Gobbly Good Ideas

My Sweet Girl would do crafts every day, all day, if her Momma had nothing else to do. :) Cutting, pasting, sewing, painting, cooking, you name it, she would do it!

This afternoon we made Pilgrim Hats (as shown here) for snack time at the Academy she attends.

First, we took Fudge Stripe shortbread cookies and placed them fudge stripes down on wax paper. Then we melted chocolate chips and shortening and coated large marshmallows. She placed the coated marshmallows on the cookies, then we let them harden in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

After that we took some yellow icing and SHE piped buckles on the hats.

They are imperfectly perfect and the best part is it gave Sweet Girl something to do! ;)

Doing this while listening to rain fall and Christmas music. Seeing this view outside our back windows.

Since it's a rainy cool day, and we have Sweet Girl's Thanksgiving Program tonight, I have soup bubbling on the stove. Not sure if I've shared the recipe here before or not but here is the easy-peasy Taco Soup that I make. I'm not sure where the recipe ultimately came from but my Mother-in-law shared it with me.

Taco Soup
1 can tomato soup
1 can whole kernel corn (do not drain)
1 can chili beans (do not drain)
1 pack taco seasoning
1 lb ground beef
1 can/cup water

Mix all together and put in crockpot or on stove. We eat with sour cream, tortilla chips and cheese. My family loves it, so I always make extra for leftovers. Hello supper for Wed night. ;)

Hope you are enjoying your Fall as much as I am! The leaves here are gorgeous and every morning as I drive to work and school I think of this verse:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork.
Ps 19:1

~Victoria~

Fall in the North Georgia Mountains

Fall is slowly creeping its way to us in GA. We were in the north Georgia mountains last week and all around us we saw the in-between of the fall beauty to come.


My photo-lookout point Ft. Mountain


My Photo-Warm colors of fall.


My Photo-Golden Delight

My favorite picture may be this one below and I didn't even take it.

Photo credit: from my husband's Flickr photostream


My husband noticed this shelled nut laying on a rock. I can just see a little squirrel nibbling away and leaving the evidence of his visit behind.

We also picked up a variety of apples. Mostly Winesaps for Apple Butter and a few other goodies.

Photo credit: Karen Brugman's Flickr photostream


If you are looking for a wonderful and easy apple butter recipe, check out this one out on Manuela's blog. Victoria picked some apples in September and made this. It was delish and she shared the rest of her apples with me and I gave it a try. Yum! My family loved it, so we picked up another supply of apples.

And for another treat, try this old fashioned apple cake. So quick and easy. No sifting or adding the wet and then dry ingredients. Just add it all in and pop it into the oven.

Apple Cake

3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups self-rising flour
3 cups diced apple
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (The original recipe did not call for cinnamon, but I find that it is a perfect addition)

Mix all ingredients and pour into a greased and floured bundt pan. Bake 1 hour and 25 min.
325 degrees.


And last but not least, a joke. What is worse than finding a worm in your apple?................................
Finding half a worm.

Christina