Happy Halloween 2013!

 

Halloween and all the weeks leading up to

it are a BIG deal at our American Homestead.

We started with our kids when they were babies

to show them the importance of this wonderful

day of pumpkins and candy and costumes!

 

Back when Kate was born, doctors told you

to not take your baby out in the germy world

for a month.  She was a month old for Halloween.

This little witch has grown up to be the biggest

Halloween lover of all of us.  In fact she just

messaged me from university:

 

happy halloween!! hope you're enjoying

the most wonderful day of the year

 

 

By the next Halloween Kate had a little partner

to share in her Halloween fun.

 

 

Just a couple of clowns.

 

 

Raggedy Ann and Andy

 

 

Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf

 

 

Tigger and a Princess

 

 

Belle and the Beast.

Brennan's costume was very cool, he

could pull the cape around him and

tilt his head down and look like the

Beast and then he could throw the

cape back and transform into the Prince.

 

We couldn't find the big container of

photos today, maybe we will find them

by next year.  So, eat some candy and

enjoy Halloween.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

International Quilt Market

 

Hello!

I'm just back from International Quilt Market

in Houston.  This year I flew and it was a test

to see if you can you fly to market and bring

everything for your booth in a few suitcases. 

The answer is NO! 

Those who know me, know I'm not a spare and

minimal person.  So, it is either drive or drop-ship

 boxes in the future. 

I also heard from my customers that they want

kits, so that is on the list for the future.

Much thanks to my friends Dawn and Cathy

who helped me set-up and take down the booth

and for being such fun to travel with.

Now to unpack...

I Didn't Sleep At All Last Night...

 

Ever since I was little, I could never sleep

the night before a trip.  That's something

I never grew out of...

I didn't sleep a wink last night.  Maybe it is

because Mr. Wonderful usually comes with

me to trade shows but this time I'll be all

alone.  I can't wait until I check into my

hotel this afternoon.  Hopefully my booth

will be ready and I'll have had a great lunch

and then it will be time for a nap!

 

Wheels up in a few hours...

New Pattern Collection

 

Tomorrow I leave for the Fall '13

International Quilt Market in Houston.

I'm flying and have LOTS of stuff to take for

my booth so the laptop is staying home.

That means my blog readers will have the

first peek at the new designs.

 

This is Stars Hollow.

 

 

Floral Park

 

Summerside

 

I have been back at work with wool felt.

 

Grand Isle

 

Avalon

 

Petaluma

 

The patterns are up on the website and you

can order by just emailing me:

 

ellen@americanhomesteaddesign.com

 

 

Wholesale orders are available through me

or from Checker Distributors.

Snow!!!

 

It has been a wildly busy week here at the

American Homestead and I never had a

chance to listen to local weather reports.

 

 

I woke up to what I thought was rain

and never even looked out the window

until I walked downstairs and then I

screamed when I saw this!  It's just a

 light dusting actually but it's only

October ~ I'm still delighting in

pumpkins and gourds and mums and

the colors of the leaves ~ I'm not

ready for snow!

 

 

My birdies are going to go ice skating

today instead of taking a bath.

 

I've been loving the brilliance of these

roses, some of the last color of summer

in my garden.  Bye-bye beauties, I'll

see you in the Spring.

 

I'm leaving in a few days for the great

state of Texas, I'm sure I'll be able to

soak up a bit of warmth while there.

I'll cherish it,

I'm a Viking?

 

I just got off the phone with my cousin

Lynne, our family genealogist.  She was

filling me in on all the new discoveries

she has unearthed about our family history.

 

Perhaps the biggest shock is, we are Vikings!  The

Vikings first came to Ireland  in 795 and over the

course of time, they eventually were absorbed

into the religious and political life of Ireland.

This also included intermingling with the

natives.  Well, DNA doesn't lie and our family

has Viking blood!  A male descendent with the

family name can be tested and one of my cousins

accepted the challenge and here we are ~ Vikings!

 

Another interesting branch of the family tree.

Wanted: Quintessential American Christmas Village

 

I'm asking for help from the readers of the

American Homestead.  I'm working on a new

project and I'm looking for small towns

that evoke a quaint charm, they would need

to be within a 12 hour drive of Indianapolis.

 

 

I'm looking for sweet, little cottages

dripping with gingerbread trim.

 

 

Old fashioned downtowns with old-timey

holiday décor festooned across Main Street.

 

 

A place with décor consisting of more holly,

berries and pine than plastic.

 

 

I need to take photographs and snow would

be a nice addition, so somewhere with snow

in November or December.  Perhaps Wisconsin

or Michigan?  If you have any ideas, please

leave a comment or contact me by email.

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

Elle's Kitchen: Green Curry w/ Tofu

 

I'm spoiled, I've been lucky to be able to travel

to Thailand and eat the fabulous food of that

country.  I still wake up craving Thai food ~ it

is hot ~ it is spicy ~ it is delicious!

