Thanksgiving Pumpkin Rolls

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM MY HOUSE TO YOURS

I hope you have a wonderful holiday this Thanksgiving Day.  I discovered this great idea from Holly at Beyond Kimchee.  The recipe and directions for making these pumpkin rolls can be found here.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pat

Johanne's Meringues (gluten free)

My daughter, Heidi, hosted a party this week and I made some goodies for the refreshments. I made green tea (matcha) cookies that required 3 egg yolks.  So, I had 3 egg whites left over and because I hate to throw anything away, I decided to make Johanne's meringues.

Johanne was my great aunt.  She immigrated from Denmark to America during around 1919.  She originally came to Ellensburg, Washington where her sister (my grandma) was living.  But since Ellensburg was a small farming community, Johanne wanted a big city.  So, she settled in Seattle.  She used to come and visit us for the Easter holidays and she was always so elegant in her style.  She was a private chef for the old establishment of Seattle.  This was way before the fad of being a chef.  She cooked for private parties where the dress code was the proper black and white.  She knew all the protocol of hosting a party.  When she passed away, I received her cookbooks which I treasure.  She shared her recipe for merginues with me years and years ago.  It's gluten free for those of you who would like to try it.

You will need:
3 egg whites (preferably room temperature)
1 teaspoon water
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla (if you use white vanilla or vanilla powder it will keep the meringues white)
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

In small mixing bowl (with beater attachment), place egg whites and all ingredients EXCEPT sugar.  Beat at medium speed until frothy and medium soft peaks appear.  With mixer running, gradually add sugar a tablespoon at a time.  Continue to mix at high speed until very stiff peaks appear.  You need to be sure that the egg whites will stand up at this point on their own or else they will not bake properly.

Now for the fun part.  You will need a piping bag and a piping bag tip.  This is a reusable piping bag but you can buy disposable piping bags at your local craft store.

I used a closed star number 8 tip:

 (these tips are from my Aunt Johanne - can you imagine all the wonderful goodies they made all these years!) Place piping tip in piping bag and fill bag with meringue mixture. 

Take a baking sheet and cover it with parchment paper.  Pipe meringues directly on the parchment paper and bake in a 250 degree oven for 1 hour.  You can taste test one of the merginues at this point. They should be dry and only a tiny bit soft in the center.  If you wish, you can turn off the oven and open the door and have them sit there a few minutes so that they will continue to dry out.

Let them cool completely before serving.  I sprinkled some fairy dust on half of them and some cocoa powder on the other half...

Here's what left from the party.....I store them in an airtight cookie tin......

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of baking history.  They are so easy to make and they look so pretty on a cookie try.

If you're new to reading this blogpost, I want to welcome you and say "hello".  I love making new friends via Lilly My Cat.

Until next time, have a wonderful day,
Pat

*Please remember to visit my friends over at Handmade Harbour.

Daughters of Norway Lefse Making

I had such a lovely day making lefse with my Daughters of Norway lodge friends.  Lefse is Norway's traditional flatbread.  It is made from potatoes and flour and the dough is baked on a grill.

This is the lefse mix we used.  There's two packets in this box; the first package is instant potatoes.  You take water and shortening and bring it to a boil, remove from heat and add the first package.  Mix well and let it cool overnight in the frig. Then add the second packet (flour).  Mix well and divide into golf ball size pieces.

Here's the necessary equipment for rolling the dough.  It's a cloth covered pastry board and cloth covered rolling pin.  Make sure both surfaces are well dusted with flour.

To insure smooth edges, take the ball of dough and knead in your hand for a few seconds.  Make a small disc shape and lay it on the floured board.

Roll out until thin and desired diameter.  Be sure to roll evenly across the dough so that you don't have thin edges.

More special equipment; a long wooden handled spatula and a very special soft brush made of goat's hair.

Slip the wooden spatula under the dough and place it on the hot lefse grill.  Use the goat hair brush to dust off the excess flour.

Here's a picture of one of the lefse grills...

Bake lefse on grill until the dough starts to bubble.  Then take the wooden spatula and turn over.  Be careful that your grill is not too hot as you don't want it to burn.

Take wooden spatula and remove lefse from grill and place on tea towels and cover with tea towel until lefse is cooled.

Here's a picture of my friend Geri who was  packaging the lefse after it's cooled.

And here's a photo of Astrid and Ardis after a fun day of lefse making. 

 Our group of 9 ladies today made over 200 lefse!  We had a fun filled day.

If you are interested in Daughters of Norway, click  here to see if there's a lodge near you.  We are a very old organization with our roots in America going back over 100 years.

