Pumpkin Hat

Monday night at class I tested a pattern for this cute, crocheted baby hat. Not only was the pattern really well written and easy to follow, it's quick! I finished it in less than 2 hours- and that includes the part of class when I was taking a quiz! I think it's an adorable pattern and already have a recipient in mind, since I know someone who had a baby over the weekend. :0) Hooray for fall and seasonal items!

The pattern is available for FREE on Ravelry under the name "Harvest Pumpkin hat" so go check it out!

Pecan Pie

One of my favorite fall pies is pecan. Recently, I've started using pre-chopped pecans instead of pecan halves. The real reason is that chopped pecans is all I had available to use at work (Royal Grounds)*, but it has the nice added benefit of making the pie easier to cut into slices. 

Pecan Pie

Spread out 1 cup chopped pecans (or pecan halves) in  the pie crust. 

Mix together: 1/3c melted butter, 3 eggs, 1c corn syrup (dark is better), 1/2 t salt, 1/2t vanilla and 1c sugar.  Pour this mixture over the  pecans.

Bake @ 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the edges of the pie are set. It's ok for the middle to be a little big jiggly still, but not the whole pie. I usually bang on the oven door or the oven rack to assess how much the pie jiggles. For pecan, this is the best way for me to be able to tell if it is done. 

Allow to cool to room temperature (feel the center bottom of the pan to be sure) before cutting into it. It's best to refrigerate it too.

*The pie in the photo is currently for sale, by the slice, at Royal Grounds Coffee, in Minneapolis.

Let's Get Started

I've never been one for blogging. I've not good at journaling. But I do like baking (some cooking) and knitting (and crocheting, and some sewing). I usually do some every day, but I'm not good at keeping track of everything that I do. I'd like to keep this really simple, but just be able to post some photos and possibly recipes or patterns of things I make and bake. Since joining Ravely, I've gotten better at recording the things I knit and crochet, but not all the creative things I do fall into these two categories.

Here is an apron I sewed for my 10 year old helper at Royal Grounds back in August: