Fall Fruits Festival Giveaway Winners & More Giveaways

What a fun week it was last week! Thank you all so much for all the visits, comments, and great recipe links!! Be sure to go back and get all the recipes if you haven't (you've got to click through to my blog to see all the recipe link-ups!): Pears (12 recipes), Pumpkin (24 recipes), Apples (15 recipes), Cranberries (16 recipes), and Chocolate (14 recipes) - and check out the recipe I created and posted at Frugal Femina: Coffee Blondies With a Shot of Chocolate (sorry, I'm just so excited that I was actually able to make up a recipe and it turned out yummy!)!!

Want to know who won all the good stuff??

Pear-themed giveaway: The Real Me

Pumpkin-themed giveaway: Charlotte

Apple-themed giveaway: Sandi (I need you to contact me w/ your info!)

Cranberry-themed giveaway: Karen K

Chocolate-themed giveaway: knit1kids4

Congrats to all the winners!!

Now - if you didn't win, don't be sad! Get even by entering some of these other great giveaways my friends are having! Feel free to list more giveaways in the comments!

Homesteader's Heart: Coffee, chocolate & recipes

Blessed Beyond Imagination: Fall wreath

Real Life: Flirty Apron

Mom's The Word: Blog Makeover

A Soft Place to Land: DiscHangers

Frugal Plus: Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms cookbook

Frugal Creativity: $60 Paperspring gift certificate

Like a Warm Cup of Coffee: Red Letter Words art

Have a fabulous Monday my friends!!

Fall Fruits Festival ~ Chocolate & Giveaway

** Giveaway now closed. **

Welcome to the last day of the Fall Fruits Festival! I've combined it with my usual Chocolate Friday. I felt that it was only right that I should declare Chocolate to be a Fall Fruit - LOL! Should be much easier to get those recommended fruit servings now - you're welcome. :) Whether or not you agree that chocolate is a fruit, it does go well with fruit and it is a good Fall food!

Have you experienced the fun of every day of the Festival this week? You don't want to miss out on all the yummy recipes linked up to each day!

Day 1 ~ Pears
Day 2 ~ Pumpkin
Day 3 ~ Apples
Day 4 ~ Cranberries

Now if you're all caught up, you should reward yourself with some chocolate! I knew that I wanted to find a recipe for today that combined pumpkin and chocolate. I thought about truffles, but didn't see a recipe I liked. I also thought about combining pumpkin fudge with regular chocolate fudge - yum! But then I thought of something else and found a recipe to try. This is a nice Fall biscotti and it does combine pumpkin and chocolate!

You can get the recipe for Pumpkin Pecan Biscotti at epicurious.com. It doesn't have an overwhelming pumpkin flavor, not too much chocolate, and it isn't super sweet. It's just right! The recipe calls for white chocolate, but I didn't have any. I just used about a half cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips instead. This biscotti is softer than the other kinds I make, but I like it!

** GIVEAWAY CLOSED. ** And now...giveaway time!

This giveaway is for chocolate!! That's over a pound of Trader Joe's dark chocolate! I feel certain that you can come up with some use for it. :)

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! That's it! The giveaway will stay open through 10pm PST on Sunday 10/18 and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments.

Now it's time for you to link up your chocolate posts and recipes, because it's kind to share! You can link up a new or old post about chocolate, but please do include a link back to this post so everybody can enjoy the Fall Fruits Festival (and Chocolate Friday)! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share chocolate links and recipes in the comments.

Check back through the day to see all the chocolate posts linking up! I can't believe this is the last day of the Festival! My only regret is that I didn't make it a requirement to give me a sample to taste for every recipe linked - LOL! You can come back all weekend long and look at all the links (and you can still link up your posts) and enter the giveaways! Giveaway winners will be announced on Monday. Thank you so much for helping to make this such a fun and successful week! I really hope you enjoyed it!

Have a fantastic Friday friends!

I'm linking this up to the Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap!  I'm also linking this to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam!

Take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss any of the fun during the Fall Fruits Festival!

Fall Fruits Festival ~ Cranberries & Giveaway

** Giveaway now closed. **

Welcome to another day of the Fall Fruits Festival! I'm so glad you were able to stop by! We've already made it to Day 4! Today is all about Cranberries! Just in case you've missed any of the days, you need to go back and check out all the great recipes and enter all the giveaways:

Day 1 ~ Pears
Day 2 ~ Pumpkin
Day 3 ~ Apples

Wisconsin is the largest producer of cranberries in the United States, with Massachusetts coming in second. Cranberries are harvested in the Fall, usually in September and October. Fresh cranberries can be frozen for several months and used in recipes without thawing.

