Time to Start Thinking of Valentines

I am heading down to the post office to mail two packages of things left from Christmas and am sending a little Valentine love too. What is your favorite Valentine item?

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY... January 11, 2010

Outside my window... cold, 25 degrees outside.  The air looks pretty clear here by the mountains,but because of the inversion that is so common here, the air at a lower elevation is hazy.

I am thinking... how nice it is inside my warm house (73 degrees).

I am thankful for... time spent at Christmas with all my family.

I am wearing... jeans, a long sleeved blue henley T-shirt and a blue jacket top that I bought for $5.00!

I am remembering...how fun it was to watch my little 9 month old grandson crawl across the floor and explore all the new (to him) things in my house.

I am going...with my daughter to look for her new sewing machine.

I am currently reading... well, I am going to check my library for the book club book for this month which is Everything's Fine.  By my bedside is Cup of Comfort.

I am hoping... to each less food and lose a few more pounds this week.  I ate too much over the holidays and it shows.
On my mind... needing to make several Dr. appointments and get my flu shot.

Noticing that...my house seems much bigger since all the Christmas is put away.  I am loving the space.

Pondering these words... "Have I done any good in the world today?  Have I helped anyone in need?  Have I cheered up the sad, and made someone feel glad?  If not I have failed indeed."  These are words of a favorite song.
From the kitchen...trying to keep it clean and clear this week.

Around the house... some bills that need posting, some sewing done for my aunt that needs to be returned to her, my bathroom closet and drawers are straightened because I am looking for a missing ring.

One of my favorite things~ new pictures on my desk of my grandchildren that I got as presents for Christmas.

From my picture journal...

Silhouettes of my grandchildren.

Two Chocolate recipes from TV

Foodie Friday

I can't remember where I saw this idea on TV but I decided to try this Chocolate cake using only canned pumpkin for the ingredients.  So I used a regular cake mix and substituted the eggs, oil and water for just one small can of pumpkin.  It comes out moist, and tastes very chocolaty and I couldn't taste any pumpkin in it.  It does not rise like a regular cake mix cake does but was more like a brownie. The best part about this is that it ends up having only 194 calories and 3.6 grams of fat per serving. (I baked it in a 9 x 12" pan and cut it into 12 pieces).  My family loved it!  Even the one who generally doesn't eat dessert!  Of course, I made a delicious frosting from Ina Gartner's book so that kind of deletes the savings from the cake, but well, it was delicious.  I made it with my granddaughter so we added M&M's on top.

Speaking of Brownies here is a recipe that was featured yesterday on a local TV channel-a gourmet version.
(This sounds like I just sit home and watch TV!  Honestly I don't.  I did have it on all day when I took down my Christmas decorations and that is when I caught the pumpkin chocolate recipe.  I think it was from Rachel Ray)  It uses a spice that you can order on the internet-Ras El Hanout.  It has a combination of cinnamon, pepper, cumin and a couple of other spices. I have never used it.  Have any of you?  It sounds delicious to me.
Moroccan Spiced Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup + 2 tbsp Butter
• 2 eggs
• 6 tbsp E. Guittard Cocoa Rouge Rare Red Dutch process unsweetened cocoa powder, or
• other unsweetened cocoa powder
  
• 1 ½ tsp Ras El Hanout Moroccan spice blend
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup all-purpose flour

Method:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add eggs and blend well.
Mix in vanilla, cocoa, flour, and Ras El Hanout until smooth.
Divide batter evenly into eight 8 oz. ramekins OR an 8x8" greased cake pan.
Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes; or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
To serve, dust with powdered sugar and serve with sweetened whipped cream.

Thanks to Michael at Designs by Gollum for hosting Foodie Friday. Check for more good recipes by clicking here.

