Happy Valentines Day !

Well it's here ...

 

Yes

 

It that Sweet Time of the Year ..

 

 

" Happy Valentines Day"

 

From Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

 

It's Time to share some sweetness with your sweetheart ...

 

 

 

To tell them how much you love them !

 

 

 

Show your love with  some farm fresh flowers ....

 

 

 

 

And take time to share a Lovely Sunset with that special someone in your life today  ....

 

 

Happy Valentines Day to all our Sweet Friends ... May you have a day blessed with Lots of Love from friends and family ...

 

 

 

 

( all picts courtesy of our bless your heart pin board)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Valentines Day from Sweet Magnolias Farm

 

Wising Everyone a Beautiful "Valentines Day"

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Magnolias Farm ~ Limited stock left for our Valentine Flour Sack Towels

I just wanted to give a quick shout out for those who have been taking the time contemplating one of our New Valentine Flour Sack Towels for yourself or for a gift...

 

We are down to limited stock on 2 of the towels that is regarding the ruffle choice.

 

 

The above and below towel .. "Love is" and "Homegrown Love" .. each only have 2 available with the ruffle choice that is shown in these pictures ..the cute red with white circles bottom we only have enough left to make 2 each of these towel with ... and are unable to order more . So if you are lovin this cute fabric paired with the aqua dot ... make sure you get in on these last 4 available...

 

After these 4 are sold we will be offering the towel designs still just with a different under ruffle ... and we do offer all the Valentine Towels with a choice of Double White Ruffles if you prefer .you can make that choice when checking out ..

 

And don't forget the cute "Made with Love" towel ... there are still a fair quantity of those left too !

 

You can find all of our offerings including the Valentine Flour Sack Towels ....HERE

 

 

Countdown to Valentines Day only 13 Days left ...

 

 



 

 

Free Valentine Printables @ the Beehive Cottage

 

 

Tie up your VaLenTinE   ....

 

With Some Free Printables over at Mary Janes "Beehive Cottage" 

 

Mary Jane has some of the most darling vintage ephemera offerings that she recreates into the most darling gift tags, Clipboards, and Garlands ... that you can purchase in her Etsy shop HERE

 

However if you are wanting to work on some of your own creative projects for Valentines gifts for the Kiddos ..or at work for your Co-Workers .. etc ... then hop on over to the Beehive Cottage for some of Mary Janes Free Printables she's offering.

 

You just can't go wrong with FREE , now can ya !

 

 

 

 

 

Rustic Chocolate Pie ...Down Home Goodness .."In The Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm"

 

We've been bakin up some Down Home Goodness here at the Farmhouse and if you're a die hard Chocolate Fan ...Like we are ..well your Gonna love this "Rustic Chocolate Pie" NO Foolin !

 

Abbey and I are teaming up to begin bringing you "In the Kitchen with Sweet Magnolias Farm"...

 

We will have periodical posts sharing recipes taste tested and SMF approved here at the farmhouse kitchen .... Our Recipes are for the average woman .. with the average kitchen ingredients ..

 

And this week we are starting off with the most scrumptious "Rustic Chocolate Pie" Found on BHG.. and pinned to our "Watcha Got Cookin" Board on Pinterest ...

 

 

 

 

Rustic Chocolate Pie

 

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Ingredients You'll Need to have...

• 3/4
  cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4
  teaspoon salt
• 5
  tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 - 2
  tablespoons cold water
• 6
  ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate (not to exceed 62 percent cacao), coarsely chopped
• 2
  egg whites, at room temperature
• 1/8
  teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2
  teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4
  cup sugar
• 1/8
  teaspoon salt
• 3/4
  cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• 3
  tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• Chocolate shavings (optional)

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First you start off with Unsalted Butter , Flour, Salt and Water to begin the creation of your homemade Pie Crust .... Now don't be scared away into thinking you can't make a pie crust ..this is so simple and easy that you just can mess it up ... so stick with us here ...

