October is drawing to a close. The trees are finally reaching their peak color around here and it is so beautiful. I wish the lovely days of Autumn lasted longer because it was 34 degrees when I woke up this morning and the high is only supposed to reach into the low 40's. It's been blustery and grey for days and I have to say, in spite of the mums and trees and pumpkin fun, I have to admit fall is not my favorite season. Don't get me wrong, I love aspects of it all to pieces, but I need sunshine, a growing garden and the promise of fireflies and crickets. Mostly I need sunshine and the shorter days do not thrill me. Winter in Michigan can be brutal. Time to hunker down and count the days until the winter solstice when the days get longer.
In the meantime, I will be busying myself with baking, and decorating. I plan to have a pie baking party sometime in November to show some friends the finer points of pie crust. It isn't hard once you understand the process. My mother hated to cook and bake, so she always asked me to do pie crusts. I watched my little grandmother on the farm as she baked pies and everything else. That dear woman still ranks as one of the best cooks and bakers I ever met. At 7 years old I became the maker of crusts. I was too young to know it was supposed to be difficult so I wasn't intimidated. Teach your kids to cook and bake early so they have the confidence of youth! I used leaf shaped cookie cutters that I got on clearance from William Sonoma a few years ago to make the top crusts on these fresh peach pies, but I just saw a similar set at Michaels for a good price. If you use a coupon it would be a great price!
My main decorating project will be this, the back entryway. It is tiny. Super tiny even. Really just enough room for the door to swing open but it is right off the kitchen and it's the door we use most often. I looked back at old posts and this photo is from 2007, (my first year of blogging!) and I said the wallpaper was put up a couple years before that. So 2005? Ready for a change? Yes! The green trim will be painted a bright white and the wallpaper will be replaced with....
This. An anaglypta, or raised design that can be painted. It will give some texture and pretty pattern to the entry but I will be able to update the color easily without stripping the paper, as an added bonus it is fairly inexpensive. I haven't decided whether to keep the blackboard paint or beadboard over it or maybe just use the wallpaper there too. I know I have seen lots of opinions that blackboard paint is still going strong, I think I might just be ready for a change. What do you think? Is blackboard a trend that has seen better days?
So here is my next question, when do you switch out the fall decorating for Christmas? November 1 or after Thanksgiving? I already feel the siren call of Christmas. Maybe just a little here and there in November?
hi Kathy, I love those pies...you are a very good baker. I rarely bake a thing these days. I have baked lots of pies but none ever looked that cute. Wish you luck with your new Entry way. I try to start putting up Christmas after Thanksgiving. It goes so quickly, why not enjoy it the whole month of December? Blessings to you, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteLove the anaglyphta paper!! It's going to look soooo good! I personally love that chalk wall, you always do such pretty things with it around the holidays, and it's just a fun wall. :)
ReplyDeleteThat paper is wonderful! It is going to look great there. I never painted a wall with chalkboard paint, but I do have a huge chalkboard that I framed in an ornate frame and still use that. I usually don't start decorating for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteWhen to decorate depends on the weather for me. If it looks like Christmas outside, I say anything goes! One of my favorite Thanksgivings was very wintry and when we arrived for dinner at my parents' home, my mother had put up the tree and had lots of Christmas decor going. It was great, but ordinarily, I wait until the day after Thanksgiving and then I am early by most of my family's standards.
ReplyDeleteYour new ideas about the wallpaper are terrific. It looks so elegant that I am not sure how the blackboard will fit in, but that is your decision to make and I know that whatever you do will look great. I have no idea about trends and don't follow them much except to copy my friends. =D I am certainly not on the cutting edge.
Kathy- Your pies are beautiful and what a fun idea for a get-together--a pie party.
ReplyDeleteI still like the use of blackboards here and there but I LOVE your wallpaper. You do still see lots of chalkboards out there. I have noticed that the use of burlap has really fallen away. (good for me as I am allergic to it-lol) It is kind of fun to see what is IN and what is OUT. Your paper that you are going to use has a timeless look to me.
Hope you have a great night. We are hunkered in with weather in the 30s and heavy rain. ugh! xo Diana
ps. I always start decorating for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving-although I will place outside lights earlier if I know it is going to be really cold. I just wait to light them until Thanksgiving has passed.
