Happy Friday!

The Red Door

My super talented husband has painted and installed our new front door. Eeeeeeeee! It's so pretty, I can't believe he painted it on his own. Soon the siding, windows and lights will be done on the outside to and then we can move on to the inside. Its going to look so good! 

Ready to go

That hair...

the finished product

Pumpkin Donut Muffins

It's no secret, I love Love LOVE Martha Stewart. So when I saw her recipe for Pumpkin Donut Muffins I had to try it. They are so tasty! 

• For The Batter

  • 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon coarse salt *
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/3 cup buttermilk *
  • 1 1/4 cups pure pumpkin puree (from a 15-ounce can)
  • 3/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs

• For The Sugar Coating

  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two standard muffin tins. Make batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. In a small bowl, whisk together buttermilk and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping down bowl as needed. With mixer on low, add flour mixture in three additions, alternating with two additions pumpkin mixture, and beat to combine.
2. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into each muffin cup and bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean, 30 minutes*. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl*, combine granulated sugar and cinnamon. Let muffins cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Working with one at a time, remove muffins from pan, brush all over with butter, then toss to coat in sugar mixture. Let muffins cool completely on a wire rack.

*If you only have regular salt only put in 1/2 tsp

*If you only have regular milk just add a tsp of lemon juice to it and you've got buttermilk 

*My muffins were only in for 25 minutes and they were overcooked I would say the cooking time is closer to 21 minutes

Here is the link to the recipe on Martha's site http://www.marthastewart.com/331754/pumpkin-doughnut-muffins

Decoration Nation

Friday night I decorated my bedroom. I know what you're thinking "Katie you crazy party animal!" I am a party animal, a decorating party animal. But in all seriousness I'm so happy with how things turned out. So what did I do exactly? Well I...

- put a little flag banner above the bed

- put some pictures on the wall

- decorated the dresser area

-replaced the phone table with an old chair

I managed to do it all on a zero budget (well I spent $1.13 on cotton twine). We already had everything kicking around our house, it was just a matter of putting it all in the same room. I absolutely love it and now I have to move on to another room. Scary. But room by room our little house will be decorated (and renovated!).

kicking my feet up after a hard day's decorating... 

no big deal, just the talented designer... ha.

Guess Who's 8?!

8 and 23, 15 years difference!

It was this guy's 8th Birthday on Friday. We celebrated with a family dinner Saturday (Dad made Hulushki, sooooooooooo goooood!) and then Sunday he had a bowling party with his friends which of course resulted in deep fried pickles and poutine. Super fun. Happy Birthday Joe, you ridiculous character!

Motion 312

I dont want to make this  blog a political soap box but some things need to be posted so people can be informed so here goes...

Yesterday I learned about Motion 312. The Canadian Criminal Code defines unborn babies as non-humans. A brave Ontario MP named Stephen Woodworth has brought forward Motion 312 in an effort to evaluate this law. Every political party, except the Christian Heritage Party,  says that they will oppose this motion including Stephen Harper. Between September 17 and 25 people who believe that unborn babies deserve to have rights are encouraged to call there local MP and Stephen Harper's office to ask them to vote in favour of Motion 312. All the information you need to contact your MP and Stephen Harper's office is on this link http://pass312.org/contact-your-mp/. I encourage everyone to call and ask there MP and Stephen Harper to vote in favour of Motion 312.

Dream big. Happy Friday!

Why Can't We be Friends?

Lois loves sitting in people's purses 

Adorable

Not friends

I had a dream. I always thought that if I had two cats they would be best friends. They would play together, sleep together, eat together. And then Ross and Lois entered our lives and that dream was burned at the stake. Lois hates Ross. He tries to play with her; he'll jump on her and bat at her with his paw only to be greeted with a WHACK! of her paw and a hiss that says "IMA KILL YOU!" So I've come to grips with it. Some dreams you just have to let die.

