Cherry Pie and My Hand Painted Tea Kettle

 Sandi from Rose Chintz Cottage is celebrating five years of blogging and she asked us to share a favorite teacup or teapot.  I am also sharing a cherry pie to bring to her party. Congratulations, Sandi!

 I have been waiting to share this gorgeous hand- painted tea kettle that my son, Mike, painted as a Christmas gift for me.  I love all the MacKenzie Child's designs that I see, and showed them to Mike.  Isn't his replica a beauty?  He ordered the tea kettle from World Market, had it delivered, and worked on it secretly. Mike has been living with chronic sciatic nerve pain down both legs, even after a microdiscectomy and then a spinal disk fusion.  His surgeon wanted him to wait two years to see if the pain subsided, but it hasn't.  He is supposed to have a spinal transmitter implant in several week.  If you would be so kind, please pray that this will relieve some of his pain.  I want him to have a normal, fulfilling life again. 

 This Mary Engelbreit teacup was a gift from my friend, Bea.  Doesn't it look perfect with the tea kettle?  I think so, too!  The happy design just makes me smile, and of course, it has cherries on the side.

I made a cherry pie for us to share.  I followed the recipe on the back of the Oregon Red Tart Cherries.  However, if you can't find that particular brand,  I'll share the recipe.  Since I love a crumble topping, I did that instead.  It was soooo good!  Thanks bj,  at Sweet Nothings  for the inspiration!

 

1 /2 - 3/4 cup sugar (I only used 1/2 cup since I was making a crumb topping)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 cans Oregon Red Tart Cherries (or any tart red cherries)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine (I omitted this because of the crumb topping)
2 crusts for a 9-inch pie (I only used 1 crust)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Drain the cherries and reserve the juice from only one can.
3. In a saucepan, stir the cherry juice into the combined mixture of the cornstarch and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.
4. Remove from heat. Gently stir in cherries and almond extract.
5. Pour filling into pastry lined pie pan. Dot with butter or margarine. (I omitted). Adjust crust, seal and vent.(At this point I added my crumb topping).
6. Bake 30-40 minutes or until crust browns and filling begins to bubble. If necessary, cover edges with aluminum foil during last 15 minutes to prevent over-browning. Cool pie several hours to allow filling to thicken before slicing.

If you'd like to make a crumble topping, you can find the recipe  here. 

Makes 8 servings.

I had to show you my kitchen lady that my friend Joy gave me years ago.  I always have her hanging in my kitchen.  She loves my new tea kettle as it goes so well with her outfit!  

 

I am sharing this with:

Make It Pretty Monday

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea 

Friends Sharing Tea

Tea Cup Tuesday                                                     
Roses of Inspiration 

Share Your Cup

Full Plate

Foodie Friday

Weekend Potluck

Thank you for your visit!  xo

Button Covered Heart Pillow from a Sweater

 I wanted to make a pillow for my sofa from an old sweater that my sister gave me.

 I cut off the sweater under the arms and then put right sides together,  and used one of the side seams of the sweater as a side seam for the pillow, cut off what I didn't need from the other side, pinned and then stitched around the other three seams.  I left a space at the bottom to insert my pillow form that I already had saved from and old pillow. You could always stuff the pillow with Poly Fil, in place of a pillow form. 

I stitched the opening closed and gathered shades of brown and neutral buttons and hot glued them in the shape of a heart.  I loved how it turned out!

 

I am sharing this with:

Make It Pretty Monday

Roses of Inspiration 

Share Your Cup

Foodie Friday

 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

 A dear friend of mine shared with me some Taylors of Harrogate Yorkshire tea.  I love what it says on the package..."Let's have a proper brew". I also picked some  pansies from my pots outside to bring some Wintry cheer indoors to add to my little lady vase.  Yes, pansies grow in the Fall, Winter and Spring months in Texas.  I don't plant them in the ground any more because the bunnies in the neighborhood feasted on them.

 I'm using my Mom's Royal Doulton plate, and teacup and saucer, which is the Berkshire pattern.  My Dad and I picked this out at Lazarus Department Store for my parent's 25th Anniversary.  Mom gifted the set to me several years ago.  I think it's such a timeless pattern, don't you?

 My Mom loves to shop at thrift stores and she found this cute teapot and gave it to me. It looks like a cobblestone cottage and I just love it.  It's made in America, too!

I decided to try King Arthur Flour's 2015 recipe of the year, which comes from Cookies for Kids' Cancer, the originator of the recipe, which King Arthur supports.  The cookies are soft and wonderful and I do hope you try them.  Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup (16 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or 3/4 teaspoon regular table salt
• 3 cups semisweet chocolate chips (I used a mixture of  milk, semisweet,  and white chocolate chips, because that's what I had on hand.)

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line several cookie sheets with parchment paper, or lightly grease with non-stick vegetable oil spray.

2) Beat together the butter and sugars until smooth.

3) Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla one at a time, beating well after each.

4) Whisk together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and add to the butter mixture in the bowl.

