Bacanal by Night - Christmas Winter Wonderland - Closing Party of 2011 - Saturday December 10, 2011

Bacanal by Night - Christmas Winter Wonderland - Closing Party of 2011 - Saturday December 10, 2011 from Bacanal on Vimeo.

December now.....

....already? whered that come from? Gotta go buy presents tonite w/hubby

happy thanksgiving

i'm not blogging today

Create A Winter Lantern

For those in the Northern latitudes, it will soon be winter. I wanted to make something unique by my own hand for this holiday season, and I stumbled across just the thing!

Here is where I got the idea.

A project like this can be worked on during the day, especially if you're a WAHM! When you are done, not only will you have a beautiful holiday decoration, but something that can be cared for and handed down year-to-year!

I'm preparing Turkey for Thanksgiving!

Apology! I had intended to publish more recipes here on the blog, but don't you know time got away from me. (And relatives who were supposed to arrive on Wednesday showed up Monday after hearing there might be big airport delays!) This year I'm preparing a wonderful Turkey for our Thanksgiving Dinner using the Holiday Rub Recipe popularized by Patrick and Gina Neely. Before you go to their recipe, here is where I make a change:

Put the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan.

I don't do that! I take 2 large onions, slice them THICKLY, spread them out on the bottom of the roasting pan, and set the bird on them! I also use a BUTTERBALL or other pre-buttered turkey!

Now, here's Patrick and Gina's recipe!

Baking with the twitterer: Thanksgiving Pumpkin Muffins with Walnut Streusel Topping!

This is excellent for breakfast or brunch on "turkey day" - serve with hot cocoa, coffee and/or apple cider!

If you like my cooking posts, please let me know by leaving a comment or a message in my c-box! I'm planning a nice Thanksgiving dinner for my family of six and I'll be sharing it with you here on the blog. I'm going to break preparations up chronologically, so consider this "muffin post" part one of the series!

If you publish a Thanksgiving recipe on your blog, please feel free to link back to it by commenting on this post!



YOU WILL NEED:


* 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

* 2 Tbs white sugar

* 2 Tbs light brown sugar

* 2 Tbs butter

* 1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree

* 1/3 cup high-quality vegetable oil (I prefer Mazola)

* 2 large eggs

* 1 cup light brown sugar

* 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

* 1/4 tsp ground allspice

* 1/4 tsp ground ginger

* 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1 tsp baking powder

* 1/2 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp salt

* Oil for lightly greasing 12 cup nonstick muffin pan

PROCEDURE:

Set the oven at 350 degrees F

Now, prepare the streusel topping:

Combine 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup all-purpose flour, 2 Tbs white sugar, 2 Tbs light brown sugar, 2 Tbs softened (room-temperature) butter. Mix well. Set aside.

Time to make the batter:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 cup pumpkin puree with 1/3 cup oil, 2 large eggs, 1 cup light brown sugar and 1/4 tsp each ground cinnamon, allspice, ginger and nutmeg and whisk it up.

Add 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt and fold everything together until it is combined.

Pour batter into a lightly greased 12 cup non-stick muffin pan.
Top each muffin-to-be with 1 Tbs of streusel, lightly pressing it into the muffins

Place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven.

These muffins bake in approx. 30 minutes.

Check for doneness with toothpick!

Give a Holiday Gift That Will Be Forever Cherished!

You can't dismiss the importance in pop culture of t-shirts, one of the most powerful articles of self-expression since the mid-20th Century! One of my fave places in the whole wide world is Canal Street in New York City. They have the most amazing t-shirts for sale, sometimes you can get 20 for $10!

Maybe you'll never make it to the Big Apple... think a moment: have you ever seen interesting or unique tees on television or in the movies and wished you could own one? There's a place I know of where you have that kind of power. The power to create or re-create a beautiful t-shirt that you've seen. Cafepress t-shirts can not only connect you with a multitude of wonderful tees: you can also design your own! They have an online design feature.

Once when I was in Hong Kong I saw the coolest tee - I asked a few locals where I could buy one and I dropped by a few shops, but all the stuff in stock was for TOURISTS. (You could tell!) That was about 7 years ago. If that were NOW, I would have clandestinely taken a picture of the dude's t-shirt with my cell phone camera. Then, when I got back to the states I would have searched google and bing for the logo or artwork that appeared on the shirt. After that, it would be no problem to import the info to my computer and use it in designing a tee all my own!

Even if you don't have a photo, use your memory + imagination to come up with that elusive or special design!

REMEMBER: CHRISTMAS IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! WITH THE ECONOMY FORCING MANY PEOPLE TO CUT BACK, A PERSONALIZED GARMENT, POSTER OR MUG IS A VERY VERY SPECIAL WAY OF SAYING 'HAPPY HOLIDAYS' AND GIVING A GIFT THAT WILL BE CHERISHED FOREVER!

Think about the possibilities! And it doesn't stop with t-shirts! Think mugs! Mugs for your coffee or cocoa, or just to use as display decorations or penholders on your desk! Mugs you can PERSONALIZE! Just use your imagination!

And how about one more item: posters! You might be the next Andy Warhol or Peter Max! Remember the old psychedelic posters from the 1960s? Design your own poster or art print online! AMAZE your friends and family!

Baking Apple Kuchen with the twitterer

This "Apple Kuchen" [APFELKUCHEN] is a fitting treat for the Halloween-thru-Thanksgiving Holiday Season. It's easy to make and the scent it gives off during and after baking fills your place with holiday warmth and cheer!



APFELKUCHEN

You will need:

1 Extra Large or 2 Medium Eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon PURE REAL Vanilla Extract

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups packaged biscuit mix (either Jiffy or Bisquick, but note that the final product tastes a little diferent depending on which one you use - try both and decide which you like best!) I would strongly advise against using flour instead of baking mix. But if you have no other choice, you'll need 2 cups, use an extra 1/2 cup milk and 1 full fup of sugar instead of a 1/4.

1/2 stick of softened butter or margarine

Approx. 3 to 5 apples, depending on size. Peel and slice. If you can find apples growing in your neighborhood, these are best. Get your neighbor's permission to pick a few, and cut away any blemishes later. Next best thing is a big of mixed variety apples or get a few different kinds yourself, sweet and tart.

(1) Pre-heat oven to 375F - lightly butter a 9x11 (or close to that) baking pan

(2) In a medium bowl, use a fork to blend egg with milk and vanilla until well-mixed. Add in the sugar, softened butter and biscuit mix. Thoroughly stir with fork until smooth - about 2 minutes

(3) Spread the batter evenly in the pan. It may look very thin, but that's ok! On batter surface, arrange the apple slices in overlapping fashion.

(4) Place dots of butter here and there atop the apple slices. Sprinkle a little cinnaomn.

(5) Bake 30 to 35 minutes. (Depends on your baking pan, oven and altitude!)

After cooling, sprinkle with powdered sugar - regular will do fine if you don't have powdered. If you like, you can top with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream! We leave it in the pan, cutting and serving slices with a spatula. Happy Baking!

Halloween is coming...

Microsoft has released a new theme for Windows 7 to further intensify the feel of the coming event. The theme is named Eerie Autumn and is a pack of 15 scary wallpapers teamed with ghostly sounds.

The Mommy Chronicles - Printable Pumpkin Carving Patterns

How to make a GHOST!

Orica - Halloween Make-Up

Getting Creative With Haloween Pop-Tarts!

Dave Lucas - Make your own Lady Gaga Meat Costume!

Cooking with the twitterer: Holiday Treats

As I was looking through my recipe files last week, a thought crossed my mind: what about parents who are too busy to follow complex recipes? Or people who live alone and either don't have the time to prepare a cake or pie, or don't want to spend money on a batch of ingredients to make something that "no one else but me" will eat?

Yet when we see magazine articles about Holiday Cooking and Baking or remember childhood treats, some of us wonder why we can't "make something nice like that" or we hold back a tear remembering the love that a parent put into a cake or pie or cookies or brownies.

Yesterday I stopped by a Dollar Store and a pharmacy. I noticed that both shops carried lines of bakery products that were quite inexpensive. Here are TWO that I found really usefuL. (I'm not putting "brand names" to these because some companies turn out anywhere from five to twenty different "brands" of the exact same product, including "store brands.")

My first purchase was at the pharmacy: 69 cents for an envelope of blueberry muffin mix. This stuff was great! All you add is water, pour the batter in a greased muffin tray and bake for 28 minutes! The muffins were truly amazing, the kids ate every single one!

Later in the day I was running so far behind with my errands I decided we'd have "fast food" for dinner, since the evening was peppered with appointments and commitments of various family members. The Dollar Store had boxes of bread mix, at $1 each, and I chose "Apple Bread with Apple Bits." All you do is add 3/4 cup of water and one egg, mix, pour the mixture into a greased baking pan, and bake about 55 minutes. To give it pizzazz, I sprinkled pumpkin pie spice on top. Once tucked in the oven, I got out my "fast food" order sheet, made the call-to-order, and within 35 minutes we were sitting down to dinner. The bread was done as we were eating, and after a few minutes on the cooling rack, it was ready to be served... another great treat for the kids, and a dessert that went excellently well with the adults' coffee!

Any cake that wouldn't be gone by bedtime would be placed in a container, but that was not the case: every bit was gone by 9pm!

SO: Little money, little time, little guilt, great treats... and of course we'll prepare the "special" homemade goodies on those evenings and Saturdays when we have more "time"! (Check out the Amazon linky!) Happy Cooking from the twitterer!

Halloween Is Coming!

BOO!

Jeepers Tweepers!

Your twitterer is getting into a spooky holiday groove! There's a plethora of holiday fun at Halloween For Kids! Now is a great time to start experimenting with Halloween photography, and I'll be capturing a few ghostly images myself on the 31st.

What about costumes? I was thinking of dressing up as Ke$ha, as hubby and I will be in Portland at the end of October!

Costume Quest, the next game from the Psychonauts and Brutal Legend studio DoubleFine — and more importantly, the only trick-or-treating role-playing game of the year — will be released on October 20!

Just in time for the pumpkin holiday, your child can make this Fun House Mirror for free at the Lowe’s Build and Grow Clinic.

Coming Soon: the twitterer's Halloween recipes!

And if you're into COSPLAY, Halloween is ALWAYS ON for you!