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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Homemade Crackers - Red Pepper & Herb

We are making homemade crackers for our party, thought I would share how-to!  No one really thinks of making their own crackers but once you do, you'll never desire to buy crackers from the store.  There is just no better taste than fresh homemade crackers!

This will make several baking sheets of crackers.  How many will depend on how you cut them into squares; it's safe to say it will serve 10 or more people.

 Ingredients:

4 cups freshly ground wheat flour
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. dill
1 Tbsp. dried red pepper
1/2 Tbsp. thyme
2 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. sugar
4 Tbsp. olive oil
Enough Half n Half to make a soft dough, (maybe 2 1/2 cups for an idea)

Combine the first seven ingredients in a large mixer.  Be careful not to use fragile whips, something like cookie paddles for the Bosch mixer will work.  If you have a large food processor with a paddle, you can use that.  If you over-do mixing the cracker dough, your crackers are going to be tough and rubbery.  If you combine just until mixed, they will be crisp. 

Now add the olive oil and start adding half-n-half until a soft dough forms.  Just jog the mixer with each addition.  Stop and scrap the sides to combine if you can.  This will prevent over-doing the dough.  Let sit in the refrigerator overnight. 

This recipe can be broken into about 8 portions.  Take one portion and roll a thin 1/8" rectangle on a silicone mat.  Score into squares and bake at 375 degrees until brown.  You can cut off the outer squares and continue to bake if they bake uneven.  Serve with herb cream cheese!  Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Joyous Notions Finale Winners!

Thank you all so much for participating over the last 12 days!  It was such a blessing to read all the comments and to encourage you all!

Our tea cup winner is AKLONGS!  Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com with your address and we'll send out your gift!

Our Journal Winners are:
Deb
April B.
Mrs. Gary Phelps
Judith S.
Kim S.
Email us and we'll set you up to get the Joyous Home Journal!

Come back often to see what we are sharing next!  The Lord bless you all!

Theresa and Jessica

Monday, December 12, 2011

GIVEAWAY FINALE

Good morning dear friends!
The Joyous Home Journal winner for today is  PROVERBS 31 HEART!  Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com and we'll get you the Journal!

Today's post will just be a giveaway finale, no project post! In honor of a new product line PLUS a new surprise publication, ONE winner will receive this lovely tea cup in a beautiful box!  PLUS, Our Joyous Home Journal will be given to FIVE random winners!

To qualify for the tea cup giveaway, answer this question in your post:
What is the purpose of giving? 
To be sure we understand you are answering the question, start your comment with:
"The Purpose of giving is..."
The FIVE Joyous Home Journal winners will be picked randomly just by leaving a comment!  Only the posts that answer the question will be entered in today's teacup giveaway, all other comments will be entered in the Journal giveaway! 
 


It is possible that the tea cup winner could also be a Journal winner since that is picked at random!  

We've enjoyed sharing this past days.  I'm looking forward to reading today's comments!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

On the 10th Day of Christmas

Good morning!

The winner of yesterday's Joyous Home Journal is Carolyn!  Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com so we can get the Christmas Journal to you!

Note:  Monday is our last day of projects!  We will give away FIVE Journals, PLUS have a bonus giveaway for ONE other winner! 

We are doing some baking today!  Eggnog is in seasonal abundance right now and this cake is a wonderful treat for breakfast in the morning or even tea in the afternoon.  I don't care for drinking the store-bought eggnog, but I will bake with it.  Enjoy this very buttery tasting tea cake!

Eggnog Tea Cake
 With a mixer, cream together:
3/4 cup soft butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat for about 2 minutes, until very light and fluffy.  Like a pound cake, beating the cream mixture adds volume to the cake. Slowly mix in 2 cups eggnog.  Mix until blended.  Add:
2 Tbsp. baking powder
2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 cup unbleached natural white flour
3 1/2 cups freshly ground soft wheat flour
1 cup crushed walnuts

*If you prefer to skip the nuts, add an additional 1/2 cup soft wheat flour.  Blend until all of the flour is incorporated.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Divide the batter between two greased 8" x 5" loaf pans.  Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Top cakes with Butter Frosting!
Butter Frosting

In a bowl combine:
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. milk
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Whisk together until smooth.  Once the cake has been cooled, spoon the frosting over the cake and grate fresh nutmeg over the top.  Delicious!

