Pumpkin & Paris

This year I'm in charge of the pumpkin pie. It's about time! Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie of them all, so if it's my turn to make it then I am going for broke.

 

Step one: real pumpkin.

Last weekend I bought three pumpkins. Thanks to the Pioneer Woman's tutorial, I now have about 14.5 cups of fresh pumpkin at my disposal for the pie and any other delicous treats that might pop up.

Step two: research.

I watched Martha Stewart's thanksgiving special (paying special attention to the pie section), watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay where his pumpkin pie actually beats out the national pie winner, and surveyed twitter friends for tips and recipes. Thanks to my research, I think I'm going with a graham cracker crust - the winning element to Bobby Flay's pie. I know this will be a radical change for my family, but we have to aim for the best here.

Step three: buy the cutest yellow pie plate ever.

Actually, we have 12.5 cups of pumpkin left. We had to eat some of it immediately since it was so good. Etienne made some of his mom's pumpkin fritters with cinnamon sugar. With this much leftover pumpkin, I'm sure it will go into the weekend breakfast rotation.

It's been a bit quiet on the blog these last two weeks. I'm sorry. I've been busy making coffee sleeves, building puzzles, and pureeing pumpin.  And I'm afraid I won't be around for another week because I'm going to Paris on Tuesday with my best friend.

When I'm back, I'll have the outcome of my pie efforts. Wish me luck.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Bridle Bag WIP

I've been commissioned by a friend to make a bridle bag for her daughter. Her daughter rides horses, so this bag will hold a horse bridle hanging down inside it. My friend had two requests: a bright blue color that her daughter loves and a handle that will fit over her shoulder.

Since they attend a lot of horse shows, they wanted a bag that they could carry over their shoulder instead of the usual bags which only have a short strap to hang in the stable. I worked out all of the dimensions after researching some other bridle bags and came up with this.

I still have to finish up some odds and ends on this, but I'll post some more pictures when it's complete.

(Please excuse the picture. The bag isn't this wonky in real life.)

Soup inspires sewing (or vice versa)

I was making some Succotash Chowder from the Moosewood cookbook today and couldn't help taking these pictures. How great are these colors? I love the green lima beans and yellow corn together.

I just made a new coffee sleeve recently with these colors as well. And let's not forget my couch quilt.

Anyhoo... The soup was quite good. Been making a lot of soup lately so that I can get more vegetables in without going directly to salads. I think its working.

Arg!

Looks like I missed a Front Page treasury featuring my little nautical coffee sleeve. Thank you, Etsy!

And how awesome is this craft cult widget? Love it.

"Skirts That Work" Part 3 - finished product

Ta-da! Here's my finished skirt from the Heather Ross class: "Skirts that work." Please excuse the silly photo.

And I'm wearing it. That's amazing!

A peek at the inside lining... polka dots, of course.

And a zipper! Can't believe how easy it was after the sloper was made. I'm thinking maybe a corduroy version soon? If I can figure out how to include some pockets, that would be a dream come true. I need pockets.