Spiced Pumpkin Cut-out Cookies

Cooking

As a kid I remember going to the bakery and getting pumpkin cookies around this time of year. A seasonal thing. They were to die for! They were cut-out cookies in the shapes of pumpkins with faces on them. The bakery is closed now and no other bakery can even come close to doing them justice.

I decided, as Halloween is this week, to make pumpkin flavored cut-out cookies. These are not at all a replication of the cookies of my childhood. They are a different version all-together. However, I thought they would be nice for a little Halloween treat. The recipe can be found at: https://thepioneerwoman.com/food-and-friends/spiced-pumpkin-cut-out-cookies/

Ready for the oven
Just out of the oven
Frosted and ready to eat

These cookies were easy enough to make. The typical sugar cookie with the addition of pumpkin. I did not get as fancy with my frosting as the recipe did. I just made a simple powdered sugar and water frosting with a touch of food coloring and spread it on with a knife. A few got the glory of having orange sprinkles shaken over them. I made a few shades of orange for the pumpkins, giving them a little character like a real pumpkin patch. The family picked their pumpkins from the “patch” and we enjoyed our fall treat. Happy baking!

Making Baby Quilts from My Children’s Baby Clothes

Projects

When my children were little I decided to save some of their special clothes to “some day” make a baby quilt. Well that “some day” finally happened. The clothes were cut into squares and a quilt was made for each of my children using the clothes they used to wear. Ah the memories!

When making a baby quilt from baby clothes be sure to save enough clothes to make a good sized quilt. Remember, the clothes are small and only so many squares can be made from one little outfit. Also, be sure to use pockets and embellishments such as bows and patches. They add interest and function as well. A future child might like to stick something in that pocket after all.

Keeping Bows and 3-D butterflies
Pocket
Pocket

I made my quilts simple and just cut squares in the same size. I arranged them to my liking and then sandwhiched batting in-between the top and the soft flannel backing I chose. I then quilted them via stitch in the ditch or quilting as close to the seam as possible around all sides of the squares. I did the quilting by hand. This is my preferred method. I can relax on the sofa and quilt and I feel I have more control as well. I learned to hand quilt through the excellent book That Perfect Stitch The Secrets of Fine Hand Quilting by Roxanne McElroy. I also use the Roxanne thimble when quilting. It has an opening for the fingernail with a little lip on top. After quilting I attached the binding made from the same material as the backing material. Voila!

Roxanne Thimble

Timken Museum of Art – Balboa Park

Travel

The Timken Museum of Art located in San Diego California’s Balboa Park is an often overlooked gem. While the museum is small, it has much to offer. Perhaps best of all, it is free!

The museum houses a permanent collection and has one gallery dedicated to traveling exhibits. Right now, for instance, the fall exhibition is Masterpieces of Italian Drawings from The British Museum. This exhibition will be up through December 15, 2019. The museum does a wonderful job in creating new exhibits for the space. Often music will accompany an exhibit in the special exhibit. I must also say that the museum staff is always friendly and the guards are some of the most professional I have seen. They truly keep an eye on the guests making sure the art is safe.

Upon arrival guests are greeted by staff and walk past huge tapestries on the walls by Antoine Caron. There is a wonderful open space with comfortable seating. During the holidays, this space is transformed into a Holiday Installation displaying the Jewels of the Season, the ornate ornaments designed by San Diego artists Florence Hord and Elizabeth Schlappi. To the right and left are galleries with the museum collection. To the right is the traveling exhibition. A small gift shop is located at the entry/exit.

The museum offers tours and lectures. The lectures are held in a gallery space with chairs set up, a speaker, and screen. I have attended a couple of the lectures and they have been popular. Come early for a good seat. Sometimes tickets must be purchased for special lectures or music events but many lectures are free. The museum also offers trips to other museums such as the J. Paul Getty. All information can be found on the museum website.

The Timken Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday 10 am – 4:30 pm and Sunday 12 pm – 4:30 pm (Closed Monday). Can’t make it to the Timken in person? Take a virtual tour or view the collection on-line at http://www.timkenmuseum.org .

One of my favorites. Love the clothing details. Anthony van Dyck – Mary Villiers, Lady Herbert of Shurland ca. 1636
Oil on Canvas
The Magdalene Master and an Unknown Florentine Painter – Madonna and Child and Two Angels, with Twelve Scenes from the Passion ca. 1310 Tempera on wood panel
Peter Paul Rubens – Portrait of a Young Man in Armor ca. 1620 Oil on Canvas
Antoine Caron – The Petitions ca. 1562-65 Tapestry French

Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden – Balboa Park

Travel

While visiting Balboa Park in San Diego, CA, do not forget to cross the foot bridge to The Inez Grant Parker Memorial Rose Garden. The foot bridge allows one to cross over Park Blvd and is located between the Natural History Museum and the nearby fountain. The rose garden is in bloom from March through December. April and May will find the garden in peak season. There are more than 130 varieties to entice rose lovers. This is a great garden to stroll and enjoy the many varieties of roses. Benches and a covered structure for shade also make this garden enjoyable for a leisurely outing. Be sure to bring a camera as the flowers make for beautiful pictures and a splendid backdrop to family portraits as well. The garden has won many awards over the years and is a lovely place to visit while at Balboa Park.

