i can't believe i forgot!!

i totally forgot to post yesterday!!! aaaah!!  but i am here now, and i have such a fun thing to post!!  mini pumpkin pies!! i made these for carson's 1st grade class.  they were a HUGE hit!! i saw kids shoving the whole pie in their mouths.  this is no special recipe.  it's the one off the label of the pumpkin can!!  the crust i used was one i haven't used for any of my pies before, but it will be now!!  it is pate brisee (patay brizay)  it's an all butter crust.  it is so flaky and tasty.  i do add more sugar than is called for, that is the only way i'll eat the crust.   anyway, i made the pate brisee for a 2 crust pie and rolled it out (the recipe can be found anywhere on the internet).  i then used a 3 inch cookie cutter and cut out my circles.

from there, i put the circle of dough into my muffin tin and pressed very gently down.  then i poured in my filling.  i baked at 450 for 10 minutes then turned it down to 350 and baked for 10 more minutes.  so easy!!  this made 48 mini pumpkin pies.  i did make more of these last night, but a little bit bigger.  i used a 4 inch cookie cutter instead and the crust came up to the top of the muffin cup.  this way, i made 24 mini pumpkin pies.  these are seriously so much fun!!!  at our thanksgiving, we'll have about 4 children under 7 and these are a perfect portion!!

i  am planning to post the pencil skirt later today when we get home from our thanksgiving dinner!!! 
i also wanted to mention a few things i am thankful for:  my home, husband, children and my friends here in lubbock that we get to spend time with today and every day!! i also am thankful for the canadian geese that fly over our apartments at all times of the day during this time of year!! (seriously, i love them) it is such a wonderful sound and sight!! ( i also love that my kids love them too!!!)
have a very wonderfully fantastic thanksgiving!!! see you later today!!

easy and casual napkin/place settings for thanksgiving {or whenever!!}

i saw this idea on the katie brown workshop on the create channel.  she did a no sew version.  however, the iron on sticky stuff is more expensive than the thread i already had, so i sewed mine.  it's easy either way.  these seriously took me 5 minutes each, maybe less!!  also, you could use any sturdy material other than denim with equal cuteness, i just happened to have quite a few pair of denim jeans that were in the goodwill pile.  i did not measure how big this denim napkin/place setting was, it's not my way.  i just made sure it was big enough for my knife.  this is how i threw these together:  cut some denim into a square, and sew the edges (seam allowance for how big you want your fray to be).  next, cut a small rectangle for the pocket that holds the silverware.  mine is roughly 3" x4".  sew it onto your denim square. make sure you sew it so the knife doesn't come above the top of the napkin.  you're done!!  you could put them in the dryer for a few minutes to get the frayed look.

i put my napkin/place setting rolled up inside of a mason jar for the following reasons:
i pictured myself hosting thanksgiving (which i'm not) and i thought of doing it buffet style.  how easy would it be for your guests if their drinkware, napkin and utensils were all right there in one place, maybe even with name tags? how easy and thoughtful!! and you won't be worried about wiping your kids thanksgiving faces with a denim napkin!!  i love drinking out of goblets on thanksgiving and such holidays, but i have to face it: i'm really just a casual girl.  a thanksgiving with denim napkins and mason jars full of cider (or pumpkin juice *wink*) would be oh so comforting. don't you think?