Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies

Moist and soft, with a bit of crunch from the walnuts, these nicely spiced cookies are perfect with a glass of milk or hot chocolate. Enjoy!

Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies

1     cup butter
1     cup brown sugar
3/4  cup white sugar
1     cup applesauce
1     egg
1 t.  each salt, baking soda, and vanilla
1/2 t. each cinnamon, cloves, and allspice
1/4 t. cardamom
2    cups flour
4    cups oats
1 c. each chopped walnuts and raisins

In a large bowl beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add applesauce, egg, and vanilla, blend well.
Sift together flour, salt, baking soda, and spices, stir in butter mixture. Add oats and stir in, then stir in walnuts and raisins. Drop by spoonfuls on greased baking sheet. Bake at 375, for 12 minutes. Yield 5 dozen.

Autumn Warmth in Amber Jewelry

Warm and glowing, Amber is a perfect color bead to compliment any Autumn ensemble.

Add a little warmth and color to your Autumn wardrobe by stopping by Simply Sheryl's

Corn Husk Wreath is Finished Plus More!

 I had two ideas to put together, but I only had photos of the WIP on this one. I've played around with this, glittered it as Mom requested, but didn't like the way ribbon was looking on it so I ran to Jo-Ann's last night and gathered some goodies to give this wreath some color.

 It's now gracing our front door, and I think it turned out better than I hoped. It took me at least 8 hours to do though so there has to be an easier way.

 This wreath is an updated version of a corn husk wreath design Better Homes & Gardens featured years ago.  I added larger rickrack trim, as well as floral loveliness and whaalaa! It now graces Mom's front door in the living room.

This one took about 3 hours total. All you need is corn husks, soaked in water, a wire hanger shaped into a heart, and trims of your choice. You tear the husks into 1 inch or thinner strips, fold the strips and wrap around the wire. You pull the two ends through the folded end of the strip and pull tight. Push each additional looped strip close to each other. Once the wire is all covered let dry and add your trims. Easy peasy! Just a note, I use the wire hook end of the hanger as my hang from hook. I guess I need to add a photo of the back don't I....lol.
Now I'm off to change the water on the garden. Can you believe it's still warm enough to grow things?

The Perfect Gift - Pedestal Dishes

 A fun and useful way to re-purpose dishes and candle sticks are these pedestal dishes.

From weddings to any reason to celebrate, these make perfect gifts, for a loved one, or even yourself. Wouldn't these make lovely jewelry trays or soap dishes for bed or bath along with candy or nut servers for parties due to their curved sides? I would venture to guess you might have other ideas as well. For more info stop by Simply Sheryl's

An Owl to Hang Around With.....

                                                                             

There Was An Owl

There was an owl
who lived in an oak.
The more he heard,
the less he spoke;
the less he spoke,
the more he heard-
We all should be
like that wise old bird. 

A wise woman always has an owl in her jewelry collection. To add this to yours - Simply Sheryl's

Fresh Tomato Zucchini Salad

Okay, with new air card connected I'm ready to rock and roll again! Finally we have a connection that doesn't seem like dial up! Lucky me, we had some zucchini, well a lot of zucchini, so I took some with me to Oregon last week. My next door neighbor brought over a bag of tomatoes and assured me that's all he will be growing after his run in with the local gendarmes, and then a sweet lady down the road gave me a tour of her house and garden after I inquired about their fence, and she shared a giant white onion with me, yay!
I was invited to a sweet friend's house for dinner that night. She was serving a lamb roast and baked yams, oh my! I offered to bring the salad, so I chunked up a whole zucchini after slicing the seeds out. I added some chopped onion, about 3/4 of a cup, and two whole tomatoes chopped. I drizzled it all with a dressing made of 1/3 c. vinegar, 2 T. water, 2 T. italian seasoning, 2 t. seasoning salt and 12 T. each of olive and canola oil. Add coarse ground pepper to taste. It was a nice light salad that complimented the roast and yams perfectly! Marvel and Bob loved the salad so much they ate all of it! We did have one other guest so this served 4 very generously. I think I would like to try purple onion the next time for a nice color contrast.
Here's a break down of the recipe.

Fresh Tomato Zucchini Salad
1 large zucchini, seeded and cubed
two large tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup white or purple onion, chopped

Dressing
1/3 cup vinegar
2 T. water
2 T. italian seasoning
2 t. seasoning salt
2 T. each extra virgin olive and canola oil
coarse ground pepper to taste
Whisk all ingredients together and pour over salad. Stir gently to coat