What a Week!

What a week it was!  I had the flu worse than I have had in years.  I came down with it Tuesday night and it was like a lost week.  My fever was so high at one point, I think I lost about a day and a half!  My husband's birthday was Friday and we didn't get to go away like we planned but we were able to make the trip Sunday.  I am on an antibiotic for an Upper Respiratory infection and I am feeling better every day. 

I took the opportunity to do some sit-down hand stitching on some scrap coasters for my craft room.  I got the idea from that cool felt craft book I got the fox pin out of.  They turned out cute and I had everything I needed to make them.  I used cd's for the shape.  I like a big coaster so that worked out well.  I used scraps from my sewing apron I made.  I love that fabric with the sewing machines, dress forms and most importantly-cats!  How appropriate for a craft room.  I used all blue felt but I like the example in the book where they used different colors. 

I was feeling up to having pizza night Saturday.  I made two kinds.  One was just a very simple Sloppy Joe pizza with ground beef browned with a can of Manwich sauce added.  Put that mixture on a Boboli crust and top with cheese.  Bake according to the crust directions.  It was a big hit with the boys.  The slice on the right was a garlic mashed potato pizza I saw on Joyful Homemaking.  I used caramelized Vidalia onions instead of red ones and I used a pizza blend shredded cheese but it was yummy.  It reminded me of pierogies.  Very different and very delicious.

I also wanted to show you a fantastic warm drink now that we are heading into Fall.  It is a hot malted milk and I got  the recipe from Claire Robinson's show on Food Network.  You just warm 4 cups of milk with a split and scraped vanilla bean.  Add 2/3 cup plain malt powder and 1/4 cup brown sugar.  Stir until there are no lumps.  Pull out the vanilla bean and serve.  I love all those flecks of vanilla flavor.  What I like about this is that you can put the leftover drink in the fridge and warm it in the microwave as you would like it.  It hit the spot. 

I bought the cutest Halloween decoration I have ever seen when my husband and I were away yesterday.  I will take a picture and show you next week.  Normally, I do all my Halloween decorating the first of October but there is a big family wedding next Saturday and my birthday is Sunday, so I am hoping I can at least start it.  I have 2 cute Halloween projects I am working on now and I want to finish them. 

Dancing With The Stars has started up again for a new season and you know how obsessed I become with that!  It is too soon to pick a favorite, but I will be watching tonight.  Have a wonderful week and take care.  Nancy