Horn of Plenty

After the success of our paper mache Halloween treats in October, I thought I would take a reader's suggestion and try making a paper mache cornucopia. Then I learned, through my creative sister in law, that I could make an edible cornucopia. Hmmmm.... flour and soggy newspaper or pastry and whip cream? I decided I'd go edible, so today I share a variation of Cassie's chocolate cream-filled dessert. Check hers out by clicking here and then check out mine below...

I am no chef - pastry or otherwise - and even I thought it was super easy.

Purchase Puff Pastry Sheets in the refrigerated section of your local grocery store. I found mine next to the refrigerated Pepperidge Farm Cakes.
Roll tin foil to be cone-shaped. Note: The size of your tin-foil cornucopia will determine the size of the cornucopia you bake. While my sister in-law made each of hers small enough for one per person, we decided to bake two large cornucopias and let the family share one for dessert. I image you might be able to get three or four cornucopia's per Puff Pastry sheet.
Place on cookie sheet and bake according to directions on package - approximately fifteen minutes.
While waiting for the pastry to bake, whip your cream

Slice fresh fruit

Let cornucopia's cool for fifteen minutes then pull tin foil out from center.
Once cooled, fill cornucopia with whipped cream and fresh fruit. Or... vanilla ice cream inside the warm cornucopia could also have been yummy. Either way, this dessert would look great centered on your Thanksgiving buffet!
Dig in!

Now a chance to toot the horn of Highlowaha - specifically Cristine and her friends at Struble Suds. Back in the fall, Struble Suds accepted our Dine By Design Challenge in a big way! They raised $302.00, so we could grant a family a Gift of 218. After some consultation with Cristine, we decided to adopt a family in the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Sunday, Heather, Cheryl, and I delivered the packages and, I must say, it felt great. Here's what we were able to do. We filled a basket chock full of things such as a new Thanksgiving table cloth, brass candle sticks, tapered candles, linen napkins, and a $150.00 gift card to our local grocery store, Tom Thumb. In addition, we purchased them a turkey, bought them a turkey platter, and later on today a beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers will be delivered to the family's house!

I'd say together, Highlowaha and Struble Suds, made one family very happy this holiday season.

Good work, everyone.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for our Thanksgiving fun.

Signing off until Turkey Day...

Dressing the Turkey

Have no fear. Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away, but you still have time to whip up the perfect centerpiece or hostess gift (make it to the end of today's post and discover at least one more fun way you can use the idea being featured today).

Stuff one brown grocery bag with crumpled newspaper (notice my use of yet another brown bag!). Set stuffed bag aside.

Using one package of brown tissue paper, cut into long strips. My package contained ten sheets of paper. I doubled my sheets and then cut them into three smaller strips for a total of 15 strips (10 sheets/by 2 per fold x 3 strips per fold = 15 strips). Holding strips horizontally make 1.5 -2 inch cuts along the full length of each strip. Set aside.

Sketch a turkey head onto orange foam or card stock. Double the foam or card stock, so you have two cutouts (a front and a back). Using a google eye or markers, place eyes on the turkeys head.

Assure the head stands up straight by inserting a dowel or stick between the two sides of the head. Hot glue two sides together.

Insert dowel into the brown bag.

Running the full length of the brown bag, glue strips of tissue paper to the brown paper bag. I used hot glue, because it is faster. If doing with kids Elmer's Glue will work fine.

Slightly overlap strips on top of one another. Repeat on both sides.

Affix strips to top of the bag, carefully working around the turkey's head. Once the sides and top are covered, you should have used 13-15 strips of brown tissue paper.

So far so good.

Cut feathers from fall colored construction paper. I used red, orange, and yellow. Fold bottom about about an inch and add glue.

Attach feather to the turkey's back. Hold in place while glue dries.

Pieces of feathers might need to be glued to one another in order to assure they don't flop to one side or another.

Voila! The turkey is done!

Yes, it would make a cute centerpiece. Yes, it would be super cute "stuffed" with a small house warming gift for your hostess (maybe dish towels or potpourri). But... it could also make a super cute pinata for the kids to break after dinner is over.

Gobble any other ideas?

Signing off until tomorrow...

Talking Turkey

Guest writer Robin Weiss here! Our family loves a good challenge! When we saw the amazing pumpkins and Jack-o-lanterns that we could make after attending the Taste of USA in Kentucky, we figured we could turn it into something else. After much thought and discussion with my helpful designers (age range 4-9) we finally had a plan! Here is how you can construct your very own turkey!

