Meal Swap!

 (layered burrito casserole)

The main purpose for our Soul Sister's get together last week was for our first Meal Swap!

I saw a story about Meal Ku, a NYC based meal co-op that helps members exchange homemade meals.  I was inspired!  I popped off an email to my girls that very morning and our first Meal Swap was born!

 (homemade meatballs and sauce with frozen cookie dough balls!)

We agreed upon a date and time and everyone arrived with meals packaged to share.

 (white chicken chili with grainy cornbread)

We had great variety and everything was ready top pop into the freezer...Easy Peasy!

 (turkey and stuffing dinner with homemade cranberry relish!)

Some girls even included sides or dessert items to complete the meal.  We had lunch together, worked on a few craft projects, then loaded up our meals and headed home relieved to know that dinner was taken care of tonight...and for a few more nights!

If you would like to organize a Meal Swap among your friends or co-workers, try some of these websites for recipe inspiration: 

Make Ahead Recipes - Food Network

40+ Make Ahead Meals - Mel's Kitchen

Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms

Let's Make Bead Rings!

The Soul Sisters got together for some fun last week and one of our projects was this bead ring made from wire!  Treat Girl came  home from New York with this ring and after a quick Sisters' visit to Hobby Lobby were up and running!

Supplies:

1 large, flat bead (any size, shape, or color will work!)
20 gauge wire

Begin by creating the ring for your finger.  Now, there were 4 of us in the room and we all did it differently.  Some of us wrapped it around our finger, some made a loop and wound it free-form, and others pulled out a rubber scraper and used the handle!

If you want to be all pro about it, you would use a ring sizer...we didn't have one of those so we improvised.

Wind your wire about 8 times, or more for a thicker ring:

Now, cut another length of wire - maybe about 20 inches to be sure you have enough, and thread it through the holes in the bead like this (I started out with 2 seed beads on each end, but soon ditched this plan and went with the solo bead):

You can begin to wind the wire around the ring base several times at each end of the bead, like this:

 At this point, you can either stop and tuck in the loose ends, or you can wind the wire across and under the bead to further secure it like this:

Tuck in ends of wire and crimp closed and pose with your girlies!  We made a bold, chunky statement ring, but use your imagination! 

We did a lot of fun stuff at this latest get together and I'll share more later this week!

Laughing, Planning, Spying, and Pumpkin Tiramisu

Intriguing title, no? Well, the girls got together to plan our upcoming weekend away. And nothing aids in planning like apple muffins, pumpkin tiramisu, and coffee.

November is D-day for our girls weekend, and we couldn't be more excited to get away to the Laurel Mountains for a few days. We planned our meals, (lasagna, soup, sausage souffle, and dinner out!)

We planned our field trips, (art festival at the lodge and Ligonier for shopping!)

And our crafts, (fabric flowers, a scrunchy scarves, pumpkin jars, button bracelets, and sugar cookies!)

Finally, we assigned everyone to bring their favorite cocktail and video to share. Do you think we have enough planned for our 2 days away?

After all that planning, there was plenty of time for picture taking

Some internet spying (seriously, who needs private detectives with Google around?)

And Pumpkin Tiramisu:

Someone twittered this recipe from BGH and I was in love...

Pumpkin Tiramisu

Ingredients:

1/4 cup maple syrup
1 T. bourbon

Combine and set aside.

1/2 of a 15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
4 oz. mascarpone cheese, softened
1 T. powdered sugar
1/2 cup whipping cream
3 oz. package lady fingers

**I assembled this recipe as instructed, but found it messy and ugly to lift out of the pan with plastic wrap, I'm going to give you instructions to layer it upside down so you can just turn it out onto a plate and get rid of the plastic wrap.**

Assemble your fillings:

Combine pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. In small mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on med. speed to medium peaks. Fold into pumpkin mixture.

In another small bowl, combine mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar and beat on low speed. Gradually add 1/2 cup whipping cream until thickened (do not overbeat).

To assemble, line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving long edges hanging over the sides.

Fill bottom of pan with the mascarpone cheese filling and smooth with spoon.

Spread half of the pumpkin mixture over the mascarpone and smooth with back of spoon.

Arrange 1/2 of the lady fingers in a single layer on top of filling and drizzle with half the maple syrup/bourbon mixture.

Spread remaining pumpkin filling on top of lady fingers.

Add another layer of the remaining lady fingers and drizzle with remaining syrup.

Fold long edges of plastic wrap over the top to seal and place in fridge for 8 - 24 hours.

Turn out onto serving platter, sprinkle with nutmeg, then slice and serve to giggling girlfriends with coffee.

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Estrogen Replenishment

The Soul Sisters convened yesterday morning and I replenished my estrogen reserves to get me through another month in this hub of testosterone. It was a relaxed morning of talking, coffee, and blueberry scones.

We determined that Oprah is out of touch with reality, and needs to stick with dogs.

We agreed that Ellen is hilarious and we can't get enough (even though her obsession with sharing about Portia gets a little creepy sometimes)

We learned how to schedule our blog posts ahead.

We planned future field trips together and made a list.

We swooned over "M"s new sassy haircut that is soooo swingy!

We ate lots of yummy food (scones and chocolate chip cookies!) and requested recipes.

We laughed at facebook profiles of some recent "friend requests" (who do those people think they are fooling with those pictures???)

We bitched a little (a teeny bit)about our husbands/kids/messy houses.

We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over Joy's new wood and glass ring line she brought to share. Take a look!





We promised to meet again soon and bring all our fabric scraps to share for a fun project we are excited about!

Joy wrote to her "sisters" this week and shared this amazing quote. I have to pass it on. My wish for you is to have friends like I have...


"What I expect from my male friends is that they are polite and clean. What I expect from my female friends is unconditional love, the ability to finish my sentences for me when I am sobbing, a complete and total willingness to pour their hearts out to me, and the ability to tell me why the meat thermometer isn't supposed to touch the bone." -Anna Quindlen

Cheers to Soul Sisters, my kindred spirits in this crazy world.