The downside is I live in a small Midwestern

town and I can't always find ingredients to

recreate the tastes I experienced in Asia.  But

this recipe has ingredients that I can find in

the foreign food aisle of a local grocery store.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 14 oz. cans coconut milk  (I

used one regular and one lite)
4 oz. jar green curry paste  - Please note:

I love screamin' hot food and the brand of 

curry paste I used was not very hot.  Start with 

a tablespoon or 2 and see how it tastes for you.
 1 pkg. extra firm tofu, cubed
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3 Tbsp.  oyster sauce (you can find vegetarian

oyster sauce or use 1 tabl. soy sauce instead, 

if you want it completely vegetarian)
 1 8 oz. can bamboo shoots
1 c. frozen peas
1 small onion chopped
1 red pepper and 1 orange pepper, sliced thin

 

Okay, so I consulted with my Asian food guru

(my brother) and he said the green curry pastes he

gets from the Asian markets are very hot.  So,

use a bit and see how it tastes, you can always

add more if you want it hotter.  He also found

an Asian market within an hour of my home

that I had never noticed before... thank you!

 

 

In a deep pot combine the coconut milks

and the curry paste and heat on medium.

 

Add brown sugar and the oyster sauce.

 

Add tofu, onions and peppers.

 

Add peas and bamboo shoots and simmer

on low for 20 minutes so everything is

heated through.

 

 

Pull out your Asian dishware and serve over

rice.  See where I get my dishware here:

 

http://americanhomestead.blogspot.com/search?q=pearl+river+mart

 

Then get together and eat with the ones

you love.

 

Enjoy!

The Long Lost Bennington

 

Many years ago when I spent most of my

free time rummaging through boxes at

garage sales, church sales and flea markets,

I bought this Bennington Pottery loaf pan.

It was a perfect cooking vessel, the design

was simple and clean and it held the heat

well.  And it was just so New England.

 

 

From researching the date, I guess this was

made sometime in the 1960's.  That 1874 is

a model number and not a date and the dg

is the guy who reopened Bennington.

 

 

Somewhere in the past 20 years, in making

room for toys and kid stuff, I realized it was

gone.  I couldn't remember selling it, I often

searched for it but always came up empty.  I

was afraid I had had one of those regrettable

purging moments and sent it off to the thrift

shop.  One night last January, I was having

dinner with a friend and was talking about

this long, lost piece.  The next day I was

searching the house for something else when

voila ~ there it was, stuck in a box with some

of my childhood toys and college memories.

 

So last night as the air was turning cold, I

whipped up some pumpkin bread in the

Bennington.  I predict I'll be having some

for breakfast this morning.

 

 

A Day in the Country

 

It is Harvest Time in the American Midwest and

Mr. Wonderful and I are both at home at our

American Homestead, Avalon.

We decided to get out on this beautiful day and

spend the day getting lost in the country.  Oh, this

photo is not our home, it is a photo I took as we

sped along a country lane ~ isn't it adorable?

 

 

As we passed through the downtown of a

nearby city we spied this sign.  We decided

we had better eat since we didn't know what

we'd find in the middle of nowhere.

 

 

I had the Cheeseburger Pie, it was tasty!

 

 

Then we were off!  Stopping at antique

shops along the way.

 

 

We had the whole day ahead of us. We

stopped to talk to the animals we found.

 

 

I was making kissy noises and telling

these horses they were so beautiful and

as we pulled up a bit further on the road

I saw there was a man standing just behind

the tree on the left.  I smiled and waved,

and then turned red...

 

 

Don't they look like they are kissing?

 

 

I love how this silo has been repurposed.

I'd like for that to be my reading nook.

 

 

The farmers were out harvesting their

crops.  I could watch those corn-pickers

all day.

 

 

There is the harvest.

 

 

We stopped at a farm where we used to take

our kids pumpkin picking many years ago.

 

 

Some more antiquing in a tiny town in the

middle of nowhere.  They had great pieces

here.  Where do they buy and how do they

stay in business in this sleepy town?

 

 

I love seeing the old courthouses

in the county seats.

 

 

And then it was on to Purdue University. 

If you look closely, you can see the Boilmaker

train going by.  It was a beautiful Fall day and

the campus was alive with activity, the band

was practicing and parading along 3rd Street,

people were strolling and skateboarding...

 

 

Here is the gorgeous Engineering Fountain,

it was designed by my friend Becky's Dad.

 

 

The clocktower ~ if you zoom in to the clockface

you will notice the 4 is IIII, not the typical Roman

numeral IV.  They thought that looked too much

like IU, their archrivals, and they couldn't have

that.  Our Kate tells us, at football games a cheer

will always go up saying, "IU sucks!" ~ no matter

who they are playing.  Often the players from

Michigan, Iowa or wherever will look up in the

stands, perplexed.  So they tell them, "yeah, it

doesn't matter who we're playing, IU still sucks."

Now as parents of an IU student as well, we have

to be fair.  Our IU "Hoosier" tells us, they don't

even respond to this, they just KNOW they are

better...

 

 

Then we spent the evening at a lecture

given by Madeleine Albright.  Our Kate

fit us into her busy schedule ~ between

classes, pumpkin carving and late night

studying.  Glad you could join us Kate!