Four Aprons takes on a Wedding Shower.....

October was a busy month for me! I was part of a planning committee hosting a meeting in Sedona, Arizona, I was planning an upcoming trip to Nepal for 22 people and I was given the opportunity to cater a wedding shower for a dear friend's grand-daughter. Whew...now that all the events are over and I am back in the country time to get busy and share some photos and a recipe!

Four Aprons takes on a Wedding Shower......

My dear friend Joyce Anne asked if I would help her with an upcoming wedding shower she would be hosting at her home mid-October for her grand-daughter Ashley. I was honored when asked; Joyce Anne knows how I LOVE to plan events, pull decorations together and of course how much I love to bake!

We met and agreed the invitation, decorations and menu should reflect a fall-theme. My first assignment, to create an invitation with a fall theme. Using a leaf stamp, white ink pad and brown paper I created the perfect invitation and envelope! I used the same technique for labeling the food the day of the shower.

Next came the menu!

Appetizers
Warm Spinach Dip with Bread Dippers
Warm Artichoke Dip with Pita Triangles
Dill and Cream Cheese stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
Deviled Eggs
Main Course
Green Salad with Candied Walnuts, Fresh Pears, Feta Cheese and Cranberry Vinaigrette
Green Chili Chicken Cheesecake with Tortilla Crust
Spinach Cheesecake with Parmesan Crust
Salsa
Muffin Baskets with Corn, Pumpkin and Zucchini Mini Muffins
Dessert Bar
Pumpkin Parfaits with Whipped Cream and Pie-crust Dippers
Mini Apple Crisps
Espresso Cupcakes with Espresso Butter cream Frosting
Spice cake with Cream Cream Frosting
Drinks
Ice Tea
Cranberry Lime Drink

Last came the decorations. What could be more fun than decorating with pumpkins, candles and the warm colors fall offers.....

So here are some photos of the event ~ thanks to Christine Thorne for the amazing photos! She made my food look fabulous! I could not have done this event without the help of one of my best friends ever, Laurie. She helped with the delivery, set-up, serving and clean-up. While I felt my Mom was helping me cook in spirit, Laurie's Mom was cheering us on from Montana. Joyce Anne, Laurie and I made quite the team!

Laurie ~ Joyce Anne ~ Bev

 

 

In honor of Thanksgiving this week, I'll share the recipe for the Pumpkin Parfaits that I made using Pumpkin Dip.

PUMPKIN DIP

8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened

2 c. powdered sugar

15 oz. can pumpkin (not pie filling)

1 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. allspice

2 tsp. cinnamon

Blend cream cheese and sugar together; mix in remaining ingredients. Makes about three cups. For parfaits place dip in individual serving dishes, top with whipped cream and a pie-crust dipper or two (use a leaf cookie cutter and your favorite pie crust recipe) or serve the dip in one bowl, whipped cream in another bowl sprinkled with cinnamon and a bowl of pie crust dippers or gingersnaps. Yum!!

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Can't wait to put on my apron and make pies for Thanksgiving Dinner! I will be hosting dinner this year at my home after delivering thanksgiving meals to the home-bound as part of our local Salvation Army volunteer project.

Soon I will be posting photos of my recent trip to Nepal and Bhutan!

Blessings and Namaste to all!

There are all kinds of aprons....and my new favorite muffin recipe

Recently my Women's Club members and I went to Sun Dust Gallery in Mesa to a class called Bottles and Paint. Intriguing, huh? Your group can bring in your own wine and sip away while having a painting lesson...and you get to wear an apron. If I get to wear an apron, sign me up!

Cathy, one of our club member suggested we bring something with us to the class for inspiration. Having never painted on a canvas before, I found a picture of a pillow that became my inspiration. We started with a blank canvas and our first lesson; pick your background color first and then start painting. It turned out to be lots of fun. Here I am painting away....

Here is my finished painting....

and here are the other members of my group and what they created.

A fun activity to do with a group of friends.

My New Favorite Muffin ~ 

Now that Fall is here - for those of us who live in Arizona Fall is when the temperatures drop below a 100 degrees - I love to start baking again. I came across a recipe for Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins in my Oprah Magazine Cookbook. I modified the recipe a little but it is super easy and the muffins are moist and tender.