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Joyous Home Journal Giveaway Details!

 For the remaining posts of this event, everyday we are going to be giving away the Christmas 2011 Joyous Home Journal!  On the last day we will have an extra gift to give along with the journal to one winner!

We are keeping the daily giveaway as simple as possible. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment to that day's blog post and say that you want to be entered in the giveaway - one comment equals one entry. You can earn one additional entry by posting about the daily 12 Days of Christmas blog post on your blog, Facebook (add us, Theresa Powers or Jessica Munday, as friends on Facebook for verification) or twitter. Each day we will draw a winner and announce the winner the following day before the next daily post!
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See you on Monday for our final post and giveaway!  You may comment to enter for today's Journal giveaway today through Monday.  We will announce the winner of today's Journal on Monday when our final post is up.
 
Have a blessed weekend ~ Theresa and Jessica

Friday, December 9, 2011

On The 9th Day of Christmas...

Good morning everyone!   

As always, before we give you the post for the day, the winner of yesterday's Joyous Home Journal is ~ Krista!  Congratulations! 


Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com so we can get the Christmas Journal to you!

Fleecy Tea Time Ornaments 
 I love making ornaments out of fleece... they have such a fuzzy, homey look to them.  Not to mention how simple they are to make and they always come out so pretty!  This is a good ornament for your girls who are beginners with embroidery.  You can embellish the ornaments with very basic embroidery stitches or just cut out the shapes and then blanket stitch two layers together all around the edges.
 
I chose to do a very simple Poinsettia flower design with Lazy Daisies and Colonial Knots.  I'm not sure how close I came to a Poinsettia flower, but you can call them Christmas Flowers if you like!  

First, you need a shape for the teapot template.  You can use a variety of things for this.  If you are artistic, you can draw one, but other options include:  Tracing a tea pot shape from a book, a free one from the internet, a free coloring page on the internet, and cookie cutters are wonderful for ornament shapes!  
Let's start with cutting out the fabric.  You do not need a lot of fleece for these!  You need two layers for each ornament.

1.  Trace your template design on plain white copy paper and cut out.  Pin the template on to your fleece (another wonderful thing about fleece is it looks the same on both sides!) and cut it out with a small, sharp pair of scissors.  I have found that our embroidery scissors are wonderful for cutting these out! 



To cut out both layers so they are identical, lay the first fleece cut out on top of another layer of  fleece,  pin and then cut it out. 

Ready for embroidery!  
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You only need to embroider one side of the ornament, but there is no rule saying that you can't do both sides if you like.  I used a size 5 embroidery needle and DMC embroidery floss.  Thread your needle with two strands of the thread and knot the end. 


As I said before, I used a basic Lazy Daisy stitch and the Colonial Knot.  Let's start with the Colonial Knot!  
This is the best knot you could ever learn how to do.  The first time I did this knot was the last time I ever even thought about using a French Knot.  French Knots can be difficult to get right and are quick to come undone; this is very simple and comes out just about perfect every time!  Practice on scrap fabric though before you begin on your ornament if you need to.
 1.  Come up from the back of the fabric to the front.  Wrap the thread around the needle as shown:  From the left over the needle to the right and then underneath the needle back to the left again.  


2.  Now from the left again, wrap the thread over the needle to the right and hold it there.  


3.  Insert the needle close to where you came up and begin pulling the thread snug to the needle.


4.  Keep pulling until snug to the needle, but not so tight you can't pull the needle through.


5.  Pull the needle all the way through and watch the loop close down snugly to form your knot!


Finished!


I covered the whole top of my ornament with knots, but you can do as many or as few as you like!


Now on to the flowers with the Lazy Daisy!  This is usually one of the first embroidery stitches you will learn if you are a beginner and I'm sure a lot of you already know how to do this one.  
1.  Come up from the back of the fleece to the front.  Insert the needle again close to where you came up and run the needle under the fabric and bring back up a short distance from where you inserted it (however long you want the stitch, or in this case, petal to be).  Loop the thread around the needle as shown.


