I've Got the World on a (shoe)String...

Okay, here.  Listen to Frank Sinatra crooning for a mo if you want to, and then come back.  Now, Frank has the actual world on a string, what with sitting on a rainbow and all.  I, on the other hand, have a shoestring.

Belts are extraordinarily tight in this house (and not just because I eat too many carbs).  Times are not so good (like I have to tell you this). If Barack Obama is re-elected, and we continue on this course, the deficit will be up to God knows what by the time he finishes his second term.  That makes me feel the way I feel when I open my credit card bill:  panicky. And horrified.  Yes, it was for stuff we needed (refer back to tight belts, above)--well, mostly anyway, but holy moly, it sure adds up.  I'm pretty sure this is what Mr. Obama says when he gets the deficit bill at the end of the month-- "Well, it was for stuff that we needed--well, mostly anyway,  but holy moly, it sure adds up."  But the problem is, I don't think Mr. Obama feels my panic. Or my horror.

So maybe ask yourself how you are doing now, compared to four years ago.  Yes, Obama inherited a mess.  But boy oh boy did he make it worse.  Please, please, vote for Mitt Romney.  He's good at this.  Our country needs a CEO, not a professor.  I feel so strongly about this! Well, okay, that's the end of my stumping. I'd actually do more stumping if I got to wear a straw boater like Samantha Stephens did when she was trying to get a stop light on Morning Glory Circle.  And a sash.  I need a sash.

Moving on! Now, you know how much I love autumn, and my autumn decorations.  In fact you can read last year's post on the subject.  It seems like every year (for the last, actually, four or so years) I have had to ramp up my thriftiness.  I have purchased no new fall decorations.  Any recent acquisitions I have I scrounged from nature.  There I was, in the park, a crazy lady picking up acorns from under oak trees.  But you have to see them--they are like little textbook symbols of autumn.  So perfect, and I couldn't just leave them all there to be lawnmowered into oblivion.

And I love the big seeds from the California buckeye trees.  (By the way, the seeds are toxic, so don't lick them or anything.)  In autumn, the tree produces this odd, pear-shaped fruit that is really just a husk for the seed.  The seeds look like burnished nubbins of wood. Very fall-y. You can also call the seeds "conkers." Which we do.

Another natural decor item I'm putting to use are the rose hips from my garden.  I purposely did not deadhead the roses after their last bloom in the summer.  I wanted to see how all the rose hips would look, and they are so pretty!

[caption id="attachment_2721" align="alignleft" width="300"] Rose hips and Michael's scented pinecones[/caption]

They are perfect for standing in a vase or scattering in with conkers or acorns or, say, pinecones. In fact, I actually did buy one new autumn decoration, but it was cheap ($2.50!).  In Michaels they have mesh bags of scented pinecones.  I love how they smell, all cinnamony. The first day or two they are rawther pungent, but the scent softens pretty quickly and makes the area around them smell delightfully cozy.

While I was out foraging, feeling like a cross between Martha Stewart and Grizzly Adams, I came across these trees with the most beautiful berryish/seedish/flowerish things on them.  I picked just a few sprigs, came home, plunked them in a vase and, if I may say so myself, perfection!

So that, my friends, is this year's autumnal decorating on a shoestring.  And I do kind of feel like I've got the world on a string when I have beautiful things around me.  And so much the better if my beautiful things were free!

And don't forget--VOTE.

Fall Decorating (and Molasses Cookies)

I like to do a little decorating around the house for fall.  When the kids were little, decorations were heavy on the Halloween.  But as they've grown older, I've gone to a more generic autumnal...thing.  I bought several antique amber glass fairy lamps to use for candles, and they look both warm and sparkly when the candles are lit. On the mantlepiece, surrounded by red-tailed hawk feathers we found, needle-felted wool acorns, and porcelain pumpkins, the fairy lamps are my little harbingers of autumn.  And while I love Christmas and its trappings, I must say I love the fact that my fall decorating is done in about 20 minutes (as opposed to Christmas decorating, which takes all day).

We do put up some Halloween decorations; it's just not the focus anymore.  My surprised Jack- o'-Lanterns make me smile, and I still put out other little bits and pieces that remind me of small children dressed like lions or pumpkins.  The holidays change as our families change, and sometimes that makes me a bit sad. But onward and upward!  Just as my fairy lamps are the harbinger of fall, change is the harbinger of life going on, and that's a good thing.

But some things do stay the same.  Cinnamon, cloves, and ginger are an integral part of autumn. Even though I'll make these cookies in, say, May, they are really quintessential autumn sweets.  Now as far as these molasses cookies go, this is a recipe that my mother got from Auntie Sally, the dear friend she met when my sister was in preschool, lo these 40-odd years ago (egad!).  The recipe states it's from 1966.  It's easy and reliable, and it only makes a few dozen, which is nice when you don't want to be baking for hours.  Use full-flavor molasses, not the light flavor or gentle flavor or however they put it. It's integral to the taste. And please do not get all uppity about the use of shortening--these are my very favorite molasses cookies. Oh, I go catting around, trying out other recipes, but my little 45-year-old recipe card sits and patiently waits for me, knowing I'll be back.  And I always am.

