Focaccia Tiles

I made this for Thanksgiving along with the crescent rolls (click here for that post) and forgot to show you how it turned out. At first I thought this was a "fail" because I baked it too long, but turns out it still tasted good and is pretty so I'll pass the recipe along if you want to try it. As usual it's much easier to make than I anticipated, yeast bread is still intimidating to me but the more I make it the more I realize it's pretty easy.

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• warm water
• olive oil
• toppings such as toasted pumpkin seeds, oil-packed dried tomatoes, pitted olives, thinly sliced limes, and/or thinly sliced roma tomatoes
• seasonings such as smoked paprika, ground cumin, oregano, or sea salt

1. In large bowl combine 3 cups of the flour, the yeast, and salt. Add 1 2/3 cups warm water (120' to 130'F). Stir until all is moistened. The mixture will be a soft, sticky dough. Cover and let stand at room temperature 12 to 24 hours.

2. Line a 15x10x1" baking pan with parchment paper. Brush parchment with olive oil. With a fork, stir remaining 1 cup flour into the dough. Turn dough out into prepared pan. Using well-oiled hands or a rubber spatula, gently push dough into pan (dough will be sticky). Loosely cover; let rest for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until puffy.

3. Preheat oven to 400'. Using a sharp, floured knife, score dough into 6 portions. Gently press desired toppings into surface of dough. Brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle with desired seasonings. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown.

4 Transfer to wire rack. Cut into 6 tiles. Serve warm.

Makes 6 tiles, 12 servings. each serving 212 cal, 6g fat.

Prep: 20 min.

Rise: 1 hour

Bake: 30 minutes

Stand: 12 hours

Before baking. Next time I will put way more seasonings on!
And don't bake it so long - watch for it to just start to turn
golden brown. Oh, and I scored mine into 8 squares so I could
try more toppings!

Scarecrow Curvy Keepsake Box

I'm new to the whole Stampin' Up paper crafting business and have just discovered this "curvy keepsake" die cut thing that works with my Big Shot. It cuts out 2 pieces that form a small box and after googling for ideas I've found so many cute ideas.  I don't own it (yet) but punched a few out while at Ronda's studio - I thought I'd try my hand at making a couple different ones for her fall seasonal display table - the first one I made is this scarecrow,  decorating it with things I have on hand: corn husk hair, a feather, googly eyes, and twine. Isn't it cute?! These would make great place card holders for Thanksgiving...hmmmm, I might have to make more....;)

Gravy!

 I love gravy and have followed the same recipe for years with total success......
mmmmmmm gravy.

After roasting the turkey drain off the drippings and measure out 1/2 cup of fat (it's easiest if you have a fat separator but you can separate by hand - let the drippings rest in a clear measuring cup until the fat rises to the top then spoon it off). If you don't have enough fat add enough butter to equal 1/2 cup total. Heat the fat in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and cook, stirring constantly for a couple minutes to cook off the flour taste. Remove from heat, gradually whisk in 4 cups of broth (I do this very slowly, maybe 1/3 cup of broth at a time stirring constantly until its incorporated into the flour, then add another 1/3 cup... continue adding slowly so you won't have lumps). After all the broth is mixed in, return pan to heat and cook until bubbly, thick, and smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 4 cups and its yummy.

November Wreath

I have a compulsion of sorts to put away decorations as soon as possible after the holiday or event has passed (thanks mom) so Sunday morning down went the Halloween wreaths and up go Thanksgiving.

I wrapped 12" foam wreaths with burlap ribbon hot gluing in place; wrapped orange and white ribbon over the burlap letting most of the burlap show thru; took apart a couple fall floral/leaf bunches from Hobby Lobby and hot glued them around 3 quarters of the wreaths; added some sunflowers (again buying a floral stem of them and taking it apart) placing them over the leaves where they look best; then hot glued 2 balsa wood cutouts in the empty space on the wreath (they come undecorated in a package for you to decorate yourself - Brooke and I colored them with markers).  I tied a longer piece of the orange and white ribbon around the top of the wreath arranging it among the leaves tying the ends at the top in a knot to hang on our door. By the way, we have storm doors in front of our front doors so the wreaths are protected from the elements - I don't think I would leave this directly outside.