Carnival #85 - Fall Colors

It is a colorful carnival this week, full of crafts and wonderful fall recipes. Be sure to check them all out at Stop the Ride, but I will share a few of my favorites with you here. 

Pumpkin Recipes!

I love new pumpkin recipes, especially those that go beyond pie. The curry soup sounds wonderful!

Lucky 13 en Nueva York

I love the healthy and frugal combination that beans provide. I always am looking for new ways to cook them. This recipe with cilantro and garlic looks like a winner to me!

How To Bake An Elegant Persimmon Pudding

I'm going to harvest persimmons for the first time this year. I need some recipes! 

Enjoy the carnival!

Decorative Pumpkins

Bet you can't guess what the top secret stuffing is that fills these adorable pumpkins. Give up? Its toilet paper! That's right, there's a roll of toilet paper inside each of these. So simple to make, cute as a button and perfect for households with energetic children, these pumpkins will be a favorite in your home every fall!

Materials needed:

1 Roll of toilet paper (use the cheap stuff)

Fall print or solid fabric (quilting quarters-sometimes called "fat quarters" work very well and they are pre-cut!)

Quilt batting or poly-fill stuffing

Paper grocery bag

Jute Twine

Fake floral greenery

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Tape

Step 1: Cut the grocery bag down each narrow side to open the bag up to one big sheet. Cut out a strip the length of the bag about 10 inches wide. Fold over about 3 inches down the length to give you a piece the length of the bag that's about 7 inches wide. Roll the strip into a 7 inch long stem and tape it to hold in place. Using your hot glue gun, begin wrapping the stem with twine, gluing it in place as you go.

Step 2: Cut a piece or two of greenery and, with hot glue, attach to the wrapped stem about 3 inches down from the top. Make sure the leaf end of the greenery is pointing toward the top of your stem. Set aside.

Step 3: Cut a piece of fabric to about 20X20 inches (or use your fat quarter) and lay it on the table with the printed side down. Stand your roll of toilet paper up in the center of the fabric.

Step 4: Add stuffing or batting around the roll until you reach the desired thickness (the two pictured above are stuffed to different thicknesses).

Step 5: Hold roll in place with one hand and begin pulling the fabric edges up and stuffing them inside the top of the roll with the other hand.

Step 6: Working quickly, apply hot glue to the stem below the greenery and push the stem into the top of the toilet paper roll (with the fabric still stuffed inside the hole). Hold in place until glue dries.

This is a great project for kids to help with, but be sure an adult does the hot gluing.

Homemade Stuffing

The Thanksgiving table simply is not complete with out a dish of steaming hot stuffing. Maybe you grew up on the stuff from the box that you make on the top of the stove, and it is fine for a camping trip, or a quick dinner. But for Thanksgiving? Call me a Thansgiving snob, but I want my stuffing made from scratch.

Stuffing (or perhaps you call it dressing) at its most basic level is simply moistened bread and spices mixed together and baked. Making a basic stuffing is good, but what makes a stuffing great is the little bits of meat or vegetables that you add in. Add in finely chopped onion, celery, carrot, or even apple. Add meat in the form of chopped giblets, oysters or shredded pieces of chicken or turkey. It is one of those dishes that you never quite make the same each time, but is always delicious. 

Amish Stuffing

First make your own broth - Use the the liver, gizzard, neck, and any other parts included with your turkey. Fill a medium pot with water, add the turkey parts, and boil for 15- 20 minutes until the meats are cooked through. Strain the broth. Cut the organ meat into small pieces. (This is optional, but it does add a lot of flavor to the stuffing.) You can get some meat from the neck, but we normally discard the neck. If you do not have giblets to use, use canned broth.

8 C dry bread cubes - I'm not sure why, but I always buy these (unseaseoned.) They could very easily be made from your own bread or from saved heels or stale bread. 

1/2 each grated carrots, finely chopped onion, and finely chopped celery
small tub of fresh oysters with their liquor, chop if the oysters are large 
1 TB poultry seasoning. You can use the premixed or mix your own using thyme, sage and even a bit of ginger is good.
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl, except for the broth. Add broth about a cup at time until the bread mixture is throughly soaked. Don't add too much liquid, just enough that the bread is saturated. Water or milk can be used if you need a bit more liquid. Extra broth can be used to make gravy.

Personally, I don't stuff the bird. I think the turkey stays more moist and has a better flavor if you fill the cavities with celery and onions. You can use the dressing to stuff the bird if you prefer. 

To cook the stuffing, grease a 9x13 pan. Put the stuffing mixture in the pan and bake at 350F until done to your liking, about 45 minutes to an hour.

It is hard to go wrong with homemade stuffing. It is easy to make, inexpensive and delicious. Give it a try!

A Made from Scratch Thanksgiving

cranberry sauce

Make Your Own Ball and Cup Game

Old Fashioned games and toys never go out of style. The best toys are those that can stand the test of time and these ball and cup games are one of our favorites. Pre-made wood pieces from the craft store make them fast and easy to make by the handful. These are a wonderful holiday gift!

