September Skies and Sighs

News flash:  I am just back from a glorious weekend meeting my two highschool/college chums at the Country Living Fair, in Columbus!   I have tons of pics and I picked up alot of cards, including one from Gyna Soucy, the managing editor of Country Living Magazine! (pictured directly below)  I didn't know I was talking to her, I told her I wanted to take her picture for my blog, and gave her the url.   Well, here is her pic, and I will post again this week recounting all the fun I had and what I learned.  Please come back by the weekend to see all the great stuff at the Fair!

I get a little conflicted this time of year, as the seasons shift gears.  On one hand it is great to pull out my favorite jeans and sweaters, enjoying the shorter days and cooler nights, but being well aware, that every nice day till the snow flies has to be enjoyed to the max, so that when the long days of winter arrive, I can content myself with the memories.  We went to our summer place, (boat) on Lake Erie for a night last weekend.  Hubby was determined to ski, and he did, but the water temp is somewhere around 65, and the wind chill even colder.  He's 57, I worry the shock might be too much!  He was a happy camper after a few circles around the bay.  I couldn't believe how cold the water was, but it didn't stop him.

I facebooked my pics from the Jonas Brothers concert, but here they are for my readers. You can almost see the pink ear plugs I am wearing, to keep what is left of my hearing! I couldn't believe how loud the music was, there were alot of younger kids there, I worry what will be left of their hearing when they get older!

 

  

A precious little boy joined our family 2 weeks ago, and we paid a short visit to hold him and provide a meal to the tired parents.  Love and hugs and welcome to Jackson! Proud parents Colleen (my goddaughter) and Doug!  Seems like there are a rash of pregnancies in our family, 2 on hubby's side and my sister will have a second grandchild this winter. 

 I brought the couple a simple pasta meal (no surprise, right?) and a very easy and low cal pound cake topped with berries.  The recipe grabbed my attention from allrecipes.com that it was a quick and easy spongy cake.  You can almost see the moistness on the plate!

Homegrown french tarragon is the secret ingredient in this chicken pasta combo



Simple pound cake, looks blah here, but....

 

Berries top this simple cake, it tastes rich, but is low fat made with olive oil!



Pound Cake with Berries (Recipe courtesy of Chef Fabio Viviani, Owner and Executive Chef of Firenze Osteria Italian Restaurant and Martini Bar. , below with my changes)

4 eggs

1 3/4 cups sugar, divided

1/4 cup milk

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup extra light tasting olive oil

assorted berries or fruit

lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.

2. Beat eggs with 1 1/4 cups sugar in mdeium bowl with electric mixer on medium-high speed until eggs are pale and thick, about 5 minutes.  Slowly beat in milk.  Slowly add flour blended with baking powder and mix just until blended.  Add 1 cup olive oil and beat just until blended.  Turn into prepared pan.

3. Bake in center of oven 30 minutes or until thoothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack 10 minutes, remove from pan and cool completely.

While baking, prepare and wash fruit, lightly dust with confectioners sugar.

Top cooled cake, and don't forget some whipped topping if you have it!

YUM!   Calories: 432 Total Fat: 25.4g Cholesterol: 71mg

I moved my sewing room yet again, this time it fills my son's temporary bedroom, and before that it was my daughters'.  The good news is that I have almost all of my supplies in one place instead of squirreled here and there in different rooms and closets. But since I moved it, everything has been standing still, as I substitute teach and try to help hubby with his officework.  I am anxious to return, as it is such an oasis from everyday stress. Any day now, I will be getting the call to full time sub for a home ec teacher who will be on maternity leave, meaning I will be full time busy!  I shadow her tomorrow to get all of the details. 

As promised last few posts, I will post a tutorial to make use of those longer embroidered dresser scarves. I talked about the surplus I came into from a antiques fair this past summer.  I plan to offer a few in my etsy shop later.  Watch for another post right after this one, so much to chat about!