Pots and Pins

Soup Spiders...

Another Halloween is upon us at The Slaughterhouse - and it's all tickles and giggles till it ain't.  Alas, along with the merriment there is also much work...setting up headstones is not for sissies!  And then there's the pumpkins to carve and the seeds to roast and the candles to light and the costume, wig and make-up!!!  Halloween falderal can be all-encompassing at The Slaughterhouse and maybe once, or twice, I might have had the thought pass through my brain that I am getting too old for this crap!  Fortunately, I was able to banish it quickly!  I suppose as long as none of the headstones have my name on them, I'll dig little trenches each year in the front yard and go about installing them in the rain as usual...it's my duty as a Ghoul-fearing-Halloween-loving-American.  Amen.

This isn't really a recipe, just a how-to.  To make 11 Soup Spiders you will need one sheet of Puff Pastry.  Don't let it thaw, at least not all the way, it's much easier to cut when it's still frozen.  Cut out two circles - the size of your soup bowl will determine the size you cut.  For example, our soup bowls are 6-inches across so I cut a 2-inch circle for the spider body and a 1-inch circle for the head. For the spider legs I cut 3 1/2-inch long thin strips, then folded them in half, forming two legs per strip.

Attaching everything is easy - use a beaten egg as the "glue"; using a pastry brush, brush a little of the beaten egg onto the spider body and attach the head and legs by pressing lightly.  Use bits of black olives (or green olives, or pimientos, or parsley - you get my drift) for the eyes.  Bake the spiders on a parchment lined baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until nicely browned.

After baking, remove from baking sheet to a cooling rack to cool completely.  Okay, so some of them don't exactly look like spiders...maybe more turtles!  But they're tasty and cute for sure!

You can serve the spiders on a plate, as just a little extra treat but since we call them Soup Spiders, it's best to serve them on top of a steaming bowl of your favorite soup!

Now, isn't that terrifyingly fun?!?  A little pastry "biscuit" on top of soup, chowder or chili - it's what's for Halloween! Speaking of fun, notice the cute little paper Halloween bag?  My sister made a bunch of them for me and she got them here in plenty of time for me to fill with my Licorice Caramels  and my "regular" Caramels as favors for my quilt group luncheon.  I drag the same ol' stuff out every year...

so I try to do something fun with the food so our lunch isn't boring.  Along with the Soup Spiders I served the coleslaw a little differently...I saw this idea on Pinterest using guacamole - but it works just as well with coleslaw!

However you serve up Halloween this year - I hope it's full of scary fun, thrills and chills, and lots and lots of those little bite-sized candy bars!

H A P P Y    H A L L O W E E N 

from

T H E      S L A U G H T E R H O U S E  !

Pumpkin Juice...

It's actually good.  No kidding.  Kind of refreshing, too, and since pumpkin is a super-food, Pumpkin Juice can be considered healthy and good for you!  It's my new Fall drink...served hot or cold...it's the perfect mocktail after a day in the pumpkin patch.

 

 

 

 

 

The girl and the real Elsa surprised us with a visit last weekend and we did all things Halloween - well, as many as we could!  Once our fingernails were painted just the right shade of orange, we headed to the pumpkin patch!  Elsa loved the corn maze - would have stayed in there all day if we'd let he but we were on a schedule and seeing the movie Goosebumps was up next!

Have you seen the movie Goosebumps yet?  If not, get your fine self over to see it - it's fun and funny and a teensy bit scary (for a 3 1/2 year old but she loved it and didn't want to leave!)

 

 

Served hot or cold, pumpkin juice is a winner and it's so easy to make!  It will keep in the refrigerator for several days so you can enjoy it whenever you want.  If you can't find Apricot Nectar in your grocery store, check the ethnic foods aisle, sometimes it's stuck in there. 

Pumpkin Juice - Pots and Pins

1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin

3 cups apple cider

1 can (11.5 oz.) Kern's Apricot Nectar

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine canned pumpkin, apple cider, apricot nectar, and pumpkin pie spice.  Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.  Serve warm or cool to room temperature, then refrigerate and serve chilled over ice.  Store in refrigerator, shake/stir before serving.  Makes about 6 cups.

Poured into jars with a cute tag, (thanks to my sister Carolynn who is a paper wizard!) Pumpkin Juice makes a fun gift this time of year for kids of all ages!

Rubies Are A Girl's Best Friend...

I haven't cried in a very long time, oh sure, I've teared up, and I've fought the urge to bawl like a leetle girl, after all, I am married to the mister, but as far as actually crying/sobbing/wailing like a Southern Sista at a funeral, I've been as dry as the Sahara, until last night.  Last night as I was attempting to fluff my pillow, my ring snagged on the edge and then quickly released.  Odd.  I turned on the light and to my horror, I saw my beloved ruby ring was missing a ruby!!! 

This is the ring the boy gave me for Christmas 15 years ago...the mister took him shopping and he picked out a ruby ring...that boy is practically perfect in every way!  And he was so proud and happy to give it to me - I can still remember his little face!  I have loved this ring ever since.  When I saw the hole where the ruby should have been, I burst into tears - real alligator tears - and I could not stop!  The mister, being as sharp as a tack, noticed something was amiss...could have been my shrill shrieks...and he immediately went into full Karate mode...thinking I had been attacked by a giant spider or worse.  FYI, the mister does not know Karate.  I was trying to talk, trying to spit out what had happened, holding up my finger, but in a split second the mister, flailing about, had ripped the bedding off the bed, looking for the culprit that caused my hysteria.   Before he could do any more damage I managed to get a grip and blurt out my ruby was missing.   To my surprise, the mister was as sad about it as I was!  Well, not sad enough to help me look for it, and not sad enough to stop watching TV, but deep down, where he didn't know it, I'm sure he was sad.  Pretty sure.  I searched all over the bed, the bedroom, the bathroom, down the hall , down the stairs - went through the entire house picking up any little thing I saw on the floor, (made a mental note to vacuum)...found nothing.  

