Happy Thanksgiving!

 Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! We are looking forward to a day with family, friends and good food.

The turkey's safe at our house because we are vegetarians. So what do vegetarians eat for Thanksgiving? Our menu changes a little every year but there are a few things that are "tradition" as my kids call it! This year we are adding a new food to our menu--one I have been wanting to try for some time. When we drive by Hood River we can see the big Tofurky sign from the freeway. Well, this year we bought a Tofurky Vegetarian Feast. I hope it lives up to my hopes, dreams and expectations! 




Our holiday menu will include:

• Tofurky Vegetarian Feast
• Kathy's Holiday Dressing
• Brussels Sprouts
• Roasted Vegetables (butternut squash, carrots, Yukon Gold potatoes, parsnips, shallots, mushrooms, elephant garlic)
• Fresh green salad
• Cranberry sauce
• Squash rolls
• Apple Pie and Vegan Pumpkin Pie with Coconut Milk Whipped Topping

I am thankful for each one of you who take the time to visit my blog. You are important to me. Have a great day with those you love. Kat

Project #3

Finally, the third project from our November Stamping Club. This card used:

• Bashful Blue and Marina Mist card stock
• Glossy paper (don't try to use photo paper as it dries too fast.
• Come to Bethlehem stamp set
• Versamark ink pad
• Black emblossing powder
• Summer Sun Classic ink pad (for star)
• Marina Mist and Bashful Blue Classic Ink pads (for brayered background--sooo fun)
• Basic Rhinestone

It is unusual for me to tear paper for a card because I want to tear it "perfect"! Now, really, is there a perfect way to tear paper?!!! Looking at the picture I am thinking to myself that the bottom of the picture could be torn a little more:(

I want to thank Dawn Griffith for her video at Dawn's Stamping Thoughts  on this card. I had hoped to do it last year but thought I could use Photo paper instead of Glossy paper--wrong!!! So saved it for this year! 

Have a great day and a thankful heart! Kat

Stampin' Up! Online Spectacular!!!

I love a sale and especially when it involves stamping!! Stampin' Up! has two items--the Simply Scored Scoring Tool and the Cookie Press for 20% off until 11:59 pm (MT) today. But there are lots of fun products up to 60% off including fabric!!! So got to www.stampinup.com, click on the "shop now" window and start shopping! Sale items can be combined with nonsale items so be sure to check out the Clearance Rack. Put my name, Kathy Skinner, as your demonstrator to receive preferred pricing. Other than the two 24 hour sale items, the rest of the sale runs through November 30!


Get a little jump on the Black Friday sales! Kat

Can't Believe It's Friday!

I can't believe it's Friday already! And the Friday before Thanksgiving at that!!! Oh, will I ever be ready?!!! I guess ready or not the company will come so hope I have something good to feed them and the house looks presentable. I made 21 more quarts of applesauce yesterday. The non-canners among you may wonder why 21 and the answer to that is 7 quarts fit in a canner so 21 quarts is three canners full. I have one more batch of applesauce to get done and then the project will be finished--even if I do still have more apples:) The batch I just made was using Fuji and Cameo apples. I love combining varieties to see how it tastes. Very yummy indeed! 

The second card we made at stamping club on Wednesday is this very elegant snowflake card. The base of the card is Night of Navy card stock with Baja Breeze layered on top. The stamping was done on Whisper White card stock.


I used the Snow Swirled stamp set stamping the large snowflake in Basic Gray (stamped off once); the medium snowflake stamped in Night of Navy and the small snowflake stamped in Not Quite Navy. The sentiment was stamped in Night of Navy. Basic Rhinestones were used in the centers of the five largest snowflakes. This card is thanks to Candice at Crafting Elegance. I signed up for her Six Weeks of Christmas emails and this was one of them. Candice has a lot of great ideas so I hope you visit her blog.


Well, got lots of housework left to do today in between pottying the new puppy so better get to it. Have a great day and a wonderful weekend! Kat

Happy Stampers Meet Again!

