First Meal of Fall: Sweet Potato Gnocchi

 

I woke up this morning to a cozy, cloudy day. My favorite kind of day. A day for getting up early and lighting a cinnamon apple candle while brewing coffee and baking a batch of cornbread. Watching VHS tapes of Little Bear and vintage Scooby Doo while decorating for fall... 

I made this sweet potato gnocchi on a whim for dinner the other night, rolling out the dough while gazing out my kitchen window at a little yellow house with a lawn that is covered in leaves. I'm so happy i have a room with a view, a new home, and time to do things like make elaborate meals while sipping a glass of red wine...

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes

2 cups flour

1 egg

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tbsp butter

1/2 tbsp sage

2 cups spinach

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake sweet potatoes until tender, about an hour. Remove the skins and mash the potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Mix in egg, salt and nutmeg. Stir in the flour until dough ball forms. On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Add more flour, a little at a time if dough becomes too sticky. Using a leaf shaped cookie cutter, cut out pieces and make leaf veins with a bamboo skewer rolled in flour. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and cook gnocchi until they begin to float to the surface, about five minutes. Drain and set aside. Meanwhile, saute the spinach with garlic and onion powder while melting butter and sage together. When the spinach is wilted, add gnocchi and sage butter sauce. Enjoy!

Friends of the forest, what are your favorite fall foods?

Picnics in the Park

I've always loved living next to a park, so when I got to Baltimore I was happy to find out there was a large park right across the street from the apartment! I first walked down the stone steps of The Dell I felt like I was in Central Park in the movie Enchanted!

I started going to the park every morning for breakfast and made fast friends with the critters I call my cousins - the squirrels!

Daily Outfit: Fall Forest Farmer

It's feeling like fall in my neck of the woods!  We went out for a nice morning walk in the woods and saw pretty yellow leaves.  I wore an outfit that has lasted me four years so far...a dumpster dived brown overall dress that I altered a bit...you see, this dress originally had gold writing that said '#1 Player' on the pocket.  I sewed a scrap of deer fabric over it, and the forest farmer's dress was created!  

Fall Photographs

Fall is the best season in the Forest.   Here are a few photos of things I've been enjoying this week...

A few fall patches I got at thrift stores & yard sales.  I can't wait to wear them with autumn outfits.

Whipped up a few fall foliage candies this week.  They were supposed to be just orange and yellow, the red was a mistake.  Honestly, I think they would be better suited at the Thanksgiving table...

I always pull out all the fall mugs when October hits, and drink more coffee in fall.  The napkins are from a goodie bag my aunt gave me when we went to her house to make cookies with the kids.

My favorite tradition of the season.  Since I cook with pumpkins a lot (we grow them and eat them), I like to roast the seeds and mix with peanuts and reese;s pieces candy.  I always put them in this jar.

Baby Bear, looking all fall sitting on a box.

How to Make Reindeer House Slippers

Now that it's getting cold, I just love to bundle up in cozy forest clothes!  I recently dumpster dived these house slippers and my boyfriend's dad gave me an idea when he told me to put antlers on them to make deer slippers!  I thought "What a great idea!" and got to work...

Supplies you will need: slippers, scissors, googly eyes, glue (tacky glue for a tacky craft!), brown and tan felt, twigs, pom-poms, and an icepick (optional).

First, cut out four ears from the tan felt and glue to the sides of the slippers.  Next, pick out four matching googly eyes and glue on.  Take the scissors or icepick and poke a hole on the side of each slipper, then stick a glue covered twig in the holes.  Finish the project with two pom-poms for the deer's nose.  Now put them on and make a cup of hot cocoa while you watch christmas movies!

Music Monday: Thanksgiving Playlist

I like to make a themed playlist for almost every holiday. Each year, more songs get added to the ever-growing lists.  It's fun to have memories from each song, while making new ones with each new song discovered.  This is the first year I started a Thanksgiving playlist, so there aren't a whole ton of songs.  Each song has to do with the holiday of harvest, though...

