Happy Halloween

Z's first night out trick-or-treating!  I admit, it was really fun!  The first couple houses Z would only go up to the door holding my hand.  Once he realized they were throwing CANDY in his bag he was A-ok!  He still held onto his tail the entire night.  Very cute!

Put on a Halloween Happy Face!

Happy Halloween!  Every self-respecting TV sitcom must have a special Halloween episode every year.  Consider this my Halloween episode.  So predictable!

I must admit I'm not into Halloween.  The whole scary movie thing.  Not so much.  Ooh stick your hand in this bowl of spaghetti worms.  Ewe. No thanks.  How about running through a Haunted House and getting scared senseless?  Busy.  Yes, I'm the Grinch of Halloween, Boo Humbug!

Ok so now I'm going to put on my rally hat and dress up as the "Mom who likes Halloween!"    You won't even recognize me.

I actually love pumpkin patches and carving pumpkins and really all things pumpkin flavored. So I'll go with that theme.  A couple weeks ago we made our annual trek through the corn maze and pumpkin patch with our PEPS friends.  Where would we be without them?  Lost.  Literally.  Our friend, Peter, navigated us through the maze like a champ!  (insert obligatory call 911 joke here)  Sadly, we bailed on the pumpkin patch.

Elliott, Karsten, and Z 2011

Elliott, Karsten, and Z 2010

Last week my lovely sister, The Queen, and her adorable daughter, Princess Kate, came over to paint pumpkins with Z-man under careful supervision of Grannie Frannie.  I found my inspiration from a post by Young House Love where you use painters tape to create jack-o-lantern face stickers then let the kids finger paint over it.  Once they're done painting peel off the stickers and voila cute psychodelic pumpkin!  Good times!

Usually people only wear their Halloween costume one day.  I have to continue wearing mine until Monday. (I see you playing your sarcastic violin in pity at me).  I'm actually quite excited for what's in store.  My In-Laws are coming in for a visit this weekend.  The Queen and family are coming over for more Halloween fun Saturday night.  Monday we are headed to our neighbors for a pre trick-or-treat pot-luck.  I've never heard of a trick-or-treat pre-party.  Now, that I can sign up for.  I just hope they don't make me stick my hand in olives eye balls!  Happy Halloween!

Sunday Pizza: 10.23.2011

Meet Soren!  He's 2 1/4 yrs old and a fast learner.  The boys loved making their pizzas.  They also loved playing together so much that they had no interest in eating much of their pizza.

Before the pizza making fun Z-man helped Daddy make the pizza dough.  Z's Uncle Ed and Aunt Katherine sent him the adorable chef hat and we completed the look with his apron.  He was ready for action!

Sunday Pizza Toppings

More and more of what I'm digging these days!  If I could put you on a pizza I would!

Scent: Solid Perfume Pocket Watch from Design Sponge
I used to wear Origins Ginger Essence until it ran out and then would buy more.  Then I had Z-man and now I just stink!  I so badly want to make my own scent and put it in a pocket watch or empty compact.  I just need to get my butt to the store(s), buy it, come up with my signature scent, and make it...  Simple right?  Maybe when Z graduates.  College.

Sugar:  Vanilla Pear Muffins from The Pastry Affair

Why oh why don't I bake more?  I am starting to view this as a flaw rather than a preference.  I see this mouth-watering muffin and just want to make five dozen.  This is a step in the right direction!

YUMMY: Lentil stuffed Samosas from Journey Kitchen.  Shouldn't I just make these right now?   I mean really?

Vintage-y:  Aprons!  I love aprons!   These fun and flirty aprons from Jessie Steele have been calling to me for way too long!  The thing is they're too cute to wipe your hands on...

Tuesday Pizza: 10/11/2011

Pizza Sunday then work a couple days and have some more pizza on Tuesday!  Sounds like an ideal plan.  Thing is, it wasn't really a plan.

Are you a doer?  I'm a wanna-be doer.  Deep down I want to make a three course, from scratch meal every night of the week.  I'll open one of a thousand cookbooks I own and flip through and flip through and next thing I know I'm making refried bean quesadillas.

Enter Emily!  Do have a friend like this?  She's a doer!  She's the person that will name all the things she wants to do on Sunday and actually do them.  Well, most of them.

Sunday Pizza: 10.09.2011

Dry Fly Gin and Tonic, Lime, and Frozen Strawberries (outta ice)

When I was a kid I loved getting silly, slap-happy over-tired at slumber parties!  I can still remember staying up and laughing until my sides hurt over absolutely nothing at all.  Such simple and wonderful memories.

This Sunday I felt like a little kid all over again and LOVED it!  Truthfully, Sunday was a tiring day.  We played with Z in the much too early morning then brought him over to Bubbe's house around 10:30. {Thanks Mom!}  From there we went to Home Depot and our local nursery, Molbaks.  I'm starting to sound like Will Farrell from Old School - totally mid-thirties and married.

Sunday Pizza Toppings

What would a pizza be without toppings?  Here are some things elsewhere on the web that I'm into lately.  Some things make me laugh, some I want to cook, some I want to buy, some I want to give as gifts.  Most mostly, I just thing they're cool.

Funny:  The Oatmeal!  Once you start clicking through his comics you can't stop.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tupperware

Educational:  Book Larder.  Opening in Seattle next week, Book Larder is a book store of only cookbooks!  They will feature talks by cookbook authors and cooking classes.

Bling: Shlomit Ofir Jewelry Designs.  Ok I LOVE this stuff!  I have a silver necklace very similar to this one.  She's a designer living in Tel Aviv and I just ooh and ahh over this jewelry all the time.    

Totally Cheesy! Homemade Ricotta on Homemade Crackers drizzled with Honey and Cracked Pepper from I Made That. Here's a recipe I CANNOT get out of my head.  I just must try it or else!  Brandi from LookIMadeThat.com, Pastry Chef at Seattle's Delancey, and co-owner of The Pantry (busy lady!) featured this simple and lovely appetizer on her blog.  Not only that, my friend, Emily, and I attended her cheese making class and got to sample.  Wow.  Must make.   

Visual: Google SketchUp is WAY Awesome!  As you may or may not know C is currently taking middle school bleacher boards and refinishing them to make a new bed frame.  Pretty amazing!  On a tip from YoungHouseLove.com  I downloaded the app for free to try.  It is so fun!  C was describing how the frame will look and I said, "How about we make a sketch?"  He completely poo poo'd making a sketch.  After about 5 minutes working with SketchUp he was sold!  Here's our first attempt. Nice.  Simple.  I love it!  Plus, we can add a headboard later if we feel like it.  Who knows?

Sweet Potato, Apple, and Onion Tortilla

Most years I make the same sweet potato side dish for Thanksgiving.  One year, back in college, my sister, The Queen, had this side at her adviser's house for dinner.  She described it to me and I tried to recreate it.

I layer sweet potatoes, apples, onions, dots of butter, and brown sugar in a casserole dish and bake.  Delish!  All these years later I now wonder how close I came to the original dish.  I'll probably never know.

Today's lunch was inspired by this dish.  Bring on fall!  There's sweet potato, honey crisp apple, and onion wrapped by a crispy yet chewy toasted tortilla.  I had to remind myself to SLOW down and savor every bite.  Oink Oink!