5) Mix until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, and mix briefly.

6) Stir in the chocolate chips.

7) Decide what size cookies you want to make. A muffin scoop (1/4 cup) will make 20 large, palm-sized cookies. A tablespoon cookie scoop (4 teaspoons) will make 50 medium (2 3/4" to 3") cookies; and a teaspoon cookie scoop (2 teaspoons) will make 100 small (2 1/2") cookies.

8) Scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 1 1/2" to 2" between cookies.

9) Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes, until they're a light golden brown, with slightly darker edges. Their middles may still look a tiny bit shiny; that's OK, they'll continue to bake as they cool on the pan.

10) Remove the cookies from the oven, and as soon as they're set enough to handle, transfer them to racks to cool.

Yield: 20 to 100 cookies, depending on size.

NOTE:  I baked one pan full and formed the rest into balls, froze them on baking sheets and then removed them and put the frozen cookie balls into freezer safe bags.  You can take out what you need, bake them from the frozen state, but add a few minutes extra baking time. This way you can have home baked cookies for when you need them. 

I am sharing this with:

Make It Pretty Monday

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea 

Friends Sharing Tea

Tea Cup Tuesday 
Roses of Inspiration 

Share Your Cup

Full Plate

Foodie Friday

Weekend Potluck

 

Thank you for your visit!  xo

Oatmeal Muffins

 Let's stay warm and cozy on this cold day, having oatmeal muffins and Constant Comment tea, by the fire. 

 I love this pinecone teacup that I found recently.  It blends so well with my thrifted plate and the teapot that my sister found for me.

 Here's the marking on the teacup.  I'm not sure what all those numbers mean.  Maybe someone can help me?

These Oatmeal Muffins are so tasty with the toasted oats as part of the batter, and the topping is so buttery and crunchy.   The recipe is from America's Test Kitchen and my son, who's here with me, gave them a thumbs up approval rating.  The recipe said that it made twelve, but I got sixteen muffins from the recipe.  Here it is, if you'd like to try:

• TOPPING

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter,  melted

• MUFFINS

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 6 tablespoons melted
• 2 cups  old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/3 cups packed  light brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Instructions

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Combine oats, flour, pecans, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle melted butter over mixture and stir to ­thoroughly combine; set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. (I had to grease and flour 4 more, but actually used baking spray with flour).  Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently, until oats turn golden brown and smell of cooking popcorn, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer oats to food processor and process into fine meal, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to oats and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses.

3. Stir 6 tablespoons melted butter and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Add milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Using whisk, gently fold half of oat mixture into wet ingredients, tapping whisk against side of bowl to release clumps. Add remaining oat mixture and continue to fold with whisk until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside batter for 20 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

4. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (about ½ cup batter per cup; cups will be filled to rim). Evenly sprinkle topping over muffins (about 2 tablespoons per muffin). Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.

5. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin tin and serve or let cool completely before serving.

I am sharing this with:

Make It Pretty Monday

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea 

Friends Sharing Tea

Tea Cup Tuesday 
Roses of Inspiration 

Share Your Cup

Full Plate

Foodie Friday

Weekend Potluck

Thank you for your visit!  xo

Apple Enchiladas

 

For my son,  Mike's,  New Year's Eve birthday dinner, I had a Mexican theme for the family.  I was telling my friend Bea about the menu and she told me that she had a great Mexican inspired dessert.  She sent me the recipe and oh my goodness, is it ever fabulous!  We were so full after the meal, that we all could only eat a small portion.

 

I love using my snowflake dishes during the month of January.  I bought these at Kroger, several years ago.  The Brown Betty Sadler teapot is a recent Ebay purchase and I love the simplicity of the design and function.  

Luckily for me, there were leftovers of the apple enchiladas to enjoy.  I happen to think that they were even better when reheated in the microwave.  I'm having half of one with a cup of salted caramel tea.  They are wonderful with a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream on top, and the sauce is lick-the-plate  I can't wait to make these again and I hope you'll try them soon. 

Here's the recipe:

1 21 ounce can apple pie filling

6 8 inch flour tortillas

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/2 cup water

Spoon filling down the center of each tortilla; sprinkle evenly with cinnamon.  Roll up and place seam side down in a lightly greased 2 qt. baking dish.

Bring butter and next 3 ingredients to a boil in a medium sized saucepan.  Reduce heat and simmer, stirring for 3 minutes. Pour over enchiladas and let stand  for 30 minutes. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  

 

I made another snowy scene with a darling candle that my grandson, Riley, gave me for Christmas.  This time I used some Epsom salts for the snow and put the candle under a cloche.  It's nestled in my wooden salad bowl with pine cones and my battery operated lights.  I just love it!

I am sharing this with:

Make It Pretty Monday 

Tea Time Tuesday

Tuesday Cuppa Tea 

Friends Sharing Tea

Tea Cup Tuesday 
Roses of Inspiration 

Share Your Cup

Full Plate

Foodie Friday

Weekend Potluck

Thank you for your visit!  xo