FALL-IN' UP THE KITCHEN

Welcome to my kitchen y'all! Today I'm joining Miss Sheila at Notesongs. She was so sweet to send me an invitation to her "Heart of the Home" Party...


There are tons of photos here and if you have already seen some of them, just mosey along...

Come on into my kitchen at "The Roost." This morning we enjoyed some scones and apple cinnamon tea with my homemade Pumpkin Butter. If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I'm running all over town trying to find and taste everything pumpkin. I'm truly pumpkin-obsessed!
This Pumpkin Butter* is wonderful and since I've become a pumpkin-holic, I would know! It's wonderful to serve with scones, muffins, and biscuits. My recipe can also be used to bake a pumpkin pie!

*The recipe for my pumpkin butter is at the end of this post.
It's easy to prepare and total yummy-ness!

I love Harney's apple cinnamon tea this time of year...

I moved my fav bunny to the breakfast counter...

Jean Paul says "Happy Fall Y'all!"

The kitchen sink. Lord have mercy, husband asked, "Do you have to show them everything?" "Yes Sir!"

The rooster strainer...

Taking the tour of the kitchen counters...Cinnamon pumpkin hand wash...

Yankee pumpkin spice candle and roosters and fleur de lis...

Paula Deen's 'Fried Apple Pie' candle is putting off a great aroma! That's my prissy cousin Miss Marsha...she's very prissy y'all!

Pumpkin and more roosters...

Pistachios...a fav snack of mine!

More counter decos...

The top of the frig...love the Paula Deen vintage scale and her red colander, my majolica teapot and sugar & creamer...all being watched over by a feathered rooster!

Take a peek on top of my cabinets...hydrangeas and artwork by cuz Dr. Kim Sessums...

More artwork by cuz Kim and a rooster and a fleur de pewter tray...

Birdhouses and another rooster...

Rooster plates over a closet in the kitchen...

A little seasonal festive look on the pantry door...

The etagere and the doggie dining area...

The wineman delivers now:):):)

Oh, I can't stop featuring this linen towel...

As if people need to be told!!!

Just a clock and a little info for everybody!

This hutch was a maple finish and I re-did it...painted it black...

Decorated for Halloween...All the dishes are from HomeGoods

Pumpkins inside a jar on green moss...

Goodies on a cakeplate which I also purchased at HomeGoods...

One of my party hats for Halloween...

Boo Y'all!

Looking into the breakfast area...husband says I have too much furniture. So, I moved two of the chairs away from the table. Hope he's happy now! The table, chairs, and sideboard are from Ballard Designs.

The chandelier is also from Ballard Designs and the darlin' chandelier shades are from The Pink Giraffe.

Love these monogrammed chandelier shades. They are the coordinated gingham check pattern to my Waverly 'Le Petite Ferme Spice' pattern...

Roosters and toile and gingham...all my favs!

Part of my ever-growing apron collection. I have about 20 more aprons I need to display somewhere, 'cuz they are soooo cute!!!

The door leading to our side porch is covered with the Waverly 'Le Petite Ferme Spice' Roman shade and topped off with a door topper from The Hobby Lobby...

The sideboard...

Miss Paula Deen is on deck on the sideboard! Love this book and I chose Paula's rooster-motif book holder to display it!!!

*Recipe for Miss Janice's Pumpkin Butter:
4 15 oz. cans pumpkin
1 1/2 cups apple juice
4 tsp. ground ginger
2 tsp. ground nutmeg
4 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
1 tsp. ground cloves

Combine all the ingredients in a large pot and stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Stir frequently. Place the mixture into sterile containers and chill until served.

Yields 8 Ball jars (8-oz jars).

I'm meeting my mama at her sister's house in Sarasota this weekend I'm taking some of my Pumpkin Butter as gifts for mama and our relatives. I will show y'all later this week my gift packaging for the Pumpkin Butter gifts.

So y'all stop over and visit Miss Shelia!

Thank you for stopping by to visit me!!!

I Simply Must Take This Time To Say Thank You!

