PTI {pardon the interruption}

I am interrupting my regularly scheduled post to share

the Grand Surprise

that was waiting for me when I arrived home.

Apparently the hubs decided our 80's wallpaper was coming down THIS week!

Yes, that's right, the last of the dusty blue and mauve, that was so popular back in the day, is finally off the walls in the master bedroom.

I am so happy about having it removed as it was long overdue. I was gone during most of the mess however from what I could tell it didn't take long to strip the walls, then clean up and put everything somewhat back in place.  Now the walls are bright and ready for some paint but that will have to wait until at least January.

So stay tuned for more Master Bedroom Makeover progress.

Until then I have one more Thanksgiving recap post and then onto holiday crafts and baking.

Happy Wednesday!

Pumpkin Pies with leaf cutout crusts

This was the year of the fancy cutout pie crust. I have admired the beautiful pies with the decorative crusts in magazines and online for several years. They look so festive for the holidays and so I decided that this year I would kick my baking up a notch. 

I found some cute fall leaf and acorn cutters on sale for a total of less than $3.00 so I figured why not give it a try.

The crusts took a little longer to make of course but they looked pretty cute as I put them in the refrigerator to chill a bit while I made my pumpkin filling. 

The pies didn't bake up quite as perfect as they usual do but they tasted just the same. The leaves and acorns made the crust quite a bit thicker than usual and as for me, I prefer mostly pumpkin and whipped cream with a minimal amount of crust. I am not sure whether or not I will make crusts like this again but it sure was fun to try.

Happy Monday!

Pumpkin Cheeseball and Turkey Cheese Platter

Two fun Thanksgiving appetizers this year. 

The pumpkin cheeseball was easy to make however I wasn't sure how it would taste since I did not follow any one particular recipe due to lack of required ingredients on hand on Thanksgiving Eve. As usual I improvised. It was apparent  however, by the empty plate, that everyone really liked it. I will need to make a note of the ingredients I used so I can make it again.

Also, I could not resist making this cute Turkey cheese platter although one person thought it was a mouse. Haha! 

Have a super Saturday!

Cranberry Chutney ~ Thanksgiving 2017

It is always fun to try new recipes for the holidays. Usually I have decided well in advance on everything that I am making for a big holiday dinner however, once in awhile I discover a recipe at the last minute that I feel a need try and this was one of those times. 

I had been looking through my Taste of Oregon Cookbook for something completely unrelated to Thanksgiving and my book opened up to this Cranberry Chutney recipe. It was Wednesday evening and my kitchen was in full operation at the time but I knew instantly I wanted to try it. I quickly read through the list of ingredients and as luck would have it I had everything on hand so it was a GO. 

It took no time at all to get the ingredients prepped, in the pot and to a boil. While it gently simmered for the next hour I had time to get back to preparing other items on the menu.

Now that it is all said and done I must say it was well worth the slight detour from my timeline.

This Cranberry Chutney was great and I will definitely make it again. 

Happy Friday!

A Thanksgiving Prayer

Happy Thanksgiving!

paper stars and wreath

Look what you can do with an old magazine!

To practice folding paper stars I used pages from a December issue of one of my magazines.

This was a great project to work on while I made my Thanksgiving to~do lists.

It is fun to see how the image turns out when the star is finished. Maybe we'll make paper star ornaments while we wait for dinner tomorrow?? For now though, it is time to get back to Thanksgiving prep.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate

You can never go wrong with this combination,

so I decided to make these little parfaits for dessert.

They were awesome!

Happy Saturday!!

Sunday Supper Leftovers

What do you make with leftover ham and spicy cooked shrimp?

Jambalaya of course!

Ok, I admit, I did not think of the idea on my own. I was having trouble thinking of something to fix with our leftovers from Sunday Supper so I turned to my trusty cookbooks and found the perfect recipe. It was delicious and it only took about 35 minutes to make. It's a keeper!

Happy Weekend!