Pumpkin Pie

Well, this is exactly like the pumpkin pie I cooked up for Thanksgiving dinner this year, only it was a week & a half later. Keira helped out with this beauty! 

I started off with pie pumpkins. Just cut the stems off, slice in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds & strings out, place face down in oiled roasting pan, cover, & roast at 350 degrees for 90 minutes. Then cool, scoop out flesh, mash, portion {I measure out approx 2+ cups into ziploc freezer bags}, & freeze. Or, of course, you could use the pumpkin fresh! Last year I made pie crusts from scratch. This year we used ready-made pie crusts from Trader Joe's, which is also where we picked up the pumpkins. 

Pumpkin Pie

1 3/4 c pumpkin puree {I use 2 1/4-2 1/2 c}

3/4 c sugar {I use 1/2 c}

1/2 t salt {always kosher}

1 t ginger {I use 1/2 t}

{I also add 1 1/2 t cinnamon,

1/2 t nutmeg

& 1/2 t cloves, though they're not called for}

2 eggs

1 c heavy cream

1/2 c whole milk

unbaked pie crust, chilled

Stirring frequently, heat pumpkin in small saucepan over med-high heat, at least 10 minutes or until somewhat dry & carmelized. Remove from heat. Mix in sugar & spices. In small bowl, beat eggs, cream, & milk together, then add to pumpkin. Stir until smooth. Pour the hot mixture into the chilled crust & bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Cool. Refrigerate. Yummy pumpkin goodness! I never liked pumpkin pie until I started baking my own, using fresh pie pumpkins & cooking the puree down til it's nice & thick & somewhat darker than the puree you started out with. I also think cream works much better than evaporated milk. Tweak the spices to your liking &...voila!

A Peek at Our Week

Time for Keira's 3 year old check-up... only a month & a half late this year. {Sometimes Keira just makes me think of my niece, Aleah. This is one of those shots. Perhaps it's her expression, or her small frame, or both.}

Keira loves to look at the "body books" while we wait in the room for the doctor. Daddy is so good to oblige.

For the past couple weeks, Keira wants to do nothing more than spend time with mama, stickering & coloring in the glittery sticker book daddy picked up for her. 

Keira & I were hungry one night, so I fried up some potatoes & added some polska keilbasa, scallions, & scrambled eggs. It was good. Even when Keira saw this photo on my computer she said, "Mama, I want some of that right now!"

It only took a week & a half, over the course of a year! Now for the next project...

Yes, yes they are. Unfortunately, they have to be rationed, as they are $3.50- $5 per box & only come with 5 servings! Yowza!

Keira, speaking for blue lizard, exclaims, "I'm hungry & I'm gonna eat you all up!" Poor little Christmas lights, don't stand a chance.

Here she is, two weeks after her fall, & her scars continue fading nicely.

Playing with Doctor Keira. I had a broken arm, requiring x-ray & cast, as well as some sort of head injury that required a wrap! Yikes!

Another face picture, two weeks after her fall. Her hair is all wrapped up as she is pretending to be a bride on her wedding day. Never did catch a glimpse of the groom though. {Every once in a while I get a shot with my little camera that does Keira's beauty justice. This is one of those shots. It's the color of her skin that is so difficult to capture. Quite stunning, if I do say so myself!}

Kitty Puff Quilt

Since Thanksgiving, I have been rather busy working to finish up this kitty puff quilt I started over a year ago. I made it for Stel & Jeff to give to Jeff's sister & her hubby for Christmas this year. 

{Note: these photos are not meant to be a step-by-step tutorial on how to make a puff/biscuit quilt. They are only meant to show the progress I was making, & the finished quilt itself.}

This would be my work space, complete with my vintage Elna Supermatic sewing machine...my other baby. Betcha didn't know Keira had a sister, did ya!? No worries, neither does she. Ha!

Luckily, I already had a good head start on the project since I began working on it last year. Design, fabric prep, & ruffle construction were all finished. So I essentially had to just pick up where I left off. Here you can see some of the cute kitty squares. I like having friends around when I quilt!:-)

Chain of kitties! Sewing around three sides of each square to make what will become kitty puffs.

After adding a little fiberfill & sewing the final side closed... kitty puffs!

Then it's sewing the puffs into rows & sewing rows together.

As the rows come together you can start to see what the finished quilt will look like. I sure enjoy all those cute, little kitties! Note the twins at the bottom.

