You Say Fall I Say Winter

The Change of Season is Finally Here!

Yea it's gettin cold and it's not that I don't enjoy a nice winter season as much as the next person (Kristen!), it's just that it lasts waaaaayyyy tooooo looooonnnngggg here. It kinda goes like this:

November:  Just a few dustings of snow from time to time and not bitterly cold yet. The crisp air is the first hint that the Christmas Season is soon upon us. I love Christmas!

Hunting for our 2010 Christmas Tree.

December:  YAY! A white Christmas. Who doesn't want that?!? Growing up in Central California that was something you see only on TV. On a white snowy morning our little family gathers around the tree and watch MJ open all his presents. So much fun!

Christmas 2010!

January: Sledding! How many trips to Mt Rose can we take this season? LOTS!

February: OMG! We can still sled won't that be fun! It's getting really cold, but there is so much we can do and MJ is having a great time and so are we.

March: Still snowing, but that just means I can still make soups w/homemade breads and sip some hot tea as I watch the snow fall gently on the ground. Kinda hoping there would be a sunny day in our near future, but it's okay. Love layering clothes, it's so comfy n cozy.

Here are a few pics of our first snow for the 2011-2012 snow season.

April:  Really? It's still snowing? I thought it would be more of a rain season w/ hints of sunshine. MJ and I are now suffering from Cabin Fever. I can't get warm because it's so bitterly cold, I can't feel my fingers and the chill has gone all the way to my bones. I am just hoping I have another days worth of patients for MJ's insane energy. By this time I hate going anywhere, because I know it's still freakin cold outside, the soft gentle snow is replaced by hardened dirt packed gray filth and MJ wants to play in it.

May:  WTF!!! REALLY!?!?!? It's still SNOWING! SON-OF-A-BIT$@(#*&! 

June:  Oh look sunshine:) All is right with the world and I will survive another winter in Spanish Springs! CRAP, it's getting hot!

Halloween Potions Bottle

MJ's Halloween Craft

 

Dirty nails and all! He's a boy, he gets dirty standing still!

Here's what we used to fill the bottle. Found all this at Walmart, Dollar Store and Target.

First find a bottle with a cork top. I found these online at Save-on-crafts.com, but can find these at Michael's or just about any craft store. I chose these cause they are thicker and the opening was larger.

Then start filling your bottle with what ever you want. remember you will have liquid in it so make sure not to use paper products. 

 

I used rubber skeletons, rats, cockroaches and then some Halloween themed confetti.

You can make labels on the computer and put them on, but I thought stickers

would be more fun for the kids. So I got a box of stickers, gave them to MJ

and he went to town with them.



                                                         Keeps calling this a Mommy, oh well.

Once you have everything in it you want and got all the stickers on, fill with hand sanitizer and that's it!

You can also use glycerin and distilled water, but I was just to lazy to go to the pharmacy and find the glycerin.

Admiring his handy work. Good Job MJ!





~Yes, as a Matter of Fact It Was Heavenly~

~Bacon Dipped in Chocolate~

There are you skeptics out there who don't think bacon and chocolate belong together. I say not only do they belong together, but it is a match made in heaven. It goes together like peanut butter & jelly. Like sausage gravy on a buttermilk biscuit this is a combination that will make your taste buds soar!

The crucial component in bacon dipped chocolate is to find some good bacon. Must be thick sliced and have some smoke to it (IMO). Apple wood or Hickory smoked work the best for me. The chocolate is one that varies based on your taste buds. Some like a sweet chocolate like a milk chocolate, or a semi sweet, but I prefer bitter sweet. I think it is the prefect accompaniment to the bacon. I get a few bitter sweet chocolate squares and melt it with a pat of butter and some heavy whipping cream. Just make a double boiler and it will melt quickly and easily. Once melted I dip the cooled bacon into the chocolate goodness and lay on some wax or parchment paper. Then sprinkle with a little coarse grind sea or kosher salt. Let cool completely and allow the chocolate to harden a bit.

I would love to eat a whole plate of this, but I resist. I only make about 4-5 strips. I look at it with deep admiration, eat one then look at them again, eat another, walk away, come back, gaze at this delectable goodness then, well you know......

Idea for Halloween Dessert

No-Bake Cheesecake Spider Cupcakes!

Don't know what to take to the Halloween get together? Why not whip up a batch of Spider Cupcakes.

Super easy and doesn't take much time. The only thing is you want to make them a day before, cover and keep in the freezer over night.

     

          

  Like I said super easy to make. I made these using a cupcake pan, but you can use a mini cupcake pan if you want them smaller. Making the web may be harder, but can be done. 

Step1: Spray your cupcake pan with no stick spray.

Step 2: Make an Oreo cookie crumb crust and  press into the cupcake pan.

Step 3: Make your favorite no bake cheese cake recipe and scoop into the cupcake pans and smooth out.

Step 4: Using chocolate syrup that comes in a small opening squeeze bottle. Starting from the middle pipe a spiral shape all the way around the cheesecake filling.

Step 5: Using a