Sweet Tea Treaters!

OK...I am the first to say....I am not a big fan of Halloween!
But I think the sweetness of innocent children asking for treats is precious....
I just don't like how it has evolved.....I don't like the emphasis on the scary things.
I guess what I'm saying is I don't like the dark side of this day.
But......we love seeing the children's excitement and
enjoy what I like to call "harvest celebrations"!
Here's some of our visitors from this evening.....This shy little trickster is
appropriately dressed like a little cow......
appropriate because he takes great interest in milk!!!!
Someday he'll "love him some sweet tea" but for now...
it's all about the milk!


More sweettea tricksters...one is heading to
a cotillion costume party while the other one
will go out daddy and friends.

This neighbor friend planned on trick or treating until she saw the rug and decided "not so much"..... it was just too much trouble!!

Now...the only problem is what to do with all that leftover candy! Hmmmmm...
Be safe all! The Sweet Tea Cottage

What a cute spider tee!

Look what my talented friend made for my sweettea grand!
She made one for one of her sweettea grands too!
She found these organic cotton tees at Wal Mart.
Annelle is incredibly talented. She is a master seamstress
specializing in french heirloom sewing for children.
I cannot begin to tell you about the beautiful clothes
she has made for my grands throughout the years.
I tease her that if I were really rich, I would hire her
to sew an outfit every week! I will try to show you some other
things she has done for the grands in future posts.
But for now....take a look at the fun tee that she appliqued.
Here's a close up so you could see the cute details.
Notice how she even embroidered little orange shoelaces?

Thank you Sweettea Miss Annelle, from all of us! Love, The Sweet Tea Cottage

Wanna cup of coffee?

Good Morning! I thought I'd share some of this darling, yummy
coffee with you this morning.
It claims to be so good that it "lives up to your silvuh!"......

now, that is quite a confident claim, don't you think?

I have to look out the window again and peak at a turning tree....you know, this beautiful
fall display of God's handiwork doesn't last very long!
Enjoy your coffee and have a blessed day! The Sweet Tea Cottage
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

The leaves are turning!

I don't seem to be moving very fast today....... I keep wanting to just snuggle up on the sofa,
look out the window and watch the leaves turn!


"You care for the land and water it; you enrich it abundantly. The streams of God are filled with water to provide the people with grain, for so you have ordained it. You drench its furrows and level its ridges; you soften it with showers and bless its crops. You crown the year with your bounty, and your carts overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the desert overflow; the hills are clothed with gladness. The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing." (Psalm 65:9-13)

Fall, pantries and canned pumpkin!

Hi y'all! Welcome to fall at The Sweet Tea Cottage!

Fall is such a wonderful time of the year! Fall is football, school activities, crisp cool air, apples, pumpkins, craft fairs, trees blazing with fiery colors and the clearest, bluest skies of the year ! To me, it's a season that creates a yearning to nest, to gather, and to make our homes ready for the coming winter months. Now, realistically, most of don't have to "gather" the harvest as our grandmothers did in "times of old"......but doesn't it seem to bring a certain nesting, comforting feeling to stock our pantries in anticipation of cold winter nights and the coming holiday celebrations?

Speaking of "gathering" and stocking pantries....we have a normally common, but now "hard to find" item at our local grocery stores! Would you believe that we've had the hardest time finding canned pumpkin? The grocer said they have had a hard time getting it and when they do get in a small shipment, it has immediately flown off the shelves!

Now...I realize that this canned pumpkin shortage does not constitute a national emergency....but it was a reminder to me of how much I take it for granted that an item will always be available whenever I need it. I was so thankful to find at least one can buried in my pantry. The moral to the canned pumpkin story? A full, stocked pantry is just a very good thing to have.....but beware, you have to keep on top of it or you will find yourself with expired, therefore, wasted items! (Not that it's ever happened to me! ;)

O.K.....now that I have everyone running to their grocery store for canned pumpkin.....how about the easiest and most delicious pumpkin dessert you could ask for? It's called Pumpkin Pie Cake. Some even say they no longer make pumpkin pie because this is soooo easy and soooo good! I really thought everyone had this easy recipe until I took it to a friend (who's a great cook with a library full of cookbooks), and she said she'd never had it before and she loved it!

Gather all of your ingredients together, measure everything, crack the eggs, ect.....
The French call this preparation (as my "grand" chef,  Miss B has already learned)
"mise en place" (pronounced "meese au plas") meaning everything in its place.
It makes cooking so much easier, right Miss B? Although.......I am sure a French cook
would not be impressed with a recipe that dumps everything in a baking dish and
throws cake mix on top of it! Sorry Julie and Julia...we like it! :)
Mix all the filling ingredients together. (Remind me to tell you about this new beater
attachment in another blog!)
Pour the batter into a 3 qt. baking dish or divide into two smaller dishes if you wanna
share :). Sprinkle the dry cake mix over the top.
Pour the melted butter over the top of the cake mix.
Sprinkle pecans over the cake mix and put in preheated oven.
When it's golden and set, place on a rack to cool. Our screened porch was the perfect place
for me to let these cool.

This one is half pecans and half plain because it's going down the road
to the grands!
Now....if only I could find someone to clean up my mess! :)

PUMPKIN PIE CAKE
Filling:
1 29oz can pumpkin (or one jar of Williams-Sonoma butternut squash)
4 eggs
1 12oz can evaporated milk
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
Topping:
1 box yellow cake mix (or spice cake mix)
2 sticks melted butter (I use only 1 and 1/2 sticks...it's still good!)
1 cup chopped pecans
Mix filling ingredients together. Pour into buttered 9x13x2 baking pan. Sprinkle with chopped pecans. Pour melted butter on top. Bake in preheated oven 350 for about 45 minutes until set and golden. You can serve this with whipped cream or ice cream but it's wonderful just all by itself!