Belle Papier {pretty paper}

As much as I love summer, now that Autumn is in the air…I’m lovin’ it! Some favorite Fall things…crisp air, colorful leaves, a trip to the apple orchard, cozy sweaters and one of my long-time favorite activities…baking! Yummmm… Nothing like all that yummy harvest produce. One of favorite fall treats is pumpkin. Pumpkin pie and a really good Pumpkin Spice Bread.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

2 cups pumpkin, canned (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

3 cups sugar

1 cups water

1 cup vegetable  oil

4 eggs

3 1/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

Heat oven to 350°F. In large mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, sugar, water, oil and eggs, Beat well until mixed. Measure the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices into a separate bowl. Stir till combined. Slowly add the dry ingredient to the pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth. Grease two 9″x5″ loaf pans and dust them with flour. Evenly divide the batter between the two pans. Bake for 70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes , then remove from pans by inverting them onto a rack and tapping the bottoms. Cool, slice and serve. This recipe freezes well…if you can keep it in the house that long.

Now I just had to make a card to go with this recipe. Wouldn’t this to be fun to pair up with a wrapped pumpkin loaf?

Happy Harvest

Quick Tip: Oops! Get the sentiment crooked? It happens to us all! Simply tear off, roll back the edges and stamp on the layer beneath. It looks like a cool design element! shhhhh…. I won’t tell if you don’t!

Do you have favorite things to do in the Fall? Have a wonderful day!

Supply List:

Stamps:
-Great Canadian Stamp Set (maple leaf) from Rummage Bin line by Cornish Heritage Farms
-All Things Fall (The Rummage Bin line) by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
-Pitch Black Adirondack ink by Ranger
-Brushed Corduroy Distress ink by Ranger

Paper:
-Suede Brown dark cardstock by Prism
-Simply Smooth White by Prism
-MochaChica Paper Pack (Kim Hughes line) By Cornish Heritage Farms

Other:
-jumbo eyelet - WE R Memory Keepers
-faux leather cord
-stapler
-button by Autumn Leaves
-copic markers

Mmmmmmmmmmm….I love this time of year. Strawberries and the promise of a beautiful summer ahead. It seems that we spend so much time longing for summer here in Canada that the days pass by so quickly.

It’s been a crazy busy week here. Deadlines. Projects. A visit from Grandma and a baby cousin among others. The first week of all the kids home from school. I’m sorry I don’t have a project to share with you today but I do have a recipe. I made this simple but yummy dessert yesterday for my company and thought I’d share it with you.

If you’re looking for the Ways to Use it Challenge today…Lindsey has graciously stepped in to host it for me and you can find it here. Looks like a super fun challenge! I’m wishing I had thought of it!!! I hope you have a little more time than I for some stamping fun!

Strawberry layer dessert

Large package of mini jelly rolls

2 Quarts Strawberries

1 6 serving package of vanilla pudding mix, cooked variety not instant

1 package Strawberry gelatin

1 large tub whipped Topping

Slice jelly rolls approximately 3/4 inch thick. Line bottom of 9×13 pan with rolls. Wash, hull and slice strawberries and layer evenly over jelly rolls. Cook vanilla pudding mixed with gelatin and 3.5 cups water on medium heat, stirring until thickened. Cool slightly. Pour over strawberries and chill. Once set, cover with whipped topping. Enjoy!

Sorry no photo to go along with it. I had eight kids in the house yesterday… I think you’ll get the idea! Hmmmm…maybe I should make it again. Just for the photo of couse!

Have a great Thursday! I’ll be back with a project tomorrow!
Julia

Mmmmmmmmmmmm…..chocolate! I love chocolate! It definitely is my downfall! Kim suggested a favorite food inspired challenge for today’s challenge and I knew right away that my design would be brown, brown, brown. I honestly wasn’t sure how it would turn out! While I love using brown in my designs, it’s not often that I would make an all-brown design. It’s a bit of a hodgepodge as I love collecting brown embellies but I had a LOT of fun creating it! It’s hard to believe that for years…I hated the color brown. I think perhaps it had something to do with having an overload of it being a child of the 70s?!

Inspire

There is actually more stamping on this design than you see at first glance. I loved making my own “patterned” paper by stamping two Scrapblocks™ on this design…Vintage Ledger and Pindot. I’m just going crazy over this Big Inspiration word set released this month. I just want to stamp it on everything! Tucked into the Making Memories glitter chipboard frame, I stamped a flower from Kim’s Silhouette Blooms 2 set and added some Stickles to the flower centers.

Other fun brown details to find…. Prima flowers and Prima tape, KI Memories die-cut paper and some Creative Impressions ribbon and brad.

Quick Tip: When creating a monochromatic design…use lots of different textures to provide interest in the design.

Kristine, Lesley, Sherrie, Val & Dawn have worked up some fun designs for this challenge as well. Be sure to check them out! Want to play along? What’s your favorite food? We’d love to see what it is and how it inspires you! Check out the details here.

Here’s one of my favorite chocolate recipes. You can also find some of my other favorite recipes if you click on the recipe category here on my blog.

