Happy New Year!!

Crafty Friday 12/31

Happy New Year's Eve! And good-bye to 2010!

I wish I had something exciting for you to finish off the year, but I've had a migraine all day and my good intentions went where all good intentions go. :(

I'd love to see what you've been up to though. Have you been crafty at all this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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Do You Enjoy Christmas Break?

Being that we homeschool, I am constantly asked if the kids have Christmas vacation. My answer is absolutely!!

I try not to generalize, but I know many public school parents that can't wait for their kids to go back to school. They even count down the days.

Not me.

I take advantage of every day of Christmas break as an opportunity to get things done. All those things that get pushed aside because I am helping the kids with their school work all day long.

The kids are loving it because they can play and watch movies all day. There are legos, cars and wenkinzs everywhere, but I don't care. I'm getting more work done this week than I have all month!

I think I'll even be able to get a head start on our taxes too. My studio is nearly clean, paperwork has been neatly filed and I'm getting together a nice pile of new inventory that'll go up on Etsy next week. It's so exciting!!

So do you enjoy your kids break from school?

Waltz On By Wednesday Blog Hop - 12/29

Welcome to Waltz On By Wednesday hosted by Home Sweet Farm. The goal of this hop is to get new Google Friend Connect Followers for your blog and be introduced to new blogs to follow! We wanted to keep it fun and easy so all you have to do is add your blog link and start blog hopping and following away! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Waltz On By Wednesday unless you want to (but we really appreciate it if you do to help get the word out).

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the WOB Wednesday. Of course, we would love for you to follow your hostess blog, Home Sweet Farm, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow us, just leave us a comment and we will follow you back.

The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!




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Wordless Wednesday - Family Portrait

Delectable Tuesday 12/28 - Holiday Mexican Dip

Is it really the last week of 2010?? I hope all of you had a happy Christmas! I know I did. I got to play with my teeny tiny little niece who came up to visit. She's adorable and soooo cuddly. I was really sad she had to go back home. :(

Anyway, the holidays still aren't quite finished with New Year's Eve just a few days away. Are you having a party to ring in the new year? I'd love to hear what you serve for this festive party!

Don't forget the linky at the bottom! And my apologies to everyone that participated last week. I didn't get to visit and comment on everyone's recipes because the Christmas chaos was making me completely crazy (I survived Christmas! should be my T-shirt).

This week I'm sharing my entertaining go-to favorite. This Mexican dip is horribly addictive and I can eat it all myself if I don't watch it.


Mexican Dip

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 lb. Velveeta, cubed
1 can (15 oz.) cream-style corn
1 jar (12 oz.) salsa, pick your favorite
Tortilla Chips for serving

Mix all ingredients, except chips, in a 3 1/2 to 4 quart crockpot. Cover and cook on high 30-40 minutes or until cheese is melted; stir. Cover and turn on low setting until ready to serve, up to 4 hours. Serve with tortilla chips.


It's that easy and really, really yummy.

For more great recipes visit Two For Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday and Tuesdays at the Table.




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Crafty Friday 12/24

Merry Christmas!! And happy Friday!

I'm not sure how many links we'll get being that this is Christmas Eve, but I look forward to each and every one.

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




<center><a href="http://ourjourneytoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/TomorrowFarm/craftyfriday.jpg"/></a></center>

Waltz On By Wednesday Blog Hop - 12/22

Welcome to Waltz On By Wednesday hosted by Home Sweet Farm. The goal of this hop is to get new Google Friend Connect Followers for your blog and be introduced to new blogs to follow! We wanted to keep it fun and easy so all you have to do is add your blog link and start blog hopping and following away! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Waltz On By Wednesday unless you want to (but we really appreciate it if you do to help get the word out).

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the WOB Wednesday. Of course, we would love for you to follow your hostess blog, Home Sweet Farm, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow us, just leave us a comment and we will follow you back.

The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!




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Wordless Wednesday - Merry Christmas

Delectable Tuesday 12/21 - Christmas Cheese Ball

Welcome to our brand new blog hop! I can't wait to see all the yummy recipes shared by all of you!