Pull through until a loop is formed, but don't pull too tight.  Insert the needle at the front of the loop and pull through. 

Bring the needle back up near the center of the flower and repeat the steps to from another petal.


Stitch five petals and finish the flower with 3-4 Colonial Knots in the center.


Stitch three flowers, or more if you like!  

With green thread, come up close to each flower and use the Lazy Daisy stitch to add leaves all around the flowers.

Tie off all of the your threads neatly in the back.  Now, put the two fleece layers together.  You are ready to Blanket stitch them together!


1.  Thread and knot the needle the as you did before.  Bring the needle up at the edge between the two layers (this will hide the knot).
 

2.  Insert the needle to the right of where you brought it up as about 1/4" away from the edge and the thread looped around the needle as shown.


3.  Pull through until snug but not too tight.


Insert the needle again to the right of the previous stitch and repeat all the way around the ornament.


 When you run out of thread, just take the needle down between the layers, but not all the way through.  This will keep your knots hidden and not hanging out on the back.  Start again the same way you first began.  Go all the way around and don't forget to stitch the inside of the handle.   


To thread the top of the ornament with ribbon, you need a size 18 or 20 Chenille needle.  Thread the needle with a few inches of silk ribbon (or a sheer Organza) ribbon and run it through the top of the ornament and pull through.  Tie the ribbon into a bow, and hang on your tree!  Quite lovely...


Have a blessed Friday! 
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Joyous Home Journal Giveaway Details!


 For the remaining posts of this event, everyday we are going to be giving away the Christmas 2011 Joyous Home Journal!  On the last day we will have an extra gift to give along with the journal!

We are keeping the daily giveaway as simple as possible. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment to that day's blog post and say that you want to be entered in the giveaway - one comment equals one entry. You can earn one additional entry by posting about the daily 12 Days of Christmas blog post on your blog, Facebook (add us, Theresa Powers or Jessica Munday, as friends on Facebook for verification) or twitter. Each day we will draw a winner and announce the winner the following day before the next daily post!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

On the 7th Day of Christmas...

I'm just loving the surprise of the next winner everyday.   The winner of yesterday's Christmas Joyous Home Journal is ~ Mrs P!  
Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com so we can get the Christmas Journal to you!

Here is an easy task for you, no sewing machine required!  You'll need some cute recipe cards (made by us!) for all the new recipes you are gathering around the web.  Just click and download, enjoy!  Make sure you have the latest adobe reader.

These cards are 6" x 4".  Print on sturdy paper (maybe canvas paper - use a light color), cut around the dotted line.  Make a Christmas recipe book from a photo album you can buy at the store. I found a nice red one that holds two 6x4's. Insert your cards between the plastic.  That way you have a whole spill proof  book dedicated to Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes!

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Giveaway Details!

 For the remaining posts of this event, everyday we are going to be giving away the Christmas Joyous Home Journal! On the last day we will have an extra gift to give along with the journal!


and the Daily Deal on Joyous Home is...

On sale for $5.00  - Regular price $10.00
Remember Seasons at Home Magazine is a PRINT magazine!
Learn a few summer ideas during the cold months!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

On The 6th Day of Christmas...

Good morning Everyone!  Before we start... the winner for yesterday's Christmas Joyous Home Journal is ~ Christine!  
Email us at ripe4harvest@msn.com so we can get the Christmas Journal to you!

Today, we have a little treat for you to make while you make your ornaments!

Glazed Gingerbread Nuts


You need 5 cups of mixed nuts, salted or unsalted.  You don't have to use mixed nuts- you can use just pecans, walnuts or almonds.  

Bring 2 large eggs to room temperature.  In a large bowl whisk the egg whites together until very frothy.  Add:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt (only if you are using unsalted nuts)  


Mix together until all of the sugar and spices are well blended.  Add the nuts and stir to coat.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Spread the coated nuts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or foil.  If you use foil, spray it lightly with cooking spray. 
Bake for 30-45 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent the nuts from burning.  The nuts are done when they are toasty brown and crunchy!  Cool completely and serve in a candy dish.

