happy busy . . .

This is going to be another photo-heavy post; I've had lots going on!  We can only carry over 40 hours of vacation time into the new year, and I realized here it was late in October, and I had over 80 hours--I needed to burn some time!  And since we get two weeks over the Christmas holiday, I don't need it for then.  So I took Monday and Tuesday and enjoyed another five day weekend.  Bliss!

I did so much I'm going to have to split it over a couple of posts.  Don't laugh. Sunday was our Fall Festival at church, and the Merkel family joined us for the festivities . . . 

It was a fun afternoon, and thankfully, the rain cleared out (though the grey skies didn't) and we stayed dry!  And speaking of grands, I know the kids get SO much candy this week, but I wanted to do something fun for grandkids near and far, so I made these cute little spooky 'hand' treats!

Aren't those fun?  Just a little bit of trick and a little bit of treat.  And they whipped up real quick! ♥

Sunday evening, checking my facebook before bed, I saw someone had posted a photo of wool acorns that they'd made.  Don't you know that the first thing I did when I woke up on Monday, was to gather acorn caps and get the wool and the hot glue gun out?

These things are so cute and so addictive!  I'll do a tutorial post later, because they're so easy and fun!

I also made two kinds of biscotti on Monday.  

Double Chocolate Biscotti and my ol' standby favorite, Cranberry Pistachio Biscotti. Yummy! And since I was making two different kinds, I only baked half of the dough from each. That means there's prepared dough for another dozen of each in my freezer.  That makes me smile!

I thought I was finished with autumn stitcheries, and even got a winter/Christmas stitchery traced out (more on that one later, too), but realized I'm not ready to be done with Autumn.  So I traced out this sweet Crabapple Hill Studio's design . . .

I love Meg's designs; she's another of my favorites!  But I wasn't happy with the white linen.  It was too . . . bright.  So I decided (of course, after I'd traced the pattern) to tea dye it.

I pulled it out this morning, rinsed it, let it soak in white vinegar (to set the dye) and rinsed it again.  It should be dry when I get home, but from what I saw with it wet, it's a much more fitting color!

Yesterday was originally supposed to be the sunniest, warmest day of the week and Todd and I were going to fun around on the pontoon.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate with its forecast, but we decided to go ahead and go out. It was still foggy at noon!

Since it was a work day, all the barge-shipping industries were busy . . . 

Tug boats coming and going! I love the barge with the coal on it.  Coal is a big industry in Alabama. We were fishing around the banks near them, so we saw lots of activity! And I caught a nice stripe!

We were in new-to-us territory, too.  I spotted this old lighthouse that was fascinating . . .

We also spotted two clipper like ships, scooting down the river.  I mean they were booking!  

Earlier in September two replicas of Columbus's ships (the Nina and the Pinta) were in Guntersville, but I don't think these were them.  They were cool to watch, though.  I wish we could have gotten closer, but as I said, they were moving pretty fast.  It would have been cool to watch them go through the lock at the dam! I went back and looked at the schedule -- it could have been them traveling from Chattanooga to their next destination in Rogersville, Alabama.  That route would make sense.  So would their speed!

As Todd fished (and I read and stitched) our way back to the marina, we spotted some wildlife doing it's own fishing on the banks:

Isn't he cute?!  We saw four or five of these bandits fishing on the banks!

The grey skies made for a glorious setting for geese flying in formation . . . 

And for a colorful setting of the sun . . . 

I love watching the sun set over the water.  It may be my favorite thing!

Who am I kidding?  I have loads of favorites!

:)

guest blogging biscotti . . .

If you have a chance, and if you're interested in the recipe for my Holiday Biscotti:

Head on over to Sew Crafty Angel and check out my guest post on her page!  This biscotti really stands on its own as a cookie and tucked prettily into a cellophane bag makes a great holiday gift for lots of occasions...if you can stand to give it away!  Ha!

I tried Almond Ginger Biscotti this past weekend . . . I'll share that one next, if anyone's interested!

This recipe is a little more like traditional biscotti cookie, very crunchy, but has lovely bits of candied ginger in it along with slivered almonds.  Very definitely a 'dunking' biscotti!

:)

Guest Post - Holiday Biscotti

From my guest post at Sew Crafty Angel:

As we gear up for the holidays and all they entail -- parties, gift-swapping, entertaining, etc. -- I thought it might be fun to share one of my favorite recipes, Holiday Biscotti,  that's a sure bet for all kinds of gifting (teachers, swaps, hostess, et al.) and looks so pretty on a buffet or dessert table . . . not to mention it *tastes* fabulous!  So much so, you may want to keep a few tucked back for yourself!

Biscotti is essentially a twice-baked cookie with Italian origins.  It's substantial, crunchy and rather perfect for dunking in your morning or afternoon coffee or tea. It's a relatively easy cookie with a basic dough, and lots of different add-ins give it a wide range of appeal. Today's recipe pairs pistachios and dried cranberries for a festive red and green cookie.

Since my husband and I are fulltime RVers, with *very* limited counter space, I really enjoy my weekly opportunities to cook in my daughter's big kitchen, which means I have some darling kitchen help, Miss Ellie!

After spending a bit of time studying the recipe for herself, Ellie says we're ready to get our ingredients together.

For baking Holiday Biscotti, you'll need to gather the following ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup pistachios (roasted and unsalted), coarsely chopped
2/3 cup dried cranberries
6 ounces good-quality white chocolate, chopped (I used Ghirardelli's chips)
Red and green sugar crystals, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
 
Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Whisk the flour and baking powder in a medium bowl to blend. Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, butter, lemon zest, and salt in a large bowl to blend. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the flour mixture and beat just until blended. Stir in the pistachios and cranberries.  

