Friday, October 26, 2012

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barred clouds bloomthe soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind loves or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
 ~  John Keats  ~

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Halloween DVD Countdown 2012



We begun our Halloween DVD countdown on the first beginning with the Harry Potter set 1 - 7 part 2 and we will continue through the rest of the month with the following:

Abbot and Costello Meets the Mummy
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Van Helsing
The Mummy (original)
Frankenstein (original)
Bram Stoker's Dracula
Hocus Pocus
An American Werewolf in London
Young Frankenstein
Sweeney Todd (our yearly must watch)
Practical Magic
Nightmare Before Christmas
Sleepy Hallow
The Little Vampire
Snow White and the Huntsman
The Others
Monster House
Red Riding Hood
Addams Family
Interview with a Vampire
High Spirits
Beetle Juice

And to round it out Popcorn, popcorn, and more popcorn. Well maybe a few
 bits of chocolate with Beetle Juice after all it will be Halloween.



Monday Menu Plan

 
 
Brrrr - things sure have turned chill here this past weekend, however I'm not going to complain. I've grown very tired of the hot humid weather that seem to have hung over us for so long. we are finally going to get to what Joseph has been waiting for in school a study of farming of sheep. Back in the late summer I purchased us some drop spindles and wool to use with this block and he has been dying to use them. He's been working on knitting - he already knows how to crochet. I' knitting him a Weasley sweater from Knitted Charms - hope to have it done by the end of December when cold weather really hits - maybe I'll get lucky and get it done for Christmas. His Monday baking will be making pumpkin spice cookies. Here's what will be on the dinner table this week.

potato & spinach frittata, salad, toast & jam
veggie pizza, salad
steak sliders, green bean casserole
roasted chicken, long grain & wild rice, maple roasted carrots
tomato lasagna, salad, garlic toast
salmon patties, herb roasted fingerling potatoes, seasoned greens, apple crisp
Italian Bean soup, rolls

Be sure to check out all the other yummy meal plans this week at I'm an Organizing Junkie.  Have a brilliantly blessed week.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Halloween is Near



When whiches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers,
 'tis near halloween."   Author Unknown

Pumpkin Pasties


This is a variation of the Pumpkin Pasties recipe in The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook by Dinah Bucholz. If you ever get a chance to get your hands on this wonderful book  - do so. It has some wonderful traditional English recipes that are delicious. These little hand pies are so simple to make that I had Joseph make them for our Monday baking to use for our afternoon snack.

Pumpkin Pasties

1 homemade pie crust or gluten free pie crust recipe
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4   cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 Tablespoons almond milk
colored sugar crystals of choice

1. Combine the pumpkin puree, brown sugar,  nutmeg, cinnamon, and ginger in a small bowl. Stir to mix well. Set aside.

2. Make the pie crust. Roll out the pie crusts and cut into four-inch circles.

3. Put 1 - 2 Tablespoons of the pumpkin filling into one side of the pastry circles.  Then fold over and crimp the edges with a fork to seal it. Make a couple of slashes in the tops with a sharp knife to make vents.

4. Brush the top of each with the milk and sprinkle with colored sugar of choice.

5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until a golden brown.

Monday, October 1, 2012


 
Happy October! This year seem to be flying by ever so quickly. One month begins and then its done. I always heard that the older you get the faster time passes - it seems to be true. Oh, to be a child so that I could relish and delight in the slow leisurely days of time. I do hope you are having a wonderful day and here's what's on our table this week.

sausage stuffed acorn squash, green salad, grapes
BBQ chops, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans
steak sandwiches, salad, baked apples
Slow Cooker chicken tacos, Spanish rice
roasted butternut squash with kale, beans, corn muffins
veggie pizza, salad
Irish stew, soda bread

I'll also be making millet muffins for the freezer, pumpkin pasties and  polenta parmesan thyme crackers for the jar.
Be sure to check out all the wonderful menus this week at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Have a brilliantly blessed week.

October is Here


" The sweet calm of October, now warms the low spot; upon its grassy mold
The purple oak-leaf falls; the birchen bough drops its bright spoil like arrow-heads of gold. "

~ Willim Cullen Bryant ~