ARe u ReaDy FoR HallOWeEn??

Only a couple of days left til HALLOWEEN!!!
I love the fall and also halloween!! usually get dressed up along with my Buster and we hand out candy to all the kiddos at my inlaws home but we wont be doin that this year!! =( oh well it is really sounding like it is gonna be NASTY outside. Darn every year we have beautiful days before and then the day before or that day michigan weather does a BAM!! CHANGO and it gets super awful!! Sooooooo maybe that means the tricksters will be stayin inside too!!

Today was the last market day in ALLEGAN. I just want to tell all my faithful and special customers a huge HUGE THANK YOU for buying from me!! IT WAS A GREAT SEASON!! hard to believe it is over alreay though!! BUT that just means next season will be bigger and better and I will have a ton of new sweet things for yall! It is in the works??? for maybe doin a couple of markets before the holidays for people so will keep ya updated on that too!! Our market manager is checkin into it and having it indoors!! yippee HEAT and no wind!! WOO HOO~~~

The pumpkin rolls were a big ol success they all sold and I even got a few orders for them for the week of thanksgiving!! and I did a red velvet cake roll with my concotion of raspberry cream filling!! OH my goodness they were super duper yummy!!

Tomorrow will be all about gettin ready for the last south haven market on saturday and maybe I will try a few news things. DONT FORGET for all you local folks WE ARE AT THE FLORAL TOUCH FLORIST on M-89 goin west to Fennville with baked goods for ya!!
I will keep a supply of cakes, muffins, cookies, sweet treats, my quick breads and dipped pretzels and candies there now. ALSO we are making up gift food items and gourmet food gifts for the holidays too!! delivery available**
269-543-4815

So have a blessed evening I am off to do chores and unload some hay. SURVIVOR tonight!! yeah!!
HUGS!~
** Darlene **

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

bUsTeR, CoOkIeS and a foodie gift

Above was Buster in 2006 when he took 2nd place in the petco costume contest!! MY CLOWN MR, BROWN!! Below was another clown costume I made him to greet all the kiddies at my inlaws house for halloween!! he was a big HIT!! He is just destined to be a clown every year!!

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Here are the t" bear cookies I told you bout! ARENT THEY TOO STINKIN CUTE!???

I was gonna put a little mouth on them but NAY! they are good to go this way and sold them all at market yesterday.

OH and now the foodie gift mug I made for the shop.

Found this darling ceramic coffee mug, added a little kitchen tea towel, 3 of my homemade chocolate dipped biscotti slices, a little tin green tea scented candle, and 2 of my single serve cappacino mixes. I think this would make a great gift for a coworker a friend or family member for any occasion!! I know i would love to recieve it!! Well gotta run and make a few more up.

Have a blessed afternoon!!

HUGS

Darlene and Buster Brown the halloween Clown

Fed up with rain!!

Ok so it has poured ALL stinkin day today and it is dark and gloomy!! I NEED THE SUNSHINE!!! where the heck is it??
So I made 5 of the pumpkin rolls today and cut one up in slices to sell individually at market tomorrow. It is supposed to be cold and rainy tomorrow but hopefully not too bad!!
I also made a pecan brittle that turned out great!! I used some salted toasted pecans and then pumpkin pie spice in it instead of just cinnamon and boy what a flavor!! yummo
Also made up some more frosted punkin sugar cookies and some cutesy bear face/head cookies I will take a pic of them they are way too cute to eat! Mand M for eyes and nose and some fall sprinkles on their ears. I think i will do some of them for the fall shows on a stick for the kiddies. Oh and did a big ol batch of apple butter so the kitchen smelled so good with the apples and cinnamon cooking!! I will have to make some biscuits tonight for supper so I can enjoy some of the butter on them. LOL

Well better go out and do chores it looks like the rain has let up a bit ! YEAH
Have a blessed weekend yall!!
HUGS
Darlene
!~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Happy Hump Day

I thought this looked pretty out along the pasture

These trees are looking mighty fine with their colors this fall

As you can see Mr. Beau (the goat) is stealin my Appy's grain. The chickies always run to snatch up what ap drops LOL they are smart!!

These are cheesecake topped chocolate chip brownies

Seasoned cheddar cracker wafers CRISPY and YUMMY!!

punkin rolls

a close close up of a slice of the cream cheese punkin rolls I made today. THEY ARE SUPER YUMMY TOO!!

Today is our 9th Anniversary!! WOW time sure flies dont it!!

So I baked some new things today including an awesome if i might add, cream cheese filled pumpkin roll!!

I made some of the herbed cheddar wafers as pictured above, they would be awesome on a salad as croutons or even in a bowl of soup! dried chives, season salt and garlic powder are just the right combo for them.