I LOVE my stamping club and look forward to meeting with these fun ladies every month! Don't mess with my stamping club night:)) This month we made THREE  cards that I will share with you over the next few days. 

This card was totally CASed (copied) from Corrine Summers aka Roxy at Stamping with Roxy. Thanks Roxy! 


For this project I used:

• Very Vanilla Cardstock
• Frostwood Lodge dsp
• Hand Penned stamp set
• Snowbrust embossing folder for the Big Shot
• Old Olive Classic Ink Pad
• Mini Jingle Bells which I attached with Mini Glue Dots

This card is so elegant but quick and easy! And don't you love the Merry Christmas stamp?!!! LOVE IT!!! Also love the Snowburst Embossing Folder and the Frostwood Lodge dsp.  Oh! I might as well admit it...I love all of it!!!

I'll be back tomorrow with another stamping club project.  Kat

Birthday Card

Oh my! I had forgotten how good that Carrot Cake recipe is!!! I am sure I used a whole day's Weight Watcher points on that one piece but it was sooo worth it:) My son likes John Deere. He works on a wheat ranch and drives tractors all the time so you would think he would be tired of ole' John Deere but he also has John Deere hats, t-shirts, tins, replicas and other memorabilia. So when I saw the card that Joan Robertson at Joan's Daily Stampede made I had to try it. She has a video to show just how to do it. She has a lot of other fun cards to make as well.

This is my version of Joan's card. It is made of punches--lots of punches! The punches used for this card are:

• Extra Large Tag Punch
• 2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch
• 1 3/4" Circle Punch
• 1 1/4" Circle Punch
• Word Window Punch
• Photo Corners Punch (retired)

My son was thrilled with his card and I will be showing it off to the ladies at stamping club tonight!

Have a great day! Kat

Happy Birthday, Scott!

Today is my son's 39th birthday! Happy Birthday, Scott! For at least the last 30 years he has requested carrot cake made from the same old recipe! I will be giving you that recipe today. 


In addition to the cake I also made a few of his favorite foods for supper. Don't we always celebrate with food?!!! By the looks of my hips I must do a lot of celebrating:))) Non-vegetarians have probably never heard of Loma Linda Tender Bits but vegetarians surely have. I bread them and fry (nasty word) them in a little oil. Then another of his favorites that I rarely make is carrot salad--yum! yum! I rounded out the meal with some hashbrowns I made from the potatoes I baked yesterday.

I have seen a lot of recipes for carrot salad but mine is simple--grated carrots, pineapple chunks, raisins and mayonnaise--simple! If I have mini marshmallows I throw some in but I usually don't have any on hand.


Carrot Cake


2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups oil
4 eggs
3 cups grated raw carrots
1 cup chopped nuts
Combine ingredients with an electric mixer, adding eggs one at a time. Add nuts and carrots last. Pour into baking pan--oblong, angel food, bunt or 2 layers. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40 minutes if using a layer pan; bake 1 hour and 20 minutes if using an angel food or bundt pan.


Frosting
3 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
Blend cream cheese and cream; add vanilla and sugar. Cake may be frosted while warm.


This recipe comes from a cookbook I have had for years called An Apple A Day...Vegetarian Cookery by Doctors' Wives. However, if you are looking for healthy recipes, this is not the cookbook you're looking for--lots of fat and sugar in these recipes but they sure are yummy:) I get this cookbook out for special occasions only!


Enjoy your kids today--the little ones and the big ones!  Kat

Canning Applesauce

Making applesauce with a Victorio Multi-strainer

Yesterday my kitchen was a sticky mess making applesauce. Normally I make applesauce with apples from our very own trees but this year between the coyotes and the porcupines we didn't get very many apples:( The coyotes ate the apples (plums, pears and grapes, too) and the porcupines ate all the rest! So my super shopper hubby went to Andy's Market in College Place, WA where they sell the best tasting apples for the best prices and purchased a bunch of apples--Fuji, Jonagold and Cameo. 

14 of the 21 quarts I canned

I decided to mix the Fuji and Jonagold first so made 21 quarts with this combo. Oh, my! It is delicious! I can't even take the credit for the flavor because it is just the apples--no sugar or sweetener of any kind; just plain apples! Next week I want to try mixing Fuji and Cameo.


