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Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Spiced Fruit Compote

This delectable compote not only tastes divine---it's gorgeous too! Serve with a simple sweet bread at breakfast or as an after dinner dessert with tea.

About ten years ago, we lived in a very tiny town in Eastern Oregon called Weston. There were a couple of plum trees, as well as an apple tree in our yard, and all the blackberries you could pick just down the street. At the end of the summer, someone gave me a huge bag of walnuts so I began looking for ways I could use them and came across a recipe for fruit compote. I made a TON of jars and gave them as Christmas gifts, as well as stored many in the cold storage room off the side of the house. In all that time, I've never made it again---until this morning.

I'm not sure what possessed me to revive this delectable mixture of sweet fruits and nuts, but I'm sure glad I did! I made some this morning to go on Lynzie's family-famous sweet bread recipe and it was just wonderful! 

 Since I had a lot to do today, I did a quickie method and baked it in the oven instead of cooking it on the stovetop like I used to. Since there wasn't time for the fruit to cook down, I added some apricot jam to give it a better spreading consistency. Wonderful idea---it was great!

Give it a try and let me know what you think! It's great for the holidays---and all year round!

Oven Baked Fruit Compote (serves about 8)

6 apples, cored and diced
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup raisins
1½ cups coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup water 
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp. each cloves, nutmeg, ginger
1 c. apricot or peach jam

Preheat oven to 450ยบ. Mix all ingredients, except jam, and spread into a greased 13x9 dish. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes. Mix in jam and serve over bread, or alone!

Thanks for stopping by The {Not Just} Homemaking Party! Happy Thanksgiving to all my USA friends!
Linking with:
Homemaking Party @ Hope In Every Season





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Monday, November 23, 2015

IDO3D Art for a Snowy Day Kids' Activity


My kids were pretty excited to see this IDO3D art set show up on the porch today. While it's a new-to-me product, the kids knew what it was and thought they'd accidentally stumbled on a Christmas present! IDO3D is a pen and ink set that allows the user to draw a picture and then cure it to form a 3D object. If your child enjoys creative projects, this might be a good set to try out. 

Begin by drawing or tracing the parts to your object. We started with a simple flower. We drew the main part of the flower, a separate stem, and separate flower pot parts.

We used the IDO3D spotlight to harden the ink. 

Once all the pieces were drawn and hardened, we used spots of ink to stick the pieces together and hardened them to make a 3D shape.

Here's our flower pot. Pretty cute!

IDO3D has been ranked among the top 10 toys. Check it out on Amazon for a unique holiday gift idea or rainy day activity for kids.
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Sunday, November 22, 2015

Vintage Show & Tell #3: Gurley Thanksgiving Candles


Thanks so much for visiting Vintage Show & Tell! I've moved the party to Mondays because it conflicted with my Homemaking Party and my readers were getting confused about where to link up. I hope this is convenient for you all.
I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week! This year has been flying by, and I'm determined to slow it down a bit. I'm cancelling school for the rest of the year and pulling out the crafts, sewing, and baking supplies. The Coller family is going to make the most of these last six weeks of 2015!
Earlier this afternoon, I was cleaning out some boxes and came across this set of Gurley pilgrim candles! I found them at a local thrift store this summer and put them aside to sell in my Etsy shop. I forgot all about them---but they were there waiting for me and just in time, too!
I have several vintage Gurley and Tavern candles. I'll show off my Christmas collection of vintage molded candles here in a couple weeks. 
The Gurley Novelty Co. started out in 1939 as part of Franklin Gurley's W&F Manufacturing Co. The Gurley line was first commissioned by the Socony-Vacuum Oil Company (now ExxonMobil) as a way to reuse the excess paraffin produced as a by-product of the process of refining oil. They were first marketed under the name, Tavern. In 1949, Franklin bought all rights to the Tavern name and changed it to Gurley Novelty Co. The candles sold for .10 to .99 and sold well into the 1970s. Recently, The Vermont Country Store (love them!) bought the molds and are reproducing the candles for sale again. Awesome!

Make sure to grab a NEW BUTTON with the new day on it to spread the word about the link up. I'm excited to see what you've got to share!
Hope In Every Season
Linking with:
The Art of Homemaking

A Round Tuit @ Creating My Way to Success 
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