Way too many amazing things on Etsy lately. I need more money in my Paypal account. Ha!

Here are my recent faves:

What are you loving on Etsy, lately? Comment with a link.

Can’t even begin to describe how much I love this girl.

Just going back and editing some of her old photo sessions. And I realize I’m totally biased, but dang, she is a cute kid. She really did get the best of both of us.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We spent ours with family and tons of food. The best kind of day. We also took Daphne to the movies for the first time. She LOVED it!! And I think it helped that we went to a theater that also served full meals and had waiters, so there was more room to move around. I can’t wait to take her back. And it was also very appropriate that my dad took us to the movies tonight. Growing up, my dad took us to a Saturday matinee just about every weekend we visited. Now, the tradition continues with the next generation.

And I realize as a blogger I’m supposed to have a really thoughtful Thanksgiving post. But I’m not doing that this year. Ha! Instead I’m going to gripe about traditional turkey dinners. Ok, gripe isn’t the right word. I’m certainly thankful for the wonderful meals we’ve eaten over the years. But I think that if you are going to spend crazy amounts of time in the kitchen with preparation and clean-up that you should at least make something that’s fabulous. And turkey just doesn’t do it for me. Actually, traditional southern home cooking doesn’t do it for me either (which explains why in all the times we’ve visited Savannah, we’ve never stopped by Paula Deen’s restaurant). I think we should have a beef tenderloin. Or steaks. Or, even better, a killer Tex-Mex feast with steak fajitas, homemade tamales/enchiladas and sauces, fresh tortillas, and lots of margaritas. Oh, that sounds so much better than stuffing. Maybe for Christmas. Does anyone else do a non-traditional menu for the holidays?

Daphne & I are getting a jump start on our holiday baking today by making some pumpkin butter. In typical Jenny/Daphne fashion, we managed to completely trash the kitchen. While Daphne was spilling the apple juice on the floor (because she was pouring it from cup to cup), I managed to spill my Penzeys Pumpkin Pie spice all over the floor. FYI- don’t try to Swiffer Wet Jet up a pile of spices from a tile floor.

But it will all be worth it when we can turn some of that pumpkin butter into pumpkin cheesecake. And if I wasn’t making a cheesecake, I would totally make this pumpkin pie recipe from Southern Living.

A gingersnap and pecan layer over the pie crust. Oh my goodness! And I love that they used the Anna’s Ginger Thins as a garnish as well. Hmm.. maybe for Christmas.

I’ll admit that it’s hard to get excited about pie baking. Especially since Costco makes killer pumpkin pies as big as SUV hubcaps for $6. And because growing up we’d usually buy our holiday pies from Tippin’s. Oh how I miss Tippin’s French Silk pie.

Here are our recipes, in case you need a little pie inspiration:

Pumpkin Butter

1 29oz can pureed pumpkin
3/4 c. apple juice
3 t. pumpkin pie spice
1 c. white sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar

Combine pumpkin, apple juice, spices and sugars in large saucepan. Stir well. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 min, stirring often, until thickened. Check the flavor and possibly add more pumpkin pie spice. Refrigerate. (Also freezes well) Sometimes I’ll add chopped pecans.

Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake

1 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened
1/3 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 c. pumpkin butter
1 9-in. graham cracker crust
Praline pecans (optional, or other candied pecans, or take the pecan streusel topping from the Southern Living recipe and use that)

Beat cream cheese at high speed until smooth. Add brown sugar and beat well. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Stir in pumpkin butter. Pour mixture into crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 min, or until set. After removing from oven, chop praline pecans and sprinkle them on top. The heat will melt the sugar on the pecans slightly so they will stick to the surface of the pie. Or stick the pie back in the oven for a few minutes until your pecan topping can get melty. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours. Enjoy!

Lately I’ve been thinking about the pictures we take of Daphne, and I’ve realized we don’t have many snapshots. I guess what I mean by snapshot is an informal photograph. Not setting out to get a picture of Daphne and fussing with composition, focus, ISO, aperture and shutter settings. No post processing. Just day to day life. Just point and shoot. So, I took my camera on our morning walk.

This cat kept following us. As you can see, Daphne is waving hello and yelling, “Hi, Meow!” For some inexplicable reason, cats LOVE me. I can walk into a room with 10 other people and 1 cat, and guaranteed the stupid cat will single me out to give him attention. I’d pet you, cat, but then I’d be sneezing until I could find my Astelin. And actually they don’t even need to touch me, just give me a few minutes in the same room and I’d start sneezing. Too bad, because I actually like cats.

