Cozy time! Tea and gingerbread muffins

When we were in college, my husband worked at a really nice restaurant in town. He managed to get this recipe from the owner. He made a batch of these every other day it felt like, and when he didn't have the time, I made them. I recently found the recipe tucked away with others, and decided to see why we were so obsessed with them. One taste of them, and all the memories came flooding back! They are pretty darn good.


Gingerbread muffins:

Sift 2 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoons salt

Heat: I cup molasses with 1/3 cup butter
let cool a bit.
Pour 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1 beaten egg into melted molasses mixture.

Add: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans, but you can use wlanuts if you would like) and 1/4 cup currants to flour mix.

Stir liquid into flour mixture.

Fill pans 1/2 way, sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top. The recipe says to combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. I just combined a little bit, since I didn't want a lot of sugar, but now that I think about it, the sugar was nice on top and gave a nice crackle look to it.

Bake at 325 for 25 min.



DO NOT USE BLACKSTRAP MOLASSES!! THE ABOVE PICTURE IS THE FIRST BATCH THAT I MADE WITH THE WRONG MOLASSES. YUCK!!!!!! USE THE VERY LIGHTEST ONE.

Halloween and Vine, plus lunch

Saturday we drove up to Petaluma to attend the 14Th annual "Halloween and Vine" craft fair. It is quite small, and only took us about half and hour to look at everything. This fair seemed to be aimed at serious Halloween collectors. There were some amazing artists, as well as vintage Halloween goodies. I enjoyed the vintage stuff the best. When we got there, the lady at the desk said, that there were 250 people waiting to get in at 9:00 a.m to snap up the best. You would have to be a serious collector, since there seemed to be nothing under $100.00! I only bought a couple of paper items from the vintage table. They would not let me take photos, so I swiped this one off of their facebook page.
After our brief trip to the fair, we went to the famed "Della Fattoria,"for some lunch. Their bread is to die for! We are so blessed here in the Bay Area to have such wonderful bread makers, and this is one of them. Unfortunately, we are just out of their radius, to buy it. I sure wish they would distribute it nearer to me. I bought some rosemary/Meyer lemon bread to take home, and have been enjoying it with sandwiches and just plain toasted. YUM!
A few images from inside the restaurant...........


This was my chicken salad sandwich, which was superb.
We split a couple of desserts, this one was a vanilla panna cotta.......
Chocolate/cream cheese muffin.

On another note, I would like to thank the readers that left such nice comments on my last post. They all mean so much to me. My date for sugery is February 16th.

Vintage fabric and prizes oh my!

Not too long ago, I went into the city and spent the day with my oldest daughter, Nicole. She took me to this really cool fabric store called "Urban Burp." We had a lot of fun looking at all the beautiful vintage fabric, and I just had to buy something! The above photo is a small 1930's linen piece, that I have some really fun plans for.
This one is from the 1950's It has maps of Italy, France, and other European countries, with various illustrations of food and drink, that you would find in each one. I want to make a really cute apron with it.
This fabric is from the Moda collection, they are tea towels. I got these from a vendor at the flea market that I went to a couple of Sundays ago.
I'm most excited about this piece, because it is an antique grain sack, that has been sanitized, and made into a pillow cover. Click on the photo, and you will see the detail of it better. I love the feel of it, and how thick it is. I was looking at the newest Pottery Barn catalog, and they had some pillows similar to this. I think this is more special, since it is so old.
When I bought this pillow cover, I was thinking about the fabric that I bought a couple of summers ago in St. Helena (wine country), and I was so hoping that it would match with it. They look so pretty together. My next project is to make some pillows out of it to go with this vintage cover.
I won this book from a giveaway over at Nom de Plume. Rebekka has the nicest blog about food and sometimes she gives us a peek at her charming home, and outings with her husband. They are the cutest couple! Check her blog out. Thanks Rebekka, I can't wait to try some of the recipes.

I also just finished working on, get this, a Christmas project! I can't even believe it myself. I will post it when it is more seasonal, I love fall too much to start putting Christmas stuff up now.
I'm also finishing up an embroidery piece that I started in 2006, and then set it aside. I got real close to finishing it last Christmas, but pooped out. I'm happy to say it is almost completed!
Hope everyone is enjoying the changing season, and looking forward to some cozy weather, and everything that goes with the up coming holidays.

Last day to wear white

Here are the finished 1930'3 overalls that I made Caitlin. She will most likely only get to wear them a few more times before the weather turns, but technically today is the last day you can wear white :) Most people don't follow the rules though, and here in sunny California, you could get away with wearing white a bit longer.
I had a few fit issues with this, partly my fault for not checking and rechecking. The bodice is a bit too loose, so Caitlin cleverly found a nice little red flower pin to solve the problem.
Now that I'm finished with this, I will be doing a few other sewing projects that I've been meaning to get done.
Happy labor day everyone!

A little taste of my weekend

Saturday night, we had a lovely dinner with Pierre, Nicole, and Pierre's cousin and boyfriend visiting from France. Pierre's cousin is doing a study abroad program at UCLA, and will start in a week or so. Her boyfriend came with her to see a bit of California. We had a really nice time with them, and we hope she has a wonderful experience in Southern California.
Apologies for this very poor photo, of this very beautiful tart that I bought for dessert. It is from a new bakery, and I was so lucky this was the only one left in the display case. It was so good! By the time I remembered to take a picture of this tasty tart, it was quite dark, so I used a flash, and now you can see my shadow.
Sunday, we went to the Alameda Flea market with some friends and family. Always overwhelming for me, but loads of fun. I ended up buying some fabrics, and I'll share them at another time.
Can you imagine wearing this?!
There was a vendor that was selling these beautiful potted succulents.
This little stall had a western theme going...
This was a fun vendor, selling vintage kitchen goods. I really liked that old coffee pot.

It was very clear and warm out there today, and we only had enough energy to stay a couple of hours. There are 800 vendors there, and I don't think I have ever seen the whole thing in one visit. I usually just wander around until something catches my eye. There are some pretty serious flea market customers there, with their special rolling carts, and they always look like they are on a mission! It was a fun outing, followed by a very nice Sunday lunch with the group.
Hope everyone is having a relaxing holiday weekend.

I really am working....promise

As evidenced by my mess above, I really am working. I've been absent on here so that I can finish the outfit for Caitlin, and show it to you all, but I've run into a fit problem. All it needs is a bit more altering, then the zipper, and hem. I thought I would get away with not hemming it since it has a scalloped edge, but they ended up being longer that we thought. I decided to do a false cuff, and that way you can still see the pretty scalloped edge.
Here is a little peek, but soon it will be on her and you can get a better look. Perhaps in a couple days, as I have a few things to tend to today.
I just thought I'd make an appearance though, because I miss my blog!