Then, pinning the ruffle & back to the front. What you see actually isn't the back fabric, it's part of the old bed sheet I used as a secondary fabric behind it, since the back fabric was a bit thin & you could see through it slightly.

And Oh, the pins, pins, pins, pins! These puff quilts are definitely pinning intensive! I should have worn finger protection, as my fingertips were on fire after a week! It's been a while since I've made one of these, so my memory was dulled a little in that regard. It takes 8 pins just to create each one of those 300 little puffs! Then there's the pinning of all the layers together. That doesn't even include the basting pins! Yikes!

And after wrestling with this quilt for a day or two...Voila! Finally finished!

So I took her outside to get some shots in natural light, hoping the colors would show up better. I think for the most part they did, except the violets. They are more vibrant & slightly more pink than they appear. My hubby says it's the white balance on my camera. I had hoped to make some adjustments & try again, but it started to rain. 

Draped over the chair, with just a peek of the back.

A closer view.

And closer still. Why, hello there, you pretty tabby, you!

I absolutely love how the ruffle turned out! I adore the black & white checkers! Definitely its finest feature, wouldn't you say? 

The front of the ruffle is blue & the back is full of kitties! Here's a closer look at the back fabric. It makes me think of kitty litter!... clean kitty litter, of course.

And a macro shot. I like those black kitties. They're not bad luck in my book!

There were a number of different kitties on this quilt. Here are some close up shots of my faves. Here's another set of twins, fraternal though.

A lucky, black kitty.

Adorable tabby.

And this guy is such a loveable, little chunk!

There you have it! This kitty puff quilt is now on it's way to Washington state, to hopefully spread some holiday cheer! whew!

A Peek at Our Week

This was a rose we picked up for our neighbor, Marie. Until we were able to get it to her, it sat in our kitchen. I like the way the sunlight was coming in the window & lighting up the bamboo & rose.

"Color-painting" in a little Tinkerbell book Daddy picked up for her.

I baked up the pumpkins for pies & roasted the seeds in the same fashion as we did the sunflower seeds before. Yummy goodness.

Keira was feeling much better about her appearance once she lost the scabs on her top lip. Here she is, goofing around in the mirror once again!

Laying claim to mama's new body pillow.

Getting back to quilting! Finishing up the kitty puff quilt for Stel & Jeff. 

Having fun with chalk.

After a week of using Mederma, {a scar cream} all of the scabs are gone! Just some light spots on her forehead & nose left behind. We'll just keep on keepin' on, using that Mederma!

Mama's Birthday

I had all these plans to get lots of great food pics of our Thanksgiving dinner this year, but Keira was long overdue for her nap, dear hubby & I were both cranky, and I was in a hurried frenzy just trying to get it all done so Keira could eat & sleep. Suffice it to say, Thanksgiving was a bust, and I did not get a single snapshot the entire day. So, I'm just fast-forwarding to my birthday the following day.

Keira & I headed to Starbucks for a free birthday beverage & she tried out their new snowman cookies!

At first, I told Bob I wasn't going to open my birthday card because it wasn't addressed to me, haha! Who gets the "M" in mommy upside down? Bob does, that's who!:-)

On the back of the card he tells this story: "No matter how hard I tried to talk Keira out of getting this card for your birthday, she wouldn't have any of it. Once she saw the flashing lights and heard the music- that's all there was to it. This was & is the coolest card she has ever seen!" Bob told me he had tried talking Keira into one of the other cards that had music & lights, but she had her mind & heart set on this card. 

Seems innocent enough. A couple of bunnies, taking a moment to show each other some love...

Then when I opened it up, it was like... okay, maybe a lot of love! This photo just doesn't do this card justice. Not only are the bedroom lights on low, but there are flashing heart lights across the headboard, the card is vibrating, & some sort of breathy porn music is playing...bow chicka wow wow! Oh boy, did this just crack me up!

Especially that Keira simply loves it so much!

You think?

Bob also got me this cool body pillow for the sofa. {I always need a pillow behind my back.} Keira was quick to claim it as her own. 

My awesome sister, Stel, also sent me the coolest of charm bracelets from Pandora, the jewelry store where she works. It came with a charm of a little girl, representing Keira. I just realized, however, that I have not taken a photo of it yet! Darn! So instead, I am sharing with you a photo of her charm bracelet! {So cool! Hope you don't mind, Sis!} I hope mine looks like this some day! I love it! Thanks, Sista!