Ideas For You
Hope everyone has been enjoying holiday decorating, gift wrapping and meal prepping. Here is a little treat to download for your desktop wallpaper from Lovely Lula. Merry Christmas!
Download the PDF Here: Lovely Christmas
Here is a sweet little gift from us at Lovely Lula, some free holiday printables. These gift tags are the perfect way to spruce up any gift, with minimal effort. Simply click to download the free PDFs we’ve provided and print them out. Make yours are unique and print them on a nice piece of card-stock or your favorite paper then cut around the designs, hole punch and tie a ribbon through the hole. You can have fabulous handcrafted gift tags in minutes! Enjoy and Merry Christmas!
Green Christmas Gift Tags-Download
Green Christmas Gift Tags2-Download
Black and White Gift Tags-Download
Black and White Gift Tags-Download2
It’s Black Friday. Is your refrigerator stuffed with Thanksgiving leftovers? Why do we prepare so much for one meal? Now what do we do with all the left overs? Let’s get to sharing ideas because really a delicious turkey deserves a better after life then being slapped between two pieces of wonder bread. Tis the season for soup I say. I make a killer chicken noodle soup and so this year I am going to alter my recipe and make it with all of the left over turkey. If the batch it too big I’ll freeze some and pull it out mid winter to enjoy on a day when dinner prep is just too much. Here is my recipe normally made with chicken but altered for a post Thanksgiving change. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Turkey
2 lbs Carrots
1 Celery bunch
2 Yellow Onions
1 Bunch whole leaf Parsley
3 Bay leaves
1 tsp marjoram
1 Garlic bulb (peeled)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive Oil
12 oz egg noodles (I use Gluten Free)
Directions For Broth:
- Strip all of the meat off of the carcass.
- Cut up 1 pound of carrots, one onion and half of a celery bunch.
- Place carcass, cut carrots, onion, celery, bay leaves, half of the garlic bulb and ½ of the parsley bunch into a large pot cover with water and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to a simmer and allow to cook in the pot for one hour.
- Strain broth into a bowl, discard the carcass, vegetables and bay leaves.
Directions For Soup:
- Cut up 1 pound of carrots, one onion and half of a celery bunch.
- In a stock pot place 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
- Add freshly cut vegetables cook in the oil until the onions are clear (5 to 7 min.)
- Add broth, turkey, marjoram, salt and pepper and other half of parsley bunch.
- Simmer for 30 minutes
- Cook noodles in a separate pan
- Dish noodles into a bowl and pour soup over top. Serve immediately.
NOTE: This recipe will make a lot of soup so serve some and then freeze the rest in small freezer bags to pull out when the mood strikes. It will keep in the freezer for 6 months.
I love hiking outside during great Fall weather in the Sonoran Desert. On a recent hike in Flagstaff, AZ I spotted several hearts on the trail. Some of them are man made but still pretty to come upon. Here are some highlights that inspire me to get out my opaque watercolors and paint these pretty pictures.
Homemade Pumpkin Ice cream with Graham Cracker Dust
Ingredients:
- 1 cup pumpkin puree canned
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Directions:
In a bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree and vanilla. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours
In a heavy 2-quart saucepan over medium heat, combine 1 1/2 cups of the cream and 1/2 cup of the brown sugar. Cook until bubbles form around the edges of the pan, around 5 minutes.
In a bowl, combine egg yolks, cinnamon, ginger, salt, nutmeg, the remaining 1/2 cup cream and the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar. Whisk until smooth.
Remove the cream mixture from the heat. Gradually whisk about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the egg mixture back into the pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon and keeping to a low simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Around 5 minutes. Do not allow the custard to boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl.
Place the bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice water, stirring occasionally until cool. Whisk the pumpkin mixture into the custard. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
Transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to a freezer-safe container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days, before serving. Makes about 1 quart.
Fill a zip lock back with graham crackers and smash into a fine powder.
Place frozen ice cream in fun cups, sprinkle with graham cracker dust and Serve.
Enjoy!
Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream with Graham Cracker topping
