OK, I am ready to admit it. I have a problem with a certain soft item…

I must have them all over the house…

Yes! I am crazy about quilts. There is something about them…all of them…pristine ones from a long stored hope chest…

Well loved ones that have kept babies warm and served as forts for active little boys for generations…

But I ask you, who could resist the colorful charm…or the ability to literally touch the past?

Perhaps you can even touch generations back on your own family tree…

A treasured past to pass down to our future…

So much crazy in my house…enjoy a post from a calmer time…also how cute was the Princess!

Metamorphosis Inspire me Monday. Inspire me Tuesday You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Beautifully made. Wednesday blog hop. Share your style. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm.Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Create bake grow. Happiness is homemade. Create with joy. Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday Pink Saturday encouraging hearts and home Wednesday Centerpiece. Dare to share. heart and souls simple sunday silverado. The Fabulous Party. homestead blog hop traffic jam busy Monday. Love your creativity inspiration party share the wealth Karen’s kottage. Crafty creations sunshine Sunday potpourri creative muster. Homemade Monday

Just keeping it real…this is my existence right now…and this the most organized part.

As much as I look forward to this renovation, it’s super stressful as well

This is kind of our outside wall. We can hear the wind whistling this very minute.

Any advice or words of wisdom from anyone who has been there? What has worked to keep your renovation sanity? How did you get through the day to day? I am open to any and all suggestions.

Morning Cup of Joe@The Country Market

The renovation is starting to get real…actual walls are going up on Monday. This is fabulous news…until I realized my kitchen will be out of commission for a significant amount of time. What am I to do? Bake pumpkin bread of course, and think about my dream kitchen!

The Usual Cast of Characters

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter , softened

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

15 ounces canned pumpkin purée

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup milk

12 ounce package chocolate chips (or realize way too late you have no chocolate chips and hastily substitute Reese’s mini pieces)

The Steps to Glory

1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line the bottom of two loaf pans with a piece of parchment paper. Spray all over with cooking spray.

2 Add the sugar and butter to a mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until well combined. Add eggs, pumpkin and vanilla and mix to combine.

3 In a separate bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

4 Alternately add flour mixture, then milk to pumpkin mixture, starting and ending with flour. Fold in chocolate chips at the end.

5 Pour the batter into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before inverting onto a wire rack to cool.

6 Mini loaves will bake for around 25-35 minutes.

And of course…Halloween!

Inspire me Monday. Inspire me Tuesday . Metamorphosis. You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Beautifully made. Wednesday blog hop. Share your style. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm.Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Create bake grow. Happiness is homemade. Create with joy. Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday Pink Saturday encouraging hearts and home Wednesday Centerpiece. Dare to share. heart and souls simple sunday silverado. The Fabulous Party. homestead blog hop traffic jam busy Monday. Love your creativity inspiration party share the wealth Karen’s kottage. Crafty creations sunshine Sunday potpourri creative muster what’s for dinner handmade Monday full plate

Encouraging Hearts And Homes@Apron Strings and Other Things

Senior Salon@Esme Salon

Pink Saturday@How Sweet the Sound

For whatever reason, I have attended many a potluck in my lifetime. When asked what I was going to contribute, I always said “I can bring homemade sourdough bread!” This statement was almost always greeted by a look of pure awe or barely disguised disbelief. Even now, some of you are thinking…sourdough bread isn’t that really hard…time consuming…better left to the experts? Just have some faith…and a good starter, and you can impress your family and friends with the crusty, chewy goodness. The basic starter is probably the most challenging aspect. However, if you can measure and mix flour and water, you can make starter. There are terrific recipes all over Pinterest, or let me know and I can give you my own secret recipe.

This recipe is a good beginner’s sourdough bread because most of the uncertainty of the rise is removed with the addition of a little yeast. It is great for a newer starter…and absolutely delicious.

The usual Cast of Characters

1 cup “fed” sourdough starter

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

5 cups Bread flour

1 tbs dough enhancer…optional but highly recommended.

The Steps to Glory

1. Combine all of the ingredients, kneading to form a smooth dough. I use a kitchen aide mixer on low about 8-10 minutes
2. Allow the dough to rise, in a lightly greased, covered bowl, until it’s doubled in size, about 90 minutes. Keep in a warm spot.
3. Gently divide the dough in half; it’ll deflate somewhat.
4. Gently shape the dough into two oval loaves. Place the loaves on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 1 hour. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.

4.Spray the loaves with lukewarm water. This step is essential for the crusty outside, soft inside beauty of sourdough.

5. Make two fairly deep diagonal slashes in each using a serrated bread knife. Sprinkle with sea salt.

6. Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it’s a very deep golden brown.

7. This is my secret tip just for you…turn oven off, prop open door with an oven mitt and allow the bread to cool in the oven. Don’t remove until the outside is cool enough to touch. Why do this? It prevents the Bread from having a soggy outside from the evaporation as it cools. Soggy bread is just sad.

8. Remove, slice and enjoy…and accept all the compliments. Just don’t tell them how easy it was to do.

Especially good to serve following a Navy win on a cold game day!

Metamorphosis Inspire me Monday. Inspire me Tuesday . You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Beautifully made. Wednesday blog hop. Share your style. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm.Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Create bake grow. Happiness is homemade. Create with joy. Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday Pink Saturday encouraging hearts and home Wednesday Centerpiece. Dare to share. heart and souls simple sunday silverado. The Fabulous Party. homestead blog hop traffic jam busy Monday. Love your creativity inspiration party share the wealth Karen’s kottage. Crafty creations sunshine Sunday potpourri. Creative muster. Home made what’s for dinner

Funtastic Friday@Two Chicks and A Mom

How silently they tumble down

And come to rest upon the ground

To lay a carpet, rich and rare,

Beneath the trees without a care,

Content to sleep, their work well done,

Colors gleaming in the sun.

At other times, they wildly fly

Until they nearly reach the sky.

Twisting, turning through the air

Till all the trees stand stark and bare.

Exhausted, drop to earth below

To wait, like children, for the snow

Metamorphosis Inspire me Monday. Inspire me Tuesday . You’re the Star. Tuesday with a twist. Wonderful Wednesday. Keep in touch. Beautifully made. Wednesday blog hop. Share your style. Grandma’s House DIY. Vintage charm.Friendship Friday. Funtastic Friday. Grace at Home Thursday favorites. BFF open house. Morning Cup Of Joe. Home matters.Create bake grow. Happiness is homemade. Create with joy. Creatively crafty Senior salon. Turn about Tuesday Saturday Sparks Farmhouse Friday All About Home Flaunt it Friday Pink Saturday encouraging hearts and home Wednesday Centerpiece. Dare to share. heart and souls simple sunday silverado. The Fabulous Party. homestead blog hop traffic jam busy Monday. Love your creativity inspiration party share the wealth Karen’s kottage. Crafty creations sunshine Sunday potpourri creative muster handmade Monday

To Grandmas’s House We Go@Grandma’s DIY

Thursday Favorite Things@An Artful Mom