This and That

Isn't Autumn beautiful?  It's warm but threatening rain today so I'm catching up on some indoor stuff and that includes a quick post. I sometimes wonder how I found time to post so often back when I began this little journal.  I think we all have an appreciation for how long the photography, editing and posting can take.  Sometimes I find it hard to fit in with all that is on my plate.

So while I have a moment, I'll just do a quick recap of what I've been up to lately.

1. For the past two weeks I have been helping a friend set up and price an estate sale for her late mother in law.  I strongly encourage anyone to do this because I guarantee it will give you the final push to clean out all those possessions hiding in closets, basements and drawers. Do it for yourself. Do it for your children.  I mentioned we have been at it for two weeks right? Sometimes it has been 10-12 hour days. This weekend is the sale. Needless to say, I won't be back posting until after it's done.

2. Yesterday I took the day off to go to the dentist, (blerg, there is a root canal in my very near future). and since it was a warm sunny day, and possibly the last we will have for a while, Earl and I tackled washing the windows.  In my head, before I start, I always think it won't take me long.  I am so silly.  But after washing the windows, and scrubbing the screens I am so happy to see the sparkling clean view I have to say it was well worth the effort.  I used Rain-X on the outsides of the windows hoping they will stay cleaner longer. I saw it on Pinterest, I'll let you know how it works. Of course it was also the day the ladybugs decided it would be the last warm day for a while because they were trying desperately to get in while we tackled the job. How do they know? 

3. I am working on some new designs for the etsy shop.  Loving how they are turning out. I can't wait to show you. Soon!

4. The leaves are at their peak, the garden is mostly gone due to a couple nights below 32 degrees, but my little golden marigolds are hanging strong.  I love you little golden flowers.  Unfortunately, as soon as the rain is past, I need to go out and dispose of the last hanging baskets and do some garden clean up. But the marigolds stay until the last.

5. It was another good year for apples and we made some of the best cider from our apples, our neighbors apples and an old tree we found growing wild. I have heard that the more varieties you use in your cider the better, and I have to agree with that. Best cider ever! I have some frozen for when daughter and son-in-love come to visit from PA, made some for daughter and son-in-love who live nearby and I plan to make more in the next week.  Also, today is wild crabapple jelly day.  I'm thinking a jar of that with some brie and home made bread for Pastor appreciation this month. :)

What is keeping you busy?
 

Pumpkin Patch

I have been wanting a big pumpkin patch for several years now.  A patch big enough to satisfy my pumpkin greed would take up a huge area and the thought of either killing all the grass underneath the vines or having a mess of weeds covering 1/4 acre or more has kept me from pursuing the patch of my dreams.  This year we planted a large galvanized tub with pumpkin plants, gave the vine a structure to climb and waited for the magic. 

We got lots of vines, huge showy flowers, and not a single pumpkin.  

Around mid summer we noticed a healthy plant sprouting from the compost pile.  As it grew to amazing proportions we realized it was a pumpkin, or actually several pumpkin vines.  I must have tossed last years decorative stock on the compost and never thought another thing about it.  This is the harvest from those vines.  A few got eaten by wildlife, and there are still many little tiny pumpkins forming on the vines.  My favorite is the really warty one.   Aren't they wonderful? 

Proving once again that God is a far better gardener than I will ever be.  I think these will go back on the compost when I'm done with them.  Maybe I can keep the pumpkin patch going :)

The trees are just beginning to turn here, a few in full glory and a few just starting to change.  The sun is shining today and I need to be outside for a while. I can hear the birds singing and there are apples to pick and make into cider, crabapples to harvest and make into crabapple jelly. It's been another good year for apples and I have to use as many of them as I can.  There is a walk in the state park along a path completely golden with oak trees in our near future, and I can't let the week pass without a fire outside and possibly some s'mores.

How are you enjoying the autumn season?

Playing Catch Up

Well goodness, I can't believe it has been nearly two months since I posted! I originally planned on taking the month of August off.  There seemed to be less and less people posting over the summer months and it seemed like a great time to get some things done and enjoy the last of summer.  Earl and I enjoyed a simple day out for our Anniversary, out to Ann Arbor for the day, hitting the little shops, farmer's market and ethnic restaurants. There is never anything going on in early August so we plan on a fun little trip later.

The following week I came down with what was diagnosed as a sinus infection and spent the week mostly in bed, and after a round of antibiotics and no improvement I returned to the Dr. and ended up in the hospital for emergency surgery.  Nothing serious, I'm really all better at this point but between the week I was ill, the surgery week and a week of recovery there went August!

Zinnia's from the farmers Market

 The beginning of August I enjoyed the lushness of the garden. Everything was blooming and growing so beautifully.

 The sunflower in the upper left corner now looks like the sunflower in the center bottom row. Still beautiful in a way as it provides seed for the birds we love to watch so much!

The back porch under the pergola was dripping with flowers. Unfortunately, 3 weeks of neglect as I recovered means the hanging baskets are going in the trash and will need to be replaced with something else.  

We had a bumper crop of cucumbers just as I got sick.  After my surgery I had to throw them all away. Fortunately we had been able to share some with friends and family, at least someone got to enjoy them!

