The time has come....

to talk of many things. Of sealing wax and sailing ships, of cabbages and kings. OK who knows which literary work that is from? Yup, I actually expect to have some one answer. Again, Yup, it's an interactive post tonight folks.

So pull up a comfy chair and get a cuppa and let's begin.

First, the creations.
My middle Wee One and I had an appointment last Thursday. He was supposed to be taking a nap before we left. Of course he was lying in bed playing, but it was fine because it gave me a little time to do some blog reading. I went to the amazingly talented Miss Alicia Paluson, of Posie gets Cosy, and read this post. Which lead to looking through Sew Mama Sew's blog. In which I found these. I got to thinking what a great little item to have on hand when going to an appointment with the Wee Ones. I checked the clock and saw I had about 45 minutes before we had to leave. Yup you guessed it. I grabbed my felt stash and DMC floss and got busy. I was able to get the little cat completed. The middle Wee One was thrilled to have the finger puppet to play with at our appointment. It kept him occupied and entertained for the rest of the afternoon. Of course I made the mistake of letting him see the picture of the other finger puppets. He informed me he "needed" the dog one. Me being the sucker that I am for my boys, did what any mum would do and made him a puppy. That got my mind to working on what other easy animals I could make using this pattern. And here is what happened...

I still need to make the bunny rabbit. I am even thinking of an elephant and a monkey. Who knows what else I might come up with.

Next item I thought of was a needle book. You know the kind a little fabric book that you can stick a needle in so you can easily find it later? I don't know about you, but I'm infamous for losing track of the needle I was using. One blog I like to check in on is this one. I love her art work. It inspired me to draw this little face out.


Yes I know nothing like her work, but it inspired me none the less. That drawing turned into this.




When I was finishing sewing this together the middle Wee One came and sat with me and watched my progress. He does that some times. He comments on what I'm doing and will ask important questions, such as "Is that string Momma?" Or the ever thought provoking, " Are those scissors?" This is usually followed with the sly taking up of said scissors and the search for something to cut. He looked at the little face I came up with and ask me "Is that Sheba?" I'm not sure why and where he got the name Sheba. But it seemed to work just fine for me.

While these little hand sewing projects were occupying some of my time. The other bit of time, not chasing the Wee Ones, was spent trying some new recipes.

The first one was Pumpkin Ginger Muffins.
Which was found on the back of a Canola Oil bottle

They have wonderful crystallized ginger in them

I will admit that I was a bit concerned that my Dh and The Boy might not like these. I was wrong. They ended up being a big success. Try them for yourself and see what you think.

Pumpkin Ginger Spice Muffin
4 Eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups Granulated Sugar
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 cup Canola Oil (or your oil of preference)
15 oz. Canned Pumpkin
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tbsp. Ground Ginger
1 1/2 tsp. Ground Allspice
1 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
1 1/4 Crystallized Ginger, diced (I used about 3/4 of a cup)
1 cup Sweetened Flaked Coconut (Dh doesn't like coconut, so I didn't use any)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit) Line muffin tin with liners.
Mix eggs, sugars, oil and pumpkin together. Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, allspice, salt and nutmeg. Stir until well mixed. Fold in crystallized ginger and coconut. Place batter in lined muffin cups. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until tester used in center comes out clean.

The other recipe I found in a catalog for home decorations. I have since thrown out the catalog and so I can't remember which one it is. I was clever enough though to write down the recipes I want to try in a small journal I have for such things.

This one was called Strata.

I made it to be served as a brunch. I think this recipe could do with a little tweaking. But I wanted to make it as it was listed first to see what I was working with.

Strata
12 Slices of White Bread
6 Slices of Ham
6 Slices of American Cheese
Dried Minced Onion
1 Stick of Butter, melted
Corn Flakes Cereal

Line the bottom of a greased 9 x 13 inch pan with 6 slices of bread. Arrange ham and cheese slices on top. Sprinkle with remaining 6 slices of bread.

Mix well
7 Eggs
4 cups Milk
1 tsp. Dry Mustard
( I also mixed in a little salt, pepper and garlic powder)

Pour mixture over bread. Cover with foil and chill for 8 hours or overnight. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove foil, sprinkle the dish with crushed cornflakes and drizzle with the 1 stick of melted butter. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

The dish is actually quite light, but filling. As I said I think it could use some tweaking. I could see this being done with some sourdough bread, Swiss cheese and the ham. Heck maybe even layer some fresh spinach in there. The possibilities are endless.