HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Hello everyone.  Happy Halloween to you all.  I hope that you have all got your costumes ready to go.  I just got the last of my treats picked up yesterday.  Can't wait to see all the little ghosts and goblins tonight.  I thought that I would show you all the photo of my needle punch that I have been telling you is all done.  So here's a picture of my new pillow:

I love, love , love it!  Especially where it is all done and made into the pillow.  This was a free pattern from Primitive Bettys.  She has got a ton of free patterns and you can use them for cross stitch or needle punch or whatever you transform them into.  This made up quick.... I just am slow!


On another note I wanted to share a quick photo with you all.  This one is for an up and coming holiday.  Yes, that's right, Christmas!!!!!   My Gingerbread men for my Christmas tree.  These were quick and easy to make up too!  Only these were real quick... like a day!  I got the tutorial on this project from Teri over at White Sheep Farm Blogspot!  I hope that you all go on over and check this one out.  Here's the photo of mine.  I still have more to make up though.

Love these guys and can't wait to see them adorning my tree!!!!!!!!!!  With many more friends too!

Anyway, I hope that you all have a safe and fun Halloween.  Enjoy all of your trick or treaters.  And by the way, I hope that none of you happened to pass out due to my blogging twice in the same week.  LOL!!!!!!

Warm primitive blessings to you all!

prim_bug

TEMPTATION TUESDAY

Hello everyone.  It's been a week again.  I shall not commit to posting more than once a week if I am going to continue to fib about it!  Sorry, again!   I did finish my pumpkin face needle punch though.  Unfortunately, I haven't photographed it yet.  Shocker there huh??  I also made up some of Teri from White Sheep Farm Blogspots gingerbread men for my Christmas tree.   These were adorable, easy and fun.  They have no sewing, no gluing, just simple fun.  I made up four of them and now I need to make up a bunch more.  They are very versatile because you can design them as simple as you want or as decked out as you want.  It's all personal preference.  Do yourself a favor and scoot on over to check it out and make some up for yourself.  I tried to put the link up here but my computer seems to be acting a little finicky lately. 

So, on to today's yummies, right?!  Well, I have decided to put two more recipes that Nancy shared with me up for you all.  These two recipes are going to get you in the mind set for holiday parties and get togethers.  I hope that you all give them a try they sound delicious and I hope to be making mine up soon too!!!!

The first recipe for you is: 


CRANBERRY MEATBALLS

2 eggs, beaten
1 c cornflake crumbs
1/3 c ketchup
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp parsley flakes
2 tbsp minced dry onion
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 lbs. ground beef

SAUCE
1 can cranberry sauce
1 c ketchup
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Mix first 8 ingredients, add ground beef.  Shape into balls.  Bake at 350 for 20-25 mins. 
Combine sauce ingredients and cook until cranberry sauce is melted.  Put into crock pot and add meatballs.

TIP:  Nancy said that she doubles the recipe for the sauce. 

YUMMY!  My mouth is watering for this one already. 

BUTTERY CUT OUT SUGAR COOKIES

6 eggs
6 c flour
2 c sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 c butter

Cream butter and sugar.  Add; eggs, flour and baking powder.  Chill dough for 1-2 hours.  Roll and cut out into shapes.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins.  Frost with Powdered Sugar Icing.

POWDERED SUGAR ICING

4c powdered sugar
4 tbsp butter
2-4 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
food coloring, if desired

Mix above ingredients and spread onto cookies!   Yum.  Nothing makes you feel like a kid again at Christmas, than baking and frosting, oh yeah, and eating, sugar cookies!!!!!!!!!!!

Before I say good bye to you all today, I just want to day that we were VERY fortunate here in Maine to not have felt the devastating effects of Sandy.  For those of you who perhaps did, and your families, our thoughts and prayers are with you all.  I pray for those of you who may have suffered the worst of it, to get relief soon and hopefully the clean up and repairs will be quick.  Please know that you are being thought of often and prayed for as much!  Lots of love coming your way!!!!!

