Tablescapes and Wonderful Weekend Breakfast Ideas

via Pinterest

Happy Friday!  My favorite day of the work week!  As everyone gears up for Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, and the holiday decorating season, I have some ideas.  First, easy decorating ideas with apples,  and secondly, menu ideas starring pumpkins to use this weekend and over the holidays.

Decorating with Apples 

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 With apples still in season (in other words, inexpensive) why not use them in your Thanksgiving decor? Surround punch bowls of hot mulled apple cider with an array of apple varieties - McIntosh, Granny Smith, etc.  For a centerpiece, put florist sticks through one end of the apple and voila!  An apple becomes a flower, ready for a vase.  Use your imagination!  Even a simple white bowl filled with apples or a crate-full is a thing of beauty.

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Pumpkins!

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Treat your family to a Pumpkin Party this weekend!  Oh yeah, I'm talking pumpkin pie spicy sweetness!   Surprise your family with delicious Pumpkin French Toast goodness for breakfast on Saturday morning and reap the rewards all day - Ok, so I'm talking mostly smiles, and if you're lucky, even a thank you Mom sort of thing - I get shivers down my spine just thinking about it! LOL!

Then, top off the pumpkin fest with a special treat on Sunday morning.  I'm talking drool-worthy my friends!  So, after the family returns from the local football, la crosse, or soccer game, after the dog-walk and leaf-raking,  or whatever the heck you do outside, warm them up with Pumpkin Spice White Hot Chocolate served with Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls & Caramel Drizzle.  Holy Carbs!  But, sooooo yummy good!  Your family will be so totally in love with YOU they may even put the cap on the toothpaste!

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If your hubby is deserving, (haha) then make him a Vanilla Pumpkin Beer to sip while watching Sunday night football.  Super simple gals:

1.  Dip a beer mug rim in brown or white sugar mixed with pumpkin pie spice.

2.  Pour in a shot of your fave vanilla vodka - Absolut perhaps? 

3.  Pour a pumpkin ale of your choice (my personal fave is Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Ale or Blue Moon's Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale)

SERVE with a smile.  You can collect your rewards later...:)

happyhourwithbarbara.com

 Next week, we will focus on harvest tablescapes, easy  to  make centerpieces, great menu ideas and new family traditions to begin for the holiday!

Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

xoxo,

Millie

Thanks to Missie, Erica, Rachel, Wendi, and Lyndsay for the Pumpkin Beer drinking  girl chat last night at the Rustic Kitchen!  So much fun!   

A is for Apples and Autumn too

If you live in New England, then you know this is apple picking season - or, to be truthful, the end of apple picking season! It seems like I have been busy every weekend with soccer, family commitments, and who knows what!  Sure, we've talked about it, but something always stopped us from going.  Excuses mainly.  "Isn't it going to rain today"  "You know I've got a school project to do."  Or, the dreaded, "Do we have to go today, Mom?   They really aren't babies anymore...sigh.  Even my attempts to entice the boys through their stomachs have fallen flat.  "But boys, think about apple pie, apple pie oatmeal, caramel apples and...."   "Can't go today Mom."  Obviously appeals to adolescent appetites just don't work anymore.


   Just when I thought I'd have to give up my dream -- or worse yet, go apple picking alone, is that even allowed?-- my eldest daughter asked "Hey Mama, can we go apple picking this weekend?"  Hurray!  So, yeah, at long last, this is apple picking weekend! And hopefully, our local apple orchard, still has some sweet red apples left on those trees cuz  I have plenty of things to do with those crispy  fruits!


We are going to the Big Apple this weekend!

 This is the place to go apple picking in Wrentham... they have great ice cream too!

Apples as works of art...

If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange those apples then we will still each have an apple.  But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.

- George Bernard Shaw

But what can we do with all those apples you ask?  Great question!  

