Mason Jar Gifts

I'm sure no one needs to see anymore photos of my homemade applesauce. (Today I made some with raisens.) However, I thought it would be nice to to share this idea for quick & easy gifts:



Everyone has heard of Gifts In A Mason Jar but this year, with economy the way it is, it's a pretty & inexpensive gift for neighbors or for folks who you'd just like do a little something for.

I made my own label using some cardstock and a "From My Kitchen" sticker:



I apologize for my blurry photo. My hands still shake a lot. I must have taken 10 photos and they all came out a little blurry.

Anyway, I added glitter to the label and some ribbons and do-do's and just tapped it to the jar.

Please remember, with "wet food" gifts, although this isn't technically "canning", you still have to boil the jar and lid for a few minutes.

So what else can one do with a Mason Jar? I have tons of cool ideas. Stay tuned!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My garden window easily changed from Halloween to Thanksgiving! My mom made the turkey for me years ago. Actually, it's plaster and mom painted it for me.

Speaking of my mom, there is nothing more comforting than walking into Mom's kitchen and seeing her wearing an apron and running her Kitchenaid:



When I was little, my mom used to bake every single day! If it wasn't cookies, it was bread, if not bread, cupcakes and if it wasn't cupcakes, it was mom's yeast coffee cake! The house always smelled like a bakery!

This is what mom was making yesterday:



This is a Pumpkin Gingerbread Triffle recipe by Paula Deen. You can find the recipe here at Food Network.

And here are the Molasses Muffins that I talked about this week:



I have a weakness for anything with molasses in it! I love the way it makes the house smell! Here's the recipe:

MOM'S MOLASSES MUFFINS

1/2 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/2 cup Molasses
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon Ginger
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Sour Milk (or Buttermilk)
2 cups Flour
1/2 cup Raisins

Cream shortening and sugar, add beaten eggs and molasses. Sift flour and spices, beating alternately with baking soda and sour milk. Add raisens. Bake about 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until done. Makes one dozen muffins.

I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Treats

I've been getting things together for our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at my parents house. My aunt & uncle will be there and I'm looking forward to seeing them.

I made another batch of applesauce to have with dinner tomorrow. This is Cranberry Applesauce:



My photo is a little blurry but it's enough to see that the cranberries make the applesauce look pretty!

Here's my recipe:

CRANBERRY APPLESAUCE

3 pounds Red Delicious Apples
Juice of 2 medium Oranges
1 Tablespoon grated Orange Rind
3 Teaspoons Vanilla
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 cup (no sugar added) Cranberry Juice
3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh Cranberries

Peel & dice the apples. Add the orange juice and orange peel. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the cranberries. Bake in a casserole dish in a 300 degree oven for 1 hour.

There should be some excess juice in the apples now. Pour the juice into a medium saucepan over medium heat. Depending on how much juice you have, you may have to add a bit more cranberry juice. I had to add about 3/4 of a cup more. Bring to a simmer, then add the cranberries. Keep your eye on them or they will pop all over your stove. Don't ask me how I know!

When you can see that the cranberries are soft, remove from heat and let cool. Mash the apples with a potato masher. Drain the cranberries and gently fold into the applesauce. I tried to keep my cranberries whole, so I folded them into the apples instead of stirring them in. And that's it! It's very good!!!

I just put my cookie plate and candy plate together:



Cream cheese sugar cookie dough made into turkey's and leaves, Shortbread with vanilla icing and crushed malted milk balls on top, Chocolate Chip cookies with butterscotch chips, chocolate chips and pecans (like my grandma used to make them) and Orange Chocolate Spritz cookies.



Old Fashioned Cream Cheese Mints (which aren't mint because I used maple flavoring in the orange ones and almond flavoring in the green ones), Apple Pecan Candy (these are to die for) and the easiest Chocolate Fudge on the planet!

Here's the recipe for that:

1 12 ounce bag of Chocolate Chips
1 14 ounce can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)
1 Tablespoon Butter

In a double boiler, on low heat, melt the Chocolate Chips and Butter. When it's completely melted, add the can of Sweetened Condensed Milk. Mix and mix and mix well!

Line a 7 inch X 5 inch pan (I use a Pyrex dish) with plastic wrap. Spray the plastic wrap lightly with No Stick Cooking Spray. Pour fudge into pan and spread evenly. Add colored sprinkles, cover another piece of plastic and refridgerate over night.