Materials:

Pre-made wood cups (I used mini flower pots)

Wooden dowel rods

Wooden Ball Knobs that will fit inside the cups

Soft Polyester cord or string

Paint and spray sealer

Side cutters or hand saw

Paint brushes

Pencil sharpener

Wood glue

Staple gun

NOTE: When shopping for your wood pieces, look for cups with a hole in the bottom. If you can't find them, you will have to drill your own holes in the bottom. In either case, your dowel rod will need to fit tightly inside of the hole. Check your drill bit sizes or the cup's hole size to determine the size of dowel rod you will need.

Step 1: Cut the dowel rod to the desired size with side cutters or a small hand saw. Coat one end of the dowel rod with wood glue and insert it into the hole in the bottom of the cup. Let dry. Shape the other end of the dowel with a pencil sharpener. Do not sharpen to a point.

Step 2: Paint the ball knob and let dry. I usually go with 2 coats of paint. A great way to let it dry is to stick a toothpick into layers of a foam (break a foam plate in 3 pieces and layer them), then place the ball knob on top of the toothpick.

Step 3: Paint the cup/handle and let dry. Spray cup/handle and ball knob with sealer and let dry 24 hours.

Step 4: Cut a 8-12 inch long piece of cord. Push one end of the cord into the hole of the ball knob with a toothpick and fill the hole with wood glue. Let dry.

Step 5: Fold over about 1/2 inch of the loose end of the cord and using a staple gun, staple the folded end of the cord to the bottom of the cup. Folding the cord will give it more stability. You can also glue this end down after stapling.

Carnival #84

Apologies for the tardiness of the carnival this week. Here is an impromptu version of the carnival. Thanks for your patience.

cooking

Kelly from Almost Frugal presents Endive Gorgonzola Soup posted at Almost Frugal Food.

NerdMom presents Spinach and Sausage Egg Casserole posted at Nerd Family Food.

ChristineMM presents My Italian Tomato Salad Recipe posted at The Thinking Mother.

Kate @ A Simple Walk presents Menu Plan Monday - Week of 9/29 posted at A Simple Walk.

:: Suzanne :: presents Zucchini Loaves posted at :: adventures in daily living ::.

Abi presents lighter side - Green-Tomato Chutney posted at lighter side, saying, "Try this on your brats or hotdogs. OH so yummy!!"

NtJS presents Picked a Peck of Peppers posted at not the jet set, saying, "A little prep work today, enables our cooking tomorrow to be pepperlicious."

Rebecca Galla presents Broccoli Cheddar Soup posted at Nourishment for the Way, saying, "We've ordered Broccoli Cheddar Soup at Panera Bread so many times. This is my attempt to re-create it at home!"

axel presents The Healthy Salad posted at axel g.

Tomato Lady presents Homemade Pita Bread posted at Little House in the Suburbs, saying, "Thanks!"

Erica Burgan presents Homemade Sloppy Joes posted at The Sojourner.

SeaBirdChronicles presents Pumpkin bread in muffin form posted at SeaBird Chronicles, saying, "Pumpkin bread in muffin form!"

Kris presents Veggie Might: Low-Down Curried Root Soup posted at Cheap Healthy Good, saying, "Thanks for hosting!"

Sharee presents The secret of fabulous turkey gravy posted at A bit of flour.

Becca presents Pumpkin Butter posted at BrightHaven Times.

crafts

Stephanie presents Make Personalized Glasses posted at Stop the Ride!.

Heather presents Homemade Bookmarks posted at Make It From Scratch.

Annette Berlin presents Changing The Engine posted at Craft Salad, saying, "My husband took photos of many of his automobile repair projects. After a lot of thought, I decided to make a scrapbook page documenting one of the bigger projects."

other

Jocelyn @ A Pondering Heart presents Modest Make-Up? posted at A Pondering Heart.

Mary@SimplyForties presents Going Scratch posted at SimplyForties, saying, "I'm examining my life to see how I can "Go Scratch"."

vh presents Baby oil as cabinet cleaner posted at Funny about Money.

That concludes this edition. The next edition will be hosted at Stop the Ride! Submit your blog article to the next edition of make it from scratch! using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. Hosts are need for November and December. Please email me makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com

Calling for Hosts!

The carnival hosting schedule is looking a bit sparse! Would you be interested in hosting? Check the simple guidelines here. Hosting the carnival is fun and easy. Plus, you get first look at all the wonderfully creative submissions. It also brings a lot of traffic and link love to your way. Please email me at makeitfromscratch at yahoo.com to sign up!

And don't worry, I know it is Saturday, and you are expecting a fun and easy craft post from Heather. She is trying, but a little glitch, like the electricity being out, is making it quite difficult for her to get her post up. She will share her craftiness with us as soon as she can!

Homemade Cranberry Sauce

I love cranberries. I like them dried. I like them in breads. I like cranberry juice, but that blob that pops out of the can and passes for cranberry sauce on the Thanksgiving table, I can do with out. I know some of you love that pre-made cranberry sauce in a can, but I challenge you to try making your own once. It is incredibly easy, and the flavor far exceeds the canned version.




This can be made several weeks ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Try a batch before Thanksgiving and see what you think. If you like it, you'll have one thing to mark off your list. If you don't like it, you can always go buy a can of sauce.