Spring Garden Girl ~You can stand under my Umbrella...

Dollar Tree colander/ Dollar Tree strainer Christmas decoration.

Supplies needed

~2 colanders
~1 string Christmas light with white cord for the white (green for     the black one below)
~2 yards 2 inch wide ribbon
~Embellishments (picks, twine, bells.whatever floats your boat)
~Hot glue gun
Optional:Spray paint(if doing the black one or any color you prefer)

*Use 2 strainers/ colanders...Break the handles off of them , or cut them off...I used a serrated kitchen knife, but you could use a nippers, or a dremel tool also..just be careful not to cut yourself. The ribbon will cover it, so it doesn't have to be perfect by any means.

* Put your lights in between the colanders , you can glue some to the top if you want them more       spread out.

*Glue your 2 colanders together using hot glue.

*Glue your ribbon around the handle edges.

*Make a bow for the top using leftover ribbon.

*Add embellishments.

~I used a cable tie for the top to make a hanger..looping it thru the holes in the colander . You do not need to do this if you are putting it on a tabletop.

*Plug it in and ENJOY!! 

Happy Halloween ~ Welcome to the Dead and Breakfast Inn with Miss Havirsham

You know Miss Havisham, don’t you? She’s a favorite character in Charles Dicken’s “Great Expectations”. Young, lovely and wealthy Miss Havisham had planned a lavish wedding to her suitor Compeyson.

Miss Havisham was a wealthy spinster, once jilted at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion. 

On her wedding day, while she was dressing, Miss Havisham received a letter from Compeyson and realised he had defrauded her and she had been left at the altar.

Humiliated and heartbroken, Miss Havisham suffered a mental breakdown and remained alone in her decaying mansion Satis House – never removing her wedding dress, wearing only one shoe, leaving the wedding breakfast and cake uneaten on the table, and allowing only a few people to see her. She even had the clocks in her mansion stopped at twenty minutes to nine: the exact time when she had received Compeyson's letter.

 "Miss Havisham effect" has been coined by scientists to describe a person who suffers a painful longing for lost love.

Welcome to the Dead and Breakfast Inn...
We have been wondering where you have been!

It's an inn like no other , we have no doubt...
That when you check in, you will never check out!

Worst in the business is our creed...
Your dissatisfaction is guaranteed!

We've put every last detail to the test...
To ensure a dreadful night for every guest!

Killer Cuisine...

Horribly Hot Bathtub...

A Bed to Rest in Peace...

 Eat, Drink, and be Scary!!!

Bling Pink Shabby Chic Fall Decor

SEE VIDEO TUTORIAL HERE!!CLICK PICTURE BELOW....

I really do love the fall colors...I have them in my living room and bath, but in my kitchen and dining room...Let there be Pink, Pearls and Velvet!!!

I made these adorable pink velvet pumpkins...and they were sooo easy and cheap...I will be doing a you tube video on how to make them, so check back here ....

Who has velvet sweet corn made with pearls????
I DO!!!

I made these adorable ears of corn from cream velvet and glass pearls..The husks are from real ears of corn curled with a curling iron!!

These pumpkins are just dreamy...pictures do not do them justice...I made the stems from clay..

I added a fun eyeball to the flowers on the back of my chair...I want to see how many people notice...hee hee

 I feel a dinner party coming on....

O,k   so I was just having some fun here for Halloween...I am not into them creepy eyeballs, so I made me some pretty ones with some Sharpies and BIG pearls I got from Joanne fabrics....

SUPER Moist Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

2 cups Sugar

1 cup Brown Sugar

3-⅓ cups Flour

2 teaspoons Baking Soda

½ Tablespoons Baking Powder

1-½ teaspoon Salt

2 tsp. Vanilla 

1 teaspoon Nutmeg

1 teaspoon Ground Cloves

1 teaspoon Cinnamon

4  large whole Eggs

1 can Pumpkin (15 Oz.) or fresh pureed

1/2 cup Oil

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup Water

 Aluminum Foil

Preparation

Add wet ingredients (eggs, pumpkin, oil,butter, water) to the dry ingredients all at once.