It doesn't get any easier than that! I confess, this fudge is way too sweet for me. My father absolutely loves it! I don't eat a lot of sweets but when I do want a little something, I prefer a cookie.

On the "Stash Enhancement" front, I thought you would enjoy seeing a little Ebay find of mine:



This is satin trim from the 1940's. I have nothing like this in my collection (devastating! :) so when I saw it on Ebay, I asked Scott to get it for me. He's a better Ebayer than I am. I don't have the patience for it. I'm the flea marketer, he's the Ebayer!

Isn't it pretty? Now if I could just sit still and stitch!

Well, I'm heading offline for now. I have mom's recipe for the Molasses Muffins that I talked about yesterday. I'll get a photo of them today and I'll have the recipe here tomorrow.

Cookies For The Retirement Center

Yesterday, mom & I took Chooch, the therapy dog, over to the retirement center:



Mom adopted Chooch when she was about 2 years old. Mom's previous dog, Benjamin, who was also a therapy dog had passed away. Once mom had Chooch, mom trained her and had her certified as a therapy dog. Chooch just turned 10 years old 2 weeks ago.

Chooch is the sweetest, most lovely and gentle dog you would ever want to meet. So every other week, mom and I take Chooch over to the retirement center where Chooch is so loved and adored by the residents.

For each holiday, mom and I bake cookies and make up little cookie bags to give to the residents. We each make 3 different kinds for a total of 6:



Here is our basket of cookie bags:



And finally, we make little tags for them, with glitter (of course!):



We don't get too carried away with the tags. Just something to make the bags look pretty. It's really nice to give a bit of holiday sunshine to the residents. Some have little or no family. Some are a bit withdrawn or not totally on the planet (I know that feeling!) and some are just plain lonely. But they see Chooch and we had them a bag of cookies, and they smile.

I just got home from WalMart. I usually go on Friday but decided to do it today instead. I may be crazy but I'm not that crazy! I have a few dishes to wash up and then I'll head over to mom's. I promised I'd help make her Molasses Raisin Muffins for Thanksgiving. My mom is visually impaired so I promised I would watch the oven for her so they don't burn. These muffins are incredibly good so I'm going to see if mom will share her recipe with me and then I'll share it here. It'll be later this week.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I'll be making Applesauce with Cranberries tomorrow to take to mom's on Thursday. I'm hearing news that I've started an "applesauce making trend"! Baking it in the oven is really the way to go! Anyway, so I've never made applesauce with cranberries before. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I'm wanting to do some stitching but I have trouble sitting still. I seem to need to move around. Then, by 5 pm, I'm exhausted and need to go to bed. Once I get comfy cozy in my bed, restless leg syndrome sets in! That'll drive a person nuts! It's caused by the medication. If anyone has suggestion for me to get rid of it, I'm open to them! I usually have to get up and walk around for awhile. And I do take a bath before I go to bed which is supposed help and was helping until the last dosage increase.

Anyway, speaking of laying on the bed, thought you would enjoy seeing this photo of my Simba:



He pushes my stitched pillow/cushion out of his way and curls up with my teddy bear. I could love to be a cat in my next life and live with someone like me!

Still Breathing

I don't have anything all that great to share today. Just wanted to say hello. I've been quite restless and feel the need to keep moving around. I made a batch of shortbread cookies yesterday, sewed up a 9 inch block for a white peacock purse, went to Staples for a new ink cartridge ($71.99 later. What's up with that? Geez, we all need a loan to buy printer ink these days!), took cookies to my 3 great neighbors, made chili for taco salad and finally at 3:00 pm, when I was yawning, Scott told me to go lay down on the bed and watch TV. That was it for my day.

I saw my counselor this morning and she told me that the restlessness is really nervousness due to the upcoming holidays. She said that once I get past the 1st of the year, I should start to feel better. Thank goodness. I'm having a hard time sitting still to stitch.

I'm getting ready to head over to mom's now. We're going to the retirement center this afternoon with Thanksgiving Cookie Bags for everyone. I'm taking my camera with me to mom's so I'll have photos tomorrow. Wait till you see my mom's therapy dog, Chooch! She is so cute and so sweet! A beautiful Black Lab and the happiest dog I've ever met!

Until tomorrow, have a great day everyone!