you're the third person to suggest a pamphlet this week. I'm gonna have to consider it. I went again today, I made roughly the same amount that I did last sunday, but last week I had a lot more sampler pack sales, this week I had substantially more sales, but most were just one bottle. hey, that's fine by me. all the people in the booths next to me kept commenting on how slow it was, and how I seemed to be the only one making any money. I am slowly but surely beginning to put the pieces together to do farmers markets and larger outdoor events. it's almost scary to me how much more comfortable I'm getting when it comes to speaking to customers, and calling people over to try samples. I don't wanna get ahead of myself but this is starting to seem like it's gonna work out just fine. the most difficult part is getting people over to my table to try samples, once I get them there, actually selling the sauce is easy. it pretty much sells itself.

What a Thanksgiving! dS2 left today to drive back up north to college, dd and boyfriend left Thursday evening to back to their homes and jobs, Auntie left yesterday afternoon, still have MIL and DS1 and his gf. DH and his mom are tending the bonfire, DS and GF are playing tennis and I am taking a break in the library :-). We took MIL who has advancing dementia to local ballet school matinee performance of the Nutcracker today and she LOVED it, much to our surprise and delight! Biggest excitement--- daughter's boyfriend asked DH for our permission to ask her to marry him! We are keeping quiet as he plans to do this in a few weeks and we don't want spoil the surprise! We could not be happier as the young man is exactly who we would order as a SIL and he is truly devoted to our girl. Tired of cooking and serving, that's for sure! Mtn, I realized -- finally-- that I used a 9.5" springform pan instead of a 9" or 8", which is why it looked so flat. It was still delicious, though, and the apple pie from our local Methodist youth group was fantastic! And do you know, I am sending people home with their gingerbread house kits. We were having such a good time talking and visiting that the afternoon sped by with no need for a planned indoor activity! We will save ours for Christmas Eve when my nephews are staying over. Chibimimi, you are a veritable pioneer! I cannot imagine cooking over an open fire and really admire you for not giving in and running to the nearest restaurant. Bbstx, wine was definitely involved! We had a Viognier and a Beaujolais for our turkey dinner, and shooters of hot wassail spiked with spiced rum in mini christmas mugs. Let's just say it was pretty cheerful oPattyxlynn, what a great idea for a dessert/snack---- caramelized apple chips----and I'll bet your apple cinnamon loaves were delicious! I am often dubious of the photos I see on Pinterest.......they look like the product of a craft room staff, not a single harried individual with a pair of scissors and a roll of ribbon. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

A canteloupe and honeydew chunked and added to some grapes is good. The old cocktail franks in sauce is always a hit. Nice variation is to use a country style smoked sausage sliced up and cook a little of the fat out of it. Either use the jelly & chili sauce mixture or I often just use a bottle of BBQ sauce cut with about an equal amount of ketchup. Frozen meatballs work well with this too and again are always popular with any income bracket. The hashbrown casserole is easy, as is a macaroni hotdish. It's actually not difficult to make a cole slaw or potato salad. A vat of sloppy joes or chili? Even a simple relish tray is not difficult or overly expensive. Things like baby carrots, a stalk of celery, some radishes, green onions, olives & pickles with a container of dip in the middle with a spoon. Doesn't have to have these. Make an assortment. A head of cauliflower and/or broccoli is easy to cut up, makes a lot and when you look at the the prepared trays cost, it's impressive, colorful and healthy too. Not dependant on heat or cold either. A foil covered piece of cardboard will hold it nicely too if you don't have a large platter or some type of tray for it. For a guy to bring something baked is sort of unusual and usually can impress. Butterscotch Brownies are a nice change from chocolate. These don't need to be iced either so it saves money, time and effort. Butterscotch Brownies 1/4 C butter or shortening 1 C packed brown sugar 1 egg 3/4 C flour 1/2 t salt 1 t baking powder 1/2 t vanilla 1/2 C chopped cashews or other nuts (optional) Cream butter, sugar and eggs. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and vanilla. Batter will be thick, spread it in an a greased or sprayed 8x8" pan (I use 9"x9" and they're fine) and top with nuts if desired. Bake 350 for 25 minutes or until done. You can use vegetable oil in place of butter or shortening and mix whole wheat flour as part of the flour in this recipe. Here's another good and simple one. I was often asked to make these easy bars. Not difficult but they look pretty impressive and if they don't know, think it took a long time to make. Simple, not too expensive either and makes quite a few if you cut them smaller. I don't care for the dry coconut so I omit it. I do like to mix the chips though so I add another package of butterscotch or vanilla chips or sometimes substitute as part of the recipe amount using smaller bags. They're versitile! EZ Bars Makes about 2 dozen 1/2 cup melted butter 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs 1 cup chopped pecans 1 package (12-ounce size) semisweet chocolate morsels 1 can (3 1/2-ounce size) flaked coconut 1 can (14-ounce size) sweetened condensed milk NOTE: To make these, just add the ingredients in order - sprinkling them on evenly. DO NOT STIR! I also like to line the pan with foil to make it easier to remove the bars and clean the pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking pan. (Saves cleanup) Make sure the melted butter is not all in one spot - spread it around. Sprinkle evenly with cracker crumbs, then sprinkle on the pecans. Next, sprinkle with the chips, then coconut if desired. Drizzle the condensed milk evenly over top. (I found it easiest to hold the can up a foot or so and pour slowly a thin stream. I make a circle around the perimeter, in about an inch or two and then just swirl it around judging how much is left to make sure it's distributed evenly. Sounds more difficult and critical than it is.) Bake 25 minutes or until brown. Cool about 20 minutes; cut into bars. Hope he impresses the daylights out of them! Good luck!

These are a huge hit at work and with clients. I received orders for 13 dozen this week alone! They freeze beautifully. Pumpkin Whoopie Pies (Annie's Eats) Yield: about 32 sandwich cookies Ingredients For the pumpkin cookies: 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 2 tbsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. ground ginger 1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 cup granulated sugar 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed 1 cup canola oil 3 cups chilled pumpkin puree 2 large eggs 1 tsp. vanilla extract For the maple cream cheese filling: 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature 8 oz. cream cheese, cold 2 tbsp. maple syrup 1 tsp. vanilla extract Directions To make the pumpkin cookies, preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and spices. Set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk sugars and oil together. Add the pumpkin puree and whisk to combine thoroughly. Add the eggs and vanilla and whisk until combined. Sprinkle the flour mixture over the pumpkin mixture and whisk until completely combined. Transfer the cookie batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large plain round tip (I use an Ateco #809). Pipe small rounds of the batter onto the prepared baking sheets, about 1.5-2 inches in diameter. (If your dough seems to thick to pipe, you can drop scoops of it onto the baking sheet. Or just add a bit more liquid. This recipe is pretty forgiving.) Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a cookie comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool on the pan for about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter. To make the filling, combine the butter and cream cheese in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium-heat speed until smooth, about 1-2 minutes. Add the powdered sugar, maple syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth. Be careful not to overbeat the filling or it will lose structure. Transfer the filling to a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip. To assemble, pair the cookies up by size. Pipe filling onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair, and sandwich together with the remaining cookie. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to firm before serving. Here is a link that might be useful: Pumpkin Whoopie Pies