Something to Show You

So you know how I've been talking about all of this secret knitting that I'm working on? Well, today I'm going to show you something that started out as a gift, but now it's not...That sounds just awful. I'm sorry, I just love it so much I can't part with it. I've been wearing it all day so now I have to keep it. Right?

It's called the ANANKE shawl and it was designed by Shannon Squire. I knit it out of Socks that Rock light weight yarn in the color called Black Magic. I worked on it over Thanksgiving mostly on the long drive to and from North Carolina. I'm calling it my Thanksgiving Traveling Shawl.

Now I have to get busy making another gift for the person that this was intended for. Maybe I should just knit the exact same thing again so I won't feel the need to keep it. I am such a bad person. Please forgive me for my "giving" issues. I'm working on it. I promise.
We have plans to "start" decorating the house for Christmas. I'm not sure how far we will get, but so long as the tree goes up and the lights are in the windows I'll feel better.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Sally

Breakfast of Champions ~ The New Flavor of the Season

 Just to let you in on a little secret... Pumpkin is out. Gingerbread is in.

This may not be a surprise. 2 and 1/2 months of all things pumpkin is probably enough.

Good thing I'm a huge fan of gingerbread, because it too seems to be just about every where.

Some of my new Trader Joe's favorites include (in no particular order)

Gingerbread Coffee and Walnut Cranberry Bread.

Alan is a fan of the Mini Gingerbread Men cookies, I love the Dark Chocolate dipped Shortbread Stars (in the cookie jar) and I'm just saying I could eat this whole container of caramels if I didn't have so much will power. Seeing as it's not even December yet I'm hoping the will power thing holds up a just a little longer.
On my list of things to do today: Put away fall decorations (good bye pumpkins)
                                                 Clean the house (to get ready for Christmas decorations)
                                                 Have the piano tuned (so it's ready for Christmas Carols)
                                                 Keep working on Super Secret knitted gifts
I was hoping to wake up to a light dusting of snow this morning. Just rain, but the sun is going to come out any minute. Have a great Tuesday!
Sally

Pie

Last week I mentioned that I'd tried a new pie recipe this year for Thanksgiving and that if it turned out well I would share the recipe with you. Well, it's your lucky day if you like pie. I chose this recipe because I was generously gifted pecans from my Aunt Trudy. I guess I should mention that some of the pecans were picked up on the golf course by my Dad and Uncle Henry too. The added benefits of playing golf...

 Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

1 refrigerated pie crust, homemade or store bought
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup dark corn syrup
1/4 cup Jim Beam Bourbon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup pecan halves (or pieces)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
 Partially prebake the crust at 400 degrees until golden; let cool
Reduce oven temperature to 350
Combine the eggs, sugar, and corn syrup in a large bow. Whisk well to combine. Add the bourbon, butter and vanilla. Whisk again until evenly combined. Scatter the pecans and chocolate ships evenly over the cooled pie shell. Whisk the filling once more, then slowly pour it over the nuts and chips.Bake until the filling is set, about 45-50 minutes, rotating the pie 180 degrees halfway through the baking.

Don't tell anyone, but the cherry pie filling came from a can. I did add a little vanilla and dotted it with tiny pieces of butter before I put the top lattice crust on. I didn't try the cherry, but Alan and Grace enjoyed it.

Sally

Thanksgiving In Greensboro NC

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving trip to North Carolina. We had a wonderful time. The weather was absolutely perfect and Grace even got to join us at the last minute. That's a story for another day... Hope you all ate too much and enjoyed yourselves as much as we did.

Sally

Thanksgiving Preperations

We will be spending this Thanksgiving with my dad and David in NC. I know most of you probably think we are cheating by ordering our complete dinner from the Fresh Market again, but hey, it works for us and I'm here to tell you that the food is DELICIOUS!
The Turkey Butters have been purchased and tins of chocolate chip cookies and Fire Crackers (see I Love The Taste Of... for the recipe) are ready to go. I baked a couple of loaves of banana bread and two pies. I made a  Chocolate Pecan Bourbon pie, which if it tastes as good as it looks I'll share the recipe with you and a lattice topped cherry pie. So, see some of the dinner will be home made.