Today I'm sharing a holiday staple around here, my Christmas cheese ball. Long time readers may remember this from last Christmas, but I had to share it again. Besides being really, really yummy, it's festive and pretty to look at.


Christmas Cheese Ball

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 green onions (greens only), chopped
1 jar (2 oz.) diced pimientos, drained
2 tbls. butter
2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in cheddar cheese, onions, pimientos, butter and Worcestershire sauce.

Line a small bowl with plastic wrap. Press cheese mixture into bowl; smooth top. Cover and refrigerate until serving. (Best chilled at least 2 hours). Serve with crackers.


For more great recipes visit Two For Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday and Tuesdays at the Table.

Hope you have a fun filled, holiday week with your loved ones! Make sure to check out the blog hop below even if you don't participate yourself. It's a great way to find tasty recipes, particularly around the holidays.

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Do You Ever.....?

Do you ever find yourself making cookies just so you can eat the cookie dough?

I'm sure I'm going to get both sides of this. The ones who say absolutely not, it's got raw egg! And then the ones that say cookie dough never hurt anyone.

Well, I'm sure you can guess where I fit in. Most cookie dough and especially sugar cookie dough is just soooo yummy! I know it's got raw egg, but I've been eating raw cookie dough since I was a toddler and I'm still here. Yes, I know it only takes one egg to spoil things, but I'll take my chances.

So today I am making up some sugar cookie dough to make cut out Christmas cookies later and in the meantime I'm having a cookie dough snack. Yum!

CSN Stores Gift Code Winner!!

Time's up and the winner has been selected using random.org.

I want to give a big congratulations to #65 Liz!!


I have emailed the lucky winner and they have 48 hours to respond or another winner will be chosen.

Crafty Friday 12/17

Happy Friday!! Oh what a week! All of my holiday orders are out the door and custom orders are completed so I've had some time to do other things this week. Things that I have been wanting to do for some time.

The big project was spinning some yarn. I realized that I had only spun 1 skein of yarn since July! I've been so busy concentrating on other fiber things that my poor wheel has been sadly neglected.

I fixed that this week with 2 skeins already completed and one more on it's way. It felt so good to sit down and make yarn. What do you think of them?











So what have you been up to this week?

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




<center><a href="http://ourjourneytoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/TomorrowFarm/craftyfriday.jpg"/></a></center>

Waltz On By Wednesday Blog Hop - 12/15

Welcome to Waltz On By Wednesday hosted by Home Sweet Farm. The goal of this hop is to get new Google Friend Connect Followers for your blog and be introduced to new blogs to follow! We wanted to keep it fun and easy so all you have to do is add your blog link and start blog hopping and following away! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Waltz On By Wednesday unless you want to (but we really appreciate it if you do to help get the word out).

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the WOB Wednesday. Of course, we would love for you to follow your hostess blog, Home Sweet Farm, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow us, just leave us a comment and we will follow you back.

The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!




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Wordless Wednesday - A Rainbow in the Snow

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the home of Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

Recipe of the Week -- Thumbelina Cookies

I can't believe Christmas is nearly here! I've barely even started my holiday baking not to mention all the presents that still need to be finished. {Sigh}

I wanted to share with you my absolute favorite Christmas cookie ever. They've been my fave as long as I can remember and in fact, I am eating one right now as I write this.

You can use any frosting to top these, but I will include my frosting recipe that I use on all my cookies.



Thumbelina Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg yolk, well beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg white, unbeaten
1 cup crushed walnuts
1/2 cup frosting of choice

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Blend in flour and salt. Shape into 1-inch balls. Dip each ball into egg white then roll in nuts. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Dent center of each ball with thumb. Bake at 350* for 5 minutes. Remove from oven; dent again. Return to oven and bake 12-15 minutes longer. Cool. Fill center dent with frosting.

Cookie Frosting

1 stick butter
1/2 cup shortening
dash salt
1 tsp. vanilla
5 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk

Mix all ingredients but milk in an electric mixer. Using highest setting gradually add milk until creamy. Use food coloring to color if desired.


