Displaying Antique Crocks

This past week has been quite interesting.  The week ended with a great report from Cameron’s pre-school teacher.  He had a wonderful week and was well behaved (whew).  I am not sure I can take many more bad days (lol).  We celebrated my Dad’s 65th Birthday on Saturday along with my nieces Birthday.  Talk about alot of cake and ice cream.  Sunday was interesting seeing as though we were rear-ended coming out of the parking lot at the grocery store.  We got hit pretty good, but luckily we were all ok.  Just a little whiplash which lead to soreness and stiffness the day after.  The kid that ended up hitting us stood there and laughed about it and then admitted to us that he was busy changing the radio station.  Gotta love idiots that can’t pay attention to what is going on in front of them while driving.  Our van got scratched up pretty good on the bumper, but the police can’t do anything since it was on private property.  I had never heard of such a thing….. what a stupid law.  So…… that was our weekend.  Definitely not as fun as what the APP gals had at The Walker Homestead.  Talk about jealous……. I so wish I could have been there.

I myself have been busy with other things.  For all of you prim loving stay at home Mom’s….. don’t you just love thinking about what you can do next with your home?  Well, I have been doing just that.  I have been wanting to find a way to display some if not all of my crocks.  So…… I thought that the cubby that is supposed to be used for our TV. would be a great little area to use for my crocks.  Here is a picture of what it looked like before I started working on it.

I knew that if I wanted to display my crocks in it then I would need and want for them to stand out once they were in there.  So, I went looking for some paint to use in this cubby.  I absolutely LOVE the color of that barn red shutter so I went looking for something of that color.  I was lucky enough to find it at Wal-Mart.  It is made by Kilz and it is called Barn Board.  Here is the color.

Don’t you just love the color?  I knew it would be beautiful.  It is definitely a dark color, but it allows my crocks to stand out which is exactly what I wanted.  Here is a picture of it after it was painted.

Don’t you love the way it turned out?  Then it was time to get some “L” brackets and some wood.  I decided that staining my wood shelves would be the best bet and I painted the “L” brackets the same color as the wall.  I didn’t want them to stand out like a sore thumb.  This is how it all turned out.

So, what do you think?  Does it appear to be missing something?  Do you like the crocks displayed the way they are on the bottom?  If you notice with the pictures above….. there are 3 crocks on the bottom that are pulled forward.  Here is a picture of them pushed back.  What do you like better?

I have a candle behind the middle crock on the bottom to bring some light into that cubby.  I wish I had a spot light or some sort of light shining down of them, but there is no electricity running through there except the plug outlets.  What is a girl to do that knows not a single thing about electricity?!?  Of course this is not all of my crocks so I thought I would share some more with you and how I have them displayed.  Are you ready for the tour?

Why don’t you share your collection?  I would love to see it.  Until Next Time ~ enjoy your day .  Blessings, Lisa

Taste of Fall ~ Homemade Applesauce

Does Fall ever get you in the mood to bake or cook?  Well, this is my favorite time of the year for baking and cooking.  I enjoy going apple picking and I love making apple desserts.  I just recently shared a tasty recipe with all of you and if you missed the Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie then be sure to check my previous posts.  If you decide to try the recipe then be rest assured that you won’t be disappointed.  I have received lots of feedback that it is now considered a family favorite.  It can be yours too ~ give it a try!!

Speaking of recipes…. I have yet another one for you all to try.  I have made several batches of homemade applesauce and everyone keeps asking me for my recipe.  It is so easy and very tasty.  Here is what you will need.

~ Homemade Applesauce ~

4-6 apples (peeled, cored, chopped)  3/4 cup water                                                 1/4 cup white sugar                                   1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.

Cover and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until apples are soft (stirring occasionally).

Allow to cool and mash with a fork or potato masher.  I myself use a mini food chopper and it works great.

Remember ~ the longer you keep it in your chopper the smoother it will be.  I made chunky applesauce last year and loved it, but Cameron was not a fan so I made it smooth this year.  Enjoy it warm or chilled.

The pictures shown contain more then just 4-6 apples.  Feel free to add double the apples, but remember to double all of your other ingredients as well.

Have a blessed day!!      ~ Lisa

Helping Others, Helping Mom

Today was a day filled with helping others.  Who doesn’t enjoy helping others especially when it comes to decorating.  Primitive Decorating!!

