Hi everyone. Happy T Day to everyone who stops by with their drink related posts. I hope those of you in the US enjoyed the holiday weekend and didn't eat too much either. I didn't exactly succeed when it came to food self control. There was just too much good food. Now it's back to food moderation for me.
Speaking of food, I tried a couple of new recipes last week. First of all I made a pumpkin chocolate chip bundt cake, which tasted delicious. The only issue was I de-panned it too early, and since the cake was a little too warm inside, some of it stuck to the pan, so it didn't look pretty at all. Good thing I didn't need to bring it for Thanksgiving dinner. Smile.
I also tried a new recipe for a pumpkin quiche. I decided instead of making a single large quiche I would make minis and bring them to my sister-in-law's house for Thanksgiving appetizers.
I will definitely also use this recipe again. The couple that didn't get eaten were scoffed up by my sister-in-law so she could have them for breakfast the next day. I won't paste the recipes here, but if anyone is interested let me know and I'll share them.
I even have a pumpkin drink to share for my drink for T day over at Bleubeard's and Elizabeth's blog. On Thanksgiving my husband's 25 year old niece Ally made a pitcher of pumpkin margaritas. Ally always finds the most interesting drinks to make. I don't have the recipe for this one, but I really liked it and managed to have 2 of these before dinner. (Good thing there were plenty of appetizers to go along with the pumpkin quiches. Smile.)
During the weekend my husband and I kept busy. We went and chopped our Christmas tree one morning at the Christmas tree farm in our town.
The hubby also put together a windbreak for my bee hive, and I helped him install it.
It looks on the large size (and it is) because hopefully next year I'll have 2 hives and this temporary structure should fit them both.
It does look a bit like a garbage dump when you look in on the open side. I have bags of leaves around the bottom to keep the cold out. And if you look carefully at the photo, all the little black spots you see, especially at the base of the hive and on the left plastic, are bees. It was a warm November day (around 50 degrees F or 10 degrees C) Sunday when we put the wind break in place, and the bees were out in full force. Too bad there isn't anything blooming for them to get pollen from.
And finally on Black Friday afternoon my husband and I went and did a bit of shopping. We don't go to typical Black Friday mall/shopping plaza type stores, so other than when we went to Harbor Freight Tools, which was full of men filling up their shopping baskets (not exaggerating), we really didn't have lots of crowds. My husband wants a couple of things for his boat for Christmas, so we hit the marine/boat supply store. There was only one other customer there. The hubby picked out what he wanted, and the trailer jack, which was the most expensive piece, was 40% off so he's happy Santa is bringing him his wish list, and I'm happy I also saved a good amount of cash.
We also hit the 2 big box hardware stores in our area (Lowe's and Home Depot), and I found something in Lowe's that I really want for my art space.
It's not as big as most tool storage units are, and I like that it's on wheels and has the butcher block top. We took its dimensions and when we got home my husband and I measured the spot where I would put it in my art space. It actually would fit better than my tall plastic storage holders and would definitely be a lot sturdier.
And so Friday evening we went back to Lowe's.
I splurged and bought myself an early Christmas gift. Smile. And I was going to be so frugal on Black Friday- ha-ha -that didn't happen.
Of course now I need to wait for Christmas before I can use it because we need more strength than my husband and myself to carry it from the basement garage to the second floor. The new son-in-law will be here for Christmas, and he can help. (I am sure he is glad we volunteered him-smile.) Even though I have to wait, it does give me something to look forward to, besides seeing my daughter and her husband for the holiday that is.
OK, I think I've babbled on enough for this week. I hope everyone has a great T day and week ahead.
20 comments:
Yummy pumpkin treats!
Even though I am not the biggest pumpkin fan, I think your pumpkin treates look quite delicious. The pumpkin margaritas reminded me of the "pumkintinis" we often had when we celebrated Thanksgiving with friends when the kids were still little. Tey were delicious, but unfortunately they were so good that I often had too many and the following day wasn't exactly fun... Happy T day, Erika!
Well, removing the cake too early or not, it would be same after you ate them :-)) So as long as it's DELICIOUS, I will take it :-) Those quiches are looking out of the world yummy too.
That´s a lot of pumpkin-variation! And ohhhh, I love that anchor-glass!
Oh, I have to take a pic and share tomorrow, it will be about... bees!