For more great recipes visit Two For Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday and Tuesdays at the Table.

CSN Stores Giveaway! Ends 12/16

Many of you read my recent review of CSN Stores. I do love the variety of items they have in their more than 200 stores including TV stands for Flat Screens and the shipping has always been speedy.

I am here today to share the CSN stores love with you. How would you like to win a $35 gift code to finish some of your holiday shopping? That's right! You could win a $35 gift code to spend at any of their more than 200 stores!

The giveaway ends this Thursday and the gift code will be emailed to the winner Friday. This should still leave you with time to finish up your holiday shopping or get a gift for yourself. :o)

GIVEAWAY~ One lucky reader will win a $35 gift code to use at CSN Stores. You can find them at www.csnstores.com

~MANDATORY ENTRY~
Visit CSN Stores and tell me (in the comment section of this post) what you think you'd like to get with your $35 shopping spree.

~EXTRA ENTRIES~
(Please leave a comment with your extra entries)

~Follow my blog, if you already follow let me know (1 entry)
~Follow me on Networked Blogs (1 entry)
~Tweet this or Facebook it, let me know (1 entry)
~Grab my button and leave a link in the comments (2 entries)
~Blog about this giveaway and leave a link in the comments (4 entries)

*Please leave your email address in your comment*

Giveaway will end December 16, 2010 at 11:59p.m EST. Open to US and Canada residents only, 18yo or older. Winner will be chosen using Random.org, notified by email, and will have 48 hours to respond.

Playin' in the Snow

We finally had our first snowfall last week, but it was not much more than a dusting and only lasted a day. So I was completely delighted to wake up the other morning to find that it had unexpectedly snowed again. In fact it was still snowing and the world looked like a giant snow globe all shook up!

We went out to do chores and I had to take my camera out with me. I realized it had been quite some time since I'd photographed the alpacas and didn't even have pictures of some of the new ones. (Bad blogger!)

Later in the day the kids begged to go out and play. How could I say no? They spent more than 2 hours in the yard! It was soooo quiet in the house. :o) And being the good mommy I am, I had steaming mugs of hot cocoa waiting for them when they finally came in. I even topped them with marshmallows.

These are some of the pictures I took.

No, I did not get George to wear the hat. I photo-shopped it in afterwards.

Crafty Friday 12/10 - Holiday Hard Candy

Happy Friday y'all! That's me using a Texan accent (unsuccessfully I might add). :)

I hope this Friday finds you calm and mostly done with your holiday projects. I know I'm not. Too much still to do.

I've been in a baking mood the last couple days and I thought I'd share this easy hard candy recipe.



Hard Candy

2 cups sugar
2/3 cup light corn syrup
3/4 cup water
1 dram LorAnn Gourmet flavoring (1 tiny bottle found with the candy making supplies)
liquid food coloring
powdered sugar

Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a large saucepan, mix together sugar, corn syrup and water. Stirring constantly with wooden spoon until completely dissolved. Bring to a boil.

Boil until mixture reaches 260*F. Add food coloring (start with just a couple drops at first). Continue boiling until candy reaches 300*F. Remove from heat and stir in flavoring.

Pour candy onto the sprayed pan. Let sit until completely cooled. Crack into pieces and dust with powdered sugar to prevent sticking.


Tips for making hard candy:

• Invest in a candy thermometer. Also check the thermometer before each use by placing it in a pot of boiling water. If it reads anything other than 212* you need to adjust your final temp. (If it reads 214* add 2 degrees to your final temp etc.)
• Check you local weather. Really. Humidity wrecks havoc with candy making. Wait for a clear, dry day.
• Use a heavy bottom sauce pot to boil your candy in. This is not the time to use a cheap pan. Most pans don't handle the extreme heat of the sugar syrup very well.

