Middle-Aged

"Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age."

--Victor Hugo

I always like to think that I'm cool and with it, and I certainly DON'T feel my age (45).  Then I sit at work with some twenty somethings and realize that we all basically have nothing in common as they snapchat one another. 

From my board "Humor is mankind's greatest blessing."

Autumn Trees

"Just as a painter needs light in order to put the finishing touches to his picture, so I need an inner light, which I feel I never have enough of in the autumn."                                                      -- Leo Tolstoy

So this will probably be the last post for a little while.  This is the last of my Thanksgiving tries and life will be back to normal when I go back to work tonight.  You've seen my Thanksgiving food inspirations.  Now you get to see an activity that I did with my adorable nieces.  

I have a bunch of kids' crafts pinned so that I have something to do with them.  And one of my favorites was this Autumn Painted Tree by La classa della maistra Valentina.  (Disclaimer:  The blogspot is in Spanish, but the pictures make it very clear how to make these.)

Now my nieces are 5 and 6 years old, so this seemed like it was going to be the perfect type of craft for them.  But even W and B joined them in this activity.  I found the little canvases on sale at Michael's, then I painted a tree trunk for them.  I then traced a light circle so they would have an idea of where to paint.  They went to town with the Q-Tips dipped in paint and did all the rest themselves.  They did a great job until W told them they should make leaf piles under the trees so suddenly we had leaves all over the place.  But I'm very proud of them, and think they did a great job!

From my board "Every child is an artist."

Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta

"Squatternut Bosh" - Ross from Friends

I have been looking at this pin for a little while now.  I knew I wanted to make it for Thanksgiving because it's so colorful and festive and let's face it.  The flavors just scream Thanksgiving at you.  But the feta cheese part has been throwing me off this whole time.  Now don't get me wrong.  I probably love feta cheese more than anybody else in the world, but just because you CAN add feta cheese to something, doesn't mean that you necessarily should.

So this yummy recipe for Honey Roasted Butternut Squash with Cranberries and Feta was posted by peas and crayons.  Doesn't it look delicious?

I thought mine looked pretty good, until now I've posted the two pictures side by side.  Maybe I should have added the feta.  But no.  This is really a sweet dish with the cinammon and honey, and feta is really for savory dishes.  (And forgive the lettuce garnish.  My sister-in-law who was trying to help, thought that would be a good addition.  It isn't.)

From my board "Vegetables are a must."

Happy Thanksgiving

"Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday.  People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year.  And then discover once a year is way to often." -- Johnny Carson

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

From my board "Give thanks for unknown blessings."

Thanksgiving Pies

"Men may come and men may go.....but pie goes on for ever." -- George Augustus Sala

So it's that time of year again and I am baking pies for Thanksgiving.  Do you know why?  I LOVE pie!!!  Everyone else is all into cupcakes and red velvet cake and such.  But those are getting boring.  Cupcakes are cupcakes - they all have a cake base and they're the same consistency and density.  but pies are so varied! I've done my usual Candied Apple Pie, but this year I am attempting a Pumpkin Chiffon pie and a Cocoa Cream pie.

I'll start with the cocoa cream pie  by Forgotten Way Farms.com.

I've had this one pinned for quite a while and just never got around to it. I ultimately decided to make it because the picky eaters in my family (my kids) don't eat apple or pumpkin pie.  I wanted them to have an option besides rice krispie treats, so I made this as well.  And it is AH-MAZE-ING!  My mother-in-law, who always has to find something to criticize, thought it was too chocolatey.  What?!?!?  There's no such thing!  However the seven children ages 5-14 gobbled it down with absolutely NO complaints.  Here's the recipe for My Granny's Cocoa Cream Pie :

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder (or 1/2 cup all-purpose flour)
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Mix cocoa, cornstarch, egg yolks, sugar and salt.  Gradually add milk while stirring in a pot over medium-high heat.  Cook until thick, beating it smooth.  Cream pies take some time to thicken, so stir.....and stir (10-15 minutes).  When thickened, remove from heat and add in vanilla.  Pour into a pre-baked pie shell.  Place in fridge to chill.

As usual, I forgot that the crust shrinks down a bit when it bakes, so that is why it is not all the way up the sides of the pie plate.  And I'm not sure why it is so shiny in the picture, but it was delicious!

For my next pie, I decided I wanted to make a pumpkin chiffon pie like my aunt always used to make.  I know she's given me this recipe a couple of times, but I can't find it anywhere.  I was going to ask my cousin if she could get it, but my aunt has been extremely ill, and I didn't want to add another thing to their plates.  So of course I went to Pinterest and found one which sounded like what I remember making in the past.  So I sent with the recipe by A Nostalgic Halloween.  

The major difference was that I used a regular pie crust instead of the gingersnap crust, because that is what my aunt always used and I LOVED that pie!  Here is the recipe for Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 3 eggs, separated
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 tablespoon plain gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup sugar

Directions:

Cook the pumpkin in a double boiler for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Mix egg yolks sugar and milk.  Add to pumpkin with salt, spices and melted butter.  Stir and cook until of custard consistency.  Remove from heat, add gelatin which has been softened in cold water.  Stir until dissolved.  Chill.  When mixture begins to stiffen, fold in stiffly beaten egg whites to which has been added 1/2 cup of sugar.  Pour into crust.  Chill 3 hours.  Serve with whipped cream.

