Weekend doings

It was cold and rainy all day Friday and we had not yet turned on the heater so I thought an oven supper would be good - easy to cook and would help heat the house up a little.

I made cole slaw (not in the oven though)

also baked chicken and rice which tastes a lot better than it photographs

banana bread 

and brownies.  The chicken and bread both bake for about an hour, so after they had baked for 30 minutes,  I put in the brownies as they take 30 minutes.

Then everything came out at the same time

Banana Bread

1 stick butter, softened

1 scant cup sugar (closer to 3/4 cup)

2 eggs

3 medium or 4 small ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (about 1 1/4 cups)

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup or more chopped nuts, we prefer pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan or 4 mini-loaf pans.

Cream together the butter and sugar. beat till blended. sometimes I use the mixer and sometimes I just do it by hand.

Mix in the bananas.

Stir in the flour, salt and soda.

Then stir in the nuts.

Pour in to prepared pans. A big loaf will take 60-70 minutes. Small loaves take 35-45 minutes.

Cool for a 10 minutes, then remove from pans.

Slice, spread with a little butter and feed to your family.

Brownies

* 1/2 cup butter
* 1 cup white sugar
* 2 eggs
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
*
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8 inch
square pan.
2. In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter. Remove from heat, and stir in
sugar, eggs, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt,
and baking powder. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. 

in Saturday's mail, was a goody box from Debby- isn't this table runner cute?  

Yes, she made it out of very fun seasonal fabrics.  I really like all the purple and green mixed with the orange and black.   Thank you Debby! She blogs at Nanny's Place and I always enjoy reading what she is up to.  

now, it is time to do some fall decorating inside our home so the table runner doesn't feel lonely.  

Sunday afternoon,  I did a little sewing.  First I sewed up 2 blue aprons for costumes for my son and a friend, something about a Banana Stand in the tv show Arrested Development.  I've never seen the show but I have had a little experience sewing up aprons.  

Then, I followed an online free tutorial to make a chevron necktie for grandson JJ to coordinate with his sister's pumpkin dress.  Cute, right?  Well,  the tutorial was well written and so easy to follow.  It was a quick successful project.  

I hope you all had a nice weekend too

Home tour part 7 -the last bedroom

This is the last room of our home tour- kind of a lag because I am not happy with the lighting in these photos but I can't seem to do any better- so here goes......

I know the first thing you see is the pretty quilt. My mom made it in the early 50s when she was living in rural Oklahoma with my dad and brothers who were just babies then. I think she said her mother in law gave her the kit and it is all sewn by hand.

Close up 

It is fragile and not usually on the bed but on a quilt rack. The quilt looks so pretty on the bed but it will mostly stay on the quilt rack to keep in good condition.

This is a pretty big room. One corner has a comfy thrift store rocker. Another corner has a toddler bed for grandchildren. 

My husband built the oak 4 post bed with LOTS of help from a professional cabinet maker friend,

On one end of the bedroom is a bathroom 

It has double sinks (which really just means there are 2 sinks to clean) 

A big bath tub my husband likes and behind the dark red shower curtain is a shower with a seat in it that I like.

Then through that bathroom door is the walk in closet.

On the bench is the same fabric that the bedroom curtains are sewn from. 

When I took these pictures a month ago, this is how I stored our CVS stockpile. I have changed it, inspired by Manuela's shower pantry, and will show it soon. 

Thank for coming, hope you enjoyed the tour.