I took Mom to get some gourds and pumpkins today and she really enjoyed herself.  She hasn’t had so much fun in a long time.  This home that we go to is located out in the country and this lady has great prices and lots of different gourds to choose from.  She has mums and lots of them and the pumpkins are huge this year.  We are going back in a week or two so I can get some, but we have to wait on the arrival of our money tree (lol).  I told Mom to get some gourds that would be easy to dry so she picked a few out and bought me a couple as well.  Here are the gourds that I picked out.

Cameron got a small pumpkin.

Mom asked if I could help her decorate her front porch and I gladly agreed to help.  Who doesn’t enjoy helping someone else?!?  So, I placed everything on her porch and this is what it looks like.  What do you think?

Here are some closer shots of her pumpkins and gourds.  I just love the colors of fall.

My sweet hubby even stopped in the country and grabbed me a few ears of corn.  Gosh, I love him.  So, I shared a few with Mom and kept some for myself.

Good thing we got them now because they were getting ready to pick them.  I thought after the season was over I would take them off the ear, put them in a jar with a prim label that I bought from Yankee Lane Primitives.  Sounds like an idea ~ don’t ya think?

Here is Mom’s porch completed.

Did you enjoy the decorating that I did for Mom?  I thought it looked beautiful and I think she was pretty happy with it as well.  Makes you wanna decorate ~ huh?  It is funny because her porch is completed and I am still having a difficult time trying to figure out mine (lol).  I of course will post pics as soon as my porch is done.  Hope you all have a blessed weekend.

Until Next Time ~ Blessings Always!

Fall Decorating Underway

Have you started your Fall decorating yet?  I had my hubby get all of my totes out last week.  I finally started pulling everything out on Friday.  I have some stuff done, but still working on a little bit here and there.  I am not pleased quite yet with my front porch so I won’t be sharing any pics yet.  Here are a few of my entry way as you come in the front door.

I just love that corn that I have in my basket.  I thought it looked great in my old market basket that I found at an antique mall.  Here is a closer look.

 

I also did a little more decorating throughout my home, but I am not sure if it is going to stay there.  I am not sure if you all remember the cubby in my family room.  The cubby is actually suppose to be used for our television, but I don’t like it up there because it doesn’t give us a whole lot of options when we want to change our room around.  So, I have the tv. on that Amish built cupboard that I re-finished a couple months back.  Anyway, as I was sitting there watching tv. over the weekend, I came up with a brilliant idea.  I have been trying my best to figure out a way to display my crocks or most of them.  So, I thought I would re-do my cubby in my wall, add some shelves and display my crocks up there.  What do you think?  Here is what the cubby looks like now.  Well, actually this is an old picture, but you get the just of it ~ right?  Wow, that is really an old picture.  So, can you imagine some of my crocks up there along with a “crock collector” sign above it?  Do you all think I should paint the cubby a different color or leave it as is?  So many decisions.

Please let me know your thoughts.

I also wanted to share this picture with all of you.  This is a picture of my crunchy caramel apple pie that I make every year.  It is a family favorite so we normally go apple picking and then make pie.

Here is the recipe…….

CRUNCHY CARAMEL APPLE PIE

Ingredients

1 pastry crust for a deep-dish pie 9-inch (homemade or store-bought)

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

6 cups apples, thinly sliced peeled

1 recipe crumb topping (see below)

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup caramel topping

Crumb Topping

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2cup quick cooking rolled oats

1/2 cup butter

Cooking Directions

Crumb Topping

Stir together brown sugar,flour, rolled oats. Cut in 1/2 cup butter until topping is like course crumbs. Set aside.

Pie

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.

Add apple slices and gently toss until coated.   I normally toss mine in a plastic ziploc bag so they all get coated nicely.

Transfer apple mixture to the pie shell (I normally use store bought crust and just unwrap it and place it into my glass pie plate.  I think the crust normally has to set at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.) 

Sprinkle crumb topping over apple mixture.

Place pie on a cookie sheet so the drippings don't drop into your oven.

Cover edges of pie (crust) with aluminum foil. Bake in a preheated 375 oven for 25 minutes. Then remove foil and put back in for another 25 to 30 minutes without foil. Remove from oven. Sprinkle pie with chopped pecans then drizzle with caramel on top. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy warm or at room temperature

Until Next Time ~ Blessings, Lisa