Molasses Cookies

3/4 cup shortening

1 cup sugar

1 egg

5 Tbl. dark molasses ( I only use Brer Rabbit full flavor, green label)

2 tsp. baking soda

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt.

Lightly grease a cookie sheet or use a Silpat instead. Mix all ingredients.  Roll into 1 inch balls, place on cookie sheet and press down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

Three Good Things

Today I was...what?  involved with? user of? three very good things.

First of all, I finished the book What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.  Imagine getting a do-over of all the snarky, testy things you've said to your spouse (and spouse has said to you), and getting to see with fresh eyes the situations that led up to those comments.  Alice falls down at the gym, hits her head, and gets amnesia.  She awakes, thinking it is 10 years previous.  Imagine her shock, finding out that she's thin and in terrific shape, finding out that she has three children, and finding out that she and her beloved husband are divorcing.  It's an interesting take on an old idea, and I really enjoyed it.  What Alice Forgot is a wistful look at the way lives unexpectedly turn out,  and it's even a bit funny in spots.  I recommend it.

Secondly, I wore my new shoes when I went out for coffee this morning.  For some reason, I had a yen to get some moccasins to wear this fall.  Beaded moccasins.  What's that saying, "The heart has reasons of which the mind knows nothing"?  Well, beaded moccasins may not be what whoever said that had in mind, but, well,  there you go.  So anyway, I went to Zappos way back in July and got my mocs.  They are by Minnetonka, called Thunderbird Suede Boat Sole, and they are sooo comfy!  Now, no, they are not the most glamorous footwear I own, but they are comfortable, cozy, and fall-y, which is just what I wanted.  And they have a Top-Sider-type sole, so you could actually wear them in adverse conditions.  Or when you go boating (what, in your birchbark canoe?).

Finally, furthering my sartorial autumnal agenda, I put on my corduroy pants from L.L. Bean for the first time today (can you tell the weather was much cooler than it has been in ages?).  Once again, back in July I decided I wanted corduroy (hey, did you know that comes from the French corde du roi, meaning cord for the king, which is to say that this corded fabric used to be only worn by royalty?  I'm telling you, the things you learn, hanging out with me--I'm like Cliff Clavin) pants for fall.  Sooo, since LL is my new favorite store, I got a pair there.  I love them!  They are called Saturday Pants, they are boot cut, and I got them in the curvy fit.  Comfy and well-fitting right out of the gate, and very little skwiff-skwiff noise (you know, the noise corduroy sometimes makes when you walk?).

So now you have a good book to read and some comfy (apparently the word of the day) clothes to wear.  Yay Fall!

It's Coming... (along with some pumpkin muffins)

Fall, that is.  You know, autumn.  Even though it is still, to put it delicately, stinking hot during the day, when I go outside first thing in the morning it is quite cool.  Verging on crisp even.  Even the leaves that face east are starting to turn, as you can see.  I don't know why this is, but I am sure there is some folkloric explanation for it of which I am unaware.  Here it is, September 1, and I feel so much better!  It is my reverse seasonal affective disorder--I get crabby and depressed when it's hot for too long, while most people get crabby and depressed when it's cold and gray for too long.  Not me!

Vacaville in autumn is lovely.  Look for more pictures in the weeks to come.   In recent years, cities (and even CalTrans--have you seen the trees at the Midway Rd. on-ramp to Highway 80 east in October, November--amazing!) have been more aware of their choices with regard to tree planting and fall color, thus making for gorgeous leafy shows.  Downtown Vacaville in November could rival an Eastern city, with regard to the trees' display.

So as I get ready for fall to officially arrive in a few weeks, I will make these pumpkin muffins, which are quick and easy.  Nothing says fall (or fall pending) like pumpkiny spices.  The muffins started out as a Katie Lee Joel recipe and morphed from there. May I say I wanted to hate her cookbook, The Comfort Table?  (Did she and Billy Joel really think they had a love connection?  And not that she was a young hottie looking to get a career boost, and that he was marrying her for reasons other than her scintillating conversation? I mean, please.  Although I must confess I did not actually hang out with them at any time, so perhaps I am mean and cynical and they were a match made in heaven.)  But ANYWAY, I really like Katie Lee's (as she is now known) cookbook, The Comfort Table!  It's good weeknight food.  Give it a whirl.  But here are the Vacaville Housewife Lee Joel (I don't want you to feel used, Billy--I'm keeping the Joel.  I'm here for you, Billy.) pumpkin muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins  makes 12


These muffins keep really well, staying fresh for a few days after you make them.  Also, the batter does seem to be mounded up very high in the muffin cups, but don't worry.  It is very dense and it keeps its shape, not overflowing everywhere.  But you could put the muffin tin on a cookie sheet if it makes you feel better.

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 can (15 oz.) pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line twelve muffin cups with paper liners.  In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients.  In a bigger bowl, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla.  Add the pumpkin puree and mix well.  Add the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  Scoop the batter into the lined muffin tins.  Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let muffins cool in tin for about 10 minutes, then remove to a rack.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  An easy breakfast, and so good with coffee!