I do have some cranberry recipes that have appeared on my blog, like Dried Cranberry Biscotti, Pantry Cranberry-Apple Sauce, and Red White & Blueberry Cookies. I also have a couple of cranberry recipes from my other blog: Ham and Arugula Sandwiches with Cranberry Chutney, and Cranberry Nut Turkey Salad.

The recipe I'm sharing today is made with fresh cranberries. I got the recipe from my Stepmother. I love it and I love that it makes multiple loaves - there's one in my freezer right now!

Cranberry Nut Bread

2/3 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
2 cups chopped walnuts

Cream butter and sugar. Add slightly beaten eggs and mix until smooth. Add flour and mix (dough will be thick). Stir in chopped cranberries and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. Makes 3 small loaves or 2 regular loaves.

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Yum. I think this makes a nice gift at Christmas or something good to snack on at Thanksgiving! It's excellent for breakfast with your cup of coffee or tea.

Giveaway time again!



This giveaway is for a dozen homemade Dried Cranberry Biscotti and a box of Trader Joe's Organic Cranberry Green Tea.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! That's it! The giveaway will stay open through 10pm PST on Sunday 10/18 and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments.

Now it's time for you to link up your cranberry posts and recipes so we can all get some new cranberry ideas! You can link up a new or old post about cranberries, but please do include a link back to this post so everybody can enjoy the Fall Fruits Festival! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share cranberry links and recipes in the comments.

Check back through the day to see all the cranberry posts linking up! Please come back tomorrow - it's Day 5 and it's Chocolate! I declared it a Fall fruit - LOL! Thank you for coming by today!

Have a thrilling Thursday friends!

Take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss any of the fun during the Fall Fruits Festival!

Fall Fruits Festival ~ Apples & Giveaway

** Giveaway now closed. **

Welcome back to the Fall Fruits Festival! Today is all about apples. Yummy apple recipes work for me! An apple-themed giveaway works too! :)

Have you enjoyed all of the Fall Fruits Festival so far? For more yummy recipes and to enter all the giveaways, be sure to stop by:

Day 1 - Pears
Day 2 - Pumpkin

Did you know that apples are a member of the rose family? Did you know that it takes 4-5 years before an apple tree bears its first fruit? Or that apples are 80-85% water? Just some trivia to make you a little smarter. :)

When Fall starts here, we are able to go up to Apple Hill and visit lots of apple orchards. So fun and the apples are wonderful! While there recently, I got a box of Granny Smith apples. I had to use them in some great recipes.

When I saw this particular recipe, I KNEW I had to make it for my husband. My instincts were right - this recipe is great! I loved it; my husband loved it; my Dad loved it; and it was a big hit at my church potluck! Thank you to my Pillsbury calendar! :) We're going to have this pie for Thanksgiving so I'm linking it up to Tried and True Thanksgiving Recipes Week at What's Cooking At My House!  And I'm linking it up to the Love The Pie party happening over at Tidy Mom - yum!

Sour Cream-Apple Pie

CRUST
1 refrigerated pie crust, softened or
1 frozen pie crust or
1 homemade pie crust *

FILLING
1 1/4 cups sour cream
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 egg
6 cups 1/4-inch slices peeled baking apples

TOPPING
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Dash salt
3 tablespoons cold butter

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare pie crust as directed. In large bowl, beat sour cream, granulated sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg with wire whisk until well blended; stir in apples. Pour into crust-lined pie plate.

2. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F; bake 30 minutes longer.

3. Meanwhile, in medium bowl, mix all topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture looks like coarse crumbs; refrigerate until ready to use.

4. Sprinkle topping over pie. Bake 20-25 minutes longer or until topping is golden brown. Cool completely on rack, about 2 hours. Cover and refrigerate any remaining pie.

* Please don't tell Donna from Way More Homemade that I used a frozen Marie Callender's pie crust instead of making my own!! :)

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Since I still had plenty of apples left, I decided to try making homemade applesauce. I tried this recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. It turned out great! I just used less lemon juice and more sugar to make up for my very tart Granny Smith apples. It was so easy to do and yummy!

And now...apple-themed giveaway anyone??

This giveaway is for a small apple teapot and 2 kitchen towels.

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! That's it! The giveaway will stay open through 10pm PST on Sunday 10/18 and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments.

Now it's time for you to link up your apple posts and recipes so we can all enjoy the apple goodness! You can link up a new or old post about apples, but please do include a link back to this post so everybody can enjoy the Fall Fruits Festival! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share apple links and recipes in the comments.

Check back through the day to see all the apple posts linking up! I hope you'll come back tomorrow - it's Day 4 and it's about Cranberries! So glad you stopped by - I hope to see you again!

Have a wonderful Wednesday friends!

I'm linking this up for Works-For-Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family because great apple recipes and giveaways are workin' for me!

