The last of the turkey.....

We had turkey for Thanksgiving, turkey sandwiches, turkey soup and now this will use up the LAST of the turkey........ phew.  I ate this with a side of squash and a side of Above the Dam Jam -Cranberry Jam.    Yes, jam.  Not cranberry sauce.  Nice sugary jam!  It was good.   And this recipe for turkey/chix pie is so yummy and super easy!

Adapted from Majorie Standish -Cooking Downeast

Filling for the pie-mix together (make sure the filling is warm):

Cooked Chicken or Turkey (2-3 cups?)

1 can of cream of mushroom soup.

1 cup+ of steam veggies- any kind.  They sell a steam bag of veggies with peas, corn, beans, and asparagus-very yummy!

Crust:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup of butter (1 stick)

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients together.  Using a pastry blender or two knives-work the butter into the flour mixtue till dry and crumbly.  Add egg and milk and stir with fork and use hands to form a ball of dough.  Split dough in half to make top and bottom crust.  Roll out with flour.  Place one crust on the bottom and fill with chix or turkey filling.  Place crust on top and flute edges.  Cut 3 slits into top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 mins.   It comes out so nice and fluffy!



Decorating for Christmas.... on the cheap!

I am not one to spend a lot of money on Christmas decorations.  Don't get me wrong- we decorate- I just prefer to find free things in nature!

Making swags is easy.  Wire, boughs, outdoor red bows and woods (or neighbors property when they are not home during the day- ahhh the benefits of being a stay at home mom!)

We put the same snowman flag up each year.  Kids still think it great.   I also stuff the little sleigh and flower pot with white pine, holly & other types of pine I find around the outside of the house.  I am lucky we have a giant holly bush!

Festive and Free!

You can't teach an old cat new tricks!

A dog maybe, but not this old cat.  I could hardly control my laughter when the girls decided to "train" Plumpy to do a few tricks.  They really get an A for effort.

Here we see them trying to get him to sit up and beg on the stool.  

This is as far as he got............

Now they try to motivate him with a fishing pole toy.  no go.....

Abby tied a snack cup to a ribbon with treats inside to try and get him to do something, anything........

In the end it was no use.  Just one sad dejected little girl and a fat cat.

 Happy Thanksgiving!  Hope your turkey is as fat as Plumpy.

Don't put the baby in the washing machine!

Trust me, don't.  No matter how much vomit is on the doll-there must be another way.   Here is Olivia's baby (for days now) hanging in the laundry room.  Her cloth body has dried (still has a little odor to it), but her head, legs and arms are full of water.  Give a shake and all you hear is slosh slosh slosh.   So far Olivia has been appeased with her sister's baby doll at night (thank you big sister) and other various stuffed animals, but the same question is asked every nap and evening:  "is my baby dry yet?"   Not sure if we can keep this up till Christmas when a new baby will arrive (again thank you big sister for suggesting she ask Santa for a new baby).   

My husband had a thought.  He could drill holes in her head, arms and legs to get the water out.   Errr, not sure that is the best plan............

The BEST accessory that came with the new wood stove!

THE BOX!

I can't tell you the number of hours the girls have played in this box.   I told them if I hear any fighting, anything- just one peep of disagreement between them it goes back to the garage.  So far so good.  I know my luck will run out soon............ this isn't my first rodeo.

Good use for old Christmas cards too!

It's getting hot in here!

Finally- going into our 2nd full winter in this house we have a new wood stove installed.  When we moved in the previous owners had installed an old, ugly gas insert which did not work.   After going through one winter with a few power outages and no back up heat this baby has been a long time coming!  Maine winter's REQUIRE a wood stove!   I have never lived in a house without one. 

This is what it looked like the day we moved in:

Taking out the fake fireplace logs:

You can never get enough help from a 2 year old on a fireplace install:

See those things to the left of the stove.  Bio bricks!  One pallet is equal to a cord of wood:

It is SO big:

The final product!  Can't wait for the cold weather now.  I know- bite my tongue.......

Have a few extra apples!

If you have a few extra apples kicking around the house I highly recommend giving this EASY recipe a shot.

CHEWY APPLE BROWNIES
1 cup margarine (2 sticks), softened

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, well beaten

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 medium baking apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

1/2 cup chopped pecans

VANILLA GLAZE:

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon hot water

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan; set aside.
Beat margarine, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla in large bowl of electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Combine dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Mix until flour is moistened; fold in apples and nuts. Spread into prepared pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

GLAZE:   Combine glaze ingredients and mix until smooth. Drizzle over cooled brownies in a thin stream, forming a woven pattern. Let glaze set before cutting brownies.
Serve brownies warm with frozen yogurt or at room temperature.