1.  Make Hot mulled apple cider  (in the crock pot!!) to wash down some yummy treats!

 Get the recipe at tastykitchen.com/

2. Amazing Apple Cider Doughnuts!

Recipe at smittenkitchen.com/

3.  Caramel Apple Parfait

cindab.com/blog

4. Healthy Snack: Oven baked Apple Chips

at cindab.com/blog

5.  Tiny, Twiggy, Caramel Apples at allysonbakerdesign.blogspot.com

6.  Homemade Applesauce with a twist at familyfeedbag.com

7.  Apple Pie Oatmeal - this is so delicious and easy to make too!  Also from familyfeedbag.com

8.  Fried Apple Rings with Cinnamon Sugar Dip at howto-simplify.com

9.  Mini Apple Pies from piesbyhannah.tumblr.com

10.  Saved the best for last: Candy Apple Pie!  Get the info at doughmesstic.net

The kids can bob for apples... or

you could decorate your nest!

place in a basket, a vase, or in a bowl with candles

or circle a punch bowl.

make apple garlands or stack in pyramids

or just put them in a bowl ....

Or, if you are ambitious create a beautiful fall arrangement with crabapples from thethegreengardengate.blogspot.com

So many things to love about Autumn...

Hope you have a great weekend!

xoxo,

Millie

Photo Credits:
cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/ 
good-times.webshots.com/
arquitetura-pessoal.tumblr.com/
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tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com
thatssomichelle.blogspot.com/
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photos-by-chiie.livejournal.com/
desdemventana.blogspot.com
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Let the Autumn Decorating Begin!

theamericanlegacy.tumblr.com

Okay, so if my yard looked like this --covered in bright golden hued leaves --I wouldn't need  to do any decorating since nothing compares to Mother Nature's perfection.  Alas, in this neck of the woods, we are still a few weeks away from such majestic colors,  So what's a thoroughly obsessed decorating nut like myself to do in the meantime?  Fake it,of course!  The malls and shops have stacked the bales of hay, and scattered pumpkins, chrysanthemums and scarecrows in front of the cornstalks tied with autumn colored ribbons since July, I think! And, many of my neighbors' homes are bedecked in similar fashion as well.  I want to do something a bit different this year however, and thought I'd share with you some inspirations I've been looking at and collecting on Pinterest.

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thegrowersdaughter.blogspot.com

I'm obsessed with barns and to me nothing says fall harvest more than a barn and a tractor.  It's also the only explanation I could come up with for placing this pretty photo here!! :)

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Ornamental kale is wonderful to use in your fall decorating and comes in so many varieties to spice up your decor.

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This ruffled kale is purplicious!

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Martha decoratively combined ruffled kale with flowers to bring the season's splendor inside...

thegrowersdaughter.blogspot.com

Why not throw some in your window boxes along a purple aster to get some fall color?

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Or, how about some mini-white pumpkins along with assorted chrysantheums?

myhomeideas.com

This room screams autumn doesn't it?

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I love the use of rusty orange toss pillows and throw to bring some autumn cheer in this neutral space below. The glow of the fire reflected on the gleaming hardwood floors....the bittersweet berries in the terracotta urns and the mini white pumpkins lined-up by size on the mantel all combine to create a stunning ambience.  

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I know this is wedding decor, but why not borrow a few ideas for your next autumn soiree?

www.thebestweddingdecorations.com/

Leave it to Martha to come up with such a stunning centerpiece!

marthastewart.com

Homemade onion soup screams autumn to me.  It makes me think of  sitting by the warm glow of the fireplace enjoying this soup with a crusty baguette, a spinach salad, and a great big glass of vino.  I love cooking in the fall it just seems so cozy, and nurturing after summer grilling, don't you think so?

 

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 Go to the link above for this oh-so-easy recipe and enjoy your own autumn meal with your family tonight.  If it's still warm enough where you live why not dine outside?  Isn't this pergola space with a fireplace inviting?  Wouldn't you just love to sit by this fireplace...

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Have a terrific day today!

xoxo,

Millie