"Fall...Mum painting and Lima beans, cinnamon rolls

Hi everyone,
I hope you are having a fine Sunday afternoon! After church, I decided to finish a painting I was working on,"Autumn Mums". Here it is and I hope you like it. I am reminded of the beautiful mums my mother used to have in Kentucky! Here in Florida, Fall is sort of wishful thinking, at the moment. I am seeing mums in the garden center and will be putting some into my garden soon.










Now that I have finished painting, I thought it would be a good day to fix a Fall dish my mother liked to serve. She and my Dad were educated at Pine Mountain Settlement School in Harlan County, Kentucky. It was a boarding school with studies in many things besides books, as well as the best in "book education". Mother acquired many tasty recipes there that were staples at our house years later. One was "Lima Bean Salad" which HAD to be served with cinnamon rolls! Don't ask me why, but I will tell you that they compliment each other so well that I can't imagine one without the other!



To make Lima Bean Salad, you can either use canned green limas, or cook dried ones, draining all juice off. Add boiled and chopped egg, chopped onion, pickle relish, a little chopped green pepper, red, too if you want a little color, and stir in mayonnaise until moistened. Cover in fridge a few hours to let flavors blend. You can make cinnamon rolls your favorite way or an easy way, which is to dip canned biscuits in melted butter, then in sugar mixed with cinnamon. Be sure to poke some raisins into the dough. Serve as a meal in itself or add your favorite meat and perhaps a baked sweet potato. Lots of Yum appeal here! Try it. Making Lima Bean Salad is just like making potato salad, but use beans instead of potatoes. You'll be pleasantly surprised!

Wordless Wednesday

Come walk trough the garden with me.

Creating Little Pumpkin Pouches

Hi everyone,
I am still in a Fall Frame of Mind, so I have been creating little pumpkin pouches to hold treats! I just cut out two matching pumpkins from felt, cut out eyes, nose and funny mouth and a stem for the top...all from scraps of felt and then do some embroidering to attach to the pumpkin face. I leave an opening at the top so I can inset some little treats for all those Trick or Treaters (actually all I ever have is my grandchildren!).










I thought they would be so cute as a favor at each place when I have my friends over for lunch in October.

Or they could even hold the silverware!

Anyway, they are fun to make and I think the more you make the cuter they get! Maybe a whole basketful would be nice.......

"Morning Glory Muffins"

Hi Everyone, I wish you could just smell these delicious muffins cooling in my kitchen! Tomorrow I was asked to bring something to church for a Prayer Breakfast, so besides some watermelon chunks, I decided to take these yummy HEALTHY muffins.

For the past few weeks, I have really been trying to eat lots healthier and with no added salt! This recipe uses shredded carrots, apples, raisins, walnuts and calls for coconut, but I used dried cranberries instead of the coconut.

They are Yummy! Below is the recipe.

Morning Glory Muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup oat bran

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. soda

1/4 tsp. salt(optional)

Combine all the above in large bowl and set aside.

3 eggs

3/4 cups applesauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil (you can actually leave this out if you want)

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp. vanilla

1/4 tsp. orange extract

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup coconut (Iused dried cranberries)

1 medium tart apple, peeled and finely chopped

Mix moist ingredients together...add to dry ingredients and then fold in the carrots, raisins, walnuts and coconut, and apple. Fill muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes and remove to wire racks. Makes about 18 muffins. Enjoy!

Rain Appreciation Day!

Hi everyone, Today I am celebrating my own "Rain Appreciation Day"! Everything looks so much better since we have been having showers most every afternoon or evening. Flowers are blooming and things are lush and green. Here are some photos of the back patio and garden.

The banana tree looks gorgeous and so does the plumbago and the Mexican petunia!

Here is a close up of the plumbago. The yellow butterflies love this bush and usually there are at least 3 or 4 on it!


Happy Rain Appreciation Day!

Making fabric pumpkins

Hello and welcome to Ten Gables Cottage,
I have been busy making fabric pumpkins. I'm really in the Fall mood, as you can see. The ones pictured here are made of an old chenille bedspread dyed a golden orange. I have also used all sorts of pretty fall fabrics, including some orange and black flannel.







I started with a piece of fabric cut twice as long as it is wide.





I think I usually cut the pieces maybe 22 by 11 or 20 by 10, 18 by 9, etc.

Sew up the side, leaving both ends open. Then take a needle and thread and hand sew across one end, gathering up the fabric. Stitch a few times to secure.









Now turn right side out and stuff with fiber fill, very tightly.

Stitch across the top, gathering it and secure. Now you have a "ball". Take a big needle with yarn and go up through the bottom to the top, pulling the yarn tight to make the sections of the pumpkin. Make a stem and leaves of your own design or use wood, silk leaves, etc. Glue in place and there, you have a pumpkin!

Think Fall!

Blogger Giveaway Prize from 52Flea

Hi everyone and welcome to Ten Gables Cottage,
I am so excited because I won a beautiful giveaway prize from one of my favorite blogs...http://52 FLEA.blogspot.com/ I hope you will go on this beautiful blog and enjoy it as much as I do. The card came with the gift and was handmade by Laura's mother. It's lovely!
Then I received 2 gorgeous wooden paddles tied together with twine and I think they are either sock darners or dryers or they are used in the kitchen. I must find out the original use. They are so smooth so I know they had a special purpose. Then I received a skeleton key tied with a bit of lace, a cute little bag of vintage white buttons, all sizes and shapes, a wonderful little tin scoop that I had to dispaly the buttons in, and an old wooden stamp which I must stamp and see just whose name is on it! what a nice lot of treasures and I want to thank Laura for giving me the opportunity to enter her nice giveaway. What a thrill to be a winner!