Chocolate Cheesecake

1.5 cups Crushed Oreo Crumbs

2 tbsp. Butter melted

3 pkg Cream Cheese

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

8 squares of semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

3 eggs

Heat oven to 325°F. Mix cookie crumbs and butter, press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer until well blended. Add chocolate; mix well. Add eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition until well blended. Pour over crust. Bake 45 to 50 minutes until almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake. Cool before removing sides of pan. Chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Enjoy!

Christmas is coming and I’m starting to get ready for it. Over the past week, I’ve started Christmas shopping…with large families…a huge job! I’ve also taken some time to pull out my favorite holiday baking recipes and think ahead to what I need. I love holiday baking. It just doesn’t seem to be Christmas without it. As I’ve been super busy over the past week, today I thought I’d share some of my favorite cookie and bar recipes. You know how is it always great to try out something that comes recommended by a friend? Also, if you want a bunch of great recipes and ideas…make sure you scroll through the comments on this post….Spreading a little Christmas Cheer. So many of you were so kind to share some awesome ideas, traditions and recipes and they are really fun to look through!

Shortbread

3 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

1 dash salt

1 1/2 cups butter, softened

Mix ingredients together in a food processor…should form a thick stiff dough. Pat into 2 8″ round pans. Mark each into 12 wedges and prink with fork. Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with sugar and cut into wedges. Remove when cool. Store in tightly sealed container.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1/2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Cream butter and peanut butter together. Gradually beat in sugars. Add egg and beat until fluffy. Stir in drey ingredients. Toll dough, a teaspoonful at a time, into balls; place 3 inches apart on greased cookie sheets.. Flatten with fork and top with cut up candied cherry if desired. Bake at 375°F for 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Eggnog Cookies - Mrs. Fields recipe

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup margerine

1/2 cup egg nog

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 300°F. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mis well. In large bowl, cream sugar and butter with an electric mixer to form a grainy paste. Add eggnog, vanilla and egg yolks and beat at medium speed until smooth. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet one inch apart. Sprinkle with nutmeg if desired. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Immediately transfer to cool.

Quick Tip: Use the leftover egg whites from the above recipe to make the meringues below…

Holiday Meringues - so pretty and festive with colored sugar on top

3 large egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat over to 200°F. Line 2 cookies sheets with foil or waxed paper, wetting corners of cookie sheets to hold linings in place. Beat egg whites with mixer on medium speed until frothy. Add cream of tartar and beat until soft peaks form when beaters are lifted. On high speed, gradually add sugar one tablespoon at a time. Beat until stiff, very white and glossy. Beat in vanilla. Spoon into pastry bag fitted with large star shape tip. Pipe small mounds one inch apart on cookie sheets. Sprinkle with decors if desired. Bake 3-4 hours until meringues are dry and crisp all the way through. Cool on sheet on a wire rack. Peel off liner. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 months.

Gingersnaps -  these melt in your mouth…one of my faves

2 cups sugar

3/4 cups margerine

3/4 cup lard

1/2 cup molasses

2 large eggs

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons ginger

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons baking soda

Cream and beat first four ingredients. Stir in remaining ingredients. Roll into balls. Coat with sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and cool on rack.

Happy baking! Wishing you a fabulous holiday season with lots of treats to enjoy!

Since I can’t upload anything onto this computer I’m using at an office to check my e-mail, I thought I’d share some great easy recipes with you that I love to use. They are slowcooker recipes and what got me thinking about this is my upcoming kitchen renovation. It is NOT going to be fun.

Right now construction is in full swing. DH has dug a new basement addition and had dug out the crawl space under the kitchen. Century old houses are always a lot of work. I have a lot of dust and the house is freezing but at least the kitchen is intact…for now. Once we start on that, I’m not goign to be able to cook with my range. I was trying to think up how I’m goign to feed 7 people without it. Hmmmm…. The slow cooker and my BBQ will be a life saver. I have a couple favorite Slow cooker recipes that are SO easy, I thought you might enjoy trying them out too. And with this entry, I’d like to ask for your help as well. Do you have any good slow-cooker recipes or recipes for those new roasting ovens? I have one of those as well. If you’d care to share one, I’d love to try it out. Post it to your blog and link back to this entry, post in a comment on this entry, e-mail it to me…whatever. If a few kind people wish to share, it would really help me out and also, I’m sure others as well, would love to see your recipes.

Here are my quick and easy ones….

BBQ Pork

one boneless pork loin roast

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

Place roast in slow cooker. Pour BBQ sauce over top. Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Shread pork with forks and serve on buns.

Taco Chicken

4 boneless chicken breasts

1 package of taco seasoning

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Sprinkle with taco mix. Cook for4-6 hours on low. Shread meat and serve in tortillas with lettuce, cheese, tomatoes and taco sauce.

Told you they were easy! But they are great family friendly recipes. More time to stamp! And I’m sincerely hoping my new wireless modem will arrive today so I can actually post some new designs! I’m trying to hang in there….