Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving Pie Recipes ~

The time of year is here once again to celebrate with family and friends and to remember the things that we are truly grateful for!


Thanksgiving ~

The year has turned its circle,
The seasons come and go.
The harvest all is gathered in,
and chilly north winds blow.
Orchards have shared their treasures,
The fields, their yellow grain,
So open wide the doorway ~
Thanksgiving comes again!

~ Old Rhyme

~*~

This Thanksgiving I'm very excited because I get to celebrate this special holiday with my Mom and most of my siblings! It's been a few years now so this year will be extra special.

My Mother is a wonderful cook! My mouth waters just thinking about the food we'll have on Thanksgiving Day. With that in mind, I want to share my Mom's apple pie and pumpkin pie recipes with you all. They're just delicious!

~*~

Pie Crust Recipe ~ Single Crust

(Classic Pie Crust from Taste of Home)

1-1/4 Cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 Cup shortening
6 to 7 Tbs. cold water

In a small bowl, combine the flour and salt; cut in the shortening until mixture is crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with fork until a ball forms. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle.
Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to fit a 9-in. or 10-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond edge of plate; flute edges. 


I just love my apple peeler, corer and slicer!

Mom's Crumb  Top Apple Pie ~

5-7 Tart apples
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. orange peel 
1 tsp. Vanilla extract (pure vanilla flavor, no alcohol)
2 Tbs. unbleached all purpose  flour
4 tsp. lemon juice


Crumb topping ~ 

Mix: 1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
Cut in: 1/3 cup butter
until crumbly. Sprinkle over apples.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 40 minutes or until done. 


Mom's Pumpkin Pie Recipe ~

1 15 oz. can pumpkin (plain-puree)
2 eggs
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 Tbs. molasses
1/4 tsp. orange peel

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
Reduce heat to 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes
until knife comes out clean from the center of the pie.


Truly the best pumpkin pie I've ever tasted!

~*~ 


This year (and every year) I'm thankful to God for my husband, for the jobs that He has been gracious enough to provide so that we have a warm home, plenty of food, and more than the necessities in life. For my wonderful family and my lovely  friends. 

Have a blessed Thanksgiving!

Love,


Saturday, November 5, 2011

French provincial table

Here is my latest project ~

I bought this little tripod occasional table at an antique flea market with the idea of painting it of course.


I was going back and forth between painting it white or blue. I also wanted to try something new this time.

I love the Fleur~de~lis design. I have things with the design throughout different rooms.  Not on purpose at first, it took me awhile to finally notice how many things I had with that design on it and now I can't get enough.
So, I went searching on the internet with that in mind...

~*~

Step 1  ~


I found this free template in an online search through another person's blog. 

Her blog is called My Repurposed Life, she's an expert, and a lot more detailed and creative on her website. Also here's a link to her Fleur~ de~ lis project.


I simply printed the design on some heavy card stock scrap booking paper and cut the design out


~*~ 

Step 2 ~

I decided to go with white since I already had the paint. Even though I've already done other pieces in white I didn't have any furniture in the living room with that color.


The paint I always use is called Heirloom White from American Accents by Rust~Oleum


I usually do two coats as I don't bother to sand down the table at all. (I just clean it really well first)

Once the paint completely dried I was ready for my next step.

~*~

Step 3  ~

I taped the cutout underneath the design as much as I could and then completely covered the top of the table so that the spray paint didn't get anywhere it shouldn't.



The spray paint I used is called Blue Sky #751 by Design Master. It was a lighter blue than I was originally looking for. (Heritage Blue by Rusto-Oleum is what I really wanted). I've had trouble finding American Accents Rust-Oleum products out here. The Detroit area doesn't have the far superior store, Menard's.


I let the paint dry for about an hour. Such a small amount of spray paint dries very quickly.

~*~

Step 4 ~

I think the design turned out pretty well.


I then distressed the entire table with fine grit sand paper. All the edges, the legs and especially the blue paint. I wanted it to look very faded and aged.

The nice thing about purposefully making things look old, banged up and stained is that even if you mess up it really doesn't matter because you can pretty much sand down anything that doesn't look right.

~*~

Step 5 ~

The wood stain is Minwax wood finish and is called Ipswich pine


(You can see how much I sanded up the legs...)

I just sloppily applied the wood stain


and then wiped all of it off with a dry terry cloth


I really laid it on thick with the top of the table, I let it sit for a few minutes and then wiped it all off

I let the table dry out over night as the wood stain seemed tacky to the touch even after a few hours.

I think that using the stain to go over paint really worked out well. I've since read to use a dark cherry stain over a darker blue so it may matter what color stain you use on different color paints.

~*~
The finished product ~


I love how small and elegant the table looks and how the top comes down and can easily be moved out of the way if needed.


 I think it looks very french provincial if I do say so myself.

Love,