A white room. A bare wall above a beautiful couch. A storage room full of useless items. A rainy afternoon with a bottle of Irish Cream and a pot of coffee.

The result is this. It was very simple, just a little spray paint, some cheap plastic gaudy frames, a cereal box, tape, and some fabric scraps.

Spray all the frames. Trace out the insides of the frames and cut out of cereal box. Cut out fabric a little larger than cardboard. Tape fabric tightly to the back of the cardboard and insert into frames. Hang, step back and congratulate yourself on a job well done.

How great is that!? Each piece is like a little piece of art. What's cool about this project is that it can be a continuously growing work of art, creating an amazing focal point to any room.

So, there, I have now supplied you with a new reason to go thrift shopping or finally do something with those silly frames...

Happy Crafting.

Pumpkin, Muffin, Honey, Sweetie....

This Halloween came in a tornado of chores, that I almost forgot to get dressed. I love Halloween usually and spend the entire year scheming and gathering for the next great costume. This year, however, I barely found time to go out.

After many years of carving pumpkins by myself or not at all, a friend wanted to carve with me. I was so excited and ran to the store the night before Halloween to pick out two beautiful pumpkins. I was able to get a couple OK looking ones, because it was after all the night before Halloween, and set them outside on my front stoop. The next day after work, I ran home to throw on my costume, plop the candy bowl on the stoop and run out to meet my friends. The next morning....... well, after a few days of recovery, I remembered the pumpkins. Still sitting on the cold stoop waiting for me to love them, I figured, mine as well eat them.....

I have never in my adult life prepared a pumpkin dish from scratch. Most of my pumpkin adventures start with a can opener, how sad is that. No more sad than buying a pumpkin and not using it, I suppose. So, apart from cutting the bad boys open and scooping out the insides (saving the seeds of course), I was lost. I took a deep breath and called grandma. Apparently all squash is seriously simple to prepare. Cut the Pumpkin in half, scoop out the insides, cover in tin foil and roast at 400 for about 40 minutes. Let cool and scoop out the pumpkin, puree and measure into freezer bags. That's it! One pumpkin produced about twelve cups of puree. That's a lot of soup, bread, muffins....whatever one makes with pumpkin. I loved how my house smelled too!

Seeds:

boil in sea salt water for about 15 min. Drain and lay on cookie sheet, season to desire and bake till lightly browned. Eat and know you are doing something great for your body.

(Pumpkin seeds provide the body with vitamin E, iron, magnesium, potassium, zinc, and are an excellent plant-based source of omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. Read more at Suite101: Health Benefits of Pumpkin: Nutrient-Rich Fruit with Anti-Aging and Disease-Fighting Properties http://www.suite101.com/content/health-benefits-of-pumpkin-a153140#ixzz15kxloNMR)

With the reserve 1 cup of pumpkin puree I thought I'd make breakfast muffins. This turned into a wonderful discovery, energy bars!

preheat 400 degrees~12 bars

1c. pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1c. milk
1/4 c. melted butter
1/3 c. honey or agave nectar

Lightly beat eggs and add above ingredients.
Sift in;

1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2/3 tsp nutmeg

fold in;

1/2 c. sliced and crushed almonds
1/2 c. raisins, dates or figs
1/2 c. crushed hazelnuts
1 c. oats

spread into greased and floured baking pan ( about 1" high)
bake for 15-20 minutes till bouncy or clean fork.
cool and slice into 1" strips and wrap individually in saran and store.

These are so good and awesome for on the go. If you read the above article, you will also discover how amazing pumpkin is for us. I'm really glad I didn't carve this year. Maybe next year I'll do the same.