Yay for pressies - and volunteers to help with them :-)
To a happy T-Day and wee-bit-mini-Christmas, hugs
Your Thanksgiving looks good. The cake looks delicious, too, and that's the main thing. Glad you and your hubby found what you want as Christmas gifts, I LOVE that storage piece, wow! I could probably fill it in 10 minutes, there is so much flying around in my kitchen! Happy T Day, hugs Valerie
Hi Erika, great job on the baking, cooking and Black Friday shopping. I totally get your wanting the Craftsman cabinet and 40% off for a trailer jack was a great find. I'm not that keen on pumpkin but hey, to each his own. And I giggled at your post title. Glad to see the wind break got built! Your bees have more of a fighting chance now, hopefully. Have a great week! xoxo
YUM! The cake, the quiche and those pumpkin drinks - all sound and look fabulous. Sounds like a great Thanksgiving, Erika. Love your Christmas present too. I keep all my Stamping Up! stamps in a giant rolling tool box which I keep in my closet (I started my stamping addiction with Stamping Up! stamps and have kept most of them - lol). We didn't do any Black Friday shopping, but yesterday I did some of Cyber Monday shopping. I took care of three people completely so I feel a little better (two of them were hard to buy for normally).
Love the bee set up - they will sure appreciate it!
Happy T-day and many hugz
The rolling tool chest is a great idea for storage. I had looked into that, but don't have the room. The bees look like they will be all nice and snug for the Winter. Happy T Day
Very cool find for your art space-I was just thinking about how you were going to get it up there-smiles.
I do love margaritas never would have thought of a pumpkin one-sounds good. Your quiches looked perfect for appetizers too Looks like your bees will be comfy for the coming winter-Happy T wishes
Your pumpkin recipes look sooo good but my fave is the pumpkin margarita. That sounds so good. Looks like you guys are in full holliday mode. Great gift to yourself too. That will really come in handy. Have a great day today.
What a wonderful post Erika. I enjoy seeing you take care of your bees and all it entails . i wish you much luck with them. I love pumpkin pie but not in drinks . I have never had quiche so i don't know if i would like it or not. Happy happy T day! Hugs! deb
You are a baking wizard. I think the pumpkin appetizers were wonderful.
I am in awe of that Craftsman tool cart. I had a nine drawer at one time, but had no room for it in my home in Wichita. Now I wish I hadn't gotten rid of it. So glad you are pleased with your Black Friday purchase. BTW, I LOVE Harbor Freight. I bought my drill press there.
I hope the bees survive the winter. I was watching the weather today and you are warmer than I.
You really spread the pumpkin love this week. That pumpkin margarita looks good. Thanks for sharing your Black Friday experience and your pumpkin recipes, along with the margarita with us for T this Tuesday, dear friend.
I don't eat pumpkin, but your photos might convert me :)
I'm excited to see the bee process. It's fascinating to see how you care for them. Happy T Tuesday!
Same. I love it with the wheels. Just so easy to move around. I also love the taste of pumpkin with chocolate. Sometimes I make pumpkin spiced hot chocolate. No real pumpkin, just the spices. Delish!
Wow, what a great Christmas present! I'm sure you will fill it in no time!
The pumpkin bakes look delicious, even the cake that didn't come out of the tin intact.
The bee windbreak looks good, I hope they survive this winter. It looks rather fragile though. I hope a storm won't blow away the plastic.
Hubby is now unconscious so things are now less fraught. It's a question of waiting now. We have soft music playing and it's okay...
Happy T-Day,
Hugs,
Lisca
Such a fab post! Wow, all those pumpkin treats look so amazing and I bet they tasted so delicious 😊. I love all things pumpkin so would like to try them all please. So much fun to go and pick your own Christmas tree 🌲. Take care and wishing you a very happy T Day! Hugs Jo x
Oh, I love your early Christmas gift to yourself. It looks large and sturdy and perfect for your newly renovated craft room.
All your pumpkin themed foods look delicious, especially the Bundt cake.
I didn't realize so much work went into wintering a hive. Looks great!
Happy Tea Day,
Kate
On Monday you asked about the sunflowers. It was NOT wallpaper, but the sunflowers and leaves were stamped on a card I deconstructed because I didn't care for how it was stamped. Thanks for asking, dear.
Love your gift to you! And the bee protection is great. I love that the bees were actually out. That's exciting, a new hive next year -- yes, smart to build it big. It sounds like a productive weekend. (And your baked goods and margarita look GREAT!)
That cake looks so delicious! And I have never seen a pumpkin margarita before, it looks interesting too. Love that tool storage unit, wow, very nice piece of kit. Hope you can get all the son in law manpower to get it into the craft room. Still looking after sick kitties, so I'm very late to the party. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx
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