Pumpkin Applesauce Muffins - 12 large muffins (I half the recipe and make mini muffins)

3 1/3 c. flour (I prefer cake flour - but all purpose flour works fine)

2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)

1 c. packed brown sugar

1 c. sugar

4 large eggs

1 c. applesauce

1 c. canned mashed pumpkin (no spices added)

1 tsp. vanilla

2/3 c. apple juice, cider, or orange juice

1 1/2 c. raisins or nuts if desired

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease muffin cups or use paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and salt; set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugars until creamy, 2-3 minutes. Beat in the eggs, applesauce, pumpkin, and vanilla until blended. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the juice. Mix until smooth. Fold in raisins/nuts if using. Using an ice cream scoop (or small scoop if making mini muffins) scoop batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each cup 2/3rds full.

Bake on center oven rack until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 20 - 25 minutes (about 15 minutes for mini muffins). Remove from pan and allow muffins to cool in pans for several minutes; turn muffins out onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Note: I cut the recipe in half and it makes 24 mini muffins and one mini loaf of bread.

I love to serve warm with pats of butter, yum! They are good for breakfast or in a bread basket for lunch and dinner too.

So what's your favorite fall muffin?

Cherry Tomatoes and Updating my Front Entry Way

Cherry Tomatoes.....A friend recently bought a case of cherry tomatoes and decided to share with me. After adding to salads for over a week and still having six baskets full I wondered what else I could do with these sweet little gems. I have roasted whole Roma tomatoes in the past and thought I would try the same technique with these little gems. Keep in mind that slow roasting tomatoes takes time - actually hours - it is a great recipe to do when you are homed in for the day.

Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

Slice each cherry or grape tomato in half and place on a cookie sheet cut side up (see note below). Drizzle tomato halves with Olive Oil - about 1/3 cup. You want the tomatoes moist but not swimming in the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt (I prefer Sea Salt), pepper, and minced garlic (either fresh or from a jar). If you want to enhance the sweetness of the tomatoes use a small sprinkling of red pepper.

Note ~ I have a Pampered Chef Stone Bar Pan that works great because it is larger than a regular rimmed cookie sheet. If your oven will hold two pans plan to roast two pans at once.

Turn on oven to 225 degrees and add the trays of tomatoes, no need to preheat. Let the roasting begin - will take 3 to 4 HOURS for the tomatoes to slow roast. In the meantime, your home will smell amazing and may even draw in a neighbor to two. Once roasted take from the oven and allow to cool. If you don't have this much time increase oven temp and reduce cooking time. Slow roasting is worth it in my opinion.

Place tomatoes along with the oil in a bowl or jar and use as you like! I keep a jar full in the fridge.

Here are a few serving suggestions.......

~ Serve tomatoes on a plate alongside hummus and toasted pita bread for an appetizer or for lunch or dinner. I love doing this when they are still warm from the oven.

~ Cook penne pasta (or pasta of your choice) as directed on package. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of tomatoes along with some of the oil from the jar, diced fresh mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. Add olive oil, if needed. Toss and enjoy with crusty bread and glass of wine.

~ Do the same as the above but cool the pasta under running water for an amazing salad. Great for potluck event!

~ Use in omelets or over scrambled eggs in place of salsa.

Enjoy!

Updating my front entry

For those of you that know me, you know I LOVE to paint. I recently did a faux finish on my front entry way to match the stone facing I had placed on my home a few years ago. I thought I would share how I tackled this project and when finished what it looks like.

First step was to collect sponges of different sizes, choose 4 colors of paint and pick a "grout" color. The process took several days but I love the result!

First Step - Paint the concrete in the grout color of your choice; I choose gray because it matched the grout of my stone facing. I did two coats and allowed it to dry overnight.

Using sponges I then alternated sizes and colors to recreate the stone facing on the front of my home.



It took about an hour to paint the first slab. Within two hours I was done! Best to let dry overnight. At this point you can seal your walk - but honestly, my walk is covered so doesn't get many of the elements and my last faux painted brick lasted for 15 years with minimal touch-ups. I purchased all my paint supplies at Lowe's and I know they have the sealer there for purchase.

I added a few accessories and feel like it welcomes my guests beautifully, just as I had hoped. Can't wait until fall to "redecorate" with fall colors.

FYI, to make the brown pillows I reused old pillows I had and cloth napkins I found at World Market on clearance for $1.29 each.