 

 

Directions

 

1. To make crust, in bowl thoroughly mix flour and 1/4 tsp. salt. Cut butter in chunks and add to bowl. With two knives or pastry blender, cut butter into flour, tossing to coat with flour until largest pieces are size of pine nuts and remaining resemble coarse bread crumbs. As you work, scrape flour up from bottom of bowl, and scrape butter from knives or pastry blender. Do not let butter melt or blend completely into flour. Drizzle 1-1/2 Tbsp. cold water over flour mixture while tossing and mixing, until just moist enough to hold together when pressed. Add remaining water if needed. Turn out on plastic wrap. Gather into flank disk, pressing in any loose pieces. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

 

2. Position rack in lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Let dough stand 30 minutes at room temperature, or until pliable enough to roll without cracking. On lightly floured surface, roll dough to 14x9-inch oval, about 1/8 inch thick, rotating and dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Brush excess flour from dough; fold in half to transfer to a piece of parchment slightly larger than dough. Unfold dough. Loosely fold and roll edge, without pressing, to form rimmed crust. Place parchment with pastry on baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes, or until light golden brown (crust edge will be a little raw inside).

 

 

(TIP: ..Our crust didn't come out quite as big as the directions say ..but here at the farmhouse were not much on perfection ..so we just made it to the size it rolled out to and it was just fine !)

 

 

 

Also this isn't a big Pie .. we would consider it a pie for 4 Adults....

 

(P.S. you could form the crust into a heart and roll the edges ..that would be cute for Valentines Day)

 

 

 

 

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3. Meanwhile for filling, melt chocolate in microwave on 50 percent power (medium) about 2 minutes. Stir frequently until chocolate is almost completely melted. Remove from microwave. Stir until melted; set aside.

 

 

 

( TIP: We used Ghiradelli semi -sweet chocolate chips.. they are more to the dark chocolate side and we love dark chocolate)

4. In bowl beat egg whites with cream of tartar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and 1/8 tsp. salt. Beat until whites are stiff but not dry. Pour pecans and melted chocolate over whites; fold with spatula until batter is uniform color.

(TIP: Here we improvised ..I (sara) am allergic to nuts ..and I'll admit I'm just a plain jane kinda gal when it comes to extras ..so we folded in the chocolate by itself to start with )

 

 

 

 

 

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In the Meantime Flossie stopped in at the Kitchen with a piece of cardboard she stole from my bedroom .. I had just opened a new blanket for my bed and left the cardboard laying on the floor and forgot to pick it up ..well my girl didn't disappoint me and found the cardboard ..and tried trading it off with us...." her crust for ours "...

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5. Remove crust from oven. Reduce oven to 350 degrees F. Dollop filling on crust. Spread to 1/2 inch thick. Bake 10 minutes, or until surface looks dry and slightly cracked (fudgy inside). Cool on baking sheet on rack. Serve warm or cool. Cover and refrigerate after 2 hours or up to 24 hours. To serve, sprinkle pine nuts and chocolate shavings. Makes 10 servings.

We removed the crust from the oven which came out beautifully golden brown and took 1/2 the filling and dolloped it on 1/2 the crust ...

Then ..Abbey ad Papa Fred .. like Coconut ..so we added coconut into the remaining 1/2 of the chocolate filling and dolloped that onto the second 1/2 of the crust ... ( you could add in any extras you like ..whatever you have as a favorite) 

 

 

 

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We then followed the directions and put the pie back in the oven for 10 minutes ..it ended up being more like 12 or 15 minutes for us I'm sure the time slighty varies with each individuals oven.. and removed as said when the pie looked dry and slighty cracked ...

 

 

And it came out Beautiful ... Abbey and I Love the Rustic Free Form Farmhouse Style of this pie .. it's a no perfection dessert and it's perfect for those of us who just aren't good at perfect ...

 

And here it is Right out of the oven ...

