How Tuesday: Pumpkin Spice Sugar Scrub

This time of year, everything seems to come in a pumpkin flavor or scent. Candles, I get...coffee, not so much. Maybe it is because I am a tea girl. I figured that my hands shouldn't miss out on all the seasonal fun. This scrub is a variation of the recipe from Under the Table and Dreaming. 

Sunday Funday: Doing What I Love

This was one of those weekend that a crafter dreams of: research, projects, new skills, progress. It was a balm for my busy week and cluttered mind.

 I had an absolutely stellar trip to my local library!

 I am so excited to dive into these books as I plan projects, posts and gifts :)

  We also had a great stop at our local reclaimed sewing supplies store. 

I was able to score this awesome horde for only $16.74!

 Weekends were made for this kind of dinner with my sweetie. 

Cheeses, rice crisps, apples, olives, almonds...LOVE!

 Followed by pumpkin carving...so much fun!

 I indulged in some awesome treats for myself. Yay for 50% off coupons and inspiration!

Spent some time redoing my double crochet/lemon peel project. 

It will make a great holiday gift!

Stay tuned for some great roasted pumpkin seed recipes. As you can see, it was an absolutely wonderful weekend full of many blessing, quality crafting and bonding time, yummy dinners and much project progress. I am one lucky girl!

Foodie Friday: Crock Pot Apple Butter

This time of the year in the Northeast means falling leaves, crisp air, and visits to the apple orchard. Apple butter is on of the best treats of the fall season, yet I never thought about making it at home. That is until Pinterest and my seeming obsession with recipes. Win!

Ingredients:

Makes a little more than 1 pint

• 1 dozen apples, peeled, cored, cubed
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/4 Cup Brown Sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon All Spice

Method:

Peel, Core, and Chop a dozen apples.

Toss the apples in the sugar and spices.

Put everything in the Crock Pot.

Set on low and get on with your day.

To thicken, turn the heat up to high and prop the lid open for a bit.

To smooth, put the apple mixture into the blender and pulse til smooth.

I love it on biscuits, scones, and mixed into my morning oatmeal with some walnuts. YUM!

Foodie Friday: Tea Cakes

Tea is part of my daily life, but sometimes, I want to make it a little more special. I may break out some leaves and brew it the old-fashioned way, sometimes what makes it extra-special is the treat that I have along with it. While my British friends tell me that these are not traditional but they sure are tasty!

Ingredients:

• 3 1/3 c. sifted flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2/3 c. shortening
• 2 c. sugar
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1 1/3 c. milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

 Method:

• Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
• Sift 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg into the flour mixture;set aside. 
• Cream sugar and shortening until fluffy; add eggs.
•  Add flour mixture and milk alternately, in small amounts at a time, add vanilla.
•  Fill greased cupcake pans 2/3 full. 
• Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 18 minutes.   

Makes 2 dozen.  I like to dust them with a combo of powdered sugar and cinnamon.

SO good!!

Thankful Thursday: Honey Ginger Lemon Tea

It has been a time of illness here...and everyone else it seems. There is nothing so soothing as a nice hot cup of tea. Last year, a friend introduced me to what has become my absolute favorite beverage, honey ginger lemon tea. Just the ritual of making it begins to heal me.

The ingredients are simple and few: honey, a slice of lemon, a good quality tea (I really prefer Earl Grey for this recipe) and some ginger. If you are even luckier, you will have some ginger syrup on hand. I was given some as a holiday gift from The Cozy Herbivore herself and feel in love. The tea is even more of a delight with it added.

The Cozy Herbivore's Ginger Syrup:

Ingredients:

• A good sized knob of ginger
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water

Method:

• Cut the ginger into pieces, no need to peel
• Add that and the brown sugar to the water and bring to a boil
• Strain and store in an airtight container in the fridge

To make the tea:

• Place two teaspoons of honey and a good glurg of ginger syrup (or several chunks of ginger) into your favorite mug.
• Squeeze the juice of one lemon wedge into the mug. Put the wedge into the cup.
• Add hot water and stir.
• Lastly, add a tea bag or tea ball into the mug and steep until the tea is the strength you prefer--3 to 5 minutes.
• Enjoy!