I hope you enjoyed this little insight into one of the rich customs of Norway.

Ha det bra (goodbye),
Pat 

Please stop by Handmade Harbour and meet some lovely crafters!

Home Decor Musings

Here I am back again for another week of posting.  I really enjoy my blog friends and I thank you for your visit and your comments.  Today, I'm not going to bore you with anymore watercolor pictures. I thought I would give you some insight into my decorating.....(my daughter would laugh at me as she thinks my decorating is nonexistent!)

Here's a picture of the new candelabras that I bought yesterday at Home Goods.  I had wanted something to go with my chandelier and yet have some height.  Home Goods had a new display of these candle holders and I snagged these two.  I think they look good?

 These are the bird of paradise curtains that I ordered from World Market.  They are upstairs in the TV room.  Behind them are four little square windows.  Since we now (I) watch TV up there, it helps keep the sun off the TV screen.  I love patterns - one of the reviews for these curtains was from a lady who had eclectic style....just like me!

I had this Asian inspired planter that I made into a table.  I bought a little lamp at my local store.  I think it adds a little bit of ambiance to the room....

As to the kitchen, my daughter brought me this fragrant sprag of rosemary.  I used it in a dish the other day.  I cut up parsnips and sweet potatoes and boiled them in a little water, fresh rosemary and a pinch of sugar.  I then drained them and mashed them adding a little butter and salt and pepper.  They were delicious.

And as to my outdoor decor, my gardenia plant has a ton of blossoms.  I hope that they don't drop off and that I can enjoy the fragrant flowers.

I'll leave you with a picture of my daughter, Heidi (on the right).  She was so excited today as she got to meet her favorite author, Sophie Kinsella at our local library.  She had so much fun.

Until next time, I wish you my best and please if you have time, drop by Handmade Harbour and see some great craft ideas!

until next time,
Pat

New Hobby - Watercolour Greeting Cards

I have missed writing this past week and I have missed hearing from everyone, too.  It's been a busy week here at Lilly My Cat.  My little grandson spent the better part of the week at our home and I've forgotten how much energy it takes to have a child!  I guess I'm getting old. Our day started at 6:30AM and this is how it went:

1.  Eat breakfast
2.  Get dressed for school
3.  Drive him to school (15 minute drive)
4.  Take him to the school inside and sign him in (back in my day, the child was left at the curb and walked in by himself)
5.  Drive home (15 minute drive)
6.  Pick him back up at school (go inside the school and sign him out - this part I totally agree with given today's problems)
7.  Come home and fix lunch
8.  Nap time?  I don't think so.....
9.  Have fun doing all the things that you can do at Grandma and Grandpa's
10.Eat dinner
11.Go to Sleep (storytime first)

I finally have gotten the routine after these four days.  I was the oldest person at the school drop off.  There were some young Moms with more than one child to look after!   I've come to the conclusion that when you are 60 years old, you run out of energy.  But, in all respect, it was so much fun to have my little grandson stay with us and he was so well behaved.  I look forward to many more visits with him at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

I last wrote about my discovery of watercolor pencils.  I've had so much fun experimenting with them.  This past week my daughter gave me some beautiful card stock and little sticky corners so I could make some one of a kind cards with my watercolor pictures.  I will share with you some of them:

Can you see the little black corners?  Years ago this is what they used in photo albums.  Now they come like stickers and they are so easy to apply.

I think this little watercolor is my favorite....

I like the way the colors dried on the card on the left..

And the wintery snowdrop card.

 

My little grandson and I did a craft project coloring glass ornaments.  He gave them to his teachers at school.  I had fun painting little gift tags for the packages...

So, as you can see, I've had a busy but fun filled week.  My needle arts are not getting all the attention but I'm still working on my Coast Ripple Blanket.

I hope wherever you are that you are well and safe.  Please say "hello" in the comment section if you have time.  I'd love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Pat

P.S.  Oops, almost forgot, please visit my friends over at Handmade Harbour.

DISCOVERING WATERCOLOR PENCILS

A couple of weeks ago I went to my local Walmart store (not my favorite store and I seldom go). I can't recall why I went there in the first place :( but while looking through the aisles, I came across a little tin box of watercolor pencils.  It was marked down to $3.00 so I thought, why not give this a try.

I have dabbled in art since I was 12 years old.  When I moved to California four years ago, I threw away lots of my old art supplies including my original oil paints that I had had since I was 12 years old!  (I'm sure they were dried up but there was some sentimental value).  After I was married and busy raising my children, I kind of gave up my painting.  But, after all these years this changed after my purchase of the watercolor pencils.

