Taking it Easy: Thanksgiving Edition

Here on From Blah to Ta-daa we are busy getting ready for our Thanksgiving celebrations.  We are sure you are too!  So we are taking a break this week and leave you with this thought:

May your stuffing be tasty

May your turkey be plump,

May your potatoes and gravy

Have never a lump.

May your yams be delicious

And your pies take the prize,

And may your Thanksgiving dinner

Stay off your thighs!

~author unknown

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


PS:  Don't forget to enter our giveaway for easy menu plans!

Taking It Easy: Fly Away Favor Bags

Happy Halloween!

This is one of my kids favorite times of the year - they have already got their costumes - and are chomping at the bit to do a little trick or treating.

We have been doing a few recipes and craft projects around the house to try and ease their incessant need to count down the days or ask if it's Halloween yet.

I made these cute and easy fly away favors for my dining room table and one for each of the kids teachers. They were so simple and easy. I filled mine with a big bag of candy corn - a Halloween must have in my family. The kids teachers thought they were really cool plus they all have candy jars for quick rewards...the candy corn went into them.

For the handles I used extra long cinnamon sticks that I found at the antique store - wish that they still smelled as that would have made these even more awesome.


Flyaway Favors 

Marthastewart.com:
Flyaway Favor Bag - Martha Stewart Crafts

Two 4 1/4-by-8-inch brown paper bags
Craft knife or scissors
Small branch
Candy

1. Unfold one brown bag and push out base; fold in the left and right sides.

2. Use a craft knife or scissors and cut the bag into thin strips about 1/4 inch wide. Make sure you stop short of the base.

3. Cut thin strips into the top, 1 1/2 inches of second brown bag. Fill the bag with candy

4. Open the shredded bag fully, laying it flat; place the filled candy bag inside the shredded bag.

5. Bring shredded bag up; cinch top of bags together. Wrap with black wax twine until bags are secure.

Taking It Easy

It's a crisp Autumn day here in Maine.  The sun is shining, the wind is blowing and the leaves are falling.  It feels like a perfect morning for a warm mug of spiced cider.

 For ease I like to make ours in the coffee pot and the pour it into a carafe.  This way family members of all ages can help themselves with out the worry of using a ladle.

Hot Spiced Cider

Ingredients:

1/8 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon whole allspice

1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 pinch ground nutmeg

1 small orange, quartered with peel

 apple cider

 

 It's been a year since we've brewed this and I forgot that last year I used the mesh brew basket filter instead of the paper filters.  If you brew yours in the coffee pot like I do I HIGHLY RECOMMEND using the mesh filter instead of the paper filter.  It takes FOREVER with the paper filter!

 Waiting for the first cup of the season.

 Delicious.

* This year we pressed our own cider!