A Fall Drive

With the drought this year, we feared the fall colors would be rather boring. Lots of trees have died and turned a sad brown color, although over the past two weeks, the leaves on many of trees have transitioned into brilliant colors.

 This winding road takes me into town each day and one afternoon last week I stopped a few times to take a few pictures.

Sometimes you have to look back on your journey and see where you have been. Its true what they say about turning around and taking pictures of the scene behind you.

We had our first frost last week and some of the plants in the yard were damaged, yet it was over 80 degrees today. (I was wearing shorts while putting up my Christmas Tree!) So what are the leaves looking like around you?

You Shoudn't Try This Pumpkin Cheesecake!

Yesterday, the Mr. and I went to do our usual town shopping and decided to go out to eat. No big deal, you say, but we don't eat out much and eating Mexican food is a treat for us. When we walked in the restaurant, a stack of newspapers and brochures greets you and my man can not pass up reading material! As we sat down and glanced through the paper full of advertisements and very little content, I noticed a few fall recipes and one for Pumpkin Cheesecake caught my eye.

I didn't give it too much thought, but then when Farmall Man saw the recipe, he said "wow, that sounds goood!" Just so happens our next stop was the grocery store and we made a check list of the items we would need to pick up in order to cook the cheese cake. (And we just thought eating before the grocery store would help us save money!)

This morning I made my very first, from scratch cheese cake. Let me tell you, it is delicious! So with Thanksgiving coming up, I think I just might be making another pumpkin cheesecake with maple pecan glaze.

Here's the recipe, if you really want to try it. (I made a couple changes from the printed recipe in the paper. It called for raisins in the glaze and I didn't like the sound of that. You could add them if you want to) 

Pumpkin Cheese Cake with Maple Nut Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (Tip - buy the whole crackers and make crumbs yourself and save several dollars and have crackers to eat later. About 12 crackers or one tube makes 1 1/2 cups crumbs. A potatoe masher worked good to make crumbs.)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 melted butter
• 3- 8 oz packages of cream cheese
• 1- 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
• 1- 16 oz can pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg (I thought I had nutmeg at home, but didn't so I substituted pumpkin pie spice - it has nutmeg in it after all.)

Heat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Combine crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press firmly in springform pan.

With mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well.

Pour into prepared pan and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes (or until edges springs back when lightly  touched, (center will be slightly soft.)

Cool and chill.

Maple Nut Glaze

• 2 Tablespoons water
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 Tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 chopped nuts (I used almost a cup of pecans)

Combine water and cornstarch. In small saucepan, melt butter. Add syrup and cornstarch mixture. Cool and stir until slightly thickened. Add nuts. Spoon over chilled cheesecake.

Enjoy!

Let me know if you try it. I would love to hear what you think about this cheesecake!

I was featured at Handmade in TX!

Cindi from Handmade in TX, showcases arts and crafts handmade from all over the state Texas.

I recently came across Cindi through Twitter and began following her blog recently. She lets you link up your etsy store and products for sale that are made by Texas artisans. I love the idea of her blog and supporting the residents of our state. What could be better than supporting fellow Texans and their creativity?

 Last week I linked up my Western Lariat Rope Wreath with Pheasant Feathers  to Lonestar Showcase #11. I recently listed this item for sale in my etsy store and was excited this week that Cindi picked my rope wreath as one of her favorite 3 items in the showcase!

Ever since I was in Floral Design in my high school ag class, I have been making rope wreaths. You see, my dad, brother, and I were all team ropers and we always had used ropes laying around. I remember the first rope wreath I made with yellow sunflowers that hung on my bedroom door. Soon after I was making a rope wreath for our FFA banquet decorations and have had a rope wreath in my house ever since.  I've made rope wreaths for wedding presents and have made several "Little Cowboy" wreaths for baby shower gifts as well. A few years back, I sold the wreaths in a local western store, but a change of management didn't allow me to continue with consignments.

I want to say THANK YOU to Cindi for all of your efforts to showcase Texas Artist and for featuring my

Lariat Rope Wreath. You made my day!

If yall get a chance, stop by Handmade in TX to see all the showcased items!