There they are in the back of the picture.  I bought five more (in the middle of the picture from my local Hobby Lobby store and then I purchased the set on the left online.  I'm now finding that there IS a difference in the quality of the pencils.  But, more on that another time.

Do you see the beautiful fish watercolor book?  This design is from a Turkish template and I ordered this book online through my favorite discount book dealer.  The other two books are over 40 years old!

I also bought this little tutorial book that is really quite fun and simple.

Experimenting with my colors.....Can you see the outlining?  I used a super fine waterproof marker.  I'm a big fan of Venetia in Kyoto and when she paints, she incorporates fine lining the image.

Winter snowdrops....how I long to see a beautiful, snowy landscape.

Thinking about wintertime, here's a poinsetta that I was practicing with.

Amaryllis...I think this is my favorite so far.

Awhile back I bought two of these greeting card kits from TJ MAXX for like $1.00 each.  I am going to use one as a backing for my lilly of the valley painting.  I'm going to give it as a birthday card to a dear friend who loves lillies of the valley.

So, here's a little insight into what I have been working on this week.  I think I have a long way to go to get my artistic skills up to par.  But, I will keep on trying.  I would love to hear from you if you have to time.  Have a great week!

with my best,
Pat

P.S.  My Coast crochet blanket is coming along - I'm half way done!

Oops....almost forgot, please stop by Handmade Harbour and see what other crafters have created.

Addicted to Dishes!!

 Last week I discovered this great blog called Eclectic Home Life and I thought it was so interesting to see why people blog.  I started my blog to make friends.  It might sound funny, but I had moved to California, I'm an empty nester and I don't work anymore.  So, it's not that easy to find your way in a new place.  So, I started my blog and now, I love my blog friends and I learn so much from their blogs.  Even thought I have never met them, it seems like I know them.

Last week I wrote about Newport Beach and Housewives of Orange County.  For me, I'm not into fashion and pop culture but I do enjoy my hobbies that have nothing to do with fashion.   I enjoy old fashioned things and all the things in my home have a meaning to me.  I like to watch HGTV and see the latest home styles but that really isn't me.  So, after all these years, my first love is still dishes. I thought I will share with you some of my addiction.....

This set really belongs to my daughter, Heidi.  It was given to her by my late Mother.  It's the Ardmore pattern by Minton.  I love these dishes for special occasions.

Here's my set of Pfaltzgraff from the 80's.  I have so many matching pieces that I just couldn't part with them...

These are my Friendly Village dishes by Johnson Brothers that I use during the fall and winter season.  I love these dishes as they were a present to me from my dear Mom and Dad.

A few years back I wanted some Christmas dishes.  These are what I ended up with.  They are the Christmas Tree pattern made by Waechtersbach in Germany.  I am still adding to this collection when I find matching pieces on Ebay.

Here's my old every day set that it now at the top of my cupboard.  I love this English stoneware and I still use it for summertime entertaining.

 Here is my current everyday dishes.  I bought them a few years ago at Williams Sonoma.  They are the Queen Anne pattern by Pillivuyt.  (as you can see, the rims chip....I would not buy this pattern again just for that reason).

And lastly, here is the set of china that is nearest and dearest to my heart.  It's the Seagull pattern made in Denmark by Bing and Grondahl.  These dishes belonged to my Danish grandma and she gave them to me right after I was married so that I could enjoy using them.  I have lots of pieces to this set and I enjoy using it for special occasions.

So, do you think I have an addiction or disease in collecting dishes?  I think I do.  I still go to my local Home Goods or TJ MAXX store and peruse the aisles for anything made in England or France, (yesterday I was at Home Goods and they had numerous pieces of miniature Revol bakeware made in France - it was hard to resist buying a piece!)  And, I buy a piece on Ebay now and then. (I just purchased a beautiful large platter made in the former Czechoslovakia and should be in the mail to me now).

I inherited this addiction from my Mom.  She not only collected dishes but also cups and saucers.  I have her collection of the cups/saucers which I have added to throughout the years...

My son was telling me the other day how I should have a minimalist lifestyle and not have all these things.  But, that's who I am.  I love all the knick nacks and doo dads I have in my eclectic home.

I would love to hear what you collect.  Feel free to comment below.  And, please stop by Handmade Harbour to meet some great crafters.

Have a wonderful day,
Pat

P.S.  I will leave you with a WIP photo of my Coast Ripple Blank from Attic 24.......