In hindsight

It's just as well that my satellite Internet was misbehaving last week, since I spent a good portion of it freaking out about a brunch I hosted on Sunday. I generally don't have more than 4 people over at a time. But Mom wanted to have people over before it started snowing and our hermity neighbors dug in for the winter. So what started as a weekend brunch for 6 morphed into a party of 20. Yes 20; in an 1500 square foot house.  You see my problem.  I've watched too much Martha Stewart over the years to just make things really casual and simple.  To have more seating the dinning table moved into the living room to have room for it's full expansion and the couch was shifted into the kitchen. Which worked out very well.  A couch in the kitchen is less strange than it sounds. While waiting for a batch of cinnamon bread to bake one can recline without leaving the kitchen. Nice.

I drove myself crazy for about 3 days and then got down to dusting the entire house and washing windows.  I made too much food; half the guests didn't show up so the seating was much more roomy than anticipated. Everyone had a fun and the goats put a show while people were heading back to their cars.  

Now that all the party dishes are done and everything is put back I can enjoy having a spotless house. I really should have more parties, if only to force myself to dust. 

FO: Pirate Coat

Thing 1's pirate coat is done! It tried to melt my brain at several points but it's done and on it way south for Halloween. 

Since he's been obsessed with Jack Sparrow for years (the boy has a pirate ship/fort in the backyard) Thing 1 already has most of the other accessories. Hopefully light weight garments since this coat is heavy naugahyde and weighed a ton before I put the brass buttons on. The side and back pleats for maximum twirling added a lot of extra fabric. A nine year old boy probably wouldn't like to be thought of as a twirler. Maybe I should say the jacket has extra fullness at the hips for more dramatic billowing during sword fights. 

In my Kitchen : Pear Cake

Feels like falls this week. Temperatures are dropping, leaves are dropping,  daylight hours are really dropping. Mornings are really dark all of a sudden. The trees are all turning lovely colors and it's apple and pear time again. 

 Long before I ever got a goat named Nellie I knew a  lady named Nelly. Which I completely forgot  until I pulled out her recipe.  The human Nelly is an excellent baker and a veteran of the pot luck scene. This cake can be made apples or pears; in regular loaf pans or multiplied for an army. 

Nelly's Apple Cake

4 c. apple chunks

3 c. flour

2 c. sugar

2     eggs

3/4 c. veg. oil

1t.  baking powder

1t.  baking soda

1t   cinnamon

1t.  salt

1t.  vanilla

Bake at 325' for 90 mins

9 x 13 baking dish or 2 lined loaf pans

This is the easiest cake ever; just mix up the batter and then dump in the fruit. Let it cool to room temperature before removing from the pans - the cake is very tender and will fall apart if your not careful. So have patients.  Which is hard because the scent of spices and fruit will be wafting out of the cake.

For the pear version - you can just swap out the apples for pears, changing nothing else, and have the cake be wonderful. For a more fabulous Pear Cake I exchange the cinnamon for cardamon and the vanilla for almond extract. 

it's raining sideways...

The last of my summer guests have gone home. The last 30 days have seen 3 different groups come and go. With the final crew being my brother's family (ie Thing's 1+2). There's nothing like kids under the age of 10 to amp up the energy level. Or the noise level. It was wonderful.
Now the house seems too big and too quiet. The cats have retaken the living room and the dog is snoring on the couch while I do laundry and sweep the hardwood floors. (It was very kind of everyone not the mention the drifts of Clyde fur that had accumulated while I was playing hostess.) The goats are pining for Thing 2 who was constantly stuffing grapes into them.
While the kids were here we hit the fabric store for new pj flannel. Somewhere in between eye searing pinks and the merits of fabric stiffeners for a cape, Thing 1 declared he'd really like a pirate coat for Halloween.  I not sure how it happened but I now have 15 pounds of faux leather for a Jack Sparrow style pirate coat. God Help Me! Thing 1 is going to have to go into training to be able to lift the thing up if I ever get it done.