My Donut

There is a very simple reason for this post: I could not resist sharing these two cute photos of my Vincent Donut! I mean really, could he be any cuter? My shadow boy who follows me from room to room, waits for me to go to bed, waits for me to get out of bed...my 70 pound protector. Just had to share...

my favorite holiday

Thanksgiving is far and away my favorite holiday. I love everything about it - the food, the time with family, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I Love It! I think it's the tradition I love. Tradition is the opposite of change and ask anyone who knows me: I. Do. Not. Like. Change. When I was like four years old my grandmother bought a new couch. I was devastated. I laid on her bed and cried as I watched the movers carry the old couch out of the house. My great grandmother came in and gave me all of the change they had found in the cushions of the old couch. It is a very vivid memory for me. And not much has changed. I could tell you about the time I laid across the hood of my old car in the car lot and bawled my eyes out...but I won't.

So anyway, I think that's why I like the holidays so much, it's all about tradition. I'm in charge of pies for our dinner. I have a ritual. I get up, turn on my little kitchen tv (it's shaped like and apple and CUTE!) to watch the parade while I make the crusts. Typically I make five pies. Two pumpkin, two pecan, and one apple of some sort. This year the apple is gonna be honey, rosemary apple! The pie pictured was my test run. I had to make sure it was gonna be okay, you never know when adding something savory to something sweet.
Into the baking of the test run pie I decided candied rosemary on top of the pie might be nice...and it was sooooo good! I need to work on the candy-ing process, but it will be good by turkey day! I kind of made up the recipe, but it turned out so I thought I would share:

Honey Rosemary Apple Pie

1 double crust pie crust - I highly recommend making your own! It's not hard!!!!

5-6 large granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
1/4 - 1/2 cup honey depending on how sweet you like your apple pies
3 tablespoons of flour
1-2 teaspoons of rosemary, whole or chopped (I left mine whole because I wanted the more rustic look)
two tablespoons of butter (NOT MARGARINE!)

preheat oven to 375

Add everything to a large bowl and toss until the apples are evenly coated with flour and honey. Pour into the bottom crust. Dot the top of the apples with the butter. I just pull it into bits with my fingers. Put top crust on. I did a lattice crust but you can do a regular crust and just poke vent holes with a fork. You can crack open and egg at this point, whisk it together and brush the egg over the top of your pie to give it that lovely golden color - I add sugar crystals at this point too (makes it sparkle!). Wrap edges of crust with foil for the first half of baking so it doesn't burn. Put the pie in the bottom third of the oven (this helps the bottom crust to back and not be mushy). bake for 25 minutes. Take the foil off and bake another 25 minutes. Take your pie out and put it on a cooling rack...setting your pie right on the counter can cause the bottom crust to get soggy.

All done!

The Girlie Show + 2 earthquakes = a great weekend!

I just came home from a super fun show in Oklahoma City - The Girlie Show. I gotta be honest, I am pretty lazy when it comes to doing shows. I don't love doing outdoor shows, I don't love traveling to shows, I'm picky. I probably miss some amazing opportunities because of my snobbery, but for some reason I loved the idea of this show. I wrangled my mom into going with me, talked my friends Kari and CeRee of Fat Cat Studio into riding together, and off we went. And it was a blast! Yes it was a six hour drive, yes,there were two earthquakes, and yes, we were jammed into a suburban with a s*%t-ton of stuff...but I'll get to that in a minute.
My poor mother had to witness my mini melt down during load-in. In fact I think her exact words to my husband were "I have a whole new respect for you." But it was all worth it - my booth looked amazing if I do say so myself! I was thrilled! Tom and I made a HUGE sign for my booth, big hot pink stripes with my logo over the top - love it!!
The show was a two day show, but unlike most that are Saturday and Sunday, this one was Friday night and Saturday. Friday evening was rockin'! The show was all female vendors and the entertainment was all female - Friday evening was girlie DJ's. Super cool - although I felt O.L.D. because it was L.O.U.D. But it was fun and very, very busy. Saturday was more low key but just as busy. It was great fun. I will definitely apply again next year. And the other vendors there were waaaaaay too tempting! This one was my favorite...
Wise-Abe. Their work was awesome, their business philosophy was uber cool, and their booth display made me crazy jealous! It was so cool. They used coffee filters and strips of craft paper and masking tape to decorate their booth it sounds odd but it was awesome!
I also scored these AMAZING earrings from Fat Cat Studio. They make insanely cool jewelry from vintage tins. I'm a little obsessed - I think I have seven pairs of their earrings and four or five necklaces. It's an official addiction.
To round out the wonderfully successful trip we stopped at this cool little highway side antique store somewhere south of Dallas...Hillsboro maybe? Anyway, I found this vintage whisk...it has a wooden handle and the wire part is enormous, it would have made some serious meringue! It was six bucks and I had this idea that it would make a cool light fixture. Well, while at the Girlie Show we took turns running over to this little antique shop next door...my mom and I both bought these cool green enamel lamp shades that apparently came out of the old Farmer's Market building where the Girlie Show was being held. Pretty cool. I brought the two pieces home with the thought that one day they might become two cool lights...well my brilliant husband took one look at them and stuck the shade over the whisk and Voila!, awesome pendant light! I bought all the light parts a couple of days later and within a few hours my kitchen was outfitted with a new pendant that I am in love with!

Start to finish it was a wonderful adventure! We even survived TWO earthquakes while we were there!! One Friday night (I thought my mom had crawled out of her bed and was shaking my bed). And the second on Saturday night was actually the largest earthquake in Oklahoma history! Crazy! It felt like an amusement park ride, totally bizarre. My mom and I just sat there starring at each other. i think I said "I don't know what to do" three or four times. Gotta say, I was happy to be back in Texas - land of still earth. All in all the whole thing was chock full of fun with friends and a work experience I am anxious to repeat! Hopefully this is the beginning of the perfect holiday season.