Blog Posts

Renny's Recipes: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

11/11/2019

This post contains affiliate links and I may be compensated if you purchase from them.Thanks for your support!

This post was originally posted in 2017. It has been updated with this adorable video of my daughter from when we made some today. These Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and the perfect fall cookie.

My current kitchen towel

Do you know what I love about pumpkin?

Everything. That's what. I know pumpkin spice is all the fall rage these days, and let me tell you something, I will take the blame for it. Way back in 2006 a few friends and I started a tradition of having a pumpkin party. It just so happened to perfectly align with my birthday, and I've had a pumpkin party every year for my birthday ever since.

If you want to know the truth, if it were up to me I'd put pumpkin in my food every day of the year. Since I have a husband who, while he does not object to pumpkin, does not adore pumpkin as I do I behave myself every year and wait.

Well guess what! IT IS ALMOST FALL AND I CAN DO WHAT I WANT! PUMPKIN EVERYTHING!

My current oven mitts

I decided to make you a pumpkin recipe this week and I really got into my head. Should it be sweet or savory? Basic or creative? What else could I do to show you the power of pumpkin? Well, my mom suggested I make my pumpkin snickerdoodles, and since I had volunteered to make cookies for a church function anyway it seemed like a win win.

I'll be honest, I originally found this recipe on Pinterest many years ago (we're talking pre-mission somewhere around 2012). I can't recall where it originated from, and I am sorry for that, but it is really so delicious. These snickerdoodles are so soft and pumpkin-y and wonderful that if you find who originally created the recipe, tell me. Not only will I give them the credit they deserve here, but I'll find some way to give that person an award.

The team players in this treat.

Fall baking is honestly where I feel in my zone. You see that cinnamon container? We have two of those. I think I have three different bottles of pumpkin spice as well. It might be four. Needless to say, I have a lot of great plans and how-to's for your fall baking, so make sure you come back and see what else I have in store for you. (For example, I realized I never showed you how to cook a pumpkin.) Until next time, enjoy these pumpkin snickerdoodles. If they're not the best snickerdoodle you've ever had, well, honestly I'll think you're confused.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Renny's Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

0 Comments

A Sister's Get-Away to the Coast!

11/7/2019

1 Comment

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

I have 5 wonderful sisters. I love them all dearly and one thing I have wanted to do for a long time is go a sister's get-away with them. Unfortunately, one of our sisters passed away unexpectedly a few years ago. Since that time we have all felt a longing to hang onto each other a little more tightly. So, when my sister Carol's children gave her a get-away trip with her sisters for her birthday, it was the perfect way to get us started at taking time to be with each other! THANKS CAROL'S KIDS!
The plans for this trip all came about very quickly, so it required some quick planning and organizing on all our parts to make it happen. Our youngest sister wasn't able to make it happen this time and we really missed having her on the trip with us. But, the three of us that did go had so much fun that we have promised her that we will plan another trip a little farther in advance so that she can make arrangements in time.
Our trip was to a coastal town in California called Cayucos. Our hotel was right on the beach! It was amazing! Since I live in Arizona, that meant a plane flight for me. Here is how I made it happen as inexpensively as possible:

The Plane Flight:

As soon as I knew that I had people to watch my granddaughter while I was gone, (My husband and my Son-in-law), I got online and made my plane reservation. I have learned from experience that the earlier you make the reservation, the more likely you are to get a good price! I used Travelocity to search for the best prices and ended up flying on American Airlines. I paid $217 for a round trip fare from Phoenix to Fresno. Just before I left, I looked again and flights were over $400. I also purchased the cancellation insurance for $19, just in case.
On most airlines, including American, you are charged for checked luggage. Southwest doesn't charge for your first bag, but they don't fly into Fresno, CA, where I was going. You may take a fairly large carry-on plus a personal item for free. Since I was going to be gone for 5 days, I packed clothes and what I needed into my carry on duffel bag and took a purse. You can take a very roomy purse if necessary. If your carry-on is pretty big, when you are at the gate, American offers valet service at the end of the ramp before you get on the plane and will take your bag for you there and return it when you exit the plane in the same area. This saved me from having to stuff my heavy duffel into the overhead compartment. The wait to get it back is much shorter than going to collect it from baggage claim.

