Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm so thankful for God's mercy and grace, for the blessings of a wonderful husband, sweet and supportive parents, loving family, wise friends, and my adorable fur baby! This time of year is usually very difficult for me when we're not with family or close friends, and this year is no different. I miss my parents and close friends that I can't see everyday. However, if you're reading this, you can know that I love you dearly and miss you so much. The holidays aren't the same when I'm not with you.

This year, we spent a couple of days snow camping near Cle Elum Lake on the east side of the Cascades. We had a difficult time finding a place, as every campground was closed, but we scored an open outhouse at Cayuse Horse Camp, and by 3pm on Tuesday afternoon, we were home tent home at site number 11.

It was quite chilly, but hauling our bins to and from the truck and snowshoeing helped us build up some warmth. Also keeping us warm, was Mountain Man's fires. Thankfully, he was able to build a fire in the rain and keep it going long enough for us to cook our hobo dinners the first night. It got dark around 4:30, and poor Bexar was wet and shivering, so we turned in early. This made it a long night in our small tent! After a restless night, the first words out of Mountain Man's mouth on Wednesday morning were, "Happy Birthday," and indeed it was. We made oatmeal for breakfast, washed dishes, and then set out for a short snowshoe. When we got back to camp, we enjoyed a nice cup of hot cocoa by the river then headed back to camp for a fire. It was an overcast night but thankfully the rain held off until early Thursday morning. When we woke up to a steady rain on Thursday, we decided to pack up but spend the day snowshoeing. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day and came home in time to cook our planned hot dogs and baked beans! Go to our album to see more photos.

Trip highlights:

snowshoeing, sipping hot cocoa by the river, tent snuggling, Starbucks instant coffee, watching Bexar bounce in the snow, scoring an open outhouse, playing "Would you rather" in the tent

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm Coming, Mom!

The sun played peek-a-boo today, so we got out and played, too.

I can just hear Bexar yelling, "I'm coming, Mom!"

After play time, we went on a 3-mile walk. Happy fur baby, happy mom.

Invitations

This past weekend was Antioch Adoption's Silent & Live Auction, their annual fall fundraiser. I contributed to a party planning package, donated up to 30 invitations with coordinating thank-you cards. This was combined with a donation from Trophy Cupcakes and a catering service. These are the sample invitations/thank-you sets I made to display. I tried to keep these pretty simple for mass production.

This first set was a sample bridal party. I made up all of the names and used Antioch's contact information for both invitations. I printed the wording from my computer and used an old Stampin' Up set, Heartfelt Thanks. The invitations has an "R" charm dangling from the bow that was difficult to photograph on this rainy Monday. The gorgeous paper is Wisteria Dahlia & Stone Wall by Basic Grey.

I wanted to give guests other ideas for dinner parties (other than the usual birthday, bridal, baby shower), and what was more appropriate at this time of year than a Thanksgiving dinner part? I printed the invitation and thank-you on off-white vellum. I have no names for the paper; I will try to get those. I picked them up at my local Ben Franklin I believe they had no name on either one. The bulk ribbon was also from BF. Both include some small gold metal stickers by Mark Richards. I used Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge for my thank-you card.

If you haven't signed up yet, this is the last day to sign up for the free Jessica Sprague "Holidays in Hand" class. It's her last freebie of the year!

Happy creating!

For the Love of Roots

TURNYPES

Creamed Turnip and Parsnip Soup

Ingredients

1 cup peeled, fresh turnips, diced

1/2 cup scraped, fresh parsnips, diced

2 1/2 cups beef broth

1/2 cup coarsely ground almonds

1 cup heavy cream

3 egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon salt

Juice of 1/4 lemon

Method

1. Gently boil turnips and parsnips in broth until vegetables are soft, about 12 minutes.

2. Stir in almonds and heat for 3 minutes.

3. Mix the yolks and salt with the cream; add the lemon juice; pour 1/2 cup hot soup into egg mixture, stirring well. Slowly pour this mixture into the soup. Stir well.

4. Heat 2 or 3 minutes, stirring, and serve warm.

My Modifications

1. I used sliced almonds and diced them up a bit.

2. The first time I made this for the big group, it sat on the stove on love for about 20-30 minutes. The second time I followed the directions. I think it seemed to taste better the first go-round.

Source: I'll get this from Holly and edit it when I receive it.

Let me know what you think when you try it. :)

Reformation Party

10.31 represents a different celebration to us, a celebration of the protestant reformation. So, in celebrating our heritage, we had a reformation party at our house last Saturday. Holly and Anne were the masterminds behind this large-scaled event, but graciously included me in the planning. I think we had 25 people show up, some in 16th century period costumes and some not. We had a 9-course meal (a traditional feast of the 1500's), with each family bringing a dish to share. Jeff made beautiful programs that included the order of events as well as words to songs. Each family served their course in the order given, with Jordan leading us in song in between each course, during the service. With 9 courses, you can imagine one might get full, but we only had a few bites of each dish. Think of it more as a sampling. The dishes were authentic to the 1500's, with a few exceptions. We changed the tripe (entrails) for one recipe to beef. I think that was for the humble pie. Everything was delicious, and much tastier than I expected it to be! I made turnip and parsnip soup and it was so delicious that I made another double batch this week just for us. That was the first time I had ever even cooked with turnips or parsnips, and possibly the first time I had ever eaten either root! I also had currants for the first time, and I enjoyed them.

I must confess to not knowing much church history, but this has certainly piqued my interest. My reading list will begin to include books to help me learn some of this rich history.

One more confession: I didn't take many photos. I was busy playing hostess, and it was fun! Nathan and I both took photos, but our house lighting is really terrible and so many were blurry, even with using the monopod. A few turned out nice, but I posted more than I normally would have because I wanted to share the "feeling" of the entire party. For all photos, see the Reformation Party Album.

A Defensive Lineman's Birthday

Stamps: MVP clear set by We R Memory Keepers, Long Grass by A Muse

Paper: Black, green, Football by The Paper Company

Ink: Black Staz-On

Accessories: White gel pen, white twill ribbon

My nephew Braydon, the mighty defensive lineman, is having a birthday soon. He plays on his pee-wee team and just loves it. I thought this was quite fitting for him and it was the perfect time to showcase the fabulous football paper that I've been saving!

I've been terrible about making and sending cards lately, but I was inspired by the Clean and Simple challenge on SCS today. He'll actually get this on time if I get it in the mail this week!

Hope you have a wonderful week! Happy November!