Hopeful Homemaker

Halloween

October 31, 2011 jennifer Decorating, Halloween

The kindergarten Halloween party is over, and two of the children are playing upstairs while my three year old naps on the couch. The party must have worn her out. I listen to her quiet breathing, combined with the muffled sounds of the other two talking and marvel at these moments of quiet that occasionally drop into my life.

The sun is shining and I’m about to head outside for the last of my weeding and bulb planting before the temperatures plummet tomorrow. This gorgeous day is supposed to hold through tonight, which will mean plenty of happy children come dark. We’ve got kids scheming to meet up with friends to trick-or-treat and little ones still vacillating between this or that costume.

Before the day is over, I thought I’d share a few pictures of the Halloween decorating I managed to do this year. It was minimal, but fun.

This year I put a bird cage on a mirrored tray and used that as my starting point. I was in the mood for simple black and white, so I made a few black and white velvet pumpkins and put my favorite vintage crowns on them. Yes, I still like crowns on pumpkins. Most of them sit in a footed silver bowl.

A little vintage bust fit nicely inside the cage as well, along with some beaded leaves and a small collection of black and white seashells for pattern and scale.

I added my favorite velvet crow to the outside of the cage for fun. I like having him perched up there.

On the back side of the cage I used my gold glittered “Boo” letters and added a wire spider hanging from the top.

While I like to challenge myself and use things differently each year, I do love to hang my beaded spider web across the picture frames every year. It looks great there and the children love it.

Lastly, I hung a vintage black scarf across my favorite mirror in the living room. In a mostly white room, I like the dramatic effect of the black hanging there. If I’d done this all sooner and had more time, I would have really gone for it with a black and white theme in this room. Maybe next year.

And there you have it. I used some of my traditional orange things in the kitchen as well. Tomorrow it will be time to take it down and prepare for Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. For now, I’m going to take my little one (now the only child not asleep) out with me to pull a few more weeds in what may be the last sunshine we have this week.

I hope your Halloween is a lot of fun!

Jennifer

A Year of Habits, no. 43

October 30, 2011 jennifer Helpfulness of Habit

Yesterday I had an experience that reminded me of the importance of doing what needs to be done. It was a simple thing but it made an impression on me. The weather really cooled off here this past week, and although I knew I needed to just get outside and plant my bulbs, I wimped out. For some reason the change in temperature really seemed to affect me, and I couldn’t warm up, which killed my desire to do any yard work. At last it was Saturday and I was without excuse. The frost took my gorgeous dahlias from heavy with bloom to black and limp overnight. So in spite of my desire to do other things, I went out yesterday in the chilly gray and got started. After I’d been working for a while, the sun came out. I noticed the warmth on my back first, followed by golden sunlight shining across the yard. As I worked, I couldn’t help but think about life. Sometimes we start things, because they need to be done, under circumstances that feel gray and cloudy. And sometimes we start things and the clouds get worse. Sometimes the ground we’re working is hard and other times the soil is soft and easy to work. But sometimes, when we’re working hard because it’s the right thing to do, the sun comes out from behind the clouds to warm us and light the way ahead.

I felt grateful for the reminder. If we keep at things, eventually the sun will shine.

It was a good week, a busy week. Our last soccer game has been played. Thousands of sunflower seeds have been soaked, dried and roasted (which also means my kitchen counters are, at last, clear again). Halloween costumes have been worn and changed over and over again. My family room has been vacuumed more times than I wish to count. Considering how much laundry I did this week, I’m amazed at how much more there is to do. Piano recital songs have been memorized and practiced, errands run, projects finished. I’m behind on many things, ahead on a few things.

And suddenly I’m also dozing off as I type. Tomorrow is a busy day (Halloween is for all moms) so I’m going to get some sleep and re-read this in the morning to see what else I need to add or fix. {Sorry. I’m really tired!}

Have a great week!
Jennifer

Pumpkin Biscuits

October 28, 2011 jennifer All Things Pumpkin, Breads and Rolls

The temperature has dropped this week, and right now I sit curled up in one of my favorite fall quilts. That’s a good thing, because it means I made it to the basement to unpack some Fall and Halloween decorations for my children. The little ones have switched costumes at least fifty times in the last 24 hours and I look around at the disarray with a smile. I’m so grateful they get to do this, and I’m grateful it will end in a few days. Halloween is just around the corner.

Several weeks ago I purchased this publication . At the time I wondered a little at my decision, but now I’m thrilled to have it. I’ve tried more than half a dozen recipes from it and they’ve all been delicious. It’s full of bookmarks, a spill, and tattered corners. One of the things I love about it is having a picture of every recipe included. I highly recommend it.

One of the first recipes I tried was this recipe for pumpkin biscuits. Our whole family enjoyed them and one son in particular begs everyone else for their biscuit while the rest of us enjoy dinner.

Pumpkin Biscuits (recipe from Taste of Home Fall Baking publication) Ingredients:
1- 3/4 cups flour 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 2- 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 cup cold butter 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree 1/3 cup buttermilk Preparation:
In a large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in 1/2 cup water until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine pumpkin and buttermilk, stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. *Note: I’ve made these twice now and both times I had to add a couple of tablespoons more milk.

Turn onto lightly floured surface, knead 8-10 times. Roll out to 1 inch thickness; cut with a 2 or 2-1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Place 1 inch apart on a greased baking sheet (or just use parchment paper).

Bake at 425 for 18 minutes or until golden brown. **Another note: the recipe calls for 1-1/2 tsp. melted butter to be brushed over the biscuits, but I haven’t added it. It seems to me there’s already plenty of butter in them.

According to the recipe, one batch makes 6 biscuits if cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cutter. The first time we made them, we cut them into 1 1/2 inch circles for taste testing and it made two dozen. Last night I used a 2 inch cutter and squeezed 10 biscuits out of a batch. Next time I make them, I’ll double it for my family.

I hope you enjoy this pumpkin recipe.
Jennifer