Autumn in the Air and Thanksgiving ’round the Corner

Autumn in the Air and Thanksgiving ’round the Corner

Posted on by Mama

smalltalkmama0710Fall is officially in the air in Missouri with cooler morning temps and beautiful warm afternoons. When we string together a few of these fabulous days, I’m always reminded why this is my favorite time of year. The family also made its first of what promises to be many trips to a local apple orchard yesterday for hay rides, chicken feeding, apple picking and pumpkin gathering. I’m thankful that we have so many great local orchards, pumpkin farms and corn mazes so close to home. It makes fall such a fabulous family time of year.

Speaking of autumn and the thankfulness of it all, I’m afraid it’s time once again to look ahead to November and the family-focused holiday of Thanksgiving. If you happen to be hosting this year, why not get a jump on things while the weather is still cooperating and start planning your spectacular gathering today. When it’s our year to host, I like to start with a theme for my decorations and tablescape — the menu can always come later. Will everything be whimsical, woodsy or traditional? Maybe simple or modern is the answer? What’s the color of the day — browns, whites or antique greens? Well, if you need a bit of inspiration for your Thanksgiving table, I have a special treat today.

Hometalk recently asked me to curate a board of Thanksgiving tablescapes to share with readers and I gladly accepted the challenge, which turned out to be easier (and a lot more fun) than I first imagined. Hometalk is simply full of wonderful holiday ideas; but as you’ll see by visiting my board, I tried to pick a plethora of tablescapes to suit several different design tastes and aesthetics. When you visit the board, you’ll see all types of ideas collected from bloggers across the country — some look more professional than others and some are more basic than others, but they are all great jumping off points to help make your personal celebration memorable. So why not visit me on Hometalk, and let me know which one is your favorite.

Secret Subject Swap — My Nobel Prize

Secret Subject Swap — My Nobel Prize

Posted on by Mama

Welcome to a Secret Subject Swap. This week, 14 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

My Secret Subject is:
You’ve won a Nobel Prize. Which? Why? What did you do to deserve the honor?

It was submitted by: http://berghamchronicles.blogspot.com

Hmm. . . this is a toughy. I guess I’ve never dreamed of winning a Nobel Prize. Why would I? I have too many other fish to fry just trying to raise a family, keep up with the laundry and keeping food in the fridge. Whew, just makes me tired thinking about it. But that being said, I do have dreams; and so why not go with me to the land of farfetched ambitions for a couple of minutes and let’s just see what this Nobel Prize might be all about.

On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature and Peace – the Nobel Prizes. http://www.nobelprize.org/

Since we’re dreaming here, let’s pretend I was just awarded a Nobel Prize in the literature category; because well let’s face it, I’m probably not nearly humble enough to win the peace prize and the other categories are way out of reach. As described in Nobel’s will, the literature prize is intended for the person who, in the literary field, had produced “the most outstanding work in an ideal direction.” So let’s see what I’ve done. . .

For my literature prize (and I mean no disrespect to actual Nobel Laureates), I’ve created the most outstanding work of literature in the children’s book category (remember – dreaming). It’s titled: Sammy and Guinevere Take a Very Long Vacation. It’s a book with simple, but smart animal characters that travel the world and explore time changes to unravel the real history of the world and all its civilizations. It’s a cross between, The Secret of Nimh, Animal Farm and Pete the Cat, and the kids are just wild about it. It’s a book that teaches the real truth about people, governments and injustices throughout time without being judgmental or condescending.

Sammy, one of the main characters, is an elderly little white terrier rescued from the pound by a kind family (yes, that happened); and Guinevere is a little green parakeet (also true). They accidentally discover a time traveling portal to the world among the mess under the bed of the little girl who loves them, and the two companions and countless side-kicks travel to and fro on countless adventures. Each time they return home, they recount their stories to Betty, a sweet old white cat, and a young artistic ferret named Picasso. Together the cat and ferret write and illustrate the lessons learned and keep all the knowledge safe from the neighbor’s evil German shepherd (no reference to certain evils, but our neighbor’s dog was really mean).

So what do you think? Sounds great, right? Well, I’ll let you know when I’ve completed my masterpiece and you can nominate me for the prize.

*****

If you want to read more of the fun, here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts.  Sit back, grab a cup, and check them all out. See you there:

Tastes Like (Hamburger Dill) Pickles!

Tastes Like (Hamburger Dill) Pickles!

Posted on by Mama

pickles2

This one is for all you Wednesday night Bible study ladies, because my homemade hamburger dills actually taste like pickles and I promised to post the recipe here at Small Talk Mama. Yes, my husband and I actually got the first taste of our maiden pickling project and we both gave it a thumbs up. I don’t know why we’re always so surprised, when we try a new recipe or grow a new vegetable, to find that it tastes exactly as it should. I remember our first harvest of broccoli years ago — it actually tasted exactly like broccoli. Imagine that! That being said, we haven’t yet opened the dill spears, but I’ll keep you posted — the suspense is just killing you, I know.

So here’s the recipe we used for hamburger dills, which were a great addition to our grilled burgers. Unlike most recipes of its kind, this one does not require a several-day soaking before the canning process. So if you’re “in a pickle” and can’t wait days to can, you might want to try this quick and easy recipe.

Recipe adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving

Hamburger Dill Pickles
Yields 7
Canning recipe for hamburger dill pickles that doesn't require a lengthy ice water bath.
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Ingredients
  1. 4 lbs cucumbers
  2. 6 tbsp canning salt
  3. 4 1/2 c water
  4. 4 c vinegar
  5. 14 heads fresh dill
  6. 3 1/2 tsp mustard seed
  7. 14 peppercorns
Instructions
  1. Wash cucumbers and drain. Cut cucumbers into 1/4-inch crosswise slices, discarding blossom ends.
  2. Pack cucumbers into hot jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
  3. Add 2 heads of dill, 1/2 tsp mustard seed and 2 peppercorns to each jar.
  4. Combine salt, water and vinegar in a large saucepot. Bring to a boil.
  5. Ladle hot liquid over cucumbers, leaving 1/4-inch headspace.
  6. Lightly tap jars to remove air bubbles, and screw on two-piece caps.
  7. Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water bath.
Notes
  1. This recipe makes delicious husband-pleasing hamburger dill pickles!
Adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
Adapted from Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving
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