That must be my problem with pie crust - I needed to learn when I was young but I was never taught. That must be why I never eat the crust of a piece of pie (bottom OR top) and only eat the filling!! lol!!
ReplyDeleteYour pies are works of art. I'm going to get some cookie cutters and try that too!
ReplyDeleteI know how you feel about light and sunshine. It is such a a blessing in winter to live in NC instrad of Canada!
Your little pies are adorable and look so yummy.
ReplyDeleteI have owned retail gift stores in the past, so now that I am retired, I like to wait to decorate for each holiday when it comes along. At the shoppe, I had to have Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas going on at the same time! Not any more!
I think I agree with you in a lot of ways about fall, Kathy. It's a bit depressing when it gets dark at 4:00 p.m. and the weather looks too horrible to go out into. And yeah, our winters are mean. I think I enjoy fall for what it is because I know where we are headed!! lol!
ReplyDeletePies! You are the pro! Wondering...are you an all shortening or all butter girl with your crust? Or both? I've done both. Love those cut out cutters.
That paper...how cool!
I need to clarify my post, and you and Ann commented (I totally screwed up and published that post twice. You two commented and I had to delete it) Sorry. But..hubby did not throw anything out...it was the service company that packed up all of our belongings and stored them. They also threw out the damaged stuff--in this case, the garage...lol! My husband would rather swallow nails than cross me on something like this!!
Jane
The prettiest pie crusts ever, truly. I wish I had a leaf cutter/design tool. That was a good point you made about teaching children to cook and bake early especially the specialities like pie crust. I don't decorate the shop for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Though I know that isn't the retail rule, but with an antique shop, the rules can be broken. I like the harvest theme so I focus on various shades of orange, red and yellow to brighten the shop in November.
ReplyDeleteI love autumn, but not grey gloomy days! Give me bright skies! I usually change things out the day after Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteHi Kathy, I saw your comment on BJ's blog about the Jiffy factory. I'm the one who did the original post and I'm from Michigan, too! I just started following your blog after looking down and seeing all these wonderful photos and fabulous food!
ReplyDeleteYou were asking about the decorating for Christmas. Well, I'm still on Halloween and fall! And when I take down the Halloween decs next week, a few turkeys will go in their place. But the day after Thanksgiving, all bets are off! I use lots of wee fairy lights all year round so I always feel like I have a sneaky head start!
I hate to see fall end. This summer was so glorious here and beautiful fall days for the most part. Late leaves in Lansing where I am so hopefully we can enjoy a bit longer!
I love the way you described the pie crust making and would love to be there to learn how you do it. I'm a Pillsbury pie crust girl.
ReplyDeleteI can't even think about Christmas yet. In Texas we are just now cooling off a little bit. The air conditioner is still running full force.
Did you get the email I sent you last week?
Oh, to be able to bake like that!! Dreamy!! I love taking the seasons one at a time and usually decorate for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I must confess though that yesterday, for the first time in years, I bought a few pieces of Christmas decor. They were too cute to pass up and now they are out (with their tags on) peppered between the pumpkins! I guess sometimes we do "need a little Christmas, now." ; )
ReplyDeleteMaking pies and eating pies always make me happy! Yours are adorable. I'm a live in the moment and enjoy each season to the fullest so my pumpkins and fall decor are always on display until the day after Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteLooking all lovely! The pies are beautiful ♥
ReplyDeleteI like the paper and have planned on using some myself. You sure are a baker I am not. I just don't like baking. I don't decorate for halloween till after thanksgiving. Christmas is a difficult time for hubs and I so we never really look forward to it. We just wait for it to end on New Years. I would leave the chalkboard since I use it so much for grocery list and others.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason this post didn't come up in my blog reader - until now! Loved seeing your pies and wished that I could be close enough to learn from you. My mama was a master at pie crusts until she had a heart attack and had to stop using lard. Her 'oil' crusts were OK but never quite the same. I struggle to make any pie crust a thing of beauty! I don't begin decorating until after Thanksgiving. I like to let Thanksgiving weekend last through Sunday night but I may start decorating the day after Thanksgiving this year. I haven't even decorated for Thanksgiving yet! It will be my dear, little mother, my sweetheart and I for Thanksgiving dinner this year because my dear mama can't handle the big family gatherings anymore. I'm thinking some fresh Fall flowers on the table and Thanksgiving decor on the table only will be a real treat in our busy lives this year.
ReplyDelete~Adrienne~