I heart Crate and Barrel!

I am so excited for the holidays!

I have recently received a holiday Crate and Barrel magazine..

I am in love with the patchwork ornaments!

How creative!

Aren't these the cutest birds?

Couldn't I make these?

How easy would the roosters be to knit?
(for someone who knows how to knit..)

I am imagining an entire tree of homemade knit ornaments...

do you see one in your mind??

Carrot Cake Squares

There are as many carrot cake recipes as there are carrot cake makers. Some carrot cakes have nuts, raisins and even pineapple. The spices in the cake can be anything from nutmeg to cardamom. But there's always one thing that's the same - the oh-so moist texture. My carrot cake recipe is simple with just carrots and a slight touch of spices. Not to forget about the cream cheese frosting. This recipe makes a large oven pan size cake that satisfies even a bigger crowd.

Ingredients (makes 20)
- 2 1/2 cups (6 dl) flour- 3 teaspoons baking powder- 2 teaspoons cinnamon- pinch of nutmeg- 6 eggs- 1 1/4 cups (3 dl) sugar- 3/4 cup (2 dl) brown sugar- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract- 10 oz (280 g) butter- 3 1/2 cups (8.3 dl) carrot shred
{ frosting }- 12 oz (340 g) cream cheese- 1 cup (2.4 dl) confectioner's sugar, or to taste
Peel and finely shred the carrots. For 3 1/2 cups you will need around 8 carrots. Mix the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, combine the sugars and add the eggs in. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sugar until foamy. Add the vanilla.
Start gradually adding the dry ingredients, melted butter and carrot shred into the egg foam. Alternate between the three while mixing the batter on slow speed. Mix just until combined.
Pour the batter into a big oven dish or deep oven pan (14 x 15 inches / 36 x 38 cm) lined with oven proof parchment paper. You can also make the cake in two separate dishes. Bake at 375 F (190 C) for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool down.
Beat room temperature cream cheese and confectioner's sugar until smooth. Taste test and add sugar to your taste. Spread frosting on the cake, and cut into desired size squares. If you want to decorate the cake, nuts and orange zest work great with the flavors.

Stenciled!

I love Halloween, I know I say that about every holiday,

but I have a special place in my heart for any

celebration lets everyone get

hopped up on sugar and act completely silly.

So with the date rapidly approaching and I ran across this great tutorial

at Better Homes and Gardens on how to stencil a pumpkin.

It looks so easy to do and the results are absolutely fantastic!

The Pumpkin Man is back!

Wow, it has been months since I have blogged!

Many things have kept me busy,...let's see...

moving home to Colorado,

unpacking, working,

and creating a home I love.

I have Fall on the mind!

I love the seasons changing, the colors on the trees are amazing right now!

My son wants me to build a scarecrow...which may be my project this week.

I love celebrating, I love parties and dressing up..so maybe we will have another one this year.

This is a Halloween postcard I found online from 1944.

Supposively the pumpkin man is emerging from the cake!

This is a photo of the 40 foot pumpkin man someone created!

Creative!



And then the Disneyland parade of Pumpkin Men is always worth mentioning.


So light your pumpkin spice candles,
open the screen doors and listen to
John Denver...does it get any better? No way.

As John says, "Hey, it's good to be back home again"....