I've Been a Small Business Owner for a Year -- A Giveaway!

Last August was a huge month for me, both good and bad. I received my fabulous ITP diagnosis and spent 2 nights in the hospital, and I also registered with the state for my business license! August has historically always been an eventful month for me, mainly for my accident-proneness! A few broken elbows, and an awesome "L" scar that I got at Mukilteo Beach when I was 9. Memories that will stick with me forever.

Since I've been in "the biz" for a year now, I wanted to do another giveaway to celebrate this momentous occasion! This time, instead of having a premade one ready to ship, I thought I'd make a custom Swarovski bicone and pearl pocket rosary! You can take a gander over at FusionBeads.com and find some lovely mixes! I typically make them with the 6mm ones, but you can browse any other sizes and just let me know which mix you prefer.

Here are some examples

You can have that be one of your entries for the Rafflecopter...commenting with your favorite Swarovski bicone mix! The contest will start today (August 1) and run through midnight on August 15. I hope to have the pocket rosary out to the winner by month end! Thank you to everyone who has shown love and support during this past year. I am truly blessed to have a successful business that I LOVE running, and I don't feel like it's a job!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Rosaries by Allison - Mini Spotlight

Here are a few of my newest items, and newly renewed items in my Etsy shop. I still always accept custom requests, so send me a message on the Etsy messaging system and we can design your dream rosary!

Arcade Fire - Intervention

This musical element song is epic. It has a pipe organ! It reminds me of being in church. Anyway, here's a video from a performance on "Austin City Limits" in 2007.

Pumpkin Recipe #2: Pumpkin Apple Pancakes

Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorite things...brinner, as we call it in my house. I decided since I have canned pumpkin in my fridge, to have these delicious pancakes for dinner tonight, and post the recipe for my fellow pumpkin lovers to enjoy! I have previously posted this recipe on my blog, during the Lenten season, so some of you may have already seen this one, but it's definitely worth repeating.

This recipe I got from the TV show "The Chew." One of the viewers "won" with her Pumpkin Apple Pancake recipe. I couldn't wait to try them when I saw the episode, and I'm so glad I did because we have them often! So delish!

MIA ROGERS' PUMPKIN APPLE PANCAKES

Ingredients:

1c flour

1 1/2t baking powder

1/2t cinnamon

1/4t nutmeg

1/8t ginger

1T butter, melted

1/2c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/4c brown sugar

1/4t salt

1 egg, lightly beaten

1c buttermilk*

1/3c peeled, diced apple (I usually use 1 apple)

Caramelized Apple Topping:

1 apple, thinly sliced

1T butter

2T brown sugar

(I usually double this recipe, because I love it so much! And really, who wants a scant amount of this apple-y goodness on their pancakes?!)

*If you don't have buttermilk, put 1T of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup and fill with milk until it reaches 1c. Whisk it to combine, then let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes, until it's curdled. Mix it up and voila! You have your buttermilk substitute!

Directions:

In a medium bowl, toss in your flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In a smaller bowl, place your egg, melted butter, diced apple, pumpkin puree, and buttermilk. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and let stand for about 5 minutes. At this point, you can now make your caramelized apple topping!

In a large-ish skillet, melt your butter (here's where I'd use 2T...okay maybe 3 or 4T of butter!) over medium-ish heat. Add your brown sugar and apples and stir until the apples are nice and soft, and slightly golden (8ish minutes). (I can tell you from experience, that using one of those apple peeler/corer/slicers will save you so much time...do it!)

(This is my husband, being an awesome assistant, caramelizing the apples. Don't you love the action shot?!)

To cook your pancakes, scoop up 1/3c of the batter and plop it onto your preheated griddle. Cook on one side until it's bubbly, then flip and cook another 1 1/2ish minutes. When they are done, top with your delicious caramelized apples, some warm maple syrup, and maybe...just maybe...some brown sugar!

(Here is an unnecessary photo of the pancakes almost finished cooking.)

(The plated goodness.)

The recipe says it serves 4 people, but I can easily eat 4 of these delicious suckers myself! Enjoy!

Arcade Fire - Next Week

The first Arcade Fire song I heard, back in 2005, was "Rebellion (Lies)," from their "Funeral" album, and I must say, I fell in love. I would listen to it on repeat for hours on end, and never get tired of listening to it. I eventually purchased the entire album and loved it. I purchased their subsequent albums, and my deep love for them increased immensely when "The Suburbs" hit stores. Every day to work. Every day from work. I spun that album. I knew (maybe still know) all the words by heart, and my absolute favorite song of theirs is on that album.

I will finally be getting the chance to see them live...NEXT WEEK! This will be my first concert at the Gorge, and I am so excited I can hardly stand it. It will be a great distraction from the one-year anniversary since my ITP diagnosis, and I already know I will love it.

I will be posting Arcade Videos for the next 2 weeks, until the show next Friday. For today, here's "Rebellion (Lies)."

Pumpkin Recipe #1: Pumpkin Cream Cheese Spread

This. Is absolutely one of my favorite pumpkin delights that we enjoy in my house. I could literally eat it with a spoon, but that's probably not the wisest thing...so many calories and all. I got this recipe from my good friend Haley, who is a self-proclaimed foodie, and I agree! She always has the most delicious recipes and I've never been disappointed...ever!

I have so many pumpkin recipes on my Pinterest boards, and I am hoping to make a dent in some of them this coming Autumn, and not just make my favorite ones like I usually do. Lots of treats, so hopefully I'll have the energy to try some of the new ones out!

I cannot for the life of me find where I pinned this darned recipe, and every new one I look at is not the one I have! I hate to not give credit where credit is due, but I might just have to call this recipe my own? Kidding! I'm just gonna grab one and adapt it. Here goes...

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Recipe (Adapted from LaLoosh)

Ingredients:
8 oz softened cream cheese
1/2c pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4c sugar
3/4t pumpkin pie spice
1/2t vanilla

Toss all ingredients into a medium-ish bowl and beat with an electric mixer until it's nice and smooth. Refrigeration is recommended, for an hour, then you can spread on bagels and the like. My favorite is to put it on cinnamon raisin bagels!

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family and I do!

Current Novenas

I like to be in the middle of a novena, and not have space in between them. It helps me keep a somewhat prayerful life. Sometimes it's hard for me to get motivated to pray, so this helps me get started, and then I can pray a rosary meaningfully right afterward.

I am currently in the middle of three novenas. Today is Day 8 of the one to St. Anne, and Day 8 for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Today is also the second day for St. Alphonsus, whom I had never heard of before. I typically wrote out the prayers in a journal, and have nearly filled my first one up in just over a year. Writing them out helps me to focus, and to be away from the distractions of the computer. Even though I get the reminders for most of them in one of my Facebook groups, it's still nice to step away and pray.

Do you have any novena recommendations for me? Would you like me to pray a novena for you for an important matter? Please feel free to comment below, or you can email me allisonnoelle@hotmail.com. I'm excited to start another journal, as the one I have has Celtic knots on it! It's so pretty! Mary has served me well for the past year, but I'm ready to be more Irish ;)