Form the dough into a 13-inch long, 3-inch wide log on the prepared baking sheet. 

Bake until light golden, about 40 minutes. Cool for 30 minutes.  It's very important not to over bake at this stage and to let it cool *completely*.

Place the log on the cutting board. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the log on a diagonal into 1/2- to 3/4-inch-thick slices. I slice mine from end-to-end, keeping the smaller pieces as treats for littles (or for myself, if I'm baking with gift-giving in mind).

Arrange the biscotti, cut side down, on the baking sheet.  Isn't that pretty??!

Return to the oven and bake the biscotti until they are pale golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer the biscotti to a rack and cool completely. 

At this point, Ellie reminded me that if there are leftover pistachios, this is a great time to finish them off.

Once your biscotti has cooled, stir the white chocolate in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until it melts (or whatever your preferred method is for melting chocolate). Dip the tip (about 1/4 to 1/3) of the biscotti into the melted chocolate. Gently shake off the excess chocolate. Place the biscotti on the baking sheet for the chocolate to set. Sprinkle with the sugar crystals. You can refrigerate until the chocolate is firm, about 35 minutes, but I generally find this step is unnecessary. 

If I have additional white chocolate left after I've dipped all the cookies, I drizzle it over the backs of the biscotti.  It adds a pretty touch. 

The biscotti can be made ahead. Store them in an airtight container up to 4 days, or wrap them in foil and freeze in resealable plastic bags up to 3 weeks.  Tucked in a cellophane bag topped off with a pretty ribbon and a coffee sampler or tucked in a coffee mug, and you've got a tasty gift!

Or the perfect treat for your own afternoon respite during the holiday craziness! Enjoy!

:)

whoopsie . . .

I see that November is taking after October and sneaking up on me!  And we're already a third of the way through it, to boot!  I guess it's time for the ol' monthly stash report update . . .

Used/donated this month: 1.0 yards

Used/donated year-to-date: 36.25 yards

Purchased/added this month: .75 yards

Purchased/added year-to-date: 86.5 yards

Net used/donated for 2013: -50.25 yards

To be honest, it took me a minute or two to figure out exactly what, if anything, I'd purchased in the way of fabric last month!  I added two fat quarters to do Ellie's superhero cape and got a great Alabama Crimson Tide fat quarter as gift wrap for my birthday!  Roll Tide!  That was my addition.  After cleaning up the bunk room -- AgAiN -- I have sworn off fabric buying for the rest of my life! the next decade! the year! a month or two.  Maybe.  *wink*

I also was given a bag of silk ties and some velvet remnants for crazy quilting.  I can't even begin to count it, so I'm not, but I wanted to be forthright in my posting (for posterity).  LOL!

And once again, I have a plethora (don't you just love that word??) of pictures because I'm so delinquent in posting (gotta love me!), so I'll do a pictorial post with comments, instead of paragraphs!

First up ... last Saturday we celebrated June's "One-ness"!

Kim set a beautiful spread!

I contributed my signature cream cheese mints!
 I'll be posting the recipe for these next week.

June is all tomboy...she quickly abandoned her princess wand for the sword!

Ps...unless she's captive, getting a front shot of this girl is *tough*!
But since the back is almost as cute as the front, who's complaining?!

Birthday cake:  a success!

Next up:  Sunday -- all smocked up for a paint day with my youth SS girls!

Everyone with their works of art -- what a fun afternoon we had together!

I did a Christmas tree -- I love it!  I'm in the spirit!

Monday, June and I had one-on-one time while mommy and Sawyer went to the dentist! 

Monday afternoon, Todd and I went tooling around the camp, enjoying the day.

Tuesday, I spent the whole day going through my mess in the back bunk room.
It was a complete disaster, but twelve hours later . . . 

A pan of it's organized neatness!  (Clicking will make it bigger.)  When creative
genius hits, it's easy for the room to get out of control.  Bahaha!

The Panters came by for a visit on Wednesday.  Sawyer was having
a ball playing in the leaves!  Constant motion --out of about twelve
pictures, this one was the least blurry! 

Thursday I got to spend with my darling Ellie!

She was a *big* help in making a batch of my Holiday Biscotti.
And she learned that she's quite fond of pistachios!

The aforementioned Holiday Biscotti.  Isn't it pretty??  And it's *so* yummy!!
I'll be guest posting at Sew Crafty Angel next week, sharing the recipe, in case anyone is interested.

Then last night (Friday), Kim, Sawyer, and I headed to downtown Fayetteville
for theopening night of the town's Host of Christmas Past event!  We got to see
the lighting of the Christmas tree, hear carols sung by the high school chorus
(in which three of my SS girls  sing), and have dinner out!  Sawyer was enchanted by all the pretty lights and decorations!

And finally, I'll wrap this up with some fabric creations!

Finished up my stitching course with the lined butterfly bag and pattern weights.

Kim brought me some fabric to turn into a Thanksgiving dress for June!
(But the fabric is Kim's, not mine, hence not included in my stash! Whew!)

Working on my next crayon tinting/stitchery project for my mini-stand!

And, worked up my blocks for our guild's Starstruck Block Lottery.
The theme this month is "Christmas".  These were *so* easy, I may make a
couple more, seeing as how they're not due for two weeks!

Okay, so that wraps up this week for me!  We've got a camp full of Cub Scouts, an AL vs. LSU game tonight, and then tomorrow I'm headed to watch Ellie while Joc and Jason take an overnight road trip to Atlanta.  I'll be back next week with the Cream Cheese Mints recipe as well as a link to the Holiday Biscotti post!

:)