10/23/16

A Little of This and That


Happy new Fall week, everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend with some nice Fall weather to enjoy....not that Fallish here, but it's coming.  In my last post I mentioned I had a thing or two to share, so I am finally getting to it.  I have a serious love-affair with my crockpot....please tell me I'm not alone or I might just feel totally weird about the whole love-affair-thing!  Nope, it's true and I don't feel even a little bit weird about it.  I absolutely love popping ingredients into this workhorse and letting it do its thing!


 While I do enjoy using it in the cooler months, it's very much an all-season kitchen appliance.  This particular day, I wanted to make ham and bean soup.  We had cooked a spiral-cut ham a few months ago and tossed the bone with several pieces of the ham in the freezer.


I soaked the beans overnight, then drained, tossed them in the crockpot with the ham bone and other ingredients.


Ham Bone & Bean Soup
Crockpot
Serves: 8 (approx.)

1 lb. dry navy beans
1 ham bone, plus extra ham
8-10 baby carrots, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 med. onion, diced
Garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic) & black pepper to taste
1 bay leaf
6 cups of water

  1. Rinse beans, discard any stones or pebbles, cover with water & soak overnight.
  2. Remove any coating or surface fat from the ham bone & add to crock.
  3. Add drained beans, carrots, celery and onion to the crock, along with seasonings and bay leaf.
  4. Add 6 cups of water
  5. Cook on high to get everything heated up, then on low for about 8 hrs.
  6. Remove ham bone, allow to cool, and remove all meat.
  7. Return meat to the crockpot and continue cooking for 1-2 hrs., or until beans are soft.
  8. Taste at this point to see if any salt is needed.

The soup can be served at this point, or what I like to do is use my emulsifier just a little to add some creaminess to the soup....don’t overdo, this soup is meant to be chunky.

I serve mine with cornbread!  Enjoy.

You should be able to cut and paste this recipe.
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This next recipe I have to share I found on Pinterest, and it adds a whole new dimension to "Pumpkin Desserts!"  It is Pumpkin Dump Cake and the recipe can be found HERE.

Super easy to mix up!

This smelled so good while it was cooking.  I baked this the evening before we were expecting company, and The Man was so cute.....he kept saying how good it smelled.  Finally, I said we really should taste-test it since it was a new recipe, to which he responded "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

You have to watch it close toward the end of the cooking time so the pecans don't burn...oops!  They were still so good!


I made this because we were having company, and it was a huge success.  I seriously think this is better than pumpkin pie....oh, yes, I just said that!
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Next up is a super-easy craft.  In my last post, I shared my Fall mantel with the two garlands -- one being a leaf garland and the other paper circles.


I had a package similar to these in my stash from a year or so ago.

All I did was paint them on both sides with Folk Art Home Decor Chalk Paint -- White Adirondack, also in my stash.  Any chalk paint would do.  I tried to leave some of the leaf edges bare, 
for the color.


I simply hot glued them to some jute twine.  For the circles garland, I punched a bunch of 
different size circles out of book-page design cardstock.....this is the reason I hoard scrapbook paper! I glued them back-to-back on another piece of jute twine.  I painted a bunch of those leaves and have scattered them around in my Fall vignettes....love the look!

I hope you enjoyed your visit today, because I very much enjoyed your company! 
 Come back any time.

Warm hugs,
Carol

  I often party with these lovely bloggers:

Monday
 Cindy at Dwellings--The Heart of Your Home for Amaze Me Monday
Maria Elena at Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home

Tuesday
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life  for Inspire Me Tuesday

Wednesday
Suzy at Worthing Court for The Scoop

Thursday
Jemma at  At Home With Jemma for Thoughts of Home on Thursday
Richella at Imparting Grace for Grace at Home

18 comments:

  1. Oh I have the same crock-pot and I love it too. It is such a treasure and cooks the best meals.

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  2. The pumpkin dump cake sounds like a great easy dessert!

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  3. I love it when appliances do the work!

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  4. That pumpkin dump cake sounds and looks delicious, Carol! I might need to attempt that recipe! I use my crock pot at least once a week! Love it! Cute and simple project, love the look of the circles with the leaves! Blessings, Cindy xo

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  5. Wow, the soup and cake looks wonderful. I don't use my crock pot enough but I'm inspired. Sometimes 5:00 rolls around and I totally don't feel like cooking. Thank you!

    I love your leaf garland. I usually have some sort of garland over my hearth. The leaves are darling. Do you ever find that your pieces, leaves or circles flip over on the jute? I simply don't have the answer to that. Drives me nuts!

    Happy Fall, Carol!

    Jane

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  6. Wonderful recipes, Carol. I do love my crock pot! I use it at least two or three times a week. It is such a big help for me. Your leaf garland is beautiful! Have a wonderful week. Maria

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  7. I love my crockpot, too, Carol! I use it all year round, too. Not so much anymore since I am cooking for one now. Love the cute garland and I have to try that cake. xo Diana

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  8. I'm sitting here with my slice of pumpkin bread, wishing it was that pumpkin dump cake! Oh, that looks so good! Your soup sounds amazing too. I remember the first time I made bean soup when we were newly married. I'd never made it before and my hubby said to be sure and remove all the rocks and pebbles. I was like "What??? There are ROCKS in that bag of beans???" And sure enough, we found a few. I had no idea you had to filter out the rocks before cooking the beans. I still find that weird. Lol!

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  9. I am a garland junkie, Carol, and I love yours. My mantle feels naked without one. Your recipes scream fall and with temps dropping here, I could get on board with both of them...especially that dump cake! ;) And yes...I love my crock pot, too!! Makes cooking easy and it's red!!

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  10. Hi Carol! Oh,your ham and beans soup looks so good! I've made dump cakes before but never a pumpkin one! I'll have to try this! Thank you so much for popping in to see me.
    be a sweetie,
    Shelia ;)

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  11. I made the pumpkin dump cake for our dinner group and everyone LOVED it! Even the girl who is a really good baker. I am not:) The soup sounds delicious and I, too love my crockpot! It is cold and rainy here:( Right now it is 3;45 in the afternoon and almost getting dark cause it is so cloudy. YUCK!!!!

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  12. Oh my Carol....I think I am going to have to pin this post. Both recipes sound yummy, although I am partial to the desserts! Thanks for sharing.

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  13. I love my crock pot too. Carol! ! I don't use it a lot in the warmer weather but love cooking yummy comfort food..in fact bean soup and cornbread is one of our favorites and yours looks delish! I also gook my Thanksgiving ham in it while the turkey is in the oven! And that pumpkin dump cake...one of my most favorite fall desserts! Remember my post about me and my sis at the beach? We made that for my birthday!

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  14. Oh I love a good bean soup. I cant wait to try your recipe. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  15. When I see ham and navy bean soup I though of my Mom. She made it and thickened it with leftover mashed potatoes which I always thought was so cool! The pumpkin dump cake looks and sound so good too and my your've busy cooking and crafting!

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  16. I hope this finds you and yours doing well. May we display your header on our new site directory? As it is now, the site title (linked back to its home page) is listed, and we think displaying the header will attract more attention. In any event, we hope you will come by and see what is going on at SiteHoundSniffs.com.

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  17. *giggles* Your husband gets cuteness points for that! Our daughter Shanley would love that dump cake. I'm sending her the link after I finish this comment! I'm definitely pinning the soup recipe. I love white beans! Thanks, Carol!

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I truly love to hear from you and try to respond to each and everyone. If you have "no reply blogger," I will respond in my comments section and then visit your blog as soon as I can.

Make this a great day!
Carol