Fall Decor Part 2

Here are a few more pictures before all the Christmas comes out! Starting tomorrow... I know...it sounds early to get started on Christmas, but I do more than one tree and I am having the church Ladies Ornament exchange at the beginning of December here...so I gotta get busy!  :-) Hope you all are having a wonderful Fall so far! Don't forget to change you clocks this weekend!

 This is in the entrance to the living room...

 The living room...I love that there is just one living area...that means we are all together!  :-)

 From the kitchen...

 On my buffet that Tom bought me when we moved here...my fave piece in the house a the moment...can't wait to decorate it for Christmas since it is red!  :-)

 Looking out the back windows...it's a little dark, but the sky was looking so pretty at sunset.

Where we eat ( I think we have had one meal in the dining room)...game room to the left...pool table and my computer in there. Will get some pictures of the kitchen when it is clean. HA!

Fall Decor part 1

Taken from the hallway where the laundry room, butler's pantry & walk-in pantry are located. Leads to the kitchen & garage.

Since we have a lot of family that doesn't live close by and get to visit our new home...I decided to post some pics from around the house.  Don't look too close...you will find a vacuum, shoes and possibly dogs. Haha!  Some are too dark, but bear with me...I'm STILL trying to figure out my camera.  Man these things are complicated!  But I digress...  I will post more, but for today it is mainly the front of the house...  Enjoy!  A few more days until I start decorating for Christmas!  *sigh...

Dining Room from hallway

Another angle from Hallway.

Front Door

Front door and part of the "Reading Room"...theres my shoes!  LOL

A little further in the hallway.

In the hallway...the hallway is about 24' from the front door to the living area...yep, I measured! :-) A booger to decorate!

Fall table decor.

To the left of the dining table.

The reading room...looking for some "comfy" furniture for this room.

Close up of part of the bookcase.

Hallway to the right leads to the boy's bedrooms and a bathroom. The clock looks really small in this picture...in person it works.  :-)

Happy Birthday, Oma!

Last week was my husband's grandmother's birthday.  We lovingly call her Oma.  So why do a post all about your Oma...?  She just turned 97!  Whew...I only hope to be as spunky as her when I am her age.  Her body might not be keeping up, but my goodness...the mind is full speed ahead!  I don't think she has ever forgotten anything...EVER.  She always has a laugh, loves her family and friends and one most dear to my heart...the LOVE of coffee!  Haha...yes, I am being silly, but seriously this is about the only thing she likes to drink.  We get on to her to get some water down once in awhile...she doesn't like it.  :-)  So...in her honor I am posting a few pictures from last year when Tom and I were visiting her for her special day and some flowers we took her.  Also, including some fun facts from 1915.  Enjoy!!!

 

 Tom and his Oma...look at those smiles!

Flowers for her birthday 2011 at 96 years old.

 1915 Emblem Twin...LOVE the color!

 February 1915 cover of Vanity Fair

Some "Fun Facts"...

*US President:  Woodrow Wilson

*US Vice President:  Thomas R. Marshall

* Albert Einstein proposes a new theory on gravity.

* The 1 millionth Ford automobile rolls off the assembly line.

*US population:  100,546,000

* Federal spending:  $0.75 billion

*Unemployment: 8.5%

*Average Income (year): $1,076.00

*New Car (average): $500.00

*Gas/gallon: 8 cents

*Loaf of Bread: 7 cents

*Pound of Coffee: 30 cents

*Pound of Butter: 36 cents

*Quart of Milk: 9 cents

*Pound of Sugar: 7 cents

And new in 1915...

*Kraft processed cheese

*Telephone

*Raggedy Ann

Fall

Just got done watching the Presidential debate.  Will be so glad when this is all over.

So here I go to my happy place. :-)  I LOVE fall and I really wish that I lived in a place where you truly get the four seasons.  I did live in Colorado for 13 years and got to enjoy scenes like this.  Maybe one day again...

