Pumpkin Granola

I love all things pumpkin!  Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes... The list goes on and on!  I also like making granola because you really can't go wrong when experimenting.  I stumbled across a recipe for Pumpkin Granola here.  I did make several changes because of what I had in the kitchen. 

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/3 cup sunflower seeds

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ginger

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons pear butter (that I canned, you could substitute apple sauce)

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

2 tablespoons dried cranberries

 2 tablespoons golden raisins (I ran out of cranberries...)

Directions:
Heat the oven to 275.  I use a Demarle non stick baking mat to bake my granola.  It is really awesome!  If you don't have something like this, you could spray the baking sheet with cooking spray, but I prefer parchment paper because it cuts down on the oil. 

Mix the first seven ( dry ) ingredients together in a mixing bowl. 

Mix the wet ingredients together in a smaller mixing bowl. 

When they are combined, fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined.  *Do not add the fruit yet!  It will burn! 

Spread the granola out on the baking sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  The granola will continue to harden when it is removed from the oven, so don't over cook it. 

Let the granola cool for 10 mintues then combine with the fruit in a large mixing bowl.  It is delicous and pretty healthy!   Enjoy!

Heartfelt Crafts

I'm not really one for Valentine's Day. I think it's an over commercialized holiday, but I also love my husband and I really enjoy wearing festive colors. So for February 14, 2012 I made a few crafts, which is something I really love! The first thing I made is a gift bag for husband's candy. It was my first attempt at sewing felt. I think I need some practice, but it wasn't a bad start. I also made myself a felt rose pin. It was super fun and I like it a lot! A tutorial will be coming your way very soon! Happy Valentine's Day!

A Yarn Letter for Charlotte

Right before Christmas, my husband's cousin Heather had her first baby Charlotte!  Charlotte was born about a month early so the craft project I wanted to make her was not yet started, but everything was ready!
I bought a cardboard letter from Joann's:

I also used felt and pretty pink yarn that I had in my craft arsenal. 

I hot glued the yarn to the back of the letter and then wrapped the yarn around the letter over and over and over!  The curves in the C made some of the yarn more challenging, but I just wrapped in a x pattern around the curves and it worked out perfectly. 

I then made four felt flowers in different colors and hot glued them to the bottom of the "C" and attached a turquoise ribon that matched one of the flowers.  I love it and I can't wait to give it to Heather, Sean and Charolotte!