This past weekend a dear friend from Florida came for the weekend and we had a great time catching up. This weekend we have another big party to prepare for.  Barbecue for 30!  Another bumper crop of apples means I plan on making some fresh cider.  September is a busy time, but this year I am enjoying the coolness so much after a blistery week or two in August.  I know, those of you who have entire blistery summers are laughing at this Michigan girl, Lol. I admit I have a very narrow comfort zone when it comes to temperatures.

I hope to continue to catch up with everyone  and get back on the blogging bandwagon.  I'm ready for a come back :)

Tapas Party

It seems another week has passed and all I can plead is summer.  It has been an especially busy one, probably just like yours! I promised more details on the Tapas party and here they are.  Now in retrospect, I would never try this for 30 people again, at least not in a small cottage kitchen with limited space to prep and clean up.  We were running to get each course ready and we were blessed with 4 very capable volunteers.  Having said that, one of the great things about this kind of party is that almost all of the foods can be prepared ahead of time and just put on the plate.

 This first course consisted of grapes, almonds spiced with paprika and fresh rosemary, marinated olives and mushrooms, toasted whole grain baguettes and herbed olive oil for dipping the bread.  Super easy.  We served four courses and we tried to include different flavors,( sweet, savory, pickled), and different textures in each course.  Recipes were found on Pinterest and can be found by following the links in the description.

I didn't get a photo of the second course that night, once again, running! but I did find a photo on my phone from trying this out at my daughter's house to see how it all went together. They loved being our guinea pigs:) The second course consisted of an assortment of cheeses including manchego, brie and goat cheese with wild blueberries (Costco!), an assortment of cured meats including prosciutto, summer sausage and salami, assorted crackers, dried cherries drizzled with honey, sliced guava paste, and pickled beets.  I know that sounds like a lot, but each board served 4 people so there are only a few bites of each thing for per person. One of the reasons we felt the need to try it out was to see if these small bites would be enough. They were! You can, of course offer less choices, maybe just one or two different things with a little more in each serving.  It is a menu that can be anything you want it to be!

The third course was Pork empanadas with thyme, melon skewers, dilled green beans, and those little forks sticking up in the middle were dried figs stuffed with goat cheese and drizzled with lavender and thyme infused honey! Oh my goodness, so good.  The recipe I found actually called for fresh figs and I couldn't find them anywhere. Maybe they aren't in season this time of year? But the dried figs worked fine and were so delicious, we loved the infused honey too.

The final course was small servings of lemon cheesecake with lemon curd and white chocolate raspberry cheesecake with raspberry sauce and chocolate ganache...and a teeny scoop of raspberry sorbet.  No photo because by then we were all beat and surrounded by dishes.  I have my limits.  It was all served outside on a perfect, warm evening with candles and flowers on the tables and good friends laughing and trying new things.  The best thing about this type of party is the slow way it is served, one course at a time, which leaves plenty of time for conversation and relaxing around the table.

If you are interested in checking out the Tapas board and the pins I used for inspiration and recipes you can find it here.

We find summer to be the best time to entertain. With a very small house and a very large yard and garden, it's just easier to have as many people over as we want to.  How about you, do you prefer to entertain inside or out?

The 2015 Christian Education Appreciation Dinner

The past week (and more) has been taken up with preparing our annual appreciation dinner for the workers in our church's children's department.  We have an outstanding staff and stellar volunteers who spend many hours giving to our kids. Teaching them about faith and love, practicing programs and plays, putting on a fabulous VBS program every year.  They deserve a night out, to be waited on hand and foot and a chance to relax and not lift a finger. That is our goal.

This year Earl and I thought it would be fun to put on a Tapas dinner in the yard. Tapas means "small plate" and is meant to be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. It is a wonderful way to enjoy a relaxed meal of lots of fun foods with plenty of time for conversation and laughter around the table. We brought out 4 courses over the evening and if feedback is any indication, a good time was had by all.

 The first course, marinated mushrooms and olives, fresh grapes, toasted bread, pesto and herbed olive oil for dipping and almonds spiced with sea salt, rosemary and smoked paprika. Earl had a stash of hardwood veneers in his workshop and decided to use some of them to make some beautiful serving boards.

 A quick snapshot of the centerpieces lined up on the windowsill, Stella Doro lilies and lavender.

I didn't get a picture of the tables. Truth be told, we hit the ground running early in the day and I was lucky to remember to take pictures at all. Did I mention this dinner was for 30+ people?  Yes, and just so you know, this is a picture of the aftermath in the kitchen. Lord have mercy.  My daughter Lauren keeps telling me we make entertaining look easy.  I'm here to tell you it isn't, especially when it is for that many people.  I'm not even sure if that counts as entertaining so much as catering. The good thing about doing it at home is you can load the dishwasher, turn out the lights on the rest of the mess and fall into bed...which is pretty much what we did.  Would I do it again? Not for 30+ people. We were fortunate to have 4 adult volunteers who were real go getters. Thank goodness we had the help, I really don't think we could have done this without them. I will be sharing recipes and a few more pictures of the evening later. I think Tapas is a fabulous way to entertain a smaller group of friends and we found some recipes that we will be making again!  Now I need to catch up on all your posts, and yes, I'm still putting away dishes :)