Holiday Dinner - Mock Orange

November - Message to Bears

 Calamity Song - Decemberists

Homeward Bound - Simon and Garfunkel

Forks and Knives - Beirut

 People - Andrew Jackson Jihad

Old Pigweed - Mark Knopfler 

Billy Boy - traditional folk song

Well friends, how do ya like it?  Share your favorite Thanksgiving songs in the comments with me!

Forest of Photos: Fall is Almost Over...

 

Well, there certainly are a lot of leaves on the ground in the forest these days... I only ever wear yellow in November, just like the trees do.  I made a shirt for one of my favorite bands, Woods, with iron on paper and a yellow shirt for the dollar store.

 

The first semester is almost over, I made a fall leaf folder for my new work...

Got a cozy wool blanket from the thrift store for cuddling in the car (we drive an old vw bug with no heater)

 

Used our yellow wall for photoshoots in the last week of November before we paint over it with green!

Happy Halloweek!

Only seven more days until All Hallow's Eve...which, for me, means celebrating the holiday for a whole week, starting today!  Here are some ideas for some fun craft projects you can do this Halloweek...

Start carving your pumpkins...last year I was inspired by Rachel Ray magazine to make this mounted pumpkin head with acorns, antlers, and leaves!  Keep your eyes peeled within the next few days for some cool pumpkin tutorials!

Make owl goodie bags for the trick or treaters...use brown paper bags and construction paper.

A seasonal wreath will provide holiday decor until Thanksgiving.  I used an old wreath I dumpster dived, tacky glue, fake leaves I found in the garage from last year and orange yarn.  

Friends of the forest, what are your Halloween tradtions?

Daily Outfit: Gathering Fall Leaves...

What I wore for a walk in the park to gather the leaves I used on my new fall layout!  Just my basic brown dress styled in a new way for a new day.  This is the only time of year I wear orange...  

Dress: my basic brown dress

Shirt: thrifted for a quarter

Tights: thrifted?

Shoes: brown shoes I've had for years

 

I found a tiny broom hidden in a pile of woodchips when I looked very closely....how spooky!

Fall has Come to Forest

 

My favorite season is finally here!  It's now time for cold nights, reading books, cuddling, eating fall foods, squirrels, foxes, sweaters, candles, pumpkin spice, yellow and orange, butternut squash, carrots, falling leaves, maple, cinnamon, witches, pumpkins, ghosts, wandering woods, spooky old trees, owls, acorns, coziness, making warm memories with friends, mushroom gathering, libraries, thrifting, bike rides, fall foilage, and so much more?  What are your favorite things to do in the fall, forest friends?

Daily Outfit: Cafe Au Lait

What I wore to take pictures,

wait for the Motherlode to deliver Jesse’s surprise present

& shelve book at the library on a Sunday!

dress: thrifted at Dollar Madness

coat: found at the Lake Elsinore Women’s Club Rummage Sale

bag: thrfted, Dollar Madness

brooch: dumpster dived & spruced up

headband: gold leaves, Target

I was inspired by my morning cup of coffee, the many shades of brown…

Some say brown isn’t a real color, but I say it’s the richest, most vibrant

earthy shade of all!

 

I bought this cute vintage Kodak Parytime II at the Cornerstore,

I plan on adding some woodgrain contact paper to it and buying film online,

it’s an instant camera just like the Polaroid.  

Note the triforce logo....perhaps this is a newer model pictobox?

 

I don’t recall where I found this pinecone pin, probably got it for free somehow,

it had a small hole in the bottom I threaded some wired pine through since I felt it was missing something…

 

“Wow, that’s a lovely coat, wherever did you get it?”

“Why, I snagged it for a song at the Women’s Club…”

“Bullocks!  That’s a vintage Bullocks of Lakewood coat!”

I absolutely adore my new winter coat, which I bought at the Women’s Club Rummage Sale my town hosts

once a year in a historical building.  I love this tag because I’ve always loved letterblocks and live in Lake Elsinore,

love the woods.  I can just imagine it in a swinging 60′s London boutique…

 

Sadly, my basic browns got scuffed up.  Guess that’s what I get for crawling around on the library

floor all day and marching through the woods without a care in the world.

Oh well, they just add the the charm of sensible shoes….