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




<center><a href="http://ourjourneytoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/TomorrowFarm/craftyfriday.jpg"/></a></center>

Waltz On By Wednesday Blog Hop - 12/8

Welcome to Waltz On By Wednesday hosted by Home Sweet Farm. The goal of this hop is to get new Google Friend Connect Followers for your blog and be introduced to new blogs to follow! We wanted to keep it fun and easy so all you have to do is add your blog link and start blog hopping and following away! You aren’t required to write a post for your blog for Waltz On By Wednesday unless you want to (but we really appreciate it if you do to help get the word out).

When you visit a blog that you like and want to follow, leave them a comment with your link telling them you are following from the WOB Wednesday. Of course, we would love for you to follow your hostess blog, Home Sweet Farm, but it isn’t mandatory. If you do follow us, just leave us a comment and we will follow you back.

The main goal is to have fun and follow the blogs that interest you!




<center><a href="http://ourjourneytoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/TomorrowFarm/waltzwednesday.jpg"/></a></center>

Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Cookies

For more Wordless Wednesday visit A Beautiful Mess.

Review: CSN Stores

Several weeks ago I was contacted by CSN stores to review a product from one of their more than 200 stores. I jumped at the chance. Why not? I'd thought it's be great to see how their service, shipping and products compared to a the other big sites that I normally shop at.

After a whole lot of thinking and debating, I settled on a couple different items. I wanted to see how this site did with multiple items in an order. I also made sure I hit 2 totally different departments in the hopes that they would come from different warehouses. (I probably over thought all of this, but oh well)

I finally decided on the Nordicware medium sized roaster



and some page protectors. The page protectors are kind of weird to review I know, but when you have a home office, office supplies are cool. :o)

I made my order on a Wednesday afternoon and would you believe that UPS showed up the NEXT day with my page protectors! Really! I'm not sure I've ever gotten something the next day, but it looked like they came from a warehouse about an hour away from here. Nice to now that they support Michigan in at least some little way.

The page protectors were exactly what I thought they'd be and arrived quickly so yeah! I will say though that the box they used was huge! The item itself is the size of a notebook, but the box could have easily held a couple pairs of shoes.

A couple days later FedEx showed up with the rest of my order. I was immediately shocked at the size of this box as well, but not in a good way. There was no way the box the man gave could have held a 16" roaster pan.

I was a bit puzzled, but took it inside a opened it up. It was, in fact, the "medium" roaster, but it was not large enough to hold a turkey at all like the product page had stated. Also there was no way it was a 16" roaster.

I finally got a ruler out and measured it. It is 16" long, from handle end to handle end. I was completely disappointed because I had planned on using this for our Thanksgiving dinner.

In an effort to figure out what went wrong, I looked at the same product on a couple other sites. All of these sites listed this roaster as a 13.5" pan. I would agree with that measurement. It's really like a deep dish 9x13 pan.

I spent most of the day considering calling customer service and returning this pan, but something weird happened.

I fell completely in love with this pan. It was not what I expected, not what I ordered and not what I wanted, but I love it.

It works great for lasagna and other casseroles that never quite fit into a regular 9x13 pan. It even worked great for roasting a small ham roast I had.

I would have liked to send the pan back just to see how there CS was, but I couldn't part with my pan. I will make sure I leave a review on the pans product page warning others of this size issue.

Overall, my experience with CSN stores was positive. I loved the fast shipping and for the most part the products were great. I will definitely consider buying from them again. I will just be more careful about the products and there actual size in the future.

(With thanks to CSN Stores for providing me with a $35 gift code in order to purchase and review a product for their company. This review is my honest opinion.)

Recipe of the Week -- Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

It's December! (As if you didn't already know) And that means Christmas cookies!!!!!

I spent the day gathering all the ingredients needed for this year's holiday treats and sorting them on the table. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing anything because I have a LOT of baking planned and our 4-H group has a cookie exchange party this week at our house (guess I have to clean).

One of favorite holiday cookies isn't really a holiday cookie at all, but I only make them at Christmas time. It's one of those cookies that you see everywhere and everyone seems to make them, yet I still get requests for the recipe every year.

I'd thought I'd share them with you this week. The recipe is not mine, but comes from the Hershey company (yum!).


Peanut Butter Blossoms

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates and set the chocolates aside.

Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.