Covered structure

Botanical Building and Lily Pond – Balboa Park

Travel

The Botanical Building in Balboa Park (San Diego, CA) was built for the 1915-16 Panama-California Exposition. Inside the building one can see collections of cycads, ferns, orchids, tropical plants and palms. Summer is a great time to visit the Botanical Building as many of the plants will be in full bloom. Outside the building is the beautiful Lily Pond. Koi fish and ducks can be seen swimming among the lily pads. There are usually a musician or two playing outside the building adding to the atmosphere and hoping for a few coins tossed their way. The site in front of the Lily Pond looking at the Botanical Building is one of the most photographed places in the park. One can see why as the splendor of one of the largest lath structures in the world is reflected into the water of the colorful Lily Pond.

Inside the Botanical Building

Spanish Village Art Center – Balboa Park

Travel

The Spanish Village Art Center is located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It is an art collective where members can create and sell their work. Artists can become members in the collective and share studios at the center. The studios are like a little village, each having a welcoming colorful door. It is a good place to catch artists at work and also be able to purchase original art from local artists. Woodworking, painting, collage, sculpture, jewelry, pottery, glass, tile, greeting cards, enamel, gourds, etc… can be found at the Spanish Village Art Center. The different art guilds also hold sales in the center at different times throughout the year. This is a super place to go for original art and gifts for family and friends. They are open seven days a week from 11 am to 4 pm.

My favorite thing about the Spanish Village Art Center are the colorful stones that lead through the center.
Beautiful glass vases, paperweights, and even pumpkins for fall! My favorite studio!
Glass ornaments
Potter’s Guild – Watch a potter throw on the wheel
Pottery for sale
Watch glass blowers in action
An outdoor studio
An iguana bench in the outdoor studio
Grab a cup of coffee and a snack at Daniel’s Coffee

Wearing Scarves for Fashion

Style and Beauty
Fancy Braided Scarf (www.scarves.net)

I love the idea of wearing scarves for fashion. However, I do not always feel chick when I put one on myself. One cannot just tie on a scarf and expect it to work out. Well not on me anyway. There appears to be a bit of skill involved.

I found the above technique on https://www.scarves.net/blogs/scarves/how-to-tie-a-fancy-braid and thought I would give it a try. There is even a how to video! Let’s see if I can get it to work…

Basically the tutorial tells me to place the scarf around my neck and tie a loop then with the end go over with one of the ends and then back up through the loop and keep repeating over and under through the loop and so on and tie a knot at the end to finish. Well here it goes…

my version
my version – no visible tie

Not bad for my first attempt. What do you think?

Making Garden Sleeves

gardening

I can not stand to be hot when I am gardening. For this reason, I do not like to wear long sleeves in the warm seasons. However, this is not always a good thing.

Not wearing sleeves when gardening has caused me to get into some itchy situations. Some plants can irritate the skin and it is best to wear sleeves when working around them. Hence, the idea of garden sleeves.

Garden sleeves can be made by cutting an old shirt slightly above the elbow, turning it under to sew a casing, and adding elastic. If there are no old shirts to be had, or a specific material is desired, a sleeve can be made by using a pattern piece from a sewing pattern for a shirt. Genius! I happened to come across a pattern in my stash for a garden sleeve (Butterick 5506). I had bought the pattern with the intention of making the hat, which I never did. So now, I will use the pattern to make my garden sleeves.

Completed Sleeves

The sleeves can be removed when the itchy task is complete. In this way, one can keep doing their gardening without changing clothes or overheating in a long shirt. Happy Gardening!

Food as a Souvenir (Pasties)

Cooking

Making a recipe from a place visited makes for a great souvenir. Every bite brings back memories of the times spent there and the flavors savored. So if one can’t get back to the spot, bring the spot home to the table.

Many years ago when the children were small we took a family trip to the gold country in Northern California. While there we set out to have Pasties which were common for the miners to eat way back when. The kids loved them so much that we even ordered the apple filled dessert version as well.

Upon returning home, I decided to make a recipe for Pasties. It is still one of my son’s favorites and requested by him often. Every time I make them, memories of our trip come to mind.

Pasties

Crust:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2/3 cup Crisco solid vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup cold water

Put flour into mixing bowl with salt. Add shortening and cut in with pastry blender until texture of flour is like cornmeal. Add water and mix with spoon. Turn out onto floured board. Knead dough with hands for a few seconds until well blended. Form into 4 balls. Cover each ball with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours.

Fillling:

  • 3/4 pound ground beef
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cups diced potatoes
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 Tablespoons dried parsley
  • Milk to brush pastries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix ground chuck, onions, potatoes, salt, pepper, and parsley together in a bowl. Take dough out of fridge and roll out each ball into a 8 inch circle with rolling pin on a floured surface. Brush edges of pastry with milk using a pastry brush. Place one cup of filling on one half of each circle and fold the other half over it. Seal the edges by pressing with a fork. Transfer to cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Cut a 1/2 inch slit on top of each pasty to let out steam. Brush with milk. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes or until golden.

My Take on Death Comes to Pemberley

Book Reviews

This is my second time reading a P.D. James book and it does not disappoint. Death Comes to Pemberley is a murder mystery that had me suspecting the wrong character, which is exactly what a good author intends. But why stop there? After having revealed the true murderer, the truth behind the crime uncovers yet more surprises.

Death Comes to Pemberley is set in 1803 England at the grand estate of Mr. Darcy and his wife Elizabeth. They are preparing the house for the annual ball when an unexpected guest arrives bringing news of shocking events on the estate that, much to the towns dismay, cancels the ball. Now instead of guests in fancy attire, it is the law that shows up at Pemberley.

Phyllis Dorothy James was born in 1920 in Oxford, England. She was known professionally as the English crime writer P.D. James. Many of her books were put to television and film adaptations. James was granted numerous honors and awards over her writing career as well as numerous honorary doctorates and fellowships.