Foodie Friday: Paula's Chocolate Zucchini Bread in a Mason Jar

My friend Paula is one of the best cooks ever. She and her family eat gluten-free which is a double bonus for me since many nights she brings me dinner at play rehearsal. This bread is SO amazing it is like having the best chocolate cupcake ever but with a full serving of veggies!

Sunday Funday: Doctor Who Craft Round-Up

I have had a lot of fun making Doctor Who-themed crafts lately. Doubtless, there will be another one coming up before too long! Until then, I have scoured the galactic interwebs for other sources of Who crafts for us all to enjoy and to serve as inspiration!

An obvious choice: Doctor Who Crafts

Cakes, crochet, quilts and more: BuzzFeed

Awesome paper/cube crafts: CyberDrone

A great collection of every type of Whovian craft imaginable: Craftster Who Crafts

Awesome crocheted TARDIS bag: Geek Crafts

Enjoy and please share anything that you make with us!

If you have any ideas for any upcoming Doctor Who-themed weeks or any projects at all please comment here or on our Facebook page. Thanks!

Foodie Friday: Custard...fish fingers optional...

Anyone who knows their Doctor Who knows that custard was almost a main character in the Series 6 premiere. I thought that I would try to make it from scratch just to up the ante for the Series 7 premiere on Saturday. I added some homemade Ginger Syrup on a few berries for a real treat!

Foodie Friday: White Bean Basil Hummus

I am a sucker for a dip. Maybe it is because I am a dip myself.

I found this recipe on The Greatist and knew I had to make it.

Foodie Friday: Dutch Baby with Blueberry Sauce

No, I am not advocating munching on infants from the Netherlands, but rather brunching on a delicious puffy oven pancake. It is super easy to make and even easier to enjoy. It would be a great easy dish to serve when you have company over for breakfast or brunch...looks impressive, but SO simple.

Foodie Friday: The Best Buttermilk Biscuits

In another life, I think that I was a country girl from the heart of the deep South. Such is my love for the biscuit. This recipe from the New York Times produces the best biscuits that I have EVER had.

Recipe from chef, Scott Peacock courtesy of The New York Times


INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
5 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons packed lard or unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 cups chilled cultured buttermilk, plus more as needed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

METHOD:

• Place a rack in the upper-middle position of the oven and preheat to 500°.
• Make your own baking powder by sifting together the cream of tartar and baking soda.

• In a large bowl, whisk together the salt, baking powder and salt.  Add the lard or butter and quickly work the pieces into the flour with a pastry cutter or the tips of your fingers.  The pieces should be coarsely blended and resemble large peas.
• Make a well in the center of the bowl and pour in the buttermilk.  Quickly mix the ingredients until the mixture just comes together and forms a shaggy mass.  Add 1-2 more tablespoons of buttermilk if the mixture seems dry.

• Immediately turn the dough out onto to a generously floured surface and quickly knead the dough about ten times until a ball forms.  Gently flatted the dough and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough out a thickness of 3/4 inch.

• With a fork that has been dipped in flour, pierce the dough at half inch intervals before using a fluted, 2 1/2 or 3 inch biscuit cutter to stamp out the biscuits.  When you have run out of room to stamp out more biscuits, carefully reform the dough and press out as many as you can.

• Arrange the biscuits  on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes.

• Remove from the oven a brush the tops with the melted butter.  Serve warm with butter, honey and/or jam.

Makes about 10-12 large biscuits

I served mine with homemade honey butter (comment if you need the recipe) and

a piping hot cup of tea. Heaven!

Foodie Friday: Maple Sugar Scones

There is something about baking. It is a magical mixture of chemistry and art--exact measurements married to finesse. It takes time, a commodity that so many of us are lacking these days. Vacation days and rainy weekends are the perfect time to indulge in both the pleasure of making something from scratch and the delicious results.

Last summer, my sweetie and I took a wonderful vacation in and around Burlington, VT. It rained have the time we were there, but that didn't stop us from having a wonderful time relaxing, lazing, exploring. 

Popping into my pantry this morning after my run to grab some mix-ins for my oatmeal I spied a bag of maple sugar from Dakin Farms that we got last summer. I knew it was time to use it.

One of my favorite cookbooks of all time is 

The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge. 

The recipe for these scones is in this book.

Maple sugar is really the star of these scones, 

but brown sugar could be substituted.