Take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss any of the fun during the Fall Fruits Festival!

Fall Fruits Festival ~ Pumpkin & Giveaway

** Giveaway now closed. **

Welcome to Day 2 of the Fall Fruits Festival! I hope you had as much fun as I did yesterday! If you haven't stopped by Day 1, you better go there to check out all the delicious pear recipes linked up (I am so excited that there are so many great pear recipes!) and enter the pear-themed giveaway! Then come on back here for Day 2 - Pumpkin!! You'll find another yummy recipe, a giveaway, and you get to link up your pumpkin posts and recipes today!

I usually post about tea on Tuesdays (Tea For Two-sday). So maybe I better share some pumpkin tea with you! Sit down and relax with a cup while you read on!

Back to pumpkin. I know - you're thinking that pumpkin is a vegetable. And you'd be right, because my readers are quite intelligent. :) But pumpkin is also a fruit! It contains seeds inside, which makes it technically a fruit...and it's also considered a vegetable. Good thing for me - I wouldn't have wanted to change the name of my theme week just so I could include the pumpkin!

Last year I had a Pumpkin Potpourri week with all sorts of pumpkin recipes and fun. There were some of my favorite recipes, like: Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins, Pumpkin Bread, Pumpkin Pudding, and Pumpkin Dessert. This year we've just got one day for pumpkin, so let's make it a good one!

I found this recipe for Starbucks Pumpkin Scones at RecipeZaar.com and had to try it. Y.U.M. These scones are wonderful! You can get the recipe there, but I do have pics for you!

Oh I do wish I had one right now!

It's time for another giveaway! Today's giveaway is pumpkin-themed, of course!

This giveaway is for a cute salt & pepper shaker set, a pack of Fall stickers, a Pumpkin recipe book, and 2 Pumpkin Spice teabags. Have a little pumpkin fun!

Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! That's it! The giveaway will stay open through 10pm PST on Sunday 10/18 and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments.

Now it's time for you to link up your pumpkin posts and recipes so we can all enjoy the pumpkin smells, flavors, and fun! You can link up a new or old post about pumpkins, but please do include a link back to this post so everybody can enjoy the Fall Fruits Festival! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share pumpkin links and recipes in the comments.

Be sure to check back during the day to see all the pumpkin posts linking up! And you've got to go back and look at all the pear posts from yesterday - such good ones! I hope you'll come back tomorrow too - Day 3 is all about Apples! I am really enjoying seeing so many friends stopping by and meeting new friends! Thank you so much for doing a great job spreading the word about my fun little week - the more posts linking up, the merrier!

Have a terrific Tuesday friends!

I'm linking this post up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam (please note that her blog location has changed to http://www.beautyandbedlam.com)!

Take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss any of the fun during the Fall Fruits Festival!

Fall Fruits Festival ~ Pear Dessert

** Giveaway now closed. **

The Fall Fruits Festival has begun!! Welcome! We're going to have a fun week - I hope you'll stop by each day to enjoy a new fruit, recipes, links and giveaways! I'm starting with pears, then pumpkin tomorrow, apples on Wednesday, cranberries on Thursday, and chocolate on Friday. Oh - I'm sorry - maybe I should have mentioned that I have declared chocolate as a Fall fruit! Get your pear post ready to link up below! And yes, there's a pear-themed giveaway today, but you'll have to get through this post first. :)

Pears are a wonderful, juicy Fall fruit. The Pacific Northwest produces about 80% of the fresh pears in the USA. Harvest begins in August and continues with different varieties through September and October. Pears are actually harvested before they are fully ripe to avoid a gritty texture. You can find a lot of great info about pears, including recipes at USA Pears - they even have a blog!

I have a yummy pear recipe to share with you today! My brother-in-law got this recipe from a coworker a few years ago and knew that I would like it! It makes a nice big pan of dessert with plenty to share.

Pear Dessert

CRUST
1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/3 cups almonds, chopped

Lightly spray pan with cooking spray.
Mix crust ingredients and press lightly to bottom of 11x13 pan. Bake 15-18 minutes at 350 degrees F.

While crust is baking, make FILLING:
2 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cool crust slightly. Beat filling until smooth and pour over crust.

Core and peel 5-6 fresh pears or drain 2 large cans of bartlett pear halves. Slice pears as thinly as desired. Cover cream cheese with pear slices. Sprinkle with mixture of 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon. Bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes. Recipe can be halved and baked in 9x9 pan.

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You should try this recipe - very yummy! I have made it with canned pears and with fresh. Of course the flavor is better with the fresh pears!

How about a giveaway now? A pear-themed giveaway!

This giveaway is for a Harry & David pear mug, a Revolution white pear tea diffuser bag, and a little pear-scented candle. I wanted to give you a few moments to stop and smell the pears!

