Monday's meal

There is a really awesome bakery near me called La Farm. I mean awesome, like featured on Oprah's favorite things list awesome. Needless to say it can also be a bit pricey. Seasonally they have this wonderful pumpkin bread. I adore it, but it's $6/ loaf and probably a bazillion calories. I only want a bit so I end up throwing it away or it spoils before I can eat it all. I guess I could freeze it, but that wouldn't be the same. So I thought I'd make up some of my own. This recipe is just your basic sweet bread recipe, you've probably seen it before or have one of your owns. I don't put nuts in mine since my dh is allergic, but you could have nuts, raisin or cranberries in yours if you like...go wild.

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups of all purpose flour
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tsp of baking powder
1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of nutmeg
1 (15 oz) of canned pumpkin
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of melted butter
2 eggs
2 tsp of vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Whisk the first 5 ingredients together in a large bowl. In another bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients until smooth and then fold the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture. Mix until combined, but do not overmix. Place in loaf pan in the center of oven and bake until golden brown on top and toothpick in center comes out nearly clean. Approximately 45 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool about 10 minutes, remove from the pan and serve warm with a pat of butter.

My gift to me

So, 2009 is fast approaching and I've been thinking a lot about my health and continuing my weight loss. So, I started a weight loss blog to chronicle my journey. I call it Me...only thinner. I know, that's incredibly original...but you know it does say it all. I'm still me fat or thin...except you know, I'm trying to be thinner and healthier. I've got a clear plan, but I thought it would be helpful for me to have a record to reference and to keep myself focused. I hope to lose 25 lbs by the summer (June) and to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of my life.

Happy Christmas!

I hope everyone enjoys the day and the time with the family! I'm excited because I'm home with my family and not at work this year. Our day started off bright and early...the kids were bursting at the seams to discover what Santa bought them. My kids are thrilled with their haul and declared it the best Christmas evaahhh! I tried to stay within a prescribed budget, yet get everyone a few quality things that they really wanted as well as needed. I started shopping in September, I used coupons and watched sales, even picking up a few things at thrift stores. I'm happy to say that I was finished by Black Friday and paid cash for everything. It's funny what the favorites turned out to be. Who knew that the simple wooden fold and go dollhouse from Melissa and Doug would be such a big hit. I purchased it for O. (using a 50% off coupon at AC Moore), but M. is enthralled with it too. I added a few extra pieces from Ryan's Room picked up reasonably at Tuesday Morning. S. seems happy after stating he just wanted clothes and cash, lol. E. has serenaded us on his bongo drums (thanks Grandma!)I'm proud to say that I did finish the scarf for O. that matches her coat. Of course M. was only interested in collecting more Thomas stuff this year and has little interest in much else...luckily I started early with my coupons to get him a few of the pieces he doesn't already have. All in all it's a good day because we're together and even with everything that's going in our world I feel grateful to have my family, health, food, shelter and to even have the ablility to be able to indulge a bit this time of year. Anyway, I hope Santa brought you something fabulous. I'm off to spend it with the family and play the wii!!! WooHoo, wii fit here I come!

Monday's meal

Well, I thought since I was on a roll of southern style dishes I would include a recipe for a perennial favorite. Biscuits, they're good in the morning, good in the evening...heck, they are good any time. My ds, M loves biscuits so much he would just about eat them every day.
Oh and never fear...if you don't have any buttermilk on hand, just make some by adding a tsp or so of lemon juice or white vinegar to the prescribed amount of milk and let it sit for about five minutes and you're good to go. Enjoy!

Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix all your dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Now add the shortening, mixing until your mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out fairly thinly 1/2-3/4 inch thick, cut with a floured rim of a glass or a biscuit cutter if you have one. Place 1 in. apart on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

UFO List

From time to time I have to make a list. I am apt to start a new knitting project or cut out a bunch of stuff without finishing other stuff and these list just keep me focused. I have quite a few things on my list, but amazingly enough I've been plugging through some of them as of late. Let's see now...what to do, what to do. Well there's...
1. O's quilt. I'm making progress, but there is probably no one in the world that despises hand sewing as much I do. I'm on the binding... and it will certainly take me forever. I have allowed that if I finish this by her birthday, it'll be a miracle.
2. Gads of undies for the boys. I have so many knit scraps and they need new underwear that it just makes sense to make them some. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself
3. Cross front (ala Diane von Fustenburg) dress. I've had this cut out since the summer. I don't even remember what size I cut it out as. I hope it fits. The fabric is going to give me nightmares. It's the lovely thin drapey, clingy jersey that seemed perfect in theory. We shall see.
4. Cloth ballet slippers for me. You know I have a thing about going barefooted so I thought I'd make up a couple pair of these
5. Jean capri's for me. Again cut out in the summer and thinking that the size I cut out is probably too big. I don't know why I even bothered I buy jeans all the time at the thrift store...but I guess it's just to say, I made them. It'll be my first time making actual jeans. That's right, I'm a jean virgin.
6. Weekender Bag. I don't really have anywhere to go...but maybe if I make a bag, I will, lol.
7. Slipcovers. Ok...so they are not cut out or anything, but I've really been seriously thinking about them.
8. Finish knitting socks for me, E & O.
9. Finish O's sweater...ugh, this is one of those projects that I started off enthusiastically, but soon lost interest in. I shall return to it lest it be too small by the time I actually finish it.
10. Finish the tshirts I have cut out for the boys. I want these finished so they have some transitional clothes to go from winter to spring.

See there...just a few things.

Ten Thousand

Several months ago I decided to put a counter on my blog. I was curious...was I talking to myself? I didn't mind if I was but I thought there was a chance I might have a few folks that popped in from time to time to see how I was getting on. Well...I've had over 10,000 hits. In the world of blogging that's nothing, there are sites that get that in a day I know...but if you're little old me sitting at home in the wilds of Carolina (ok...not so wild, but you get my point) it seems amazing. I love the world of blogging. I've met so many incredible people through it. I've learned so much and had my thinking challenged for the better. Anyway, just thought I'd share my milestone. Oh and...ya'll come back now, ya hear.

Modeled Shot! O's Christmas Frock

Her she is in all her splendor as we were heading off to her Christmas program. I tried to capture a picture that showed her coordinating tights. They were so cute...but she systematically picked a hole in them and then unwound the threads...maybe she was harvesting for lace weight yarn, lol.