Warm primitive blessings to you all!

prim_bug

TEMPTATION TUESDAY

Good evening everyone.  I hope that you all are doing well.  Are you all enjoying Fall?  If you're not, you should be.  I love the rustling of the leaves on the ground, the cooler temps, the breezy days, the smells of Fall.  Get out and enjoy it.  I wanted to apologize for not being on here sooner.  My aunt had to go in for surgery today and I ended up getting home later than I planned.  Kind of through everything a little out of whack.  Sorry.  Anyway, my recipes for today are going to be from my great friend Nancy.  I had told her that I could use a few and she brings me in a notepad full!  So, many thanks to Nancy.

The first recipe that I chose is for:

SQUASH SOUP

1/4 c chopped onion
1 tbsp butter
3 c cubed, peeled squash (Nancy uses butternut or acorn)
1 medium potato, peeled and cubed
1 1/2c water
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon granules
1/4 tsp salt
dash of pepper
1/4 c evaporated milk

In a small saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender.  Add squash and potato, cook and stir for 2 mins.  Add water, bouillon, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for about 15 -20 mins or until tender.  Cool slightly.  In a blender, cover and process soup until smooth.  Return to pan and stir in milk.  Heat through.            This makes 2 servings.

YUMMY!  This is a great recipe for this time of year.  Especially for these cooler nights!  Enjoy!


Another great recipe that Nancy shared with me is for:

PUMPKIN CHIP COOKIES

1 c pumpkin
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c oil
1 egg
2 c flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 c chips
1 tsp vanilla

Dissolve baking soda in milk----set aside.  In a large bowl combine pumpkin, sugar, oil, and egg.  Mix well.  Add, flour, b powder, cinnamon, salt, and b soda mixture.  Mix well.  add chocolate chips and vanilla.  Mix and then drop by spoon full onto cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 10-15 mins. 

Yeah, it doesn't get any better than pumpkin chip cookies.  Go ahead and bake some of these goodies up soon. 

Hope to be on tomorrow (I realize I have been saying that every time I post and yet I never come back, sorry again).  I want to show the needle punch that I finished.  It's Halloween and I finished it ahead of time..... alright pick yourselves up off the floor.  I was just as shocked as you are. 

I also am hoping to be on soon with a tutorial for some candy canes to make to put on your Christmas trees.  You are going to love them!  They are made with paper mache.  Can't wait to show you all!

Warm primitive blessings to you all.

prim_bug

TEMPTATION TUESDAY

Hey everyone.  i hope that you are all having a great morning.  It's a little on the rainy side here but, the temperature is very mild.  Even though the rain makes it dreary there is a reason for the rain.  It just would be nice if like everything else, it would come when we wanted it to.  Unfortunately, things don't go like that.  But, it is kind of nice if you can kind of just accept it and know that it is needed, even if it is not here when you want.  I don't know, it just seems like it makes it a little better. 

Okay, so for today I have picked up a couple of new recipes for you all.  These are obviously not something that I have used over the years but, I did make them both up on Sunday and my family loved them.  The first recipe that I am going to put up is from Rachael Ray from the Food Network.  I watched her prepare this last week or the week before and it looked yummy.  I thought "ooooh the hubs will love this one"!   Sure enough, he did!  

BUFFALO TURKEY SLOPPY JOES

SLOPPY JOES;
3 tbsp butter
2 lbs ground turkey breast
celery salt
black pepper
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
2-3 ribs celery, finely chopped (more to garnish plate, optional)
2 peeled carrots, finely chopped (more to garnish plate, optional)
4 cloves garlic, finely shopped
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup beer or chix stock
1/4 c to 1/2 c medium to extra spicy hot sauce, such as Frank's Red Hot
2 tbsp cider vinegar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1  14oz can of tomato sauce
12 soft hamburger buns

BLUE CHEESE RANCH;
1 c blue cheese crumbles
1 c sour cream
1/4 c chopped herbs, such as dill, chives and parsley leaves
2 tbsp lemon juice or cider vinegar
1 large clove garlic, grated
salt and pepper
1/3 - 1/2c buttermilk

TOPPINGS;
chopped dill pickles
chopped raw onions or scallions

For the sloppy joes;  heat the butter in a large skillet over med-high heat.  When the butter foams, add the turkey.  Brown and crumble.  Season with the celery salt and pepper.  Add the thyme, chopped celery, carrots, and onions.  Cook, partially covered to soften, 12 to 15 mins.  Add the garlic.  Then deglaze the pan with the beer/chix stock.  Add the hot sauce, vinegar, Worcestershire, and tomato sauce.  Then simmer to thicken.