**Giveaway Closed**  Enter the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! That's it! The giveaway will stay open through 10pm PST on Sunday 10/18 and the winner will be randomly chosen from the comments.

Now it's time for you to link up your pear posts and recipes so we can all have more pear fun! You can link up a new or old post about pears, but please do include a link back to this post so everybody can enjoy the Fall Fruits Festival! If you don't have a blog, feel free to share pear links and recipes in the comments.

Are you enjoying the Festival so far? Be sure to check back for pear posts. Tomorrow is all about Pumpkin, so get your pumpkin posts ready and come on back! I would really appreciate it if you help spread the word about the Fall Fruits Festival s**o we can get even more posts and recipes linked up!

Have a marvelous Monday friends!

I'm linking this up to DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land!

Take a moment to subscribe so you don't miss any of the fun during the Fall Fruits Festival!

Fall Fruits Festival Starts Monday

The Fall Fruits Festival is almost here! Are you getting ready for some fun? I hope so! I would love it if you help spread the word! Feel free to grab the picture!

Each day will be about a different fruit - of course, one is chocolate, which I have made an honorary fruit - LOL! I will have a recipe to share and you can link up old or new posts/recipes for the fruit of the day - every day of the week! Here's the schedule to help you plan your "fruity" posts:

Monday ~ Pears
Tuesday ~ Pumpkin
Wednesday ~ Apples
Thursday ~ Cranberries
Friday ~ Chocolate (!)

And...each day will have a giveaway to go with the fruit of the day!! That's right - 5 giveaways!! You don't want to miss all the fun!

See you there! :)

Coming Up: Teacup Tales & Fall Fruits Festival

Welcome to another week of stopping to smell the chocolates!! I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

My Dad was here visiting last week and we had a nice time, but that means that I didn't accomplish much around the house (Totally not my Dad's fault; I just don't seem to be motivated to do house stuff while he's here!). Back to business this week!

I'm *officially* reminding you of upcoming events for my blog...

The first is happening tomorrow for Tea For Two-sday. We're having Teacup Tales and you get to link up your teacup posts!! Forgot to write up a teacup post? There's still time - write one today or tomorrow and link it up on Tuesday. Write anything (family-friendly, of course) you like about a teacup, many teacups, your teacups, other teacups, crafts with teacups, teacup pics or teacup poems! Be as creative as you want!! I can't wait to see what you've got to share!

This isn't a great button, but if you want something to use in your post, feel free to grab the pic!

On Friday I mentioned the Fall Fruits Festival that will start next week. I'll be talking about pumpkin, apples, pears, cranberries, and chocolate (You didn't think I would leave out the chocolate, did you?). Each day will have a different *fruit* and you'll be able to link up posts every day! So get your posts/recipes ready! And there'll be some cute little giveaways!

I did manage to create a button for the Festival and I would greatly appreciate it if you would help me spread the word on your blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and e-mail! You know how much more fun it is when lots of people are coming by - it turns into a party!!

I really do hope to see lots of great Teacup Tales tomorrow and tons of posts linked up next week for the Fall Fruits Festival!!

Have a marvelous Monday my friends!!!

Trivia: How many exclamation points do I have in this post? Let's see how many people get it right - LOL!!

Would You Like Dessert With That? ~ Favorite Fall Fruits

You made it to Friday again! Good job! Normally, we have Chocolate Friday - but the first Friday of each month is Dessert Friday so that you can link up any dessert or chocolate post!

My Dad has been here visiting, so I haven't made the dessert I was hoping to post. But Dad did help me make one of the desserts that I'll be featuring during my upcoming Fall Fruits Week! What a guy! I'll take this opportunity to tell you a little more about it so you can mark it on your calendars!

Let's call it Fall Fruits Festival! It will be October 12 to 17 . The fruits that will be included are pumpkin (yup, it's a fruit - and a vegetable!), cranberries, pears, and apples. And you know I will find a way to work in chocolate since it's my "favorite Fall food" - LOL!

There will be yummy recipes, giveaways, and opportunities to link up! In fact, you will be able to link up every day - one day for pumpkin recipes/ideas, another for apples,etc. What can you do now? Find your Fall Fruit recipe posts and dust them off or write new ones to get ready for the linking. You can also start spreading the word about the Fall Fruits Festival! Remember Pumpkin Potpourri Week last year? SO much fun!!

Since I don't have a recipe for you on this fine Dessert Friday, I am counting on you to link up your dessert posts below with MckLinky! You don't have to include chocolate today (but you still can!) You don't even have to include a recipe - it could be pics, video, poetry, or any family-friendly dessert creativity you come up with! :)

Have a fabulous Fall Friday my friends!

I'm also linking this up to Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life! Go link up a past post from your own blog and read what everybody else has been up to!