I did do up some cinnamon rolls with a cinnamon vanilla glaze, pistachio bread, and some mini pumpkin cheesecake pastries. They are cooling in fridge right now i will take a pic later cuz they are too cute!! Also I bought a mini bread pan last week at my favo store Hobby Lobby and they turn out way too cute. I am goin to package 3 of them or maybe even 6 in a pretty decorated box for the holiday shows for a nice little gift for someone to give. GEEEEE maybe you might get one huh!! LOL

Tomorrow is Allegan farmers market so hope it doesnt rain too much!!

Have a great evening!!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Tuesday happenings!!

Just a few pics from market a couple of weeks ago

booth pics

Streusel filled pumpkin sour cream bundt cake

Hey yall!!

Well it sure was another beautiful day here in sw mi!! Sun shinin and actually just t shirt and sweatshirt weather again!! YEAH!! YIPPEE! BUT the forcast is not lookin so good the rest of the week past tomorrow!! rain rain rain and yepper you guessed it more rain!!

I did work on some more mixes to take to market, this time I did up more of my pumpkin spice dip mix which by the way is super yummo!! just add a 15 oz can of pumpkin pie filling and a pkg of cream cheese and what a treat!! It is great with fresh apple slices, on a cracker, a graham cracker and even better on a toasted bagel!! Tomorrow I have to have the following done for market and for at the flower shop since I am starting to advertise next week there!!

Lemon buttermilk cakes, choc chip cookies, pumpkin cream cheese roll, streusel topped pumpkin muffins, a couple of coffee cakes, a decorated white cake with some butter cream frosting maybe? and am kind of thinkin of makin some carrot cakes with cream cheese frosting. So that is about it for now.

I did ask to be in the indoor Bronson Market at Bronson Hospital thru the winter. It will be in the cafeteria at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo MI every other friday from December 11 thru april. Sounds like a nice winter market. Will let yall know more as I find out more. But for right now I still have Allegan Market on thursdays and South Haven Market on Sats!! for a couple more weeks!! they both run thru the end of october!

Have a blessed evening! oh we did go get another dig cam and were able to get the same exact one we had before. I gave up all hope of finding mine!! and I feel sick over it I loved that camera! but at least I dont have to learn another one and another program for downloading pics and so on so I am one relieved chickiepoo not to have to go thru all that trouble!!

HUGS

Darlene

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

MONDAY~~

Oh what a BEAUTIFUL fall day outside!! I got out of work around 10.30 this am and am loving this monday!!! GORGEOUS DAY !! The sun is shining and IF I COULD SEND YOU ALL A BIT OF IT I WOULD!! and IF i could post pics of these absolutely stunnin leaves i would do that too!! BUT still havent found my dig camera and am sooooooooooooo bummed out!! I am afraid we are gonna have to get a new one and that one I LOVED we bought it in jan this year and it took great pics!! OH well my crazy busy life has really affected my mind lately I guess!!

SO no pics again today!! I did make some darling pumpkin sugar cookies and put them on a stick then decorated with some frostings and CUTE CUTE CUTE! so did up some little ghostys on sticks that had white frosting sprinkled with some purple sanding sugar and then I used 2 small chocolate sprinkles for they eyes!! also did up some dark purple bats with green sprinkle eyes!! too cute i must say!!
The sourcream pumpkin streusel coffee cakes were a big hit at the markets and they pumpkin spice shortbread cookies went fast!! I need to come up with a different shortbread for the winter holiday season thought about a minty shortbread using andes mint candies crushed in the batter, dip in chocolate and top with some crushed mint candies for a nice look. Then package them in some chinese take out boxes decorated with snowflake paper!! Oh yepper time to get to thinkin about xmas!!

Also this week I had made some of my Grandma Roses' pumpkin spice bread, some chai butter cookies, cardamom mini coffee cakes, banana pineapple cakes ( these were adorable!! I made them in my mini bundt pan then topped them with some browned butter frosting and some fall sprinkles) and yepper that combo of naners and pineapple is really yummy!! Made some chocolate cappacino mix and packaged them in clear bags with a cute tag and some gingham papers complete with a gift tag.
ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I was able yesterday after working to come home and work on some primitive fabric snowmen snowcones!! Gosh not ready at ALL for any outside SNOW!! even though it has sure been cold enough!! NOT READY I TELL YA!!! LOL
Well have a blessed monday and cross your fingers that I might find my digi cam today while tidying up a bit inside!!

HUGS
Darlene
~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Kalamazoo Expo Indoor Market MI

YEAH finally the other night we got our power back on but too late for me to go to my favorite show in saginaw!! I was so bummed out!!! But there was just no way to make up all that time baking. I am glad I stayed home as my hubby's grandfather was back in the hospital and then I just got off the phone with my mother in law my sister just had her baby!! CARISSA a big welcome to the world sweet baby girl!!