Good morning world. It's hump day which means we're half way to the weekend and I can't wait. Timmins officially dove head first into fall this week. Unfortunately it couldn't stick it and ended doing a huge belly flop resulting in rain and freezing temperatures for its residents. So for the past week we've had big cozy, bake muffins, drink tea, read wrapped up in a blanket weather. Its been lovely, mind you Ross and Lois haven't really enjoyed it. Enjoy your Wednesday people. Cheers!

All that Glitters...

All that glitters is not gold (actually none of it is) but it's so pretty.

Vegetable Based Update

The avocado pasta was supposed to look like this but it really turned out looking like baby food on noodles.

A few weeks ago Chris and I decided to go change our diet to a vegetable based system. Basically we decided to go vegan (mind you we're super strict about it and if we eat out or go to someone else's house we'll eat whatever). So far it's been great physically. I feel a lot better, I have more energy and we've tried new things that we probably wouldn't have before like creamy avocado pasta (which, by the way was absolutely disgusting both times I made it). The hard part for me is coming up with meals. In my mind a meal is still meat, a starch and some vegetables and I can't shake it. Coming up with well rounded tasty vegan meals has been a challenge for me and I find I'm missing meat not because of how good it tastes but because of how easy it is to build a meal around it. But I will crusade on through this vegetable based maze and hopefully come out on the other side a better and much healthier cook.

Thankful

I am so thankful for this guy. He is incredibly patient, especially with me and my total lack there of. He is kind and thoughtful. He looks after me when I'm sick and basically carries me to bed when I fall asleep on the couch. He's always working on our house and making sure that we stay afloat. For these and many more reasons I love him to death.

The Big Black Bag

Last night while on my break I ran into the perfect black purse. It was the perfect size, perfect leather, perfect style, perfect pockets, perfect straps. I couldn't leave Winners and forget about this purse so I splurged. I have a big purse again!

Update: Joseph was adopted by a wonderful family at our church. Yay!

Vegetable Soup

Yesterday was a chilly fall day which called for a hearty fall soup. So to stay true to the vegetable based diet (update on that coming tomorrow) I decided to make a vegetable soup.  The recipe varies every time I make it depending on whats on hand but it turns out great every time.

1 yellow onion 

4 celery stocks

1 1/2 sweet potatoes

4 carrots

1 butternut squash

2 zucchini 

1 cup of corn

2 containers of vegetable broth

4 cloves of garlic

1 bay leaf

oregano, red pepper flakes, rosemary, salt and pepper to taste

1. let the onion, celery and carrots sauté for 7 minutes before adding the sweet potato, squash, zucchini, corn, broth, garlic and spices. 

2. bring everything to a boil and then turn down to low immediately and let it simmer for an hour or two. 

3. put a spoonful of quinoa in a bowl and cover with the delicious vegetable soup and you're good to go.

*I usually put a can or two of mixed beans in my soups but I just didn't have the room / I forgot yesterday but they make a delicious addition.

Happy Friday!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these muffins for the guys last weekend and they are phenomenal. I'm totally in love with this recipe. Its going in the recipe box.  2 cups all-purpose flour  1/2 cup packed brown sugar  1 tbsp. baking powder  1 tsp. baking soda  1/2 tsp. salt  1 cup chocolate chips  2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 4 large)  1/2 cup (1 stick/4oz/113g) butter or stick margarine, melted  1/4 cup milk  2 eggs  1 tsp. vanilla extract

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Grease pans or fill them with muffin cups.  In large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.  In small bowl, blend bananas, melted margarine, milk, eggs and vanilla. Add to flour mixture, stirring only until just blended (do not over mix). Fill muffin cups.  Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Let stand several minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool.  Makes 12 large muffins.  Tip: Use a spring-release ice cream scoop to spoon batter into muffin cups.

Bits and Pieces

Chris's  old hockey ring and my $2 leaf/feather ring

Moo a.k.a. Bubble Roses watching George

Part of Mum's beautiful collection

Necklace that breaks if you touch it

Backyard bike

Sundried tomatoes

White Trash

Not so antique cat coming out of an antique cat basket

Vicious

Fresh

Chris goes gourmet

Joint nap

Price comparisons