Notice I did much better with this pie crust. 

But I learned a really big thing with this pie.  If you are beating egg whites in a glass bowl, you need to add some cream of tartar, or else they will not stiffen.  Who knew?  Apparently not me!  It was amazing how that cream of tartar stiffened it all up so quickly.

From my board "Eat dessert first."

Orange Crush Cupcakes

"Orange is the happiest color"
-- Frank Sinatra

We have had orange jerseys for 4 soccer seasons now:  The Orange Devils (W - 1st grade), The Thundering Vipers (W - 2nd grade), The Orange Cheetahs (W - 4th grade), and now, finally, The Orange Crush (B - 4th grade)!  I mean, how come no one came up with that in previous years?  Isn't that a great, intimidating name for a soccer team?  You can "crush" the competition!  Of course, our coach thinks we should have a different name every week, ie. the Orange Orangatans.  Really??? That's not intimidating at all.  And how do you know who to cheer for?  I can't keep remembering a different name every week (or even every half as is seems like it was this past week).   But the kids have called themselves the crush from week one.  And I promised them that I would bring in Orange Crush to drink when they won a game.  

Unfortunately, the Orange Crush was not the team doing the crushing this season.  There may have been a win in there, but the important thing is that they have improved over the season.  And for the last game of the season, they tied (the tying goal, along with TWO others (!!!) was scored by B himself!!!

So, a well-earned tie score.  What better way to celebrate than with these Orange Crush cupcakes that I found from LIVE LOVE LIZ?

The key I think to these cupcakes, is not actually the orange crush, but actually the orange jello flavoring that is added.  I was really hesitant to put it in, and actually only tried a couple of tablespoons until I tasted it and decided it did actually need the five tablespoons as in the recipe.

As for the frosting, I almost wish I had just done a plain vanilla frosting.  There is jello flavoring in this as well, and it left a really gritty kind of  texture.  I'm not sure how else you would get the flavoring in there unless you used an extract.  This may require some more testing to get a more acceptable flavoring.

(I obviously used the wrong filter on my camera because it looks more yellow than orange.  Don't judge me.  I'm a nurse, not a photographer.)

Also, forgive the soccer cupcake papers, but I felt they were completely acceptable since it was for a soccer game!  I also had a jar of orange crystal sugar, so I sprinkled that on for good measure.  All in all, a success.  And the way the kids gobbled them down, they had no complaints.

From my board "Cupcakes take the cake."

Kindness

In regard to recent events, both personally and worldwide, I just think the whole world would be a much better place if people would just exhibit a little more kindness to each other. #prayforparis

From my board "Life itself is a quotation."

Cranberry Orange Cake

"And they bought an owl and a useful cart, 

and a pound of rice and a cranberry tart." 

-- Edward Lear

Okay, I am really, really, really bummed about this one.  I found this recipe for a Cranberry Orange Cake from thatsmyhome.com and thought I would love to make it around Thanksgiving.  So I decided to make it for the girls at work, and if was okay, I would make another one to have as an extra dessert at Thanksgiving.  Come on!  You can NEVER have too many desserts at Thanksgiving dinner!

It was easy enough to make.  Except for me - who didn't realize that I had NO FLOUR half-way through the recipe and had to run out and get some.  Again, it wouldn't be a day in the kitchen without some sort of drama happening.  But once that snafu was fixed, it was very easy and everything looked just the way it was supposed to when I popped it into the oven.  It baked in the recommeneded amount of time and i took it out and it looked so moist and delicious.  I let it cool for a while and went to flip it out of the bundt pan, and.......it didn't come out.  I even slid a knife around the edges.  Still nothing.  I banged it and banged it on the counter.  Still nothing.  a harder bang.  Finally, half the cake came out of the pan.  the bottom half.  the top was still stuck in the pan.  I had no choice but to scoop it out with a spoon.  It was ruined.  Needless to say, we all tried it and it was super delicious.  I can only guess that despite generously spraying the pan, the sugar and cranberries in the bottom of the pan must have just melted and stuck to it really well.  I am willing to give this another go and see if I can somehow remedy this problem.


From my board "Eat dessert first."

Soak-the-Day-Away Detoxifying Bath

"There must be quite a few things a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." -- Sylvia Plath

Tonight was bath night.  W dug holes all morning, helping with an eagle scout project.  B had an intense soccer game, then ended the day with throwing rocks into a reservoir.  And I worked last night, came home crawled into bed in order to sleep for 2 hours before the soccer game.  So everyone needed a good soaking. 

I don't know about all of you, but I certainly do not take advantage of a nice bathtub.  We've been in our current house for over two years, and I think this is only the 2nd bath I've taken in the large, deep soaking tub that we have.  Such a shame.

Anyway, by the time the boys were finished with their baths, and I had cleaned out the tub. I decided to try this idea that I read at mindbodygreen.com for a soak-the-day-away detoxifying bath.  The best part?  I actually had ALL the ingredients needed, including the lavender essential oil.  I mean, what are the chances?  I was MEANT to take this bath!

End result?  I'm not sure if it actually lowered any stress-related hormones and balanced my pH levels, but I did feel clean, relaxed, and refreshed.  The perfect way to end a crazy Saturday.  This is something I can definitely manage to do again!


From my board "The First Wealth is Health"