Just pretend that there are two pies in the carriers

I hope you all feel as blessed as I do this Thanksgiving. There is just so much to be thankful for. Safe travels to you and I will chat with you again next week. Happy Thanksgiving!
Sally

Super Secret Spinning & Knitting

Lots of crafting has been going on around here, but because most of it is Christmas gifts in the making I can't quite show any of it to you just yet. What I can show you are these super cute and super fiddly knitted ornaments. Don't ask me why I thought I needed to make them, I just did. Once I got started I just couldn't stop. I've made these three so far and I have a fourth on the needles. I only bought 4 Styrofoam balls, which is probably a good thing, because as I mentioned there are still presents to be made. I also sewed up this holiday project bag. I'm kind of into draw string bags at the moment. I'm sure it's just a phase and it will pass soon....

Sally

The Color RED

I wish you could stop by for a cup of coffee or tea this afternoon and admire our beautiful RED yard. The colors this year have been the best so far since we've lived here. Just gorgeous.

I told you so... I've had a lovely Friday, a perfect start to the weekend. I've been working on some super secret spinning and knitting for Christmas, or I'd be showing you that too. There is a big pot of soup on the stove and I'm drinking a cup of dark hot cocoa with peppermint marshmallows. YUM! I probably should think about doing a little house cleaning, but really, who has time for that? Hope you have a fantastic weekend doing lots of fun and fantastic things. Can you believe that Thanksgiving is just 6 days away?
Sally

Something Different

Sorry these are not the best pictures. It's quite difficult to take photographs of your own hands. I tried something new and daring yesterday. Instead of my usual French manicure I branched out and went with a dark purple nail color and "nail art". I know, risky and daring right? I'm obviously living on the wild side...

Trust me, it's much cooler in person. It's a new technique that the Shellac people came up with. I think it took a little longer than just a regular Shellac manicure and it cost an extra $5.00, but it should last at least 2 weeks (with now chipping or cracking) and I think it's very fun! I might have to do it again for Christmas.

Finally Finished

I'm a little embarrassed to admit that it has taken me 2 1/2 years to finish this tiny, little quilt hanging. I bought it the summer that we moved to Louisville at my local quilt shops Christmas in July sale. I started it right away in hopes of having it done by Christmas. When that didn't happen, I packed it away. I took it out the next summer thinking that surely I could get it finished for Christmas number 2 in our Kentucky home. Obviously that didn't happen either. This year I was determined to get it done, and low and behold here it is. Cute as can be and FINISHED! I can't believe we will be celebrating our third Christmas in Louisville this year.
 Time flies.

On to my next unfinished project. The race is on to see how many I can finish before the end of the year.
Sally

I Told You There Would Be More Hiking

Just when I thought that hiking season was over, Mother Nature decided to bless us with the most beautiful November weather this weekend. Saturday it was sunny and 70 degrees. Perfect hiking weather! We headed back over the river and through the woods to Clifty Falls State Park. Most of the leaves have turned crunchy and brown and fallen from the trees. Brown pretty much describes the scenery. We hiked the Trail 7 loop and saw two amazing deer. Apparently it's mating season... We also hiked "part" of Trail 8. Maybe next spring we will hike all 9 miles of it... We ate our picnic lunch in the tiny town of Madison, sitting on a bench and watching the Ohio river flow by. It really was a beautiful day. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. The falls are very small this time of year, so you have to look closely to see the water dripping off the rocks.

There you have it. I'm going out on a limb and saying that that was our last hike of the year. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around a the corner. We have things to do. I'm just saying. Who knows, next weekend I just might be showing you more hiking pictures....

Hope you had a beautiful weekend too.

Sally