 

 

 

The first piece was cut away to reveal the gooey dark chocolate center and the amazingly flaky crust  ...

 

 

We served up a piece to each of us and dug in ...wondering was it going to be scrumptious goodness or  Not ?

 

 

Without a Doubt it was POSITIVELY  and ABSOLUTELY  the most delicious Down Home Goodness .. ! .. A deep dark rich chocolate ..so light and so smooth ..and the crust so buttery and so flaky ..it was like a light chocolate cloud that melted in your mouth ...  Needless to say we all cleaned our plates and this will become a New "Sweet Magnolias Farm" Staple we'll be servin up to Friends, Family and Guests for years to come ! ..

 

And for all Y'all that have a Sweetheart or a Sweet Friend you like to serve up somthin special to ..this would make a divine Valentine's Dessert ! ... and you can say it was ...

 

(Towel can be found  HERE)

 

 

If you have any questions regarding the baking of the Rustic Chocolate Pie just leave us a comment and we'll be glad to answer !

 

(Next time in the Kitchen ...we'll be cookin up a homemade Meal ..Pork Tenderloin ..Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans.. a good Down Home Meal )

 

 

 

 

 

 



Giveaway at Sugar Pie Farmhouse And Valentines Day Already !!!

Well we all must admit we love the word "FREE" ..and the word "GIVEAWAY" right behind it....

 

Anything in life anymore in the everyday world that says "Free" usually always has a catch or strings attatched to it and that's such a sad thing.

 

I remember in my early years of growing up the wonderful giveaways that were offered at Gas stations, or the grocery store ... it truly kept buyers coming back and made going shopping just a bit more fun...

 

My Parents reminisce about the good old days of blue chip stamps and the set of aluminum cups they got for drinking Ice Cold Kool Aid in ... remember Kool Aid .. gosh I loved that as a kid .. however that was a very and I mean very great once and a while we got that as kids it was a treat for us ... and therefore it was all the more treasured and it made for memorable times.

 

 

I'm sure many of you can remember the "Good Ol' Days" ... when Mom and Pop ran a large portion of this country ... well there's still a few of us Mom and Pop business running today .. still offering handmade products ..and still having Truly "FREE" Giveaways.

 

Aunt Ruthie of Sugar Pie Farmhouse .. is servin up a dose  of  Good Old Fashioned Down Home Goodness with a Free Giveaway ....

 

 

Below ..is one of our Farmhouse Flour Sack Towels and the matching hotpad with one of our cute burlap wrapped hangers .. to display them on if you so please .. and this is what our Sweet Aunt Ruthie is givin away ...But she didn't stop there ...there's more ...

 

This adorable Metal Chalkboard .. Now how darling is this !!! ... 

An Enamelware Candle Holder ..

 

A Batter operated Candlelight

 

and

 

a Wonderful 1803 Candle ... 

And it just doesn't end ... She's also throwin in this positively charming "The Farmer's Wife" Cookbook ...Now doesn't that just take us all down memory lane where many of us would like to live again ! 

 

 

So there's lots of wonderful Farm Goods that are being offered up for "Free" ..just because we can and just because it's a good feeling to give with no strings attatched and put a smile on someones' face... Giving does a heart good it's medicine for the soul .. !

 

If you haven't been to Aunt Ruthies blog .. well your in for an absolute treat .. and if you have ..well go on over and enjoy her new post about being a blessing in the New Year and sign up for the Free Giveaway ... ! ..Just click HERE

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And it's hard to believe but in just a little over a month .. we once again Embark on another of our holidays "Valentines Day" ... Seriously ..it's already here and yes I started being asked about Valentines Towels just a few days after Christmas ... You girls are so on it !