Using blown up and tied water balloons, take a mixture of flour and water to create a paste that will help adhere strips of newsprint to your balloon. This is the first step. The flour and water should be mixed together until it is about the consistency of regular glue. Dip the newsprint, preferably the non printed variety, into the flour and water and begin making layers over your balloon. The more layers you do, the longer it will take to dry and the sturdier it will be. We let ours dry overnight, but it would have probably been ready in about two hours.Gather your supplies for the making of the turkey. You will need: brown tissue paper, scissors, yellow and red felt, a brown fuzz ball, construction paper in various colors, pen/pencil, wiggly eyes, glue dots, foam brush, modge podge and orange foam.

Using the scissors cut the tissue paper into small parts. Begin gluing using the foam brush and modge podge. The more layers, the darker the color. For a more realistic look, try to overlap and vary how you lay the tissue paper on your turkey body. Let this dry as you prepare the turkey head.
We used glue dots to attach the wiggly eyes of our turkey. You need to be sure to place them far enough apart that you can still fit the turkey nose. For the beak/nose, we cut a small square out of the yellow felt. Bending the back edges together, allowing the front to form a beak, we used one glue dot to hold the edges together and one glue dot to adhere the beak to the turkey's face. Then we cut out a red squiggle for the neck of the turkey.

The hard part was deciding how we were going to adhere the head of the turkey. Our original plan was to use popsicle sticks to attach the head we'd just made. Though our sticks were too short or our turkey was too tall to make this work. The shape of the balloon had actually given us a rather small opening, so we were able to cover the opening and rest the head just on top of the turkey. You are still able to fill it with goodies.

For the feathers we traced a hand and cut out two handprints of three colors for a total of six feathers. These were attached to the body of the turkey with the glue dots. The base was actually a piece of orange foam, cut to resemble turkey feet as best we could manage. As we were doing the tissue paper, we had flattened the base of the balloon just slightly while it was damp to allow the turkey to stand up.

To use your turkey as a name badge holder, you can simply attach name cards with glue dots at every seat. You could also use chenille sticks to create "arms" and place different gratitudes that can be changed out. We are so thrilled with our turkey and can't wait for him to be the centerpiece next week at dinner!

I can't see what else you have made with your original designs!

Signing off until tomorrow...

A Thankful Stroll Down Memory Lane

This post marks the last post of November - only two weeks since visiting my parents in New York and two days since celebrating Thanksgiving. Before bidding farewell to this month and getting caught up in the excitement of next month, I thought I would share some final things for which I am grateful.

I am grateful for where I grew up. This little town sits on a peninsula of water - beautiful, serene, and with all the creature comforts of a small town. BUT, the Douglaston Manor is just thirty minutes out side of Manhattan, which is to say, that in addition to sailing boats we can hop on a train and experience the best of what the city has to offer. It is a truly special place.

A point worth making.... One of the reasons this place remains quaint (even historical) is because a small group of committed people fight relentlessly against the massive development and homogenization being pursued by commercial developers. I am thankful to my mother and my father who are part of the committed few fighting to keep the neighborhood from being commercialized.

Below is a small slide show of my folk's house (the same house they lived in for the past 48 years), our block - Hollywood Avenue, and the surrounding neighborhood. I like the idea of sharing these pictures with you, because it's part of who I am.

The other thing for which I am grateful is my mother's sense of aesthetics (and creativity). I always love coming home, because my mother has a great eye and, inevitably, she has rearranged small nooks and crannies around the house. Somehow my mom can take simple items and display them in such a way that they look important. I didn't inherit that same sense of style, but I know enough to know it is quality worth appreciating. Maybe these aren't the best examples, but it gives you an idea of what I'm talking about.

So today, let's share our appreciation for places that are near and dear to our hearts. Describe a spot on the map that, when you close your eyes, you remember vividly and with fond memories. For me, it is the Douglaston Manor, in Douglaston, New York. How about you?

Maybe I'll get to learn a little more about each of you today. And, for that, I would be grateful.

Signing off until Monday... when we host our second Friendship Party, featuring a week of inexpensive gift ideas!

P.S.  648 licks to the center of my Tootsie Pop.  Richard is questioning my Tootsie Pop eating technique.  What can I say?  That's what it took.  Six hundred forty eight licks.  Maureen, your vote of 223 came the closest, making you the winner!