Wow, I can hardly believe Thanksgiving is almost here!  And it’s only Monday and I already feel like this week is getting away from me.  I spent my Sunday evening watching season 3 of 30 Rock on Netflix and trying to get through an early 1940s (or is it late 1930s?) dress for the holiday festivities.  Yes, I still get excited, just as I did as a little girl, over the prospect of having a new dress to wear for a special occasion!  But the sleeves - oh, the sleeves!  The puffed sleeves were really trying my patience.  I guess I can’t do puffed sleeves no matter how much I try to convince myself.  It remains my goal, however, to finish this dress but now the sleeves have been pared down quite a bit.  We shall see how it goes!

Anyway I have a couple of recipes to share with you.  The first is a Berry Crumble.  The crumble topping is similar to what you may find on top of a banana or blueberry muffin.  There’s no egg and it’s very crumbly.  I think the trick to making a good crumble is to make sure the dough clumps are not too big  and are spread out evenly over the fruit (so they can cook thoroughly).  I also don’t like my fruit too sweet or syrupy and I don’t use much sugar in the filling.  This recipe is so easy it’s great to whip some up after a trip to the farmer’s market.  (Which is were I got these beauties!)  You can vary the amount fruit depending on how much you have and how deep you want the crumble to be.

Jen’s Berry Crumble

Dough:

6 T unsalted butter, softened

1/4 t light brown sugar (or white sugar)

1/2 c all purpose flour

1/4 c instant oatmeal (the plain, unflavored kind)

1/8 t. salt

2 t. water (Optional)

Filling:

2-4 pints berries (I like to combine blackberries with strawberries)

1 T sugar

> 1/2 t. lemon juice (Optional - I usually leave this out)

Cooking spray or melted butter

Cinnamon or nutmeg, ground

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees F.  Spray a 9″ baking pan with cooking spray (or brush with butter).
2. Cut up fruit if desired.  Spread fruit out in the pan and sprinkle with sugar.
3. Mix all dry ingredients for the dough.  Mix in butter - this might be easiest to do this with your hands.  Add a little water if dough seems too dry.
4. Crumble dough evenly over fruit filling.  Sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg.
5. Bake for 30 minutes.  Sometimes I flip the broiler on for a few minutes to brown the top without overcooking the fruit.

Jen’s Pumpkin Pavlova

My friend Michelle introduced me to pavlova many years ago and has since been one of my favorite desserts.  It’s so light it hardly seems sinful.  (Hee hee!)   This recipe is fairly easy as well (a recurrent theme in my kitchen).  I originally planned to make some today but at this point I probably don’t have time with all the other pre-holiday planning (including finishing up some work!).  SO, here it is, in pdf format.  Perhaps I’ll be able to update this post later with a photo.

» Download Jen’s Pumpkin Pavlova Recipe

Enjoy!

It’s here: Leda the Swan PDF pattern!  I’m really happy about her and I worked hard to get this pattern ready and posted to le shop.

Here’s another version with the capelet and GOLD sparkly crown!

In other shop news…

“Our Tree Dresses” 5×7 print.  This matte paper is gorgeous, the colors come out so vibrant. (Although my lack of picture-taking skills don’t do it much justice in my opinion!)

My new friends are nestled comfortably in the studio.

Thanks for looking!

xoxo

(Oh, and if you prefer Etsy, these items are posted there as well!)

I hope everyone’s week is off to a good start!   This past weekend was nice and chilly and I spent a lot of time knitting for the holidays (a certain nephew needs a hand-knit stocking for his first Christmas).  Anyway, I have a little gift for you…

I’m giving away a bunch of “Our Tree Dresses” holiday cards!   A blank card for you to keep or use.

Instead of selecting 1 winner for a big prize I’ve decided to have a lot of little prizes for many of you this year.

SO, here’s how it works:

• Leave a comment: You don’t have to say anything in particular BUT I would love to know what you’re looking forward to this season. It could be holiday or non-holiday specific!
• Make sure the email address you enter is correct.  I’ll collect the emails and send you all a message (from dearliette {AT} gmail {DOT} com) at the end of the giveaway.
• Reply back with your mailing address.  (Don’t worry, your personal info is safe with me and won’t be sold, distributed, etc.)

The giveaway closes Sunday night, November 22th OR when I run out of giveaway cards, whichever happens first.  One card per reader; open to everyone.

Happy Commenting!

Update: Silly me, as Tracey kindly pointed out, I never mentioned what I was looking forward to this season!  Two every exciting things are happening: 1) My husband and I are celebrating our marriage (Reception #2) with my in-laws and 2) My dear little nephew’s first Christmas!

Most of my family photos are at my parents’ house, but the last time I was there I took a few home with me, including this one of my Uncle’s baptism back in the 1950s; it’s the only picture I have with Grampa in his Navy uniform.  Isn’t he handsome?  He was a WWII vet along with his older brother.

I love everything about this photo - it’s clarity and inky dark colors, Dad looking down at his hands, apparently too shy to smile for the camera.  My Great Uncle looking confident in his bowtie and jacket.  The priest holding looking at my baby uncle.  I never met my Great Grandma but I like her jacket.  Of course, Grandma is simply adorable in her hat, red lipstick, coat and white gloves.  Those star brooches too!  Both my grandparents have passed on and I really miss them.

Anyway, if you have the day off - enjoy!  Regardless, I hope you all are having a lovely day.