 

Well I was a bit ahead of you this year and already had my Valentines designs ready before Christmas ..Yep I was on it this year ..LOL ! Actually truth is several of the shops that I design for were giving me dates they needed there Valentines by ..so I had to be ahead of the game .. I cannot tell you as a designer how odd it is to be listening to Christmas Music ..and thinking of Snow and Hot Cocoa ..and being in the mood to design Valentines images. At that time it seemed like so long off ..however it came much quicker than I anticipated and a little heart ache (no pun intended) came with it too.

 

Here I was ahead of the game this year with all my designs and ready to get all my offerings out there to everyone in record time ..and literally the day I had just finished my last design for all my new offerings .. I clicked the on button on my computer to bring it out of it's sleep mode and the thing lit up like a Christmas tree ..and that was it ..couldn't get it to do anything .. Well rather than going into a long story about all of it... the end result the Hard Drive went out on a 1 yr old computer and everything was "GONE" ... yep ..all that design work down the tubes ! ...My heart was so sick ... I spend many hours putting together designs and all the work I had just put in for over a week gone .. I hadn't yet saved it all to my memory stick .. which was completely my fault ..and lets just say "Lesson Learned."

 

Now I have learned over the years stressing out immediately is Normal .. I allow myself that momentary "Oh My Gosh" ...."Now What" moment and the frenzy of trying to fix it all in 10 seconds flat which I know is not going to happen ..but my brain always convinces me it's possible so I try and then realize ..who's hands I need to put it all into and that I just need to stop and pray even if it is a quick "Lord Please Help."   And I always try and look at the bright side .. I am blessed to have the ability to do the work over .. I am blessed that my computer was warrantied and it's being repaired for free.. I am blessed that I was able to purchase another computer in the meantime and I am blessed that I had all my other work saved and didn't lose everything ! and I am blessed to now own an external Hard drive where I can store all my work in  a secondary location ...

 

There's a lot to be thankful for when I  look at the big picture.

 

So with that experience behind me I began work once again .. and I'm pretty much caught up ..

 

I just listed my 3 new Valentine designs in our Etsy Shop this week ... As many of you know and have shared with me these make wonderful gifts.. A great way to show your "Love" ...and they also add a whole lot of Farmhouse Charm to your own Home Sweet Kitchens ..

 

There are also (3) new every day towels and (7) New for 2013 Hand towels that we are offering for the first time here at the farmhouse. You can check those out by visiting the shop.

 

So stop in even if it's just for fun and take a gander even if you don't buy something it'll just make your heart happy ... You can visit our ETSY shop HERE

 

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Don't forget now to head on over to Aunt Ruthie's Sugar Pie Farmhouse ..for the Free Giveaway !

 

 

Until Next Time ...

 

Happy Valentines Day from Sweet Magnolias Farm

Happy Valentines Day From Sweet Magnolias Farm

Today will be another quiet day here at the farmhouse ..just as those that have passed before it. A day filled with Love and kindness for our family and our friends. Yes there may even be a little chocolate eating here at the farm ...but that's generally an everyday occurence around here ...LOL !!! As many who know me ...know I'm pretty much a chocoholic ..and I love Dark Chocolate ..Loved it long before I knew it was healthy for me. Now it's a great excuse to have a piece each day ...!!!

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For those of you that find themselves single ..by chance or by choice this Valentines Day ..remember ....your true beloved ...our sweet Jesus ..pours out his love on you each day. Today being no exception. He sends you flowers in the blooms that come in spring which he prepares the earth for with snow and cold and rain ..so that the bouquets you will receive in spring will be like none other that you could be given ...He sends you sweets ...in the form of blessings from above ..those beautiful things that happen that make your heart sing ..and he is the cupid of all cupids ..he's pointed his arrow at you and me ..and each one of us ..and made us his dear sweethearts if we only will have him. So if you find yourself alone ..or single ..and feeling awkward on this Holiday dedicated to Lovers ..Remember you have a Beloved that Loves you more than any other ...Relish in that !!! I'm a single gal ..and I know who my Beloved is.

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Your Kindred Friend ..Sara

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The Blessings of the Lord be upon You. Psalm 129:8