Celebrating a Certain Someone

Truly Scrumptious Carrot Cake 

A favorite cake in our house.

Piper Sonoma and Papa Murphy Pizza – It’s a guy’s party.

Our neighbor gave my husband Piper Sonoma Brut Champagne. Reviews for this champagne (sparkling wine) say it has a clean, fresh, green apple aroma, tasting of green apple, citrus, a note of peach and strawberry, which makes this champagne elegant. I say that it tastes like fancy beer – it’s a man’s champagne.

My sweetheart only likes a thin layer of frosting on his cake. My frosting is a blend of about ½ cup butter, most of a bag of powdered sugar, a drop of vanilla, and a spot of milk.

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“Sparkling wine” vs. “Champagne” 

A question that we are often asked is, “What is the difference between “Sparkling Wine” and “Champagne”? The easy and short answer is that sparkling wine can only be called Champagne if it comes from the region of Champagne, France, which is just outside of Paris…

To clarify, all champagne is sparkling wine, but not all sparkling wine is champagne. We really should think of Champagne in terms of a geographical place as opposed to a winemaking style. 

Source:

Le Grand Courtâge France

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Colors of Autumn

 ~View from my window~

~Photos in backyard~

I liked the contrasting colors of the cosmos against the ginkgo tree. 

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Nothing Better than a Fire on a Rainy Day

The Pumpkin Spice Would Have Been Nice

 

Today, my daughter and I went on our early morning walk in hopes of enjoying the special holiday blend of Pumpkin Spice Cappuccino at AmPm, only to find that our local shop no longer has the frothy, sweet drink available! I have been looking forward to it all year - it is only available during November and sometimes, December. I never even had one cup of it this year! The friendly girl who often works there told me they were all out of it for the year. What? How can that be! I so want my Pumpkin Spice Coffee. I guess I will have to settle for the Pumpkin Spice black coffee and add some Pumpkin Spice flavored  creamer. Better luck next year, eh?

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Rainy Days and Cozy Nights

The last day of October - it's a rainy day, and possibly we shall have a gusty, windy evening. In a celebration of autumn, tonight we'll watch a family movie, away from all the hustle and bustle, enjoy pizza, Pepsi, and sweets. I might even start a fire in the wood stove and snuggle up on the couch, watching the flames dance and flicker as I drift off to sleep. ☺

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Time for a Glass of Iced Tea

It’s Friday, and I am so glad. It has been a long and difficult week. I am going to put my feet up...and have that glass of iced tea.

I hope you all are able to have a few moments to enjoy life's simple pleasures together.

I will leave you with some photos from a visit to the California State Railroad Museum taken may 2013

~ A wealthy man's private car ~

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Happy Weekend!

♥Hope

English Muffin Loaf

To Make these muffins, I used the English muffin loaf recipe (below) and cut out a couple of rounds from the dough before putting the dough into bread pans. They turned out no worse than the actual English Muffin recipe.

    

I have been making this delicious recipe since 1987.

I love crunchy toasted English muffins spread with butter melting into the nooks and crannies, topped with honey or jam.

You can have the wonderful aroma a freshly baked English Muffin Loaf fill your kitchen while your coffee brews and you set your table for a pleasant weekend breakfast. Maybe you want just the fresh muffin loaf with your morning coffee or tea, or perhaps you would like an egg and maybe tater tots on the side.

However you like it, you can have it baked in a jiffy, with this easy no kneed recipe. Bread making has never been easier. If you start at 7:00 a.m. you can have fresh muffin loaf on the table by 8:20, and you really only spend the first 15 minutes mixing it up and setting it aside to rise.

English Muffin Loaf

2 Tablespoons active dry yeast

6 cups unsifted flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon baking soda

2 cups milk

½ cup water

Cornmeal

Combine 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Heat liquids until very warm (120˚-130˚F) Add to flour mixture. Beat well. Stir in rest of flour to make a stiff batter. Spoon into 2 loaf pans (greased and sprinkled with cornmeal). Sprinkle the top of each loaf with cornmeal Cover and let rise in warm place for 45 minutes. Bake at 400˚ for 25 minutes. Remove immediately from pans and cool. Slice and toast or just eat it warm.

A couple of notes: I tend to let the milk get too hot, so I add my ½ cup of water after heating the milk. The dough is very sticky, so I let it set at least 5 minutes, which makes it easier to handle. I then use a large knife to cut the dough down the middle and I scoop it up by hand and plop it into the prepared pans. I warm my oven for 1 minute, turn oven off and place the bread to rise inside the warmed oven. Remove the loaves from the oven in about 35 minutes to heat oven to baking temperature.

Enjoy this delicious English muffin loaf right out of the oven, or bake it and toast it up later...perhaps for afternoon tea (Could you detect my English accent?).

♥ Hope

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September Morning

~ Morning sky ~

Such lovely clouds

Alas, that nasty looking telephone pole truly disrupts the beauty of a photo.

I made Stromboli on the weekend...
made it on the cheep using salami lunch meat and a shredded blend of bagged cheese.

Truthfully, it did not thrill me; however, Stephen assured me that it was super delicious. 

Another attempt made this morning -

Still trying to perfect the English muffins and still not happy with the results; 

although, I must say...they did taste quite yummy.

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Birthday Special

My birthday boy requested  scrambled eggs with biscuits and gravy for breakfast.

Lizzy decorated.

Lisa and Adam came over for pizza and cheese cake.

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