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Giveaway Details!

 For the remaining posts of this event, everyday we are going to be giving away the Christmas Joyous Home Journal!


and the Daily Deal on Joyous Home is...

On sale for $3.50  - Regular price $7.00
We do love this issue... Wonderful Christmas projects!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

Good morning everyone!  Before today's post, the winner of the Embroidery Pattern is Shannon! Send us an email at ripe4harvest@msn.com with your address!  Congratulations!

And for the 5th Day of Christmas, we are sewing...






Rag Mitten Ornament

Homespun or Flannel - Scraps will work, you'll need a front and back fabric
Template Shape - Trace a small mitten or draw one
Perle Cotton #5 plus Chenille #20 needle
Buttons, Bells, Rick Rack or other notions
12" Silk Embroidery Ribbon (4mm) or ribbon small enough for the needle




1.  Cut our your shape on both fabrics, make sure it's 2-4 layers thick for each one.


2.  Cut out the bottom part of the mitten (if that is what you chose for a shape).


3.  Arrange the shapes so you have a one the front and back fabric showing.  Pin together.  Pin the bottom part fabric, pinning opposite colors to each side.  

4.  Using a 1/4" - 1/2" seam, sew around the shape, take your time!


5.  Sew a line across the mitten bottom, about 1" down from the top of the shape.


6.  Snip the top of the bottom mitten shape on both sides. Also snip the ends of the shape, don't snip through the sewing line!  Snip in 1/4" increments.


7.  Thread your needle with the Perle cotton, knot the end. Start at the middle line you sewed for the bottom of the mitten.  Come up through the middle of the snipped fabric to plant your knot. Trim the end close to the knot.


8.  Insert the needle at the line, bringing it through the back and wrap the thread around the needle.



9.  Pull through the slit of the snip, but not too tight.  Using your needle, separate the snips so there are a few on each side of the loop.  This makes a pretty looped effect all the way around the ornament.  When you get to the top the mitten bottom, tie off (take a small stitch, pull until you have a small loop and insert the needle through the loop, pull - make sure it knots!)  Switch thread colors and finish around the bottom.



10.   Fluff the ornament by shaking all the excess thread out and frilling the ends with your fingers. Run a quick gathering stitch across the bottom of the mitten sewing line, pull a little snug and tie off.  This gathers it just slightly.


11.  Thread the needle with the ribbon.  Pull the ribbon through the middle of the snips at the top, bringing it out about 5".  Remove the needle and thread the other end bringing it through the same way, but leave a loop at the top.  Tie a bow. 



12.  Add a piece of the Rick-Rack below the ragged mitten bottom.  Sew a zig-zag stitch to close the ends near the mitten.
Back...

13.   Add bells to one rick-rack end.  Thread and knot a needle, pull through one end of the rick-rack.  Add the bell to the needle, continue with a few bells.  Tie off.  Then put a few stitches to stitch both pieces together.  Sew on a button in the middle.  The one stitch will show on the back but it doesn't matter really, the ornament is very pretty!

 Done!


We are keeping the daily giveaway as simple as possible. To enter the giveaway, just leave a comment to that day's blog post and say that you want to be entered in the giveaway - one comment equals one entry. You can earn one additional entry by posting about the daily 12 Days of Christmas blog post on your blog, Facebook (add us, Theresa Powers or Jessica Munday, as friends on Facebook for verification) or twitter. Each day we will draw a winner and announce the winner the following day before the next daily post!

Today's giveaway is again going to be the 
Joyous Home Journal Christmas edition!


and the Daily Deal on Joyous Home is...

Farm House Rag Quilting Lessons
On sale for $12.50  - Regular price $25.00 
Complete Quilting Lessons for a finished Farm Rag Quilt - Color Photo Tutorials - Step by Step Photo - Download Now!

 Looks wonderful on a wall or big table!



Have a wonderful day everyone!

~Theresa and Jessica
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