Ingredients:

3 cups AP Flour

2/3 cup maple sugar

8 TBS. very cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. table salt

1/2 cup chopped pecans

2/3 cup buttermilk

2 TBS. pure maple syrup

1 large egg

for the topping:

2 TBS. pure maple syrup

2 tsp. maple sugar

Method:

1. Put oven rack on middle rung. Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Line baking sheet with parchment or Silpat.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, maple sugar, baking powder,

baking soda, and salt. Whisk until well blended. Add butter pieces and using a 

pastry blender (or 2 knives), cut the butter into the flour mixture until the

butter pieces are no larger than peas. Add the nuts and mix briefly.

Mix together the buttermilk, syrup, and egg until just blended.

Drizzle liquid over flour mixture and toss with a rubber

spatula just until the dough comes together in moist clumps.

3. Dump the dough onto a floured work surface. Briefly knead the

dough to combine and shape into a 7-8 inch round.

Using a lightly floured knife, cut the dough into equal wedges.

4. Arrange wedges on a prepared cookie sheet (not touching).

Brush tops with maple syrup and sprinkle with maple sugar.

5. Bake until puffed and a toothpick comes out clean--about 18 minutes.

Transfer the sheet to a rack to cool for about 15 minutes.

Using a spatula, lift the scones from the sheet to a rack to cool.

Storage: Layer bakes and cooled scones between parchment or

waxed paper in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature

for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

A delightful breakfast with a cup of tea!

Sunday Funday: Back in the Saddle...again...

Life sometimes just takes you away from what you would like to be doing. Granted, so many aspects of my life are astounding. I haven't been able to make many things lately (or at least record many)--I have run a huge race and am training for another, I have had a really great summer jewelry show (and VERY stupidly got NO photos of the work that I made and sold), and have been loading up on quality time with my sweetie before the busy autumn overtakes us.


That being said though, I feel a little hollow not producing things and sharing them on this blog. It is not that my readership is huge. Some posts, I am the only one. But in times of uncertainty, it has lent so stability and predictably to my life.


So, here I go again...dusting of the Weasinart and giving her priority again. Baby steps, but any steps are better than standing still. 


Tonight, my sweetie and I made a lovely vegetarian feast, full of produce that we grew or got just 'round the corner. And I finally took photos of it...enjoy.

Salad that we grew, squash and tomato tian and pesto rice...yum!

To make the tian, I sliced up two yellow squash, two zucchini,
and two heirloom tomatoes. 

I layered them in a casserole dish and topped with thyme.
It baked in a 400 degree oven (covered with foil) for 30 minutes.
I then sprinkled a light layer and shredded Parmesan and
baked, uncovered, for an additional 10 minutes.

We had a load of basil in the garden,
so we whipped up a couple batches--one with walnuts
and one with pine nuts.

We mixed one scoop with some basmati rice and sprinkled on some cheese.
The rest we scooped onto a parchment lined sheet and popped them into the freezer.
Once they are solid, we will individually bag them to use thus fall.

After dinner, I walked by the studio and noted that I wouldn't be likely
to make anything when the bench was still cluttered from my
last session.

Ten minutes later, and I am ready to work again soon.

So, here I am again. Feeling a teeny bit more focused and ready to zip into autumn with scissors in one hand and my lap top in the other--ready to share it all with you.

Holiday Week: Bananas Ice Cream

Like every other blogger and crafter on the planet, I am in love with Pinterest. While the Weasinart was unplugged, I took a pinning break too. But now that I am trying to get back to posting regularly, I have pinning with abandon.


This week, I am preparing for the first of my big races of the year. To a really awesome athlete, 15K (9.3 miles) of hills in the summer heat is no biggie. I, however, am a recovering couch potato. I really try to train appropriately and really watch what I eat before a big race. That means NO JUNK this week and very limited dairy or gluten (I am sensitive to both.) Of course, it have been between 80 and 90 for the last week. 


Here is where Pinterest comes in...


A super popular pin lately has been for 1 ingredient "ice cream". I was almost obligated to make it...and I am very happy that I did!

Two bananas-cut into coins and frozen on a sheet pan.

3 tablespoons of peanut butter and a scant tablespoon of honey.
You could skip the honey if you wanted even less sugar.

All ingredients are blitzed in the food processor and
placed in the freezer until solid(ish).

SO YUMMY! You could, of course, just use bananas but
I am a peanut butter lover from way back.