Hey shadow!

And walking home. Every time I tried to run ahead and take a picture of her face, Daphne thought I was challenging her to a race and would start to run. Pretty funny, actually.

The dining table has turned into Handmade Holiday Central. I finally got around to making these rag quilted letters from the Happy Together tutorial. I love the way they turned out!!

Now I just need to create a little box or drawstring bag for storing them. That’s one Daphne Christmas project down, one to go.

Need a pick-me-up today? Check these out and I guarantee you’ll be in a better mood.

The dance sequence from (500) Days of Summer. I loved this movie.

Katrina and the Waves, Walking on Sunshine (sorry, won’t embed). Cheesy but effective.

Some of these pictures are just priceless. My Parents Were Awesome.

And if those don’t work, hey, at least tomorrow is Friday! Uh, the 13th. Ok, nevermind.

Like so many other families here in the US, we are slashing our Christmas budget. I think we will spend less this Christmas than any other year since we’ve been married. Our financial priorities lie elsewhere right now. So, I plan on making most of my gifts this year. Thankfully, I have a ridiculous fabric/yarn stash to get me started.

For those of you in the same boat, here’s an easy project. Really. You just need a computer and a stack of family recipes.

When my sister got married, I decided to make her a family cookbook. My Aunt Jackie did something similar for me when I got married, using a ring binder and page protectors. But, you know me, I had to push it to the next level. I started with the self-publishing service, lulu.com, and created a spiral bound, 178 page cookbook.

I just downloaded a Word template from lulu.com, typed in the text, designed a cover in Photoshop (they do have stock designs if you don’t want to design your own), uploaded the whole mess and this was the result:

I added a dedication page, table of contents, kitchen helps and conversions section, and divided the recipes up into sections. I didn’t do an index, because I was lazy. The cover was created with an inexpensive stock photo from istockphoto.com. Each book cost about $5 or $6 to print. So, you can print one for all the cooks in your family.

It would have been nice to do a scrapbook style, or full color cookbook. But at the time, those were expensive and I couldn’t have included so many recipes. Maybe there are more economical ways to do it now.

Anyone else plan on making gifts this year? What’s on your project list?

I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, “Move to Houston. You’ll LOVE the weather here!” Maybe I’m wrong. Perhaps there are people out there who love our brand of swampy humidity.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not all bad. We do have beautifully mild winters. When our relatives were stuck in the aftermath of an ice storm in OK and MO, I was still wearing my sandals and playing outside with Daphne. In capris. No coat needed. (I’d rather be here, just drinking a beer, than freezing my… BTW, if you do follow the link, Schooner Wharf has some killer conch fritters. Must eat in Key West.) But, I do miss being able to buy cute fall/winter sweaters and coats. It’s still 80 degrees here.

Last week, it was still warm enough for people to run through the splash pad at Discovery Green in their bathing suits. Daphne and her friend Torah even got in on the action:

Did mommy bring extra clothes? Um, nope. Daphne rode home in her diaper. Hey, at least I brought a diaper!

I hope you are enjoying the fall weather where you live.

You might remember my fall crafting/sewing list post from a few months ago. Well, I took a look at Daphne’s closet and decided to cross off most of the clothing projects. The girl just didn’t need any more clothes. Especially since it’s been unseasonably warm here. I might make a pair of denim ruffle pants (maybe capri length to wear with boots), but that’s it.

Instead, I decided to make her a few accessories. Let’s face it, most toddler/preschooler accessories are far from fashionable. They are usually plastic, pink and plastered with princesses. So, here’s what I did… a felted wool ball necklace. I love these colors together. And it’s soft and on an elastic cord so it’s comfy. Or, it should be comfy. Daphne wouldn’t know. She HATES it. Hates it so much I had to bribe her with an apple and she still wouldn’t let me get a decent pic.

Back to the drawing board. This time I crocheted her a scarf. A nice moss green wool yarn that’s been in my stash forever. I added a ruffle to one side and was contemplating adding it to the other. Glad I didn’t bother. Can you see how much she loves it?

She was actually crying, “Get me OUT!” Come on. It’s like I’m putting a live snake around her neck. And I made her a bracelet to go with her Dora costume. Yeah, that lasted 10 seconds on her wrist.

So, I guess I will tuck these away for next year.