For the dressing;  in a bowl, combine the blue cheese, sour cream, herbs, lemon juice, garlic, and some salt and pepper.  Whisk in as little or as much of the buttermilk to the dressing for the consistency you like.

Serve the sloppy buffalo meat on rolls topped with the pickles onions and a dollop of dressing.  Serve additional dressing for the extra carrot sticks and celery sticks alongside.

Tip------  My husband cannot have hot spicy foods so I made these without the hot sauce and they were delicious.  So, if you don't like the heat..... leave it out.  They tasted very good and the blue cheese dressing on the top was a perfect taste blend with the sloppy joes.   We loved it and I hope that you all do too!


For the next recipe.  I am going to give you a kind of repeat of a recipe I gave you just a little bit ago.  Only this version is a short cut.  My niece Samantha found this great site called:  tablespoon.com.  Yum!   These recipes are short and quick.  They are just a few ingredients and a short amount of time.  Love, love, love this site.  I think that you will all enjoy it too!  So, for the next recipe, it is:


PUMPKIN WHOOPIE PIES

1 Super Moist Spice cake mix
1/3 c butter, softened
1  15oz can pumpkin
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
2 whole eggs
1/2 c milk
1 container cream cheese frosting

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray cookie sheet with non stick spray.  In a large bowl, add the cake mix, butter, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, eggs and milk.  Mix slowly for 30 seconds or until combined and then beat for 1-2 mins.  Batter will be on the wet side.  Drop tablespoon sized dollops onto cookie sheet (I used a small scoop).  Try to make them out to be the same size.  Bake for 10-11 mins.  Let them cool completely.  Frost a cookie with frosting and top with another cookie.  Store in an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Tip--I didn't want the canned frosting so, I went to the bakery section in our grocery store and bought some of the frosting they use to frost the cakes they make.  They usually have a few different types and most of them will sell this.  It sure made it easy to make these little guys up.  And of course the frosting was delicious too! 

This recipe was quick and yummy.  So good!  I hope that if you didn't have time to make the recipe I posted for these a couple of weeks ago, I hope that you give these a try.  So moist and delicious with half of the ingredients and time.  That is a definite win-win!!  Don't forget to checkout; tablespoon.com.  I think that you will enjoy it as much as I have.

Hope that you all have a wonderful afternoon.  The rain here has finally started to slow down and maybe even stopped.  Yeah!  Now I need to go feed my birds and squirrels. 

Warm primitive blessings to you all.

prim_bug

TEMPTATION TUESDAY

Hi everyone.  It sure was a cool morning today when I got up.  What a change from what we have been enjoying.  I guess there's no stopping it now!  I have always loved Fall the most but, this one here I am having a hard time with.  It just is coming too fast now and I can't get myself going and ready for it.  Oh well, I shall suck it up and keep going because in the end, that is what we all do.  Life keeps moving and if you don't watch out it could pass you by before you knew it even happened.  So, I am trying to keep moving with it and do the things that I should.  For starters here are a couple of recipes for you all to give a try.  The first one is so simple and it is something that I glanced at in a magazine.  Of course when I went to find it, I couldn't.  So, I looked it up and found it on the Internet of course.  Probably most of you have seen or heard of these little guys but, I had not.  To me they were a great little gift idea.  With the holidays approaching and quick gifts needed to be made these are an ideal gift. 

PAINTED TURTLES

Rolos candies
Mini pretzels
M&M candies/Pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350.  Cover cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.  Spread out pretzels on cookie sheet.  Place a Rolo on top of each pretzel.  Bake for 3-5 mins.  You want the Rolo soft when you press on it but not completely melted.  Remove from the oven.  Place on cooling rack (I didn't and they were fine).  Immediately squish a M&M candy or Pecan on top of each turtle.  Watch the caramel ooze out.  YUMMY! 