Lessons from the Penguins

Yesterday I took my granddaughter to the local aquarium to see the new Penguins that I had briefly noticed advertised in the paper.  We had a great time looking at the stingrays, yellow-banded frogs, the creepy spiders, lots of different kinds of trout, starfish, seahorses and lots of other sea life,  BUT, there were no Penquins!  It seems they will not come until March!  Oh great!   I made the mistake of forgetting my camera too. It would have been such a great photo op too, so the picture above will have to suffice.  Lessons learned from this experience:  Read more carefully and pack your camera always. 

Where are your favorite places to take little ones to entertain and teach them something new?

Homemade Gifts of Love

 Dena @Sweet Pickles and Chocolate had a great post idea Monday when she blogged about all the cute homemade gifts she had received at Christmas. I hope she doesn't mind if I follow her lead and show pictures of some of the cute home made items that I received or purchased for others.

I loved the packaging on this one almost as much as the present itself.  The darling box says "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with it's cute red and black velvet polka dot bow and handmade gift tag.

Inside was this darling handmade scarf

Does it count if I buy the present for myself?

 I saw this scarf at a Boutique and had to have it. It is made from different sweaters with appliqued hearts and flowers and a little pocket with a bell.  I love it!

My sister spends hours hand embroidering cute pillows.  I am the happy recipient of many of hers.  This one with red work has red and white ticking on the sides and back.  It is very precious.

The two pins are made of fabric and have burned edges, the necklace is made of fabric also.  The colorful pin is made from fringe and honestly goes with every color I have put it on.  They are great.

This watch is a nice addition to my jewelry collection and is also handmade.

I think these headbands are adorable on so many. However, I tried one on and it quickly made me look very dorky and silly.  I decided they were best left to others. I bought them for my granddaughters.

These silhouettes of my grandchildren were made by my daughter from photographs she took then applied to a canvas board. I think it is very clever.

This spoon was not actually handmade since it is an antique but it got a new use by adding magnets to the back and is really sweet on a magnetic board.  I love old silver.

I got a lot of great ideas for next year's gifts from these.  I hope you have too.

What were your favorite homemade gifts?

Happy New Year and a Calendar Makeover

I have been too busy with this cute little one to blog lately.

I have enjoyed watching him do this and this and this

but, alas, He got into his suitcase and flew home.

 

So, on to the new year now.

 

 I have my new calendar and am ready for the new year. My favorite calendar is a month on two-pages variety.  It opens flat on my desk and the best part about it is that it comes from the Dollar Store! (Horray for Dollar stores!)

  When I bought it, it was pretty generic and honestly, it was ugly!  So, I took off the black plastic cover

 

then adhered some pretty scrapbook paper to the front and back and voila!  Now it is a nice looking calendar to work with every day. ( I need to stamp the year on the front I guess.)

The first thing I did was to put in everyone's birthdays.  I have a little cupcake stamp to mark these special days.  Then I colored the "frosting" for each person in that person's favorite color.  Now I am ready...Let the new year begin!

What is your favorite kind of calendar and why?

Tablescape Thursday--Colorful and Thrifty tables for the Masses

Colorful and thrifty tables for a large group

The post today for Thursday's Tablescape is all about ingenuity, thrift, quantity and color.

We had a breakfast at church last Saturday and when I walked into the cultural hall I was met by 20 round tables dressed in bright vibrant colors.

The woman responsible for the decorating had used runners she had previously made for a family event which were chartreuse green, pink, yellow and hot pink.  Some were striped and some were plain fabrics.

She layered these on top of similar colored plastic round tablecloths that are usually not that attractive. The centerpieces were trees cut from foam core then all were painted bright pink.

The big plastic light bulbs were purchased at the dollar store then painted to match the theme colors, bright pink, green and chartreuse, three per table.  They are hung on a jewelry rack that was also purchased at the dollar store.  She put the base of the holder into a piece of wood which was wrapped in paper of the theme colors.

   She scattered and hung little gold stars.

The walls were also treated to some of the wrapping paper and stripe fabric in big rectangles.  All in all, it was a fresh and happy look for our Christmas breakfast event.  To read and see more tablescapes click here.