And...I'm back!

It certainly has been a busy two weeks here at Chez Knits. First, we had the music shop and gift shop area carpeted, so that meant everything from those two areas had to be moved - into the yarn shop and lesson room. What a mess! I still haven't got everything put back in place. 


Then Thanksgiving came and went - great lunch with Mr Knit's mom, sister and brother in law, his son Cliff and his girl and my son Matty and my daughter in law Terri. That weekend was tons of fun!


Then Mr Knits mom finally got a place in a seniors' residence and we had to begin the moving and closing up of her little home. I feel so very sad for her - a lifetime of memories all have to be given away as very little can be taken with her. It just breaks my heart.


Today Lynn and I went to Kingston for a little shopping...we decided we were going to venture into the wild world of cake decorating and we absolutely needed the stuff today! We had a lovely breakfast at Cora's and then the shopping began. Sort of. Some stores were open at 10am, some at 11am and the rest at noon. So there was a lot of driving around but we were successful in getting to every shop we had planned to visit.


Recently there has been a lot of discussion on the blogosphere about Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes and I was intrigued.  Until today, I had never had one. That latte is just like drinking pumpkin pie! Yum. There are two problems with this. First, the closest Starbucks is 120 kilometres away, and secondly, $6 is just too much for a hot drink. What's a girl to do when the urge for a PSL strikes?

 Enter Pinterest.com  for a solution. This site has a gazillion links to recipes for Pumpkin Spice Syrup to be used in making the latte. So.... I made the syrup tonight. No time like the present.


Here's the recipe I used.

1/3 cup pumpkin puree (fresh or canned)

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/4 cups water

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Measure out the nutmeg, cloves and ground ginger and place the spices into a triangular coffee filter, fold down the top of the filter to secure the spices inside.

Combine the rest of the ingredients in a saucepan and whisk gently, then place the spice bag in the pot and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally to keep syrup from burning for about 15 minutes. It should barely coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. Let it cool for a little while, and then remove the cinnamon sticks and spice bag. (If you don't use the spice bag, you will need to filter the mixture though cheesecloth.) Pour into a heat proof container. 

The syrup might thicken a bit in the refrigerator, but  don't worry, this is normal.

To make pumpkin spice latte, heat 2 tablespoons of syrup with 1 and a half cups of milk. Pour into a blender or whisk until frothy, for about ten seconds (to make it thick and prevent the pumpkin from settling on the bottom). Pour into cup and stir in 2 (or more) shots of espresso or about 1/2 cup of strong, hot coffee.

Then sit down, and savour your own special fall treat. 

The best part? The savings! All the spices cost a grand total of 82 cents (at Bulk Barn), Lynn gave me the can of pumpkin and I had the sugar and vanilla on hand. A rough guesstimate of the cost of 2 cups of syrup or 16 lattes is less than $1.50, plus the milk & coffee. Awesome deal!