We stayed at the Shoreline Inn in Cayucos. The sliding back door or our room opened up to this gorgeous view of the ocean. When they say shoreline, they mean it! We were right on the beach and it was wonderful!

This photo is from Shoreline's Website. If you click on it you will go to their page where you can book a room! They have many beautiful pictures of the hotel and the surrounding area.

My sisters and I outside of our room on the grassy area before the beach!

The first day that we were there, the weather was beautiful and we saw a large pod of dolphins! The water was like glass, with only tiny, near to the shore waves and it was easy to see the dolphins jumping and swimming and enjoying themselves. It was amazing! Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera with me, so you will just have to trust me that it was a fantastic sight!
While we were there, we drove to neighboring areas of Morro Bay, Pismo Beach and Cambria. The views were beautiful and we ate some wonderful seafood at various restaurants. I was in heaven, eating salmon and shrimp!

Anyone who has been to Morro Bay will recognize that big rock, or as you will hear on Finding Dory, "The Jewel of the Pacific!" lol.

A great place to eat in the adorable town of Cambria.

My salmon sandwich! I took a bite before I remembered to take a picture. So Good!

I love watching the shorebirds poking their beaks in for food. We even saw some red headed and faced vultures scavenging on the shore as well.

As you can see in the picture above, on our 3rd day, the fog came in and the waves started getting higher, too. I found quite a few shells that were in perfect condition and this funny little picture in the sand, naturally formed by seaweed.

My sisters and I had a great time staying up late laughing, crying and talking. It was a wonderful trip and I highly recommend to everyone that you take some time to spend with your sisters, or daughters or close friends. It was a great way to relax, recharge and reconnect. I can hardly wait to do it again!

Speaking of sisters, last year my sister gave us each this necklace to celebrate our sisterhood! You can order similar ones at this website.

To read more about gifts that give twice, go to this post.

1 Comment

2 Special Projects for Thanksgiving

11/7/2019

14 Comments

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. But, all opinions expressed are my own.

Lindsey and I were talking about Thanksgiving plans for this year and it got me to thinking about a special project to show my family and friends how thankful I am for them. I decided it would be nice to do a little gift on each place setting this year. I thought about hand lettering something at first, but that would take a lot of time with questionable results. Then, I remembered the set of stamps that I purchased from the Target One Spot a couple of years ago. I hadn't used it yet, but now I knew I had the perfect project to use them for.

If you can't find these stamps at Target this year, there are of course a lot of others that you can find and use. For example...

I had some little wooden circles left over from our Christmas in July projects. I chose 3 colors of acrylic paint that I felt would coordinate with my dishes and tablecloths and painted the circles. Then, I used a black stamp pad to stamp the design on the light colored circles and white on the dark colored circles. I love how they came out. Even the spots where the ink is a little missing add to the rustic look.

I decided to use jute as the hanger on these little ornaments. I cut about a 6" length of jute and glued the ends with a glue gun to the front of the ornament. Then, I tied a bow with another length of jute and glued that over the ends. This way, there are no unfinished ends on the front or the back.

This is an example of a way you can use the ornaments around the house to add a little extra gratitude touch for this Thanksgiving season!

You could also hang them on plants, cupboard door knobs, a little tree for a centerpiece, the possibilities are endless.

Now, on Thanksgiving, I want to slip them in a napkin on each place setting. I want to use cream colored napkins, but I didn't have any. I could only find white! So, I purchased some fabric and made my own.

Out of a yard and a half of fabric, I was able to get 6 napkins that are 16 inches square.

A couple of years ago I had to purchase a new sewing machine. I got a Singer Brilliance (that is a refurb version) and I have loved using the special decorative stitches that it has programmed into it. Here is the newest version, called Sew Mate. These are nice machines at a reasonable price.
These napkins were simple to sew. I just folded over the edges twice and used a decorative stitch to make them special.

Once the napkins are sewn and pressed, you are ready to fold them! Here is a gallery of pictures to show you how to do it.

Here they are, all ready for Thanksgiving!

If you know me at all, you know that I love dishes! So, I am using two different dishes to try out a place setting to use these special projects on. Which one do you like best?

If you don't want to wash napkins later, you could always use nicer paper napkins. But, I am so happy with how these came out. Here is a close-up of the decorative stitching.