MONDAY MAGAZINE ON A TUESDAY

 Hello, friends!  Sorry I didn't get to post yesterday.  I was just too tired.  I get those days where I just can't do anything.  I have to get over it because tomorrow is a super busy day.  

Please come back tomorrow.  Some of you have asked about my 4th great-grandmother's pumpkin pie recipe.  I plan on making it and taking photos along the way so I can show it to you.  My great-grandmother's great-grandmother made it in a fireplace in the town of Manayunk (now a neighborhood of Philly) back in the late 1700s.  Where did she get it from?  We don't know.  Did she make it up?  Did she get it from her mother?  Did she find it in a cookbook?  I did some research and pumpkin pie as we know it began to be made around 1796.  Before that it was  cut into slices like apples and flavored with spices that we would not use today.  A great website is found here.  In any case, it is an old recipe that was never written down until about 1968 when my sister sat down with my great-grandmother, asked her how to make certain things, and wrote it out.  I am so glad or some dishes would be lost forever.

But today I am going to show you another magazine.  This is an HGTV from October 2018.

This was a good issue with many interesting articles in it.  I will show you just a few. 

Of course, we always begin with the front door.

Would you like an orange door?  It's a little too bright for me.  I don't like the house numbers either.  But I do like the plant, the chair and the pillow.

I always enjoy looking at the High/Low List too.  It amazes me the people would pay the prices listed for some things.  For example, would you pay over $1,000 for a mirror?  Or an end table?

How about $280 for a pillow?  Sorry, but I'll take the similar one for $30.

And it would have to be a very special coffee cup for me to spend $100.

This article on mixing old and new items was interesting.  You really can make the two go together.

Each picture was labeled which items were old and which new.

This dining room was nice.

This guest bedroom looked so comfortable.

And so did the master bedroom.

Another part of HGTV magazine that I like is "Copy the Curb Appeal."  I like seeing all the houses.

And then there was the Laundry Room.  *sigh*  Someday I will have a laundry room and not just the washer and dryer in a corner of the basement.  These are all so pretty.

Lastly there was a recipe for Egg and Tater bake.  It looks good and I would definitely eat it, but I looked at the recipe and realized I would never make it.  So I did not save it.

So that is it for this week's magazine.  Now I can pass it on.  I've already read 1 1/2 more magazines that I will show you in the coming weeks.

I hope you all have a good evening.  Rest up for the marathon cooking in the next two days.  Before you know it, it will be time for Blogmas.  I'm trying to figure out what I want to show you this year.  Not as much of a variety as we are locked down tight until January 1.  But I'm sure I will find something.

Until later...

Kathy

GROCERY HAUL

 Hello, friends!  Welcome to Sunday and I hope this day is wonderful for you.  We all need a wonderful day, don't we?  We have been having such beautiful weather.  Warm for this time of year.  I am not complaining a bit.  The weather forecaster here said it was good news because people could get outside and social distance which would help to not spread the virus.

Also good news about the vaccine being so close to being available to the public.  I hope this means we can be back to normal by next summer.  At least I see an end in sight.

Joe gave me an early birthday present today.  He bought me a new tablet.  It has a learning curve, of course, and I have to put my apps back on it, but it's wonderful.  He's such a great hubby.

It is my turn to bring the treat for church today.  This is the last week we will be doing this until the lockdown is over.  Instead of me baking, we went to our favorite bakery.  We bought some cookies, but they gave the church two cakes.  They always do that for us.  We go when they are about to close and they want to get rid of the leftovers.  Besides which they love giving to the church.  Such nice people.  I have known the owners since the 1970s.

We also went to Shoprite and picked up our groceries.  Yes, I would rather do my own shopping and pick out my own things, but for right now at least this is the way to do it.  I make a grocery list, enter it onto their website, they do the shopping for me, and I pick it up.  There is only a $5 charge for them doing this.  Usually one person can go inside and pay for it, but yesterday everyone had to stay outside and they brought everything to us.

I haven't done a grocery haul in a while.  Frankly, it is so much easier to just put everything away instead of emptying a bag, taking a picture, putting it away and then on to the next bag.  But a few of you have mentioned the grocery haul in your comments over the past couple of weeks, so I thought I would do one for you.  Here's what we got this week.

Of course the most important person in our household is Jack.  At least in his eyes.  We got him some more canned food with a special one of turkey and carrots for Thanksgiving.  He has to have turkey too.  We also got a bag of dry food for the cats outside.

