My Creative Blog:
Farmhouse Table

With Hubby out of town all week, I decided to paint our kitchen walls. But let me just say (in case I've implied otherwise), that I absolutely dread painting. I think by far the hardest part for me is just getting started.
For example, I put on my calender "Paint Kitchen Tuesday." Wednesday came and about 5pm, I called my Mom and said, "ugh, I have to paint the kitchen today....at some point." It was 6pm before I started and almost midnight before I finished.

I painted the walls Simply White (eggshell finish), which is the color we used on the cabinets, shelves and trim (in semi-gloss). With a fresh clean slate, I then experimented with creating a not so kitcheny kitchen!
Jennifer over at The Newlywed Diaries inspired me with this post! As I began gathering up some not-so-kitcheny items, I started to gravitate towards all things white, silver and wood.

I added a clock, some candlesticks, an alabaster bud vase that I put toothpicks in (to add some wood) and my sweet little owl figurine.

I didn't spend very much time on arranging things — can you tell? I sort of began with the basics of all the whitewear dishes and drinking glasses we'd be using on a regular basis. To balance out those kitchen items, I added my Grandmother's old candelabra, her big silver tray and her old little lamb print....oh, and her old owl print that I reframed. xo
I tried to break away from my previous tendency to create too much symmetry. I still tried to balance things out, but in a more irregular way.

I like how the light reflects on the silver things.

I also really love my owl figurine.

And look, here we are....I think this will be Hubby's favorite not so kitcheny addition to our shelves. xoxo

I f there's a bakery in town, I'll find it. Bakeries — the smell of them, the feel of them....are just some of the coziest places on earth. I especially love the ones that use organic whole grains and other ingredients. But I'll admit, any case full of muffins, breads, cookies and pies melts my heart.
I made these Banana Walnut muffins to quench a bakery craving. It was about midnight and we had just put the babies down to sleep. For some reason, I started to think muffins (then sleep). Two very ripe bananas spurred me on and before you knew it, the house smelled like goodness.

This recipe comes from one of my new favorite baking books, " Gluten-Free Baking Classics " by Annalise Roberts. But this batch came from a gift tin that my friend Karen gave us at Christmas, so all I had to do was add the bananas, milk, eggs and oil. Made me think I should have these 'just add...' tins on hand at all times.
Recipe:
2 cups Brown Rice Flour Mix 2/3 cup granulated sugar 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 packed cup very ripe banana 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 2 large eggs 1/2 cup milk 1/2 cup canola oil
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Add bananas and walnuts; stir to coat evenly. 3. Combine milk and oil in small bowl; remove 1 tablespoon of combined liquid and discard it. Beat in eggs. Add liquids to banana mixture and stir until just blended. 4. Fill muffin pans (makes a dozen). Bake 18-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from pan and serve immediately or cool on rack.
Here's the recipe for Huckleberry Muffins from the same book.

I received so many lovely comments on my collection of bread boards! The first thing I thought was that I hope the one with the pomegranate stain wasn't front and center! Also, that these are just our everyday bread boards — not even my old antique ones!
So I thought I'd just share with you my most favorite bread board of all. And it is literally, a bread board. Just for bread.

I found this in an antique store for just $20 — hand carved knife included. I was hysterically excited and remember coming home and putting it on the table in front of Hubby and asking him to just take a moment to absorb our good fortune.
I have to say that one thing that drives me crazy about Hubby is that when I find a bargain and ask him to guess (why do I do it?) how much he thinks I got it for....he always guesses too low. So then suddenly my bargain price comes off (not to me, to him) as not such a bargain! Can anyone relate to this?
I am in the full throes of working on the living room. I thought perhaps I could take some pictures today but it's looking very gray outside so there may not be enough light for picture taking.

We bought some pomegranates last night at the grocery store. We each set off with our designated list (pomegranates weren't on either) yet when we reconvened, we both had pomegranates in our carts.
We agreed, "great minds think alike."
We made French Toast this morning. Our favorite recipe is from, "The Joy of Cooking."
The Recipe: 4 eggs 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk (we use original flavor oat milk) 1/2 teaspoon vanilla pinch of cinnamon pinch of cardamon (something we add for an extra hint of flavor)
Usually we use Challah bread but this morning we just used our everyday whole grain bread we had on hand.
It was delicious.
I've been transitioning things from fall to winter around here....which of course always includes taking down the brown transfer ware and putting up the red. There's a sneak peek in the first picture — but I'll post more soon.
I love the red accents in the kitchen this time of year! It gives the kitchen a nice cheery lift as the cold weather settles in and the sunshine becomes more scarce.
P.S. We also set up the furniture this weekend but still so much to do! New sea grass rug (12x15)isn't scheduled to arrive until December 22 nd! For now, I've put down another new sea grass rug (9x12) that is set to go in the dining room. I'll post on things before the 22 nd though!

I waddled out to the grape vines with Hubby early this morning. I had to lean over quite a bit to find my boots in the beautiful autumn confetti.

The grapes are finally ripe after several months of hot summer sunshine and crisp fall air.

While Hubby searched through the curly vines for bright purple clusters, I documented our fall harvest tradition with photographs (which is another way of saying, I watched).

