Thanksgiving--Giving thanks!

Honestly I do not know where November went. It just flew by in a big hurry, just so December could make its appearance. Been sewing and sewing most of the month, in between putting up Christmas decorations inside and out, baking, making some treats like Puppy Chow and White Trash, giving treats away, having family in for Thanksgiving turkey, taking a little Elderberry trip to Branson for Christmas lights, shows and a little shopping. For all of these things I give great thanks . And especially am I grateful for our beloved country, and the people who serve it day by day, in the front lines all over the world, and in our hospitals, on our streets and highways, on our borders, in uniforms of military or medical or police, we are grateful for their protection and help.

Our Elderberries have another blanket project going on, supplying fleece blankets to the children and youth of Rockaway Beach ministry, so this was also a good time to be grateful, being able to work on a "bunch" of blankets for Christmas. Then had to sew up some American Girl doll clothes, new branching out here, for some little girls with their new dolls, one my Grand grand-niece, the other a Grand good friend. Now I am grateful the projects are done, and being shipped out.

Now Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat (we see them flying over our house every day so we know!), please to put a penny in the old man's hat! And by the way, please don't forget the homeless this Christmas!! God bless us every one, as Tiny Tim says.

Apple Fest

Now that we have a lot of apples around, it is time to be productive. So we got into the pie-making mode, and froze and shared our apple pies, pies with top crusts and pies with Dutch crispy tops. Then there was that cocoa apple cake my daughter's mom-in-law supplied the recipe for--I had baked one of those years ago, and lost the recipe. So she sent it to me, and voila--a really yummy cake to make! Best of all, it combines two of my favorite ingredients, chocolate and apples.

Cocoa Apple Cake

Cream together:
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/2 pound butter, softened
1/2 cup water

Sift together:
2 and 1/2 cups flour
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice

Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture.

Fold in:
2 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped nuts (I use pecans)
1/2 cup chocolate chips (use the good ones)
1 tablespoon vanilla

Mix well, and put into a greased and floured bundt pan.
Bake at 325 degrees for 60-70 minutes until testing done.
Let rest on rack to cool for 10 minutes, invert onto a serving plate and you can dust it with powdered sugar.

Fall Quilt Project

Now that it's done and has been received by
darling daughter, I can post pictures to
share. Violet kitty gave her special
stamp of approval to the quilt before
we shipped it out. Have to confess,
the quilt backing was especially difficult
for me to sew, only because I am not
a spider fan, and of course the backing
has many many spiders and webs all over it.
So this quilt is wishing you a Happy Halloween!

Fall

Fall

Fall