Today while I WAS vacuuming, I saw a little pebble out of the corner of my eye just as the vacuum sucked it up.  Thinking/hoping it could be the ruby, I emptied out the contents of the vacuum and slowly felt my way through every ball of dust/lint/hair/pine needle...disgusting!!!  Half way through the debris, there it was...my little precious stone!  I can hardly believe my good luck!!!  And hardly contain my JOY!!!  This is what the ring looks like when the ruby is in place...first thing tomorrow it's going to the jeweler to be reset.  Just had to share my happy moment with ya'll...well, my sad moment then my happy moment.  As someone who excels at mediocre luck, this is a pretty big deal!! 

Quilt Group Friday...

Before we met for our regular quilt group meeting, we had ourselves a little sew day up at Barbara's cabin.  We've been to the cabin before to sew, but it's been a while...Barbara and her husband just returned from a two year church mission and we are so happy she is back!  When she suggested we have a sew day at her cabin, we jumped at the chance!  It was a beautiful drive over Snoqualmie Pass, through the Cascade Mountains where we were lucky enough to see Jack Frost's handiwork - all the leaves had spectacular color!   The cabin is a little over an hour drive for us and it's big enough for us to spread out and make messes - which we did, in between the eating and walking outside to see the sights!

We had the most beautiful weather - the bluest skies you've ever seen in Seattle!  We were pinching ourselves the entire time!  I've posted pictures of the cabin before - but humor me, it's so pretty there, they are worth a second look! 

While Barbara and her husband were away their kids took care of the place and added a few things - like the look-out deck...and a rope swing that hangs from a cable suspended between two trees...and a two-seater out-house, which I didn't get a picture of!!  Just means I'll have to go back!  (The cabin does have working bathrooms...but their kids thought it would be a good idea to have an out-house for the boys so they didn't have to run in and out of the cabin...or pee behind trees!)

Only six of us could go, sad for those who missed out on the fun!  I managed to get three quilts pinned, which is HUGE for me!  Lots of sewing was going on - it's always fun to see what everyone is working on.  Sewing with others can be hard though...I get busy talking and the next thing I know I'm sitting for 30 minutes with a seam-ripper in my hand!

Stephanie was working on this beauty - all hand-appliqued pieces!  The colors are a bit more vibrant than this picture shows - look at all of those fun fabrics!  This is just beautiful in person - truly.  I should have taken pictures of what everyone was working on but I got busy and forgot.  So that's all I have to show from our sew day...so let's move on to the other quilts!

This month Pink was the color for our blocks.  This is usually what happens with these projects - we all start the year off bringing our blocks on time and after a few months we get behind and by the end of the year we all owe blocks!

Jenny brought this little quilt to show - her quilt group in California made it for her so it's very special to her.  We were talking about how all of our blocks will fit together - border or no border - that sort of thing and she whipped out this quilt to show us an example of "orphan" blocks (all coming from different homes) that were sewn together without borders.  And I don't think we decided which was best, borders or not!  

Helen made this quilt in 2005, so it hasn't been seen on here before because my blog is only 8 years old!  (8 years of blogging - seems like forever yet not - wonder what the expiration date is on writing blogs!?)  I thought I had photographed all of Helen's quilts but this one escaped!  This quilt was featured in one of Sujata Shah's books.  Sujata is a master quilter - but in a free-spirit kind of way - she has a new book out, check it out on Amazon by clicking here .  Helen and Sujata are friends, I think they met in a quilt class and they both have this unique style and a way with color...the two of them must have stood in the Genius with Color line in Heaven.

Marsha is making this quilt for her new grand-daughter.  Very simple and modern - so NOT Marsha!  And by that I mean Marsha usually works with Aunt Gracie fabrics - so this is not the norm for her - but I love it - makes me want to make one!  And Marsha didn't just stop with the top, she is piecing the back, so really, two quilts in one!

We didn't do a great job of laying out the fabrics but I think you get the idea - the back will be as wonderful as the front - way to go Marsha!

This is the final showing of Kareena's crayon quilt - don't you just love it?!?!  We show our quilts in all phases...sometimes we show the first few blocks/strips, then the top before it's quilted and always the finished quilt - we like the encouragement along the way!  My Grands would love this quilt - suppose I should make them one!

Here's another oldie but goodie..and I'm showing you the label first because it's a work of art by itself...the label is paper-pieced!!!  Look at all of those little pieces used to make the numbers!  Mind-boggling!  There isn't enough time in my world for me to ever do that...besides, I'd end up pulling out every hair on my head - way too complicated for me!  But cool...very, very cool!

And here's the front - beautiful, no?  The stippling on this quilt is really wonderful - very small and intricate but the quilt itself is very soft and not stiff.  Jenny made this quilt for her daughter Elise in 2004...I think Elise is now 11?  Love it!

That's the show!  After we finished with our quilts we had a scrumptious lunch - coconut pumpkin soup, delicious salad, homemade rolls and apple tarts...now do you see why Quilt Group Fridays are so fun?!  Till next time - happy quilting!