My favorite way to eat these is about 10 minutes after they've come out of the oven. They are warm the Hershey kisses are ooey gooey. :o)

For more great recipes visit Two For Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday and Tuesdays at the Table.

Crafty Friday 12/3

Hi and happy Friday!! I can't wait to see all the great projects, recipes and other fun stuff you guys post this week.

I am trying a new linky so let me know what you think of it.

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




<center><a href="http://ourjourneytoasimplerlife.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af114/TomorrowFarm/craftyfriday.jpg"/></a></center>

A Return to Knitting

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote about what I originally set up this blog for....our farm business. I write about the alpacas a bunch, but I've neglected the fiber and yarn side of what we do.

Our yarn business has really started to take off. Hardly a day goes by now without an order or inquiry.

Did you know that we do more than just alpaca yarn? We have an entire line of organic wool yarns and merino sock yarns, not to mention I now have original patterns for sale! Yes, that's right. Original patterns by me! Nothing too fancy yet, but they are cute little Christmas ornaments.

I don't think I've told you yet that all of this yarn has it's own Etsy shop. All of our alpaca handspun yarns, spinning fibers, dyes and spinning wheels are still in the Tomorrow Farm shop, but the "knitting" supplies (patterns, yarns and accessories) all have a new home at Real Life Knits.

I have been busy night and day dyeing yarn, taking pictures (not always the best {sigh}), adding product to both stores and still being mom. Yikes! That's a lot when I look at it.

After all this work I'm ready to return to knitting. I didn't do much over the summer, but with winter coming on I'm ready to sit and work on some personal knitting projects as well as some shop projects.

I even have a couple new patterns rolling around in my head that I'd like to see come to life. The first one being these fingerless mittens. I have one done, but I'm still not sure of the pattern so it's mate may not be a perfect match as I tweak it a bit. What do you think?

SNOW!!!

Somehow we made it through the entire month of November without any snow at all. I'm not sure I can even remember another November that, that has happened in. Most years we have snow as early as the beginning of October.

The first morning of December greeted us with the first snow of the season. It's so pretty out!



This photo was taken from the window of my studio. You can clearly see that the alpacas are not as thrilled with the snow as I am. There are nearly 40 alpacas out there, but not a one wants to venture out. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Already Dreaming of Spring

Recipe of the Week -- Pumpkin Roll

Hi! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Did you score some great shopping deals?

This week's recipe is probably my most requested recipe. I make it often during the holiday season and it's my go to recipe when I have to take a dessert to a potluck.

Back many years ago when I was just a newlywed, I was at a church potluck and sampled this wonderful dessert. It was love at first bite! Unfortunately I couldn't find the baker of this delightful dish so I came home and searched online for a recipe. (This was nearly 12 years ago so the internet wasn't as nice and easy to use back then).

I did finally find one that was close and with a little tweaking this pumpkin roll was born.


Pumpkin Roll

Cake:
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canned 100% pure pumpkin
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup flour

Filling:
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese
4 tbls. butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Also needed:
Wax paper
clean linen towel (NOT terry cloth)
powdered sugar

1. In a large bowl, beat eggs and sugar. Beat in remaining cake ingredients.
2. Grease a 10x15" jelly roll pan. Line pan with wax paper, then grease and lightly flour the paper.
3. Pour batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes.
4. While cake is baking, sprinkle powdered sugar over the towel using a sieve or sifter.
5. Turn hot cake onto the towel. Remove wax paper. Trim off burnt or crusty edges.
6. Sprinkle more powdered sugar over the hot cake and quickly roll up cake (long edge to long edge) with towel.
7. Let cake cool completely. About 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, prepare filling by beating together all ingredients until smooth.
9. Carefully unroll cake and spread with filling.
10. Roll up cake with filling inside. Slice when ready to serve.

Stand back and enjoy!!


For more great recipes visit Two For Tuesday, Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Tasty Tuesdays, What's Cooking Wednesday and Tuesdays at the Table.

