Busy, busy weekends...

We have really enjoyed the change in the weather over the past week!  The crisp mornings have been a bit chilly for what October should be (already in the upper 30s one night this past weekend!!), but the days have been so pleasant.  Some leaves are changing color and fall is definitely in the air.  We've been up to our ears in projects--house cleaning, painting, decorating (finally getting some pictures hung!), and baking...all great fall activities!

Here's one of our most recent.  Patrick had an old bookcase that his mom and dad gave him when he moved out of the house.  Since we are so short on kitchen cabinet space and storage, we decided to turn this into a pantry.  After a little sanding, priming, painting, and adding a little molding, we ended up with quite a pretty pantry!!    I got a little nervous over our color choice when we started painting...it was so red and I was concerned it was going to be too much for our little dining room.  Turned out to be quite cheery!  We do plan to add a curtain to hide the bottom three shelves...just hasn't happened yet!

BEFORE

 

AFTER

The Fust kitchen has been quite a bit busy the last few weeks.  Our garden finally quit producing (much to Patrick's dismay...he's already asking about what is to be in our fall garden!!) and we finished canning our pickles about 2 weeks ago.  We have really enjoyed passing them around to family and friends!  I have watched my mom and grandmothers can preserves for years and our last trip down inspired me to try it out myself.  We really wanted to make peach preserves but found the season too late to really get good peaches, so we opted for strawberries.  These were so quick and easy to make and turned out delicious.  We'll be sharing these with family soon!

And just this past weekend, in celebration of October's beginning, we made pumpkin bread and pumpkin muffins.  I used a recipe from a friend at work (with a few changes) and these turned out wonderfully!  This recipe makes a very moist bread full of fall flavor.  For those curious, the recipe is below.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar

4 beaten eggs

1 cup oil

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 tsp. baking soda

3 1/2 cups flour

2 cans pumpkin (or 2 cups)

2/3 cups hot water

1/2 nuts (optional)

Mix sugar, oil, and eggs.  Add dry ingredients and mix.  Add pumpkin and water.  Mix well.  Pour into 2 loaf pans and bake at 350 for 1 hour.

And this is our latest home addition...Of all of the wants I have wanted for our home, this has been the greatest!  We both entered marriage with tables built for two and have been looking for a table for a family.  A few weekends ago, we found a great deal on a 6' cherry table (with leaf to extend to 7 1/2') and all 6 chairs for $400!  Now that's a deal we just couldn't pass up!  I know I've said to Patrick at least a hundred times, 'We've got a dining room table!!,' but I really am so excited to finally have a place to eat and entertain guests.  I can't wait until these chairs are one day filled with our children (no time soon, eager grands) and eagerly anticipate all of the fun games and conversations that will take place here!