1.  This makes me want to bundle up and go for a bike ride...

2.  Wouldn't this be a great place to pick a pumpkin?!

3.  I like to think that this picture was taken from a row boat...

4.  Wow! How about a fall wedding or a family photo?

5.  I love this sweater! It's perfect to wear on the porch in the next picture!  :-)

6.  See those two rockers...?  These are for Tom and I to sit and have a cup of coffee and watch the grand-kids play in the yard.  Sigh...one day. 

Caramel Apple Cookies

So the other day I was in Target (I go there A LOT) and I was looking for caramel apple kisses for my daughter...she had these a couple of years ago and fell in love with them.  Haven't been able to find them since.  Sad.  Anyhow, I found caramel apple mini milky ways!  Oh...YUM!!!  They have just the right amount of caramel apple flavor that I was thinking there has to be something that I can make with these.  So...while looking at all my favorite blogs there was a recipe for these in a cookie!  I was so happy and quickly mixed up a batch of oatmeal cookies, plopped one of these in the middle and viola!... a scrumptious cookie!  I do make a few changes to my cookie mix...

*Instead of two sticks of butter I replace one with 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

*Recipe calls for 1 cup each of white and brown sugar...I used 1/2 cup of each

They are not as nearly as sweet, but I am trying to tone down sugar a bit around here (I know...doesn't sound like it) but you will be surprised a little here and there really helps.  My kids like them and they are really good also with dark chocolate chips.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and looking forward to the weekend.  Can't believe we are in the middle of October already!

The urge for Christmas decorations is getting stronger around here...sigh. 

Guess I NEED to go get a cup of coffee and a cookie...

Quote for the day

I love this.  I may need to make a sign for my kitchen.  Coffee...it warms the heart.

I started drinking coffee many years ago and always puts LOTS of sugar and flavors in it.  Now, I have a Nespresso machine and just love the way that the coffee ends up with a slight foam all over the top.  Then, I add some half & half to my nespresso foamer and pour that on the top so I have a mound on the top like a fluffy cloud of yumminess! (and yes, I have a cup next to me as I type this).  I can't quite remember when I stopped using sugar.  It's just not as enjoyable to me anymore as the rich flavor of the coffee.  Maybe it's my age.

I do enjoy the flavors of fall at Starbucks now though.  The pumpkin spice is my fav right now, but all time best is the gingerbread.  I don't think it comes out until after Thanksgiving.  I do order it with half the amount of syrup.  The almond joy creamer that you can buy in your dairy section is really good too!  I have a slight coconut obsession.

There is just something about meeting up with a friend or hanging out at home with family... a cup of coffee brings you together...holding a warm mug in your hands...making holiday plans...or just catching up...it's the coffee talkin'.

Tuesday...

Oh my word!!!  Pumpkin is EVERYWHERE!  Candles, coffee, candy, cookies, recipes & candies...I'm sure there are a lot more things you could add to this list.  I want to make everything that I see that has the name "pumpkin" in it...oh dear.

I did make a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert on Sunday afternoon.  It was soooo delish and everyone liked it.  Hubby just had another piece while he is watching football and declared that..."this is so much better than pumpkin pie."  Thank goodness because no one around here is a big fan of the pie.

Anyhow...the recipe is from Cooking Light and if you are interested in the recipe you can go on their web-site and print the recipe like I did.  :-)  One of these days I will learn how to get a recipe printable on here for you!  The picture is my slice I had last night. Oh, by the way...it's EXCELLENT with a cup of coffee.  :-)

Monday...

Well, today has been an absolutely gorgeous day!  If you live anywhere near me or are having equally beautiful weather I hope you can take some time to get outside.  Even if it's a few minutes to walk around your office building or perhaps eat lunch outside.  I just got back from going to Target to pick up some med's for my poor daughter who is soooo sick.  She went to her college class this afternoon even though she can't talk or swallow.  See...if she doesn't miss a day of class she gets to skip the mid-term test.  Man, I wish I had thought of something like this when she was home-schooling!  Oh wait!  She did her work in pj's, laying on her bed, listening to music and having coffee.  Hmmm.  She turned out okay!  All of them did!  HA!  I am so far off track here it's not even funny...  Anyhow, I was driving home with the windows down and the sunroof wide open.  Christian radio blaring!  LOL  Gotta enjoy it while I can...supposed to be back up in the high 80's low 90's by the weekend.  Life in Texas...sigh.

