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Monday, September 28, 2009

October Kits & Design Team Search

Color Me Daisy's October Kits are available and they are looking to add Daisy Girls to the Design Team. Find out the details of the Design Team Search here. And get all the kit details here.

Here's a look at the Main Kit "Season's Change":




And the limited edition Halloween kit that is spooktacular "One Spooky Night"





Sunday, September 27, 2009

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Pumpkin sauce for pasta or gnocchi

Last night we had a crop at our house. I'll share the pages and make and take we did in a later post after I get pictures taken. But I made Halloween shaped pasta with Pumpkin Sauce since our crop was Halloween and Fall themed. It is one of my favorite fall recipes so I thought I would share.

Gnocchi with Pumpkin Sauce

The original recipe calls for gnocchi I made it last night with some Halloween shaped pasta and it was just as tasty. This recipe is adapted from a Weight Watchers Simply the Best Italian cookbook. I don't follow recipes exactly when it comes to measurements, it takes too long, but the amounts are approximate. I would suggest adjusting the spices and amount of pumpkin to your tastes and desired sauce thickness.

I used canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling), because it is faster and available year round. You could use a whole pumpkin, one pumpkin = about 1 cup of canned according to the cookbook (see note below on modification to recipe**).

I also just use dried spices because I always have them around. I have had it with fresh, and honestly didn't notice to big of a difference in the flavor.

1 15 oz can of pumpkin
3-4 large shallots minced (or up to 6 if they are small)
2-3 garlic cloves minced
3 T olive oil

2-3 T fresh thyme chopped or 1 T dried thyme
2-3 T fresh sage leaves chopped or 1 T dried crumbled sage
1 1/2 - 2 cups of chicken broth

1/2 tsp cinnamon ground
1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
2T brown sugar
1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese

Heat oil and saute pumpkin, shallots and garlic until shallots are golden. Add broth, thyme and sage. Stir frequently until the sauce is absorbed. Then let simmer about 20 minutes.

To make the cheese mixture, mix in a separate bowl make the cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and Parmesan cheese.

When sauce is done pour desired amount over pasta or gnocchi & sprinkle with the cheese mixture and toss. Garnish with sage leaves and Parmesan cheese.

I just toss it for us, but if you wanted a nicer presentation, just pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the cheese mixture. o

Depending on how much pasta you are making you will probably have extra. It can be refrigerated a few days or freeze for longer. It is also a good make ahead sauce.

**Note - If you use fresh pumpkin you will need to put the sauce through a food processor or blender, add water 1 T at a time as processing to get desired sauce thickness.

I forgot to take a picture of the final product, so you will have to use your imagination. But it is yummy.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Weekend fun

Wow is it really Sunday night already??? I can't believe how fast the weekends go by. I had my last major leg treatment on Friday afternoon, and spent the weekend hobbling around. But it didn't hurt nearly as bad as the last two. So just several more injections and the pregnancy induced blood clots and vein issues will hopefully be history.

It's been a while since I blogged. Nicholas is chatting up a storm, new words and parroting going on at all times. Jackson will be walking at any time. He tries to take a step, but then hesitates and falls on his bottom. He started saying dadadadada. You would think for a kiddo that was pretty clingy to his momma and so attached to the nursing, he'd say mama first, but go figure. So anyway, this morning I walked in the kitchen and he looked up at me and said mamamamama. So sweet!

I have had Valley Fever for 61 days now. I have good and bad days. It seems the past week has been more good than bad. So maybe I am finally on the uptrend to kicking this thing. It really has thrown a monkey wrench in life. I don't have the energy to get as much done and I have a lot on my plate all the time, so I didn't really have time for a long term illness. But I guess you get what you can handle, so I am dealing.

Today Nicholas and I went to Michael's so I could pick up some of the new Cricut cartridges. I ended up getting Winter Woodland, From My Kitchen and Everyday Paper Dolls. I can't wait to play with them. I also picked up a couple of EK border punches I love how compact they are (and yes I really did need more, just don't ask how many I already have). I also picked up some more of the craft pumpkins, I have some ideas for Halloween decorations that I hope to get to next weekend.

After M's we hit up Cost Plus. I decided if we have to wait for the weather to turn to fall outside it will be Christmastime. We are going to start some fall inside. We stocked up on Pumpkin Coffee, Pumpkin Scone Mix, Pumpkin Soup, Pumpkin Pie syrup, Pumpkin Chocolate bark and Pumpkin Ale as well as a few other holiday goodies.

I came home and made Pumpkin iced lattes that were just as good as Starbucks and I got the whole bottle for $6. I will be in Pumpkin Latte heaven as long as we have that bottle.

Speaking of fall, I spent a lot of time this weekend on custom items for the limited edition Color Me Daisy Halloween kit. We also unpacked a lot of the boxes that have been coming in with all of the product for the Halloween kit as well as the October main kit. We have 2 more shipments that should be in this week and we can start getting some sneak peeks up.

I tried to take a picture tonight to give a little peek at the custom items for the Halloween kit. But my camera is not my friend and they came out lousy. I need a new camera, I want a good point and shoot with some manual options. I have an DSLR and hate using it. I want some control without the bulk and hassle. Any suggestions welcome.

Anyway, since I couldn't share any Halloween peeks, I thought I would share the layouts I have done so far with the Color Me Daisy September kit, ABC's & 123's.

Nicholas has always had issues with food texture and hates his face to be messy. So one day recently Mike had given him some sweet potatoes (baby food) to start on while he was fixing his lunch. Mike turned around and Nicholas had smeared the bowl all over his face and in his hair and he was pretty proud of himself. We were too, since this was a big step for him.


I love this sweet picture of Mike and Jackson, there were a couple of other good ones with both of them looking at the camera but this one is just so sweet of them looking at each other.


Nicholas has been counting for a little while now. Originally this layout title was supposed to be 19, because that was where he would stop counting. But recently he added 20. We do numbers in the tub with bath paints every night. We are working on letters now so he can learn his ABC's.



Well that's about it for tonight. Sorry for the long post. I'll try to be a better blogger, so I don't write a book next time. Have a great week!

Oh one more thing....Heidi Sonboul is the Featured Guest Designer at Color Me Daisy this month. Love the amazing work she did for us.