That's a wrap!

The long weekend was great...

Thanksgiving brought frigid temps in the NW,
but that didn't stop my crazy family from hosting
our own private Turkey Trot!

Young, old and somewhere in between met at our designated park at 9:30am for the annual Turkey Trot.  We usually run a formal race complete with tee shirts and entrance fees, but opted for a more laid back race this year.

My brother-in-law, Stuart was in charge of the course...

The course was set up for runners and walkers...

my sweet mom and equally sweet sis-in-law, Nancy

my brother Tim, and niece Becca

my sister, Sis... bringing it in!

The best part of the race...
homemade pumpkin cinnamon rolls and hot coffee waiting at the finish line!

Chelsea, my amazing daughter was in charge of the cinnamon rolls.  You can get the recipe on her blog, by clicking here...
My hubby was sidelined by a flu bug, but rallied enough to brew the coffee (a key element for the participants at the finish line!)

Seemingly simple things turn out to be favorite memories...
Oh, and Thanksgiving dinner was great too!

Christmas is coming!

Sewing with beautiful linen, packaging glittery vintage Christmas ornaments, collecting white ironstone and vintage clothing are all part of what goes on behind the scenes at the Worthy Goods business my fab sister-in-law and I co-partner.

Here's a little peek at what we've been up to...

If you want to see more head over to our Worthy Goods blog or better yet go to Monticello Antique Market Place in Portland, Oregon and see it for yourself!

shopportunity...

shop: to visit a shop or shops in search of goods with the intention of buying them.

+

opportunity: a favorable, appropriate, or advantageous combination of circumstances.

=

shopportunity 

 Webster's and spell check do not recognize this little word, but we do!  Take a look at what's happening this weekend...

Molly Mo's is hosting their 5th annual Holiday Treasures show in Sublimity, Oregon

Join them for an enchanted evening of early shopping & nibbles  

Friday, Nov 12th 5pm - 8pm, $5 admission

 Saturday, Nov 13th 9am - 3pm, free admission

photos from Molly Mo's

 The very talented Martha of Vintage Trifles will be there too!

photos from Vintage Trifles

Camas Antiques

is hosting their annual Holiday Open House

 The Holiday Open House begins

Friday, November 12 

thru

Saturday, November 13

The first 50 customers on Friday will receive a free gift!

They will be serving yummy apple cider and kettle corn!

Dealer Sales will go through Sunday, November 14!

Happy Shopping!

Great Apple Pie

 This is possibly the best apple pie I've ever made!

The recipe is from allrecipes.com

Aunt Carol's Apple Pie

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Granny Smith apples
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

Directions

1. Peel and slice apples. Toss with sugars, cinnamon and flour. Set aside.
2. Roll crust to make slightly larger to fit 10-inch glass pie pan. Fit bottom crust in pie pan. Turn in apple mixture and dot with butter. Put crust on top and crimp edges of crust together.
3. Wet hands with water and dampen top of pie. Sprinkle with additional sugar. Puncture top of pie with fork so pie will vent.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), reduce heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking for about 45 minutes more, until crust is golden brown. It's a good practice to place a piece of aluminum foil slightly larger than the pie under the pie plate to catch overflows. Serve warm.

  The key to this filling is the 1/2 cup of flour it calls for.

I customized the recipe as follows:

along with the cinnamon add

 1/4 tsp. cloves

1/8 tsp. ginger

pinch of nutmeg

After the top crust is in place, beat an egg white and brush it all over the top.  Sprinkle the top crust generously with raw sugar, bake.  Serve warm with vanilla ice cream...

I came across this gorgeous caramel apple cheesecake recipe during my apple pie search.  I think I'll try it for Thanksgiving.

You can find this and other fab recipes at

annies-eats.com

Enjoy!

Cookie Exchange!

8th Annual Cookie Exchange!

It's almost here.

December 4th to be exact.

Each year my sister, daughter and I host a crazy cookie exchange.

It's not your normal bring a few cookies and call it good type of deal...

It's out of control..

It's crazy...

It's really fun...

Here's the secret to an out of control, crazy, fun cookie exchange...

Make it a contest!

Oh yeah...

We have categories for the following:

Best Tasting Chocolate

Best Tasting Non-chocolate

Best Presentation

Best Recipe Card

Best Tasting Under age 18

Everybody gets to vote for their favorites.

  

The first year was simply for the Best Tasting cookie.  End of story.  Things seemed to have morphed and taken on a life of their own.

 It's out of my hands.  These categories have created themselves 

over the years...

One year I went over to my mother-in-laws house to ask her for something.  She stopped me at the door, threw a towel over the cookies she had been slaving over all day then invited me in!  I loved it.  Such commitment, such passion, such competitive secrecy...

Another year my sister-in-law Nancy, was awarded a prize for the most tested recipes.  She tried eleven different cookies before settling on one!

My friend Laurie's husband has already been been trying to sell me her secret recipes for $50 bucks a piece (btw...she's won several times)...  hmmmm... 

Last year we invited friend and professional baker Kimberly Koch of truly scrumptious boutique bakery

to cast her favorite vote.  The winner was JoAnn Taylor, owner of Camas Antiques!  JoAnn won Kimberly's vote and best tasting non-chocolate with a recipe from Romancing the West cookbook which was written by another friend, Fran Gillette!  The love just goes full circle doesn't it?

The winner of each category gets a fabulous prize.  Usually cooking related.  It sounds a little crazy and it is.  But we all have so much fun  browsing through recipes, planning our displays and watching each other enjoy the cookies we've put so much thought and preparation into.  

Here's a little inspiration...

 

it's a cookie pie... does that count?

Hosting a cookie exchange is a great way to start off the holiday season with friends and family.  If you've ever considered hosting one, I would encourage you to try it!  You won't regret it.  If you need any tips let me know...