Got out my sewing machine...

This time of year brings me inside...I turn from the yard and outside activities to the home and inside activities.  It seems like an annual rite that my sewing machine comes out this time of year.  I greet it like an old friend and get to work.

This year, I combined my sewing machine with a painter's tarp from Lowes, some quilting fabric, and the Silhouette machine that Superman surprised me with last Mother's Day and in less than an hour, had a new fall decoration. 


Did you know you can use your Silhouette machine to cut fabric?  Neither did I, but, Boy Howdy!, does it make little sewing projects go just that much faster.  All you do is attach your fabric to Wonder Under, stick it on the cutting mat, put in the pink blade, adjust your settings to slow and thick (I think mine were 3 and 33, respectively), and hit "cut".  The machine does the rest.  I ended up trimming so threads that didn't quite make the cut (get it?  "make the cut"...I crack myself up!), but other than that, the letters were done in about three minutes.  Woot!

After that, I took the fabric triangles I'd cut from my painters tarp, ironed the letters to each triangle, zig zagged them on and they were done.   Then I decided to add a little more flair and sewed a decorative stitch on the border. 

I attached all the triangles to a bias tape and frayed the edges of each one. 

Ta Da!  A little fall sewing in less than an hour!

 Didn't it turn out well?  I really like it.  I think I'm going to make some pillows next.  I have plenty of fabric left and I they'll be just the thing!

 (If you haven't discovered painter's tarps, I urge you to give them a try. They are an inexpensive way to get a casual looking fabric and are really versatile.  I think I paid $5 the tarp I got and have made two buntings out of it and have plenty left to make two pillows.  You just can't beat that.)

Picking Apples

Friday we headed to Green Bluff with the Divine Mrs. M to pick some apples from her favorite apple orchard, Yaryan's.  She's been going to this place for years and it was easy to see why.  These people baby their apples...truly.  They don't let customer pick the Honeycrisp apples because they say the plants are too fragile and they can't take the chance.  We had a terrific selection of McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Jonathan, Swiss Gourmet, Gala, and Golden Delicious (I know there were more, but that is all I can remember off the top of my head.)  My family likes a sweet/tart apple (not so tart as a Granny Smith, but definitely not sweet like a Red Delicious), so I bought us Honeycrisp and McIntosh...at $0.89/lb and $0.69/lb respectively!!!

It was crisp, but gorgeous.

Look at all those bins of apples.

Buttercup picked out the best for us.  (Valiant stood back and declared he doesn't like apples...who knew?)

The Divine Mrs. M got boxes of apples and while I was helping her pick and choose, I discovered this monster Honeycrisp.

It was huge!  Look at the scale...it weighed one pound all by itself!  Crazy...look at the container of Clorox Wipes or the pencil box to the left for visual scale.  That apple was HUGE.  (Mr. Yaryan was talking about how small his apples were this year!!)

...and no, I didn't bring it home.  I had already picked my fill...it went home with Mrs. M.

Apple pie, apple crisp, apple turnovers...they're all in our immediate future.  Yippee!

Harvest Pumpkin Brownies

Leaves turning colors, the nights turning cold, and the smell of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves wafting through the house...they are the familiar signs of fall.  Last week, as the weather turned brisk and the season officially changed to Autumn, I made two batches of Harvest Pumpkin Brownies topped by Cream Cheese Frosting.  One was for the 'we-call-it-a-book-club-but-no-one-cares-if-you-read-the-book book club' and the other I divvied up throughout the neighborhood.  (Hey, it was fall everywhere, right?)

Harvest Pumpkin Brownies
from Mrs. R.

Ingredients:

For the Cake:
1 can/16 oz. of pumpkin
4 eggs

3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (I did half all-purpose/half whole wheat)
2 cups white sugar
1 Tablespoon pumpkin spice
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

6 tablespoons butter (softened)
3 oz cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon milk
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 to 2 cups confectioner's sugar (I cut the sugar in half and it was perfect!)

Directions:

For Cake:
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.

In medium bowl, mix together flour, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In large bowl, mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, and vanilla until well-mixed. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well.

Pour into 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (mine took 30 minutes). Cool.

For Frosting:
Mix together butter, cream cheese, vanilla, milk and salt until smooth. Gradually add confectioner's sugar until you get a creamy consistency. Spread frosting on top of cake and serve.


I still think the term "brownie" isn't quite accurate. It seems more like a dense cake to me. You can see just how moist it is from the picture, can't you? Regardless, it is amazing and you'll be glad you made it.

Happy Fall!