We only picked a colander's worth because we plan on making smoothies with them in the blender. Our plan to make wine and jam....well, it will have to wait until next year. We're using all of our extra time to prepare for the babies.
But the grapes freeze really well. I pluck them from their stems, wash and lay them out to dry. When dry, I put them in zip lock freezer bags and freeze them. They're easy to dip into for smoothies throughout the year.

O ne of my favorite fall breads is gingerbread. There's just something about ginger, cinnamon, cloves and rich molasses that make it so delicious.

I love to pair fall foods with my brown transferware. I'm certain it makes everything taste better.
I purchased the transferware several years ago when I came across them at Home Goods. I bought twelve bowls, salad plates, and dinner plates as I thought they would make wonderful Thanksgiving dinner ware.

This is what the pattern looks like. I love the birds with the flower adornment.

This is the mark on the back.

This monogrammed 'B' silverplate was my Grandmother's everyday ware, but I keep it tucked away for special occasions. I actually found an entire set of this pattern at a flea market, but without the monogram. I wonder where one would bring silverware these days for monogramming ?
Gingerbread Recipe:
2 cups organic all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 3/4 cup low-fat organic buttermilk 1/2 cup organic sugar 1/2 cup organic molasses 1/4 cup organic low-fat milk 1/4 cup organic canola oil 2 large organic eggs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
Combine flour through cloves in a large bowl with whisk. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk through eggs and stir with whisk. Pour into flour mixture, stirring until moist.
Bake for 45 minutes or until done. Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Enjoy.
Happy last weekend of October to you! xo

T hanks to our recent warm Indian summer days, we're finally able to pick some of our heirloom tomatoes. The tomatoes have been drastically behind this year due to the cool early summer. But the autumn sun has helped nudge these voluptuous fruits to ripeness.

The basil is done growing for the season. I made lots of pesto through the summer which we happily enjoyed with pasta, pizza (in place of tomato sauce), and sandwiches much like the one shown above. So in place of pesto, I've been using sliced avocado instead.
The recipe includes: a crusty loaf of organic whole wheat bread, a sweet tomato, organic avocado and organic provolone cheese. I toast the bread first, then add avocado, tomato and cheese and bake it in the oven for a few minutes until cheese has melted.
It's the perfect way to eat a fresh picked tomato on a beautiful fall day.

O f course I couldn't make pumpkin soup and pumpkin birthday cake without making some yummy pumpkin bread. The aroma of it baking in the oven elicited the warmest of warm fall fuzzies. I love the smell of cinnamon....it's the coziest spice of all.

I used an Epicurious recipe ( found here ).
I think this will be it for pumpkin recipes for awhile. But come November, I'll make pumpkin pies. Also, due to the abundance of pumpkins the garden produced this year (I counted twenty-five yesterday), I may make Pumpkin Walnut Bread to give as gifts over the holidays.
Our pumpkin plant, on average, was supposed to produce four to five pumpkins....so not sure how ours exploded to five times that amount. Perhaps the pumpkins were trying to make up for the tomatoes that didn't fair so well.
Happy pumpkin season to you! xo

Chanterelles are out! We had a nice rain over the weekend, prompting Hubby to set off into the woods in search of the beautiful Chanterelle mushroom.

In just two hours of combing the wet fall forest, he collected nearly five pounds of fresh delectable fungi.
The following book is the field guide that Hubby has been using for years. It's a wonderful book with lots of pictures and thorough descriptions that make mushrooming all the more safe and alluring.
The Chanterelles are gorgeous and smell like fresh apricots! Our favorite recipe for the Chanterelles is homemade pizza, which we had for dinner last night (recipe here ). Tonight, we'll saute up the rest and add it to red quinoa with sauteed shallots and kale.
Delicious.

H ubby (also known as Mike or Sweetie....or for this post, Pumpkin), has celebrated another birthday. He's forty (again). He's decided to stick with forty for another year....or so, and I couldn't help but oblige him.

Here's the Birthday Boy.

I made him a Pumpkin Spice birthday cake using pumpkins from the garden.

It was really delicious....moist and rich.
This is the recipe I used.
Happy Birthday Sweetie!

T wo fresh pumpkins were plucked from the garden in order to make our pumpkin soup.

They were cut in half and their pulp and seeds scooped out.

I separated the seeds from the pulp, washed them thoroughly and roasted them. To do so, I spread them on a cookie sheet covered in Canola spray and sprinkled them with salt. After 10 minutes at 325 degrees, I stirred them again and baked them for an additional 10 minutes until nicely toasted.

Roasted pumpkin seeds are delicious and some of the most nutritious seeds around. Ours didn't last long.
To make the soup, I took the pumpkin halves and placed them face down in a dish to bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Once they cooled, I scooped out the pumpkin and pureed it until smooth.

Here's the pumpkin soup recipe we used...
3 cups organic pureed pumpkin 3 cups scalded organic milk 1 TB organic butter 1 TB organic flour 2 TB organic brown sugar 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ginger
Heat the above ingredients in a saucepan and serve.

This was the easiest and healthiest pumpkin soup recipe I found (no heavy cream). It came from the Joy of Cooking, although I made some adjustments. Also, to make it all the more healthy, I used as many organic ingredients as possible.
YUM.