressed.  Instead, I wanted to give it a more elegant look. 

 Believe it or not this piece took four weeks to thoroughly dry.  I was amazed that it stayed sticky so long.  It was drying in air-conditioning so I'm not sure if doing this in the summer was the reason.  I'll find out when I refinish more pieces soon.  The finishing touch was a layer of oil wax.  That also took several weeks to dry.  Refinishing with an oil base paint and wax is time consuming and messy but the end result is a beautiful professional looking finish.  For me it's worth the extra effort. 

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 Finally, I have to share this amazing recipe.  When I read it I thought it looked easy to make.  A few Sundays ago we celebrated my husband's birthday. I showed Kristen this recipe and asked if she would make it.  I'm so lucky she never says no.  This recipe turned to be the biggest pasta hit we've had in years.  It was so delicious we decided this Christmas instead of just plain cheese ravioli we'll use this pumpkin filling instead.

A few notes.  We doubled the recipe and didn't substitute fat-free ricotta.  I usually use part-skim but when I couldn't find a 48 oz. container I just went with regular ricotta.  I also made my own quick marinara sauce.

Pumpkin-Ricotta Stuffed Shells

From Country Living

This recipe has been tested by Country Living

By incorporating pumpkin, this stuffed pasta recipe requires less cheese than is typically used. Opt for fat-free ricotta and you’ll save a total of 168 calories, 18 grams of fat, and 67 milligrams of cholesterol per serving.

 By Cheryl Slocum

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Nutritional Information
(per serving)

Calories	321
Total Fat	9g
Saturated Fat	--
Cholesterol	19mg
Sodium	977mg
Total Carbohydrate	39g
Dietary Fiber	6g
Sugars	--
Protein	22g
Calcium	--

Kana Okada

Serves: 8

Yields: 8 servings

Total Time: 1 hr 15 min

Prep Time: 20 min

Oven Temp: 350

Ingredients

U.S.

Metric

Conversion chart

• 24 jumbo pasta shells
• 1 tablespoon(s) extra virgin olive oil
• 22 ounce(s) (2 1/2 cups) fat-free ricotta
• 1 can(s) (15-ounce) pumpkin puree
• 2 1/2 ounce(s) pecorino Romano, grated (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
• 1 large egg white
• 2 clove(s) garlic, minced
• 1 cup(s) fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon(s) finely chopped fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon(s) salt
• 1 teaspoon(s) freshly ground pepper
• 1 jar(s) (26-ounce) store-bought tomato sauce

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Directions

1. Cook pasta shells according to package instructions; drain. Transfer to a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Set aside and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, pumpkin, 3/4 cup pecorino Romano, and remaining ingredients, except tomato sauce.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread sauce in bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fill each pasta shell with about 3 tablespoons ricotta-pumpkin mixture and arrange in pan. Cover pan with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Remove foil, sprinkle shells with remaining pecorino, and bake for 15 minutes more. (If desired, stuff shells the night before and refrigerate overnight in an airtight container, in between layers of plastic wrap; arrange shells on sauce right before baking.)

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This blog is a little shorter than usual.  I'm saving the best for closer to Halloween.  I'll be back soon with a really fun Halloween post.  In the meantime can you guess where this sign comes from?

There's a clue in this post...