Crafty Friday 11/26

Do you have something to share? Let us know what you’re working on this week! It can be photos of a project, instructions, recipes, or anything else you feel is "crafty". If you have something to share with us on your blog, add your link to the current week's party. Just please be sure to:

1. Add the permalink to the specific blog post, not your general blog address in the Mister Linky form below (need help with finding the permalink? (click here to see a great post Darcy wrote on this!)
2. Include in your blog entry a link back to the party post on this blog! so that your readers can come and see what everyone else is working on today and have an opportunity to contribute! You can use the code below to add the button to your posts or blog if you'd like.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what makes a party fun!! You don't want to come to a party and have no one talk to you!!
4. Let me know if you have any questions, problems or need help!

If you want to play along don't forget to grab a button to place at the top or bottom of your post to show you are participating in Crafty Fridays!
Simply copy the code below in the box and paste where you can edit the html in your blog post.




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Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday - Pretty Please Mom?

For more Wordless Wednesday visit the home of Wordless Wednesday and A Beautiful Mess.

From the Archives - Chocolate Pecan Pie

I'm bringing back a favorite for Thanksgiving. I make this every year and it's my absolute fave pie! It's hard to even imagine Thanksgiving without it.


Chocolate Pecan Pie

3 eggs
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pecan halves, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

In a medium bowl, combine eggs, corn syrup, sugar, butter and vanilla with a whisk. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle chocolate chunks over the bottom of the pie shell. Pour pecan mixture over the chocolate chunks in the pie shell.

Bake at 350* for 50-55 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours; refrigerate until serving time.

Recipe of the Week -- How To Roast a Stuffed Turkey

Does the thought of roasting a turkey make you feel like hyperventilating? It shouldn't. It's not as difficult as you may think. It's like baking a large chicken. Really.


You will need:
1 turkey
Prepared stuffing
Roasting pan with rack
meat thermometer
Aluminum foil (optional)


By now I hope you've already purchased your Thanksgiving turkey and have it thawing in the fridge. It takes 1 day for every 4 pounds of turkey to thaw. That means that if your turkey weighs in at 20 pounds it'll take 5 days to thaw.

Now don't panic if your super large turkey isn't thawing out yet. You can thaw it faster. It just requires a lot of work and attention.

To speed thaw your turkey you are going to have to take over your sink. Leaving your turkey in it's original packaging (with no rips or tears), place the turkey in the sink and fill it with cold water. Please do not fill your sink and then put the turkey in. You'll be mopping your floor if you do.

It'll take about 30 minutes for every pound of turkey and you will have to change the water often to keep it cold. And if your turkey can not be completely submerged in the water, flip it over often so no part of the turkey warms beyond the temp of the water.

Now that your turkey is thawed you can cook it on the big day.

1. Remove the gibblets from the neck cavity and discard. Rinse the turkey in and out with cold water and pat dry.
   
2. Stuff the turkey just before roasting not ahead of time. Fill the neck with stuffing first. Fasten the neck skin to the back of the turkey with a skewer. Fold the wings across the back so the tips are touching. Fill the body cavity lightly with stuffing. Stuffing expands during cooking so do not over stuff! Tuck the drumsticks under the band of skin at the tail.
3. Place the turkey, breast side up, on a rack in a roasting pan. Do not add water or cover the turkey. You can loosely tent aluminum foil over the turkey later if you feel it's browning too quickly (I never have).
4. Roast the turkey at 325* according to the following time table.
   

• 8 to 12 pounds - 3 to 3 1/2 hours
  
• 12 to 14 pounds - 3 1/2 to 4 hours
• 14 to 18 pounds - 4 to 4 1/4 hours
• 18 to 20 pounds - 4 1/4 to 4 3/4 hours
• 20 to 24 pounds - 4 3/4 to 5 1/4 hours
  

Begin checking the turkey about 1 hour before the end of the recommended cooking time. Roast the turkey until a thermometer placed in the thickest part of the thigh reads 180* and the juice is no longer pink when you cut into the center of the thigh.

When the turkey is done, remove it from the oven and let it stand 15 minutes before carving it.

Now go ahead and dazzle everyone with your amazing Thanksgiving turkey!