I also wanted to post some pics I took but after searchin for several hours I still havent benn able to find my digital camera!! Oh my heavens I hope it appears soon I need it!!!LOL no tellin knowing me lately I could have it just about anywhere!!
SOOOOOOOOOOO no pics today!! SORRY!!
I did attend the Goosefestival in Fennville and it was fun!! we sold lots of cookies, bars and brownies. I did try a few new recipes this week that really turned out just absolutely yummy!! the sour cream pumpkin bars with a browned butter frosting were a huge hit, after the frosting set i added a piece of indian corn to each top and they looked great!! Also the smores topped brownies and butterscotch/chocolate chip brownies sold out. My grandma Rose's recipe for pumpkin spice bread was a big hit and sold out and also the carmel apples with toppings and 2 kinds of chocolate sold well. My chocolate peanut butter swirl fudge and chocolate hazelnut fudge were top sellers.

I am gonna be at the kitchen baking all tues as I start the kalamazoo indoor market on wed this week!! YEAH !!! that will be fun to be at a whole new location with new customers. SO come on over if you live near Kalamazoo, it is at the Expo center on the fairgrounds from 7am to 1pm every wed. I will be offering lots of samples to everyone too!!

Have a blessed afternoon I am off to try to find this danged camera!!
LOL
HUGS!~
Darlene
~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

Cookie club order

Wanna send someone you love a special gift of homemade cookies each month?? WELLLLLLLLL I can help with that!! I did list on etsy but will offer it here to my bloggin friends!!

Here's how it will work:

I will offer a dozen cookies to be packaged up and sent to the recipient each month around the 3rd week, I can do either a 3 or 6 month whatever you would like it to be.

3 month will be $40.00 which includes shipping to usa.
Here is a list of the cookies I will offer (my most popular ones from markets)

Chocolate Chip= we are told these are the best choc chip cookies LOL

Loaded Oatmeal= organic oats, peanut butter, honey roasted peanuts, m & m's

Chunky Peanut Peanut Butter= chunky organic peanut butter, honey roasted peanuts

Cowboy Cookies= chocolate and butterscotch chips and walnuts

Vanilla Hazelnut = my vanilla cookies with toasted hazelnuts topped with "farmgirl bling" chocolate drizzles

Pumpkin Spice= pumpkin spiced butter cookie with cinnamon "farmgirl bling" glaze

Butter Spritz= my butter spritz cookies topped with various sprinkles (2 dozen since they are a bit smaller)

Lavander Shortbread= flower shaped cut out cookies with organic lavander buds

Cookies will be in a clear bag with label and have a handmade gift card enclosed.

SO if you would like to do this please email me or leave me a comment here and we can work out the details. Shipping will be thru USPS priority for guaranteed freshness!! only us shipping available (sorry)

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

2 hallowwen projects done

This is the mini pringles chip can!! I added some solid color

cardstock some decorative cut halloween paper and a couple of pumpkins. Stamped the word boo on the lid and then trick or treat around the can. I am gonna fill it with a bag of my pumpkin spice coffee creamer or maybe pumpkin spice hot cocoa mix!

What do ya think??

The bottom project was for a halloween challenge, it is made using some old mason jar bands and lids with pleated halloween paper on top. I cut the letters out from chipboard (well an empty cereal box) and cardstock, inked the edges for a nice prim look and then added my "farmgirl bling" with green glitter and silver pipecleaners all hung up on some rusty ol wire. CUTE huh!!

~~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~

My spooky pair

Here are a few materials I am working on for a halloween altered project!! will show ya more when I get it done!!

Another project piece!!~ I am almost done with this but not quite yet!LOL

YEPPER ANOTHER project I am working on!! He needs some details done and his outfit finished then I will show ya!!

HEY YALL!! Well this week has been nutso and another one coming up i am trying to get ready for my BIG CRAFT SHOW IN SAGINAW!! SVSU Keepsake Collection this sat!! It is michigans biggest show!!! and there is something for everyone there!!!

The following pics are from last years show when I had alot more time to work on prims.

I will be bringing some fall / winter primitives and alot of food items!! yeah!! It is a blast and is my favoritist show to particpate in!!

So here is a pic of JACK and JILL my spooky punkin pair that i made for my house for fall. LOVE them!!~

I love decorating for halloween but just never have enough!!HAHA!! I actually found a cob web above a cabinet in the living room and laughingly told hubby "see I started decorating for halloween up there!!" yeah that's right!

Another rainy windy day here in michigan!! it is a bit warmer out than yesterday though. I did miss market yesterday as it was really really windy and cold and very rainy in the morning so decided to skip it. This time of year you just never know what to expect but with the show coming up and then the following week we start the other market inside it will be nice to have a bit extra to take with.

Have a blessed sunday and dont work too hard today!! ENJOY THE DAY!! bake something!!

HUGS for now~~

DARLENE

~LIVE LIFE JOYFULLY~~and SIMPLY~~