We have an automatic air freshener in the bathroom.  Every time we replace the cartridge, I buy another one so there is always one ready to go.  This time I got Fresh Waters.  Right now there is a citrus one in it.  (Joe's favorite)  We needed trash bags and were almost out of dishwasher tabs.

We go through the frozen fries like crazy.  I like to make them for breakfast with onions and an egg cracked over everything.  Joe asked for ice cream sandwiches.  And they are all his since I don't like them.

It's that time of year and Joe is on his eggnog kick again.  He will drink it from now until it is no longer available.  I needed some more lactose free milk.  And we were out of shredded cheddar cheese.  Now I can make some mac and cheese one night this week.

Joe loves milk.  He drinks it a lot.  We were out of it.

I made sure I had turkey gravy for Thursday.  I asked for tomato sauce last time and they didn't have the brand I wanted and offered a substitute. I said no.  Again this week they didn't have my brand but I really needed it so I said OK.  The shopper must have pulled the crushed tomatoes with basil by mistake and gave it to me.  But this was a happy accident because I am going to use it on spaghetti tomorrow.

I love the produce this time of year.  I got potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes and an acorn squash.

Oops, here's that acorn squash again.  Really, I got only one.  Hard to see but there is a head of Boston lettuce, Brussels sprouts, baby carrots and mushrooms.

Pie crust, pie crust and pie crust.  Neither Joe nor I can make decent pie crust so I buy this.  Pumpkin pies being made this week.  Also, I had a coupon for the Johnsonville sausage.  I love the brown sugar and honey ones.

And finally evaporated milk and vanilla for baking and Stove Top stuffing for Thanksgiving.  I think we are all set for the big day.

This year Joe and I are staying home for Thankgiving.  I rarely (as in only one time that I can remember in our marriage) cook Thanksgiving dinner and I am excited and looking forward to doing it.  I am going to be taking you along with me this week as I get everything ready.  It should be fun.

I told Joe we need to get the fridge emptied out as much as possible and cleaned before the big day.  We have two drawers and three shelves in our fridge so we are doing one a day.  We got the first drawer done yesterday and are doing the second drawer today.  I so hate cleaning the fridge but it's not so bad when I have someone helping me.

I am going to leave you with another of Pastor Ralph's messages.  I hope you enjoy it.

And with that, I am going to get going and get myself ready for church.  I'm so glad that it is still OK to attend.  Until tomorrow...

Kathy

ANOTHER MAGAZINE

 Hello, friends!  I hope you are having a better day than I am.  I had taken my tablet upstairs last night to watch some YouTube videos in bed.  As I was coming downstairs this morning, it slipped out of my hand and now the screen is cracked and I can't use it.  *sigh*  First my kindle screen cracked and I can't use it and now my tablet.

Well, besides not having a tablet anymore, I am feeling better healthwise.  I didn't have to take any pain killers yesterday.  I have enough antibiotics for the rest of the week but I am more than halfway through.  And I was even able to chew yesterday.  It was a little rough, but so much better.

I have finished another three magazines so I thought that this week and next I would show you two and get caught up that way.  Otherwise I will be showing you Christmas decorations at Valentine's Day.

Today we are looking at a Better Homes and Gardens from October 2011.

Gourds and pumpkins were used to make a centerpiece on a table in the entryway.  This is so pretty.

This family eats their autumn meals outside.  This would be a great idea with the COVID going around this year.  They do live in California so it is warm enough to do this.  We would freeze here if we tried to eat Thanksgiving outdoors.

There was an entire section on the color red.  Who knew there were so many shades of red?  It goes from red with some yellow mixed in to red with some blue.  And even black.

Like HGTV magazine, they showed some front doors.  Which one is your favorite?

Fall gardens are beautiful.  Fall flowers are so vibrant.  And there are also grasses and vegetables you can use for arrangements.

And then there was an article on decorating the table using pitberries, pumpkins, gourds, and leaves.  To me, autumn tables are always so pretty.

And finally there was the recipe section.  Pork chops with apples and baby spinach was my favorite out of this group.  I think this will be on my menu this week.

Hope you enjoyed browsing through this issue with me.  Now it's back to cleaning the living room.  I am decorating as I go and I can't wait to show you the finished room later this month.

Have a good day!

Kathy