FREE Gift Wrapping on Ornies till' Christmas!!!

Greetings Everyone! Hope you guys had a blessed Thanksgiving! I am offering free gift wrapping on all my ornaments until Christmas. I have added a pic of what the ornament looks like gift wrapped. They come in a brown kfrat box tied up with a sprig of greenery and a hand made gift tag. This includes my pet ornies and all my other ones too! Also here is a sneak peek at my new santa I will be offering on Ranting Raven the 1st of December.

Prepping for Turkey Day

Hi Everyone! I am busy prepping for my holiday dishes. I will be having Thanksgiving at my mom and dad's like always. So I am responsible for some side dishes and one dessert. I am trying to get my list together to go to the grocery store tomorrow. I found this wonderful site that has wonderful step by step recipes; hopefully some you may want to try :)

http://thepioneerwomancooks.com

My Critters!

Season's Greetings

Kentucky Hoe Cakes

I got a serious craving for this yummy fried bread. These are a staple in the south and as the story goes farmers made these on their hoe's on an open fire while working in the fields. Hence the name "Hoe Cakes". These can be served in a multitude of ways. They work wonderful with any meat dish or a big bowl of pinto beans. Or they can be served with maple syrup. Lol, I had to include the pic of Odee begging while I was frying them; Daisy was running amuck more interested in finding out what her daddy was doing. You can fry these in a well seasoned cast iron skillet or a non stick skillet. When frying these do not flip them over until they are all bubbly on top (same method you use when frying pancakes). Here is my recipe:

1 cup self rising cornmeal

1/4 cup self rising flour

1 cup milk

Lard for frying

Mix all ingredients together expect the lard; whisk together until smooth. Place the lard in your pan and get it nice and hot. Add your batter; max them any size you want. Serve warm with butter or syrup. YuMO!

Simply Primitives releases tomorrow :)

Tis' the Season for Planning Ahead

Well it's begun! We are all in a frantic rush watching the days till Christmas click by. I am in a pressure cooker trying to get all my orders out by Christmas, not to mention I haven't even started Christmas shopping. I have two come up with 2 gifts the 5th and 7th of December for my nephew and sister. I think I have them figured out; I will be getting my nephew a MP3 player and fixing my sister a gift basket filled with Bare Essentuals (which I also LOVE). So today I made a mondo pot of chili; which is very smart to make a big batch. It's just hubby and I so I put it in 2 serving size freezer containers so we can heat and eat anytime. But chili is a very versatile dish; it can stand alone or makes awesome chili dogs and chili and cheese fries. Which I had for supper! Yeah I am guilty I eat like a pig; total junk. But I workout every day either aerobics or walking to keep me from gaining weight. Sadly, I never eat healthy. But I do drink huge amounts of water and try to watch my salt intake and eat small portions of the JUNK. Thought I would include my recipe and photo in case you guys want some chili. Lol, I think I would get points deducted for my plating skills!

Basic Chili

2 pounds ground beef

1 large can tomato juice

1 small can tomato paste

1 cup ketchup

1 can of kidney beans

chili powder to taste

brown sugar to taste

OK I guess you are saying where is the onions and peppers??? Well me and hubby hate them so you guys add all that if you feel the need. Brown hamburger and drain. I use a nice big dutch over so I can do everything in one pot. Add your tomato juice and paste; then add your ketchup, beans and chili powder. When everything is combined add your brown sugar to taste oh yeah and salt and pepper. Simmer on low 2 hours! Enjoy and Freeze the leftovers.

2 Peas in a Pod

Look at the photo I took of Daisy and Odee! They look like 2 peas in a pod. I did some decorating in the workshop last night and I took a few photos of what I did. I put on my Christmas music and it really got me in the mood! Look at my faux fireplace :) I also hung some old clothes on the mantle like they are drying by the fire. I decided to go for a natural theme. All the tree has on it besides the lights is strung cranberries and dried sweet potatoes. The mantel is done in fresh pine greenery and a few dried oranges tucked in here and there and my old pitchfork in the center. You can see a sneaky peeky at my new Santa for Simply Primitives too. I also used one of my prized possessions to decorate with. It's an old red sap bucket from Maine filled with greens. Hope this gets you guys in the mood too

So Much to Do So Little Time

It feels like winter here in Kentucky today even though its the beginning of Autum. However I love the cool weather. I had to double layer when I went for my walk today and my face still got cold. I so needed my walk today to clear my head and take a moment to breath. Lol, seems like these days all I get to do is Feed Things. Lol, I know have a total of 9 dogs, 2 cats, a pig and a husband to feed! It's overwhelming some days. Ex specially now that the puppies are eating. I can't believe they are already eating as they are only 3 weeks old. And about the time I get all the animals feed hubby comes home and says what's for supper? Another stress for me is that I clean the house every day and it never feels clean enough...........maybe I am a little OCD. Regardless the laundry is never done and the house is never clean enough. Hubby is a hopeless pack rat.........I swear he brings home anything he can get his hands on and flops it down on the coffee table. I had to give him a room for all his junk but he tries to clutter the rest of the house too. I HATE CLUTTER! Lol! How did this blog post get so ANGRY? On a positive note The Humble Arts and Ranting Raven just released. I also listed some new on ebay and I am working on some new Christmas items. I am going to put my Christmas tree up in the shop because it inspires me so much; I just love this time of year. Blessings to everyone!

Halloween

Front Porch Decor

Hubby in his Afro Wig!

My Mother in Law the "Witch"

Micheal Myers

Hope all of you had a Happy Halloween! We sure had a blast! Me and the hubby opened a country grocery store this year in April. We all dressed up last night and sat on the porch giving candy to the trick or treaters. The cutest was a little baby dressed as Eore from Winnie the pooh............I didn't have a chance to get a pic of him as we had so many! I did get a pic of the scariest in a Micheal Myers costume. We ended up having about 160 kids! Lol, I think we had more fun than the kids................all the kids were scared to death of my MIL; they didn't even want to come up on the porch!