I called them painted turtle because once you add the M&M on top they became painted to me.  If you prefer the regular turtle candies by all means top them each with a Pecan.  There were many versions of this recipe so, if you don't care for this feel free to look up a neat new version of your own.  I feel that these would be great for even kids bake sales at school as well as for quick little gifts.  I hope that you all try this.  This one is a definite keeper.



The next recipe is for:

BROCCOLI HAM STROGANOFF

2 c frozen, chopped, broccoli
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp butter
1/4 c chopped onion
3 tbsp flour
1 can chicken broth
2 c cubed, fully cooked ham
1 c sour cream
1 can sliced mushrooms
hot cooked noodles

Place broccoli and water in microwave safe dish.  Cover and microwave for 3-5 mins. or until broccoli is tender, stirring once.  Drain, set aside and keep warm.  In another micro bowl, heat butter, uncovered for about 20 sec. until melted.  Add the onion and cover and microwave for another 2 minutes or until tender.  Stir in flour until blended.  Gradually stir in the broth and mix well.  Microwave uncovered for about 4-6 mins or until thickened and bubbly, stirring once.  Add the ham, sour cream, mushrooms and reserved broccoli, mix well.  Cook uncovered for 3-5 mins or until heated through, stirring once.  Serve over warm noodles. 

My husband LOVES broccoli.  And, I love quick and easy meals.  This recipe works great for the both of us.  There is no quicker meal to prepare than one done in the microwave.  It really is that simple and it is delicious as well.


I sure hope that you all get a chance to give these recipes a try.  We enjoy them here and I think that you all will enjoy them too! 

I hope that you all continue to have a great afternoon today.  I hope to be back maybe tomorrow as well.  We will see.  Thanks for reading! 

Warm and primitive blessings to you all!

prim_bug

OUR BELOVED MISS FRANKIE

Hey everyone.  Sorry I have been away for so long.  Obviously if you have followed my blog here at all you know that Miss Frankie is one of our dogs.  (If you are not a dog/pet lover, you probably will not care to read on any further).  My life revolves around my family and my dogs.  On Friday Sept. 28th Frankie wasn't feeling well.  Called the vet and they said she might just have a flu bug (I didn't realize that dogs could get a flu like humans).  They told me to give her some pepto bismol and to try her with a bland diet that evening.  Things didn't get better and in fact the next morning she was feeling even worse.  We brought her out to the vets and they did blood work and x-rays, physical exam.  The whole nine yards.  Well, when they brought us in they gave her three meds to try to help settle her tummy, help with the pain and I can't even remember what the other was for.  They then showed us the x-ray which wasn't so good.  She first off had alot of arthritis in her back and in her hips.  I thought well we will just get her the meds she needs to try and keep her comfortable at least- no biggie.  But, then they proceeded on to her stomach----- there was a huge mass (tumor) in there and it was forcing all of her organs to the sides of her stomach and forward.  It made it so that she couldn't eat or drink anything.  Nothing could get by this horrible thing.  They couldn't tell us for sure by the looks of the x-ray how big it was or if it was cancerous or if there were a bunch more.  That happened to be what they thought though.  So they told us to take her home Sat afternoon and give her the meds and see if that helped or not.  Unfortunately, the medicine didn't do anything.  By Sunday morning she could hardly walk (she could still wag her tail at me as I tried to encourage her to get up to go out).  I called my husband at work and he then called the vet.  I couldn't talk at that point..... I knew what was coming.  I was right! 

We decided to put her down.  It was the worst thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We couldn't watch her suffering and there was no guarantees that they could help her.  I am crying my eyes out still as I type this to you.  But, I felt that I needed to at least explain where I have been.  It certainly was not on a vacation.  My eyes are still puffy and sore and my life just doesn't feel as full as it was.  I am definitely thankful for the two dogs that I still have but, my goodness she left a BIG hole in my heart. 

I would also like to thank all of my family and friends that were there for me over this past week.  You all know who you are.  Thanks a million and I love you all! 

Our beloved Miss Frankie:   

So sorry that I only posted two pictures but, they are still hard for me to look at and look through.  Look into those big beautiful eyes and all you see is unending unconditional love.  I will always love you Frankie!  
xoxoxo

Warm primitive blessings to you all!

prim_bug