Fall colors

I love the colors of the fall season. This is one of our new little lace leaf maples. We hope to get it planted one of these weekends in our front yard planter.

recipes

The Pumpkin Pudding dessert was a little bit more favored.....I'm pretty sure I baked the other dessert too long. I was afraid to pull it out after it had baked according to the recipe. I am positive it should have been gooey. It's basically a dump cake.

So the Pumpkin Pudding Dessert recipe is:
Crust: 1/2 cup of each of the following: flour, crushed graham crackers, oatmeal, brown sugar, milk and butter (I melted it, but I suppose you could just cut it together) Bake at 350 for 15 minutes
Custard: 2 cups canned pumpkin, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 can evaporated milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt. Pour over baked crust and bake for 20 minutes
Topping: 1/2 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 T butter (again I melted the butter, but I'm not sure now that is the best method) crumble this mixture over the custard and bake for 20 more minutes. I test this recipe like a pumpkin pie - knife inserted comes out clean.

Pumpkin Dessert (Dump cake)
1 large can pumpkin
1/2 tsp salt
1 can condensed sweetened milk
3 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 yellow cake mix - dry
Combine the above ingredients and put into a 9x13 pan. Add one package dry yellow cake mix (crumble the cake mix on top of the pumpkin mixture). Melt two sticks of butter and drizzle over the cake mix. Add one cup of chopped nuts on top of it. Bake for 45 minutes at 350.

Homemaking continued....

This weekend is our Primary Sacrament Meeting Program. Tomorrow after classes are held during the first hour of Primary, we will be gathering all the primary workers to enjoy a buffet of everything pumpkin. These are my two offerings. The closest pumpkin dessert is one that we use to make for several years back in the olden days of daytime Homemaking. We always had a nice Thanksgiving luncheon which included this pumpkin pudding dessert. The one behind it is a dessert that I ate at a Homemaking Day while living in Japan back in 1986. It was the first pumpkin dessert I ever had that made me melt. I have never been a pumpkin dessert person, but this changed my life. I just hope that it tastes as good as I remember it.

I feel very creative when I "stage" my photo shoots now. How artistic is that?

My Pampered Chef large measuring mixing bowl.

nesting at age 54?

Sunday's dinner salad. I love red peppers, sliced almonds, cranberries, carrots and spring mix with a sprinkle of shredded parmesan cheese on my salads. This is a recipe I have made a couple of times. It actually calls for bowtie pasta, but I didn't have any. Sweet italian sausage, red peppers and 1/2 cup of vegetable soup broth. Easy yet so yummy.

This is a loaf of rustic bread that I made from the dough I came home with from a bread class I took. It's quite delicious. We have been eating way too much bread in the last week. I especially like mine slathered with butter!

My first creative project in ages: This is my baby bracelet from when I was born. I was searching the house for PINK.

This is an earring holder frame project that my daughter Shannon shared with me. I tried to find embellishments that would go with the colors in my bedroom, but everything I found made me think "old lady" so I reverted back to my favorite color PINK. This was a charm that was part of a "happy gift" from my Ross Lake trip.

My work station: my ironing board. Those scissors were given to me by my grandma Waldron when I first started sewing at age 15. She said every seamstress needs a sharp pair of small scissors.

I had a great weekend of creativity and nesting. It felt GREAT! I want more.

Quotes from a wonderful book

I love this book. "Sometimes, all a person needs is a little perspective." I'm going to add some of my favorite quotes from the book. Everyone should read this. It is a quick read and one that you will want to go back to again and again. I'm highlighting mine. There is something in here for everyone. "Most people are just like you, disgusted with themselves for what they are and what they eat and what they drive. Most of us never stop to think that there are quite literally millions in this world who lack our blessings and opportunities, have no food to eat at all, and no hope of ever owning a car".

"When you focus on the things you need, you'll find those needs increasing. If you concentrate your thoughts on what you don't have, you will soon be concentrating on other things that you had forgotten you don't have - and feel worse! If you set your mind on loss, you are more likely to lose...But a grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life."

I dedicate this quote to my true, best & wise friend L: But a true friend holds you to a higher standard. A true friend brings out the best in you. A best friend will tell you the truth...and wise friend will include a healthy dose of perspective." Thank you L.

reflections

It has been a little over a month since Scott and Catherine were married and off to Provo to start their new life together. This has presented an opportunity for Fred and I to do the same. We had a short review of where we have been and how we have been feeling. Next we shared where we want to be and how we want to feel. Let me say that we have laughed more, been more aware of being kind and respecting each other's needs and letting go of getting stuff done and living more in the moment. I am aware that more of the change has been from within myself. My focus has been all about me and my wants and desires and what I deserve. I don't know when things switched into this new line of thinking, but it is a welcome change. I look at Fred and reflect on his goodness and the discipline he shows in how he lives. He has never faltered as I have been all over the page on my emotional roller coaster the last few years. I am so grateful that he has stood beside me even though I didn't acknowledge his efforts. I have experienced for myself and KNOW that we cannot change others - only ourselves. Let's figure out what we need to change about ourselves so we can have the life that we desire!

Baby steps into projects

I somehow found myself in my new pink room or more affectionately known as "Gayle's Thinking Spot" by Fred and pulled out the fabric and pattern for the drapes I intend to make someday. Well I got kind of turned off for now with that project, but decided to cut apart the cover to my serger. So I did start that little project. We will see if I can sew it together and have it fit like the orginal cover. Shouldn't be too hard....right? This was harder than I expected. Pin, un pin, pin, un pin....finally got it fit together in some form, but the fabric gets hooked on the thread on my serger....now I know why the orginal cover was plastic. Oh Bother.