I want to share with you one of our very favorite breakfast dishes...


Applesauce Toast


Whole Wheat Toast
Peanut butter or almond butter (sunflower seed butter is good too)
Applesauce (home-canned is best)


Put nut butter on toast then ladle warm applesauce on top. Enjoy! Yummylicious!!! Great for when you're feeding a crowd. Add some fresh fruit and you have a meal fit for a king (or queen)!


Have a great day and a super weekend. Kat

Holiday Bread Recipe

My friend Heidi makes super delicious sweet breads for the holidays. I always love to taste her creations for they are tasty treats indeed! The recipe she is sharing with us today is called Caramel Apple Bread with Coconut Topping. Just the name sounds yummy!!! Treat your friends with this delicious bread for the holidays!


Caramel Apple Bread with Coconut Topping


3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 cup applesauce
1/2 cup butter
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (Heidi always adds extra)
1/4 cup dried coconut

1. In an 8-10" nonstick frying pan over high heat, shake and tilt 1/2 cup sugar until melted and amber colored (about 4 minutes); be careful not to burn. At once, pour hot caramel into a 12" foil square on a flat surface. When caramel is cool enough to handle, peel off foil. Break caramel into chunks and put in a heavy plastic food bag. With a rolling pin, crush into small pieces.
2. In a large bowl combine egg, applesauce, 1/4 cup butter, vanilla and brown sugar. With a mixer on medium-high speed, beat until well blended. Stir in flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; beat just until evenly moistened. Stir in caramel.
3. Scrape batter into a large buttered loaf pan.
4. Set pan on a sheet of foil placed on oven rack (to catch drippings). Bake at 350 degrees until bread is firm when pressed in the center--about 40 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix coconut with remaining 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup butter. When bread is firm to touch, spread mixture evenly over hot loaf. Continue to bake until coconut topping is evenly brown--15-20 minutes. Let bread cool on a rack for about 10 minutes, then invert to release bread. Let cool another 10 minutes.

**NOTE: This tastes just as yummy without the coconut topping. Heidi says it's too sweet with it. This is a special bread she makes ONLY during the holidays!

Thanks for the wonderful recipe, Heidi! We are all looking forward to impressing our friends with this great recipe.

This is definitely baking weather so enjoy!  Kat

Meet Rocky, the Rockstar!

Rocky loves to play in the base of my ottoman

Meet my new Granddog, Rochester aka Rocky, the Rockstar, an English Bulldog! My son Scott is the proud new parent of this eight week old bundle of energy! I, as his Gramma, get to be his puppy-sitter during the day while Scott is working and get the pleasure of housebreaking him. Oh what fun! It's been 11 years since I last had to housebreak a puppy!!!


We picked him up at the breeders on Sunday but he is catching on to the routine around here and today started harassing the other dogs and the cats, too! 

Rocky and Beau are becoming fast friends

Beau is happy to finally have something around with as much energy as he has. He really enjoys playing with Rocky.


I am looking forward to a few weeks (months?) down the road when he is housebroke and I can let him have the run of the house.


Have a great day! Kat

Waldorf Salad

This time of year certain recipes call my name--potato soup, bread dressing, anything with cranberries or sweet potatoes and Waldorf Salad. Yesterday I made a beautiful Waldorf Salad, put it in a really pretty Mikasa bowl, took a picture of it and later realized I didn't have the SD card in the camera and it appears the camera is so old that the pictures won't download directly from the camera anymore. Do you think I need to ask Santa for a new camera?!!! So, today you get the recipe but no picture:( My recipe is NOT the low fat version but you can reduce the fat by using low-fat or no-fat mayonnaise and reducing the amount of walnuts used. However, wouldn't that take all the fun out of it!!!


WALDORF SALAD


6 cups chopped apples
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped dates
1 cup coursely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup mayonnaise


Stir all ingredients together and enjoy!!! Quick, easy and oh so yummy!


Have a great fall day.  Kat