Pumpkins and presents. And foodgasms.

Hello Friends.

I should have mentioned in my last post that classes for me were starting back up, which means my computer time would more often than not be devoted to scholastic ventures.  Well, and my blog reading.  It's interesting that during class session I typically don't cut back on doing projects per se... I really should, but I find that taking breaks to let my mind rest from the maths and memorizations is actually pretty conducive to getting good scores.  But, between the (moderate) amount of parenting I do, after school activities for my girl, and my homework, the chunks of time I can set aside for sewing/whatnot are limited.  I find that if I can't get it done in an hour or so, I choose something else to work on.

Which means I have about 500 projects in the works, but not really anything completed to show you guys.  

The kids and I have finished some fall decorating though.  My "fall" decorating philosophy is just that- I go by fall-ish decor rather than by holiday.  From September to November, Halloween and Thanksgiving blend into "those Holidays with orange stuff."  Lots of leaves and pumpkins and cinnamon smells.

We went allll over Monterey one afternoon collecting leaves for these wreaths.  It was trickier than it sounds, as this area has very few big deciduous trees.  It was a lot of fun raiding people's gardens, though.  For just a "killing time til daddy gets home" kind of craft, I think they turned out pretty well!

This one "Asher" made...

And here's Kenzie's.  I wish we had used some brown plates or something, but this is what I had.

Ash helped me string this little garland for the door, and along with some super ugly gourds, our house is now appropriately festive.  (Don't look too hard at this picture- I didn't realize that it was out of focus until uploading it here, and I'm too lazy to take another one).

 For inside, the kids made some finger print fall tree paintings.  These look so much better on Pinterest (doesn't everything?).  But my kids couldn't really sit still long enough to do nice neat fingerprints for each leaf.  I do like the ground beneath MacKenzie's tree, though.

We used some more of our leaves to make turkeys for the mantle.  This one's face cracks me up....

And for the "spooky" side of fall, we made some woven spider webs.  Both kids really liked this, and they sometimes play with their little spiders in their webs.  If I were to redo, I think painting the plates black, and using white string would look really neat.  

I've also been working on the kids costumes.  Kenzie wanted to be a ballerina peacock this year, and I was actually pretty excited to design that one.  And to make them matchy-matchy, Ash will be an owl.  Maybe.  He won't try the outfit on so that I can get it sized.  He may be a "very very sad boy forced to wear an owl costume" for Halloween.  

Both costumes involve a lot of felt.  A lot.  My hands were really sore for a while from cutting all these darn feathers out.  

Here's the start to the tail.  It's going to be semi-quilted and (hopefully) fabulous.  I'm kinda jealous.  

And the owl face which is attached to a fleece pilot's cap.  Cutest thing ever.  Boy won't put it on. 

 

Aside from the felt, I've been trying my hand at fabric dying.  I was going for an ever-trendy ombre look for the peacock's ballet skirt, but didn't quite achieve it.  But it turned out good-enough (especially considering it's only for one night and will likely be covered in chocolate upon it's first wearing)...

To distract myself from studying, I also have developed a bit of a habit of felt foods.  This was taken a few weeks ago- the collection has grown since then.  They are for the kids' Christmas present, which is a makeover of a spare room into a playroom, complete with stage, farmer's market, restaurant, kitchen, and play garden.  I'm pretty excited about it.  And about the felt food.  

And speaking of Christmas, I started a quilt!  It's been awhile, and I like the stack-and-slash quickness of this design.  It has been really relaxing, actually.  

Finally, it wouldn't be an autumn post without a little pumpkin spice, right?  I made this today and it is good.  Like, really really good.  And guess what?
I wrote down the ingredients!!

So, because I love you guys, here is a recipe for this really really good pumpkin spice cake.
(Really good.)

(So good in fact that I started eating it mid photoshoot.  Yum......)

 Pumpkin spice cake with bourbon maple cardamom glaze

For cake:

(in bowl, mix dry ingredients:)
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal (can sub ww flour, but try to get the meal.  It's great for other stuff, too, like breading.)
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2-3 tbsp garam masala powder
1 1/4 cup brown sugar

(in another bowl, mix wets:)
1/2 cup buttermilk  (can make this by adding 1/2 tbs lemon juice to the milk and letting sit for ten minutes or so)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1 cup pure pumpkin puree


Combine all ingredients, divide into two greased 8 inch cake pans, and bake at 350 for thirty minutes.

*So, for the glaze, a disclaimer.  I had planned on making a maple cream cheese frosting, but when I reached for the maple syrup I noticed the bourbon.  I love a boozy dessert.  So I went for a bourbon glaze instead. The two cake pans work well if you want the frosting in between the layers- or, if you go with the glaze, you'll just have two cakes.  Two!  Sweet.

Mix:
half a stick of softened butter with 3 or 4 tbsp bourbon, about the same maple syrup, half a cup of agave syrup, an 8 oz container of whipped cream cheese, and a half cup powdered sugar.  I added about a teaspoon of cardamom seeds.
It's good.




I thought 17 photographs in one blog post just wasn't quite enough, so I thought I'd toss one more on here.


Izzy.  Our new cat.  She's a doll and remarkable tolerant of the kids.  That's a good thing.