Mix well with a mixer till smooth .

Grease 3 loaf pans (9×4) and pour equal amounts of the yummy batter into each pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. You’ll know it’s ready when the top will start cracking and when you put a toothpick/knife in, it comes out clean.

Set out to cool for about 5 minutes.

Here’s the trick on keeping it SUPER moist.

After letting it cool for about 5 minutes, cover the bread in the pan with aluminum foil and secure very tightly. Then set aside and let it cool off while being wrapped in the foil. Repeat and do the same to the other 2 loaves.

I’m telling you. This is some good stuff. You can make this recipe your own...I have added chocolate chips, and another time walnuts and raisins...Have fun with it. You can also make a healthier version by cutting the sugar down and using applesauce in place of the butter and oil.

I like this bread glazed but you do not have to, it is decadent all on it's own...While on Cooling rack....I poked holes in top of the bread, and poured Cinnamon Sugar Butter {see below}  over holes, allowing it to seep down inside.

Ohhhhhh Yeahhhhh....

Cinnamon Sugar Butter 

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter 

• 1/4 TSP. CINNAMON

1. 
   
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl with an electric mixer until creamy and smooth.

Aquafaba

 Did you know you can use chickpea/ garbanzo bean juice from the can as a replacement for eggs?? This also makes a great vegetarian option.

Its a unique mix of starches, proteins, and other soluble plant solids which have migrated from the seeds to the water during the cooking process.

Aquafaba a wide spectrum of emulsifying, foaming, binding, gelatinizing and thickening properties.

Bananas, apple sauce, prunes, pumpkin, flax, chia, nuts, and garbanzos have been long used as whole egg re-placers in recipes. These work well as whole eggs in some recipes, but they don't work for delicate egg white recipes like meringues. 


3 tablespoons drained chickpea liquid (each can yields about 1/2 to 3/4 cup) is the equivalent of about 1 egg.

Drain and reserve the liquid from a can of chickpeas. Save the chickpeas for another use {hummus} .

Aquafaba uses:
Meringue
Fudge
Mousee
Ice Cream
Buttercream Icing
Marshmallow Fluff
Brownies
Macrons
Mayonnaise
Egg white Cocktails
Butter
Cheese
Marzipan
"Egg" Noodles
French Toast
Cookies
Royal Icing
Omelettes
Smoothies

Aquafaba also freezes well. If you’re not going to use it right away, you can store it in ice cube trays in the freezer.

Home made Pot Pie with Love on Valentines Day

Did you know?

The first frozen pot pie was made in 1951. A pot pie used to be made in an actual pot lined with crust, but the crust was never actually eaten -- it was just meant to keep the filling from tasting like the iron pot.

Chicken pot pie is truly an heirloom recipe—cooks have been making it for centuries. One of the earliest New World mentions of a recipe for chicken pot pie was in the cookbook American Cookery, published in 1796.

So warm and savory, a pot pie is the perfect cold weather comfort food, not to mention a great way to use up leftovers.

Let's begin...

Ingredients

• 1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken thighs cubed
• 1 cup sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1/2 cup sliced celery
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup flour

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
• 1  beaten egg (for egg wash)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2.  
3. In a  large saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, peas, and celery. Add chicken broth and boil for 15 minutes. 
4. 
   
5. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.
6. 
   
7. In another saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent. Stir in flour, salt, pepper and garlic. Add to the  chicken broth veggie mixture in first pan  . Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. 
8. 
   
9. Remove from heat and set aside.

1. Prepare pans with bottom pie crust and fill with chicken filling . 
2. 
   
3. Cover with top crust, seal edges, and cut away excess dough. 
4. 
   
5. Make several small slits in the top or cut strips for a lattice type to to allow steam to escape.
6. 
   
7. Use any scraps for a rose, leaves and a heart. Brush the top with beaten egg for a glossy crust.You can add a little food color if you wish to color the leaves,rose and heart.
8. 
   
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly. 
10. 
    
11. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
12. 
    

I cut strips for a lattice top..

I had to borrow the kiddos cutter from their play dough..hee hee

Ready for the oven...

Before baking...