My whole post today was supposed to be about the Cherry Blossoms in Washington, D.C.  We were fortunate enough to live in Maryland for a year.  We just moved back this March.  We were there for my husband's job.  It took us about 45 minutes to be at the White House and the Mall area.  Seems like we were in the area almost every weekend!  So much history and beauty!  We could have lived there for a few more years to travel around and see everything, but it was hard being away from our oldest and her new hubby.  You can live in a beautiful place, but if your not with your loved ones it is really tough...

So, here is a few (ok...a lot) of pictures of the blossoms from last year.  We were so happy that we snuck a trip in real quick because the next day a storm blew in and they were all gone!  Serious!  I took about a 100 pictures so if you want more just tell me!  LOL  Hope you enjoy them and get outside for awhile.  :-)

Fabulous Friday...

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to drop in real quick and say I hope you are having a Fabulous Friday!  I am looking forward to the weekend for a few reasons...

1. Husband is home for 2 days!

2. I get to see my daughter and son-in-love...they usually come over at least once on the weekends. 

3. The weather is supposed to be beeautiful!  Hoping to spend some time outside.  :-)

4. Broncos play again on Sunday!  YAY!!! Yes, I will always be a Broncos fan no matter how good/bad they are doing. 

5. Planning some "fun" foods for Sunday to go with the game.  Figured I NEED to start trying some new things out for the holidays and who better taste testers than the fam?!

6. Church...this should have been at the top.  :-(

Hope you all have some great plans for the weekend and it includes some worship time, relaxing time and being with the ones who make your heart pitter patter the fastest!  See you on Monday!  :-)

...here I go again!

Well...here I go again!  A few years ago I had fun doing a blog, but just didn't keep up with it. So, after some coaxing from my oldest daughter I am starting again.  I have a bad habit of putting (... ) a lot.  You will get used to it.  :-) I am hoping I can figure out how to post pictures, too. 

I LOVE to bake and since it is now fall this may have a lot of foodie stuff on it!  I am trying to eat healthier so I was really excited to find this zucchini bread recipe from the mayo-clinic.  It turned out really good and the whole family likes it...which is not always an easy feat.  :-)

Beating the eggs until foamy...took a few minutes.

 Shredding the zucchini is a snap with a food processor.   A cheese grater will work.

 My favorite flour!

 Looks kindof gross, but it's good trust me.

 I HAD to add a little sweet for the top.

 Finished product.

Yummy!!! Perfect with a cup of coffee...  :-)

ZUCCHINI BREAD

6 egg whites (I bought them in the carton ready to go)

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons cinnamon

2 cups shredded zucchini

1/2 cup walnuts (I left these out...family doesn't like nuts in things)

1 1/2 cups crushed unsweetened pineapple

1/2 cup raisins (left these out, too)

Made a simple topping...

1/4 cup of each...whole wheat flour, oats, brown sugar (not packed) & coconut. Melted 2 teaspoons butter...mix until crumbly and sprinkle on the top.

Oven 350...lightly coat two loaf pans with cooking spray.

In large bowl, add egg whites, oil, applesauce, sugar and vanilla. Beat until thick and foamy.

Add the flours, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Beat until well blended. Stir in shredded zucchini, pineapple, walnuts and raisins.  Batter will be very thick.

Divide between your prepared pans (I used small loaf pans so I could share with hubby's co-workers). Bake about 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Mine took about 40 minutes because of the smaller pans.  Let cool about 10 minutes then turn out to a cooling rack.  Enjoy!!!

The best part...

1 slice (large loaf pans is 9 slices!)

Calories: 173;  Total fat: 5;  Cholesterol 0;  Sodium: 104;  Total carbs: 25;  Fiber: 2;  Protein: 4

The topping will add a bit and sorry to say I don't know how to calculate this!  It can't be too much.

Hope you enjoy and someday I will figure out how to make a recipe printable.