As my list of must-read blogs get longer and longer, I'm finding it very difficult to read all the blogs I love. The thing is...I HAVE TO READ THEM! I'm afraid if I don't, I'll miss something spectacular from all y'all! Everyday it's just like having a fabulous magazine delivered to my office...with all your beautiful tablescapes, recipes, garden photos, gifting ideas, cute stationery, home decorating photos, tips for preppy shopping, Lilly love, entertaining, and travel...well, you can see how I get so excited!

I would like to take a moment from visiting y'all to say thank you to several ladies.

Recently, Sheila, at Notesongs, bestowed upon Miss Janice her "Bathroom Diva" award. Lord have mercy!

You may remember this photo of moi at the grand opening of the Lilly Store in the Gardens Mall. Debbie, the sweet girl at Lilly snapped this photo of me in the ladies room because my Lilly "Croc Monsieur" patterned skirt matched the wallpaper. Miss Shelia grabbed it and crowned me "Bathroom Diva."


Notesongs was one of the first blogs I ever read and Miss Sheila is such a "Sweetie." She has a beautiful home, which she loves to decorate and she also creates awesome tablescapes. I'm not sure which one of us has the most china, but we both definitely love to collect dishes! Stop by and visit Miss Sheila and check out her beautiful blog. Snap your own photo in the "Ladies Room" and send it off to Miss Sheila to become one of her "Bathroom Divas!" Thank you Miss Sheila!

Every Diva needs a tiara and Pink Martinis and Pearls was so sweet to send one to me...

Yes, Miss Janice has been crowned "Queen of All Things Awe-summm!!!" I am required to list seven things that make me so awesome....Well, if I simply must....

~I host awe-summm parties--you will have fun!
~I give good gifts--I think so, at least:)
~I deliver comfort food to sick and grief-stricken people.
~I teach children how to behave.
~I teach adults who are back-slidin' how to behave.
~I would be beyond excited, but very comfortable taking tea with "The Queen of England."
~I can still cross the finish line with a smile on my face after competing in 5k races...just love it!

I love the Pink Martini blogsite--what's not to love about her? She loves to entertain, she loves Lilly, and she loves martinis! It just cracked me up that she's a Martha Stewart Wannabe (excluding the time in the slammer). Thank you Pink Martini--you are "Queen of All Things Awe-summm yourself Missy!!"

Speaking of martinis...Muffy at Muffy Martini hosted a Lilly giveaway with Lilly party products provided by the Preppy Princess...Yay--I WON!!!! So, an otherwise boring day was Lilly'd up when I received this box full of goodies all wrapped up in pink and green!

Look at all this cute stuff...it's so cute! The plates, napkins, tumblers, coasters, beverage umbrellas, matches, and place cards--all in the "Coco Patch" pattern.
When I entered this giveaway, I stated that I would like to use all the cute products during a Children's Etiquette class, ages 4-8. I love to serve a light lunch to reinforce the dining skills I teach the children and how cute would all these products be? I would probably add some Lilly manila folders for their take-home sheets, along with a Lilly pencil and a customized "Miss Janice" placemat, totally Southern and Memorable...don't you think? Of course, for that class, I'll wear a coordinating Lilly Shift and my assistant (a puppet--Catherine the Mannerly Cat), will be wearing her pearls just like Miss Janice. Oh, I need to schedule a "Modern Manners for Children" class," it is one of my favorite programs to teach.

Thank you Muffy Martini--I love your blog and love following you on Twitter as well! You are actually the first Muffy I have every known!

Thank you to Susan at The Preppy Princess for providing the Lilly goodies! You are truly awe-summm and have been a great blogging friend! Y'all stop by Susan's blog and her preppy website, it's full of preppy goodness! Susan also hangs out over in Twitterville!

Thank you to all my readers--I appreciate all your sweet comments and e-mails. Now, I am off to create another blog post, then to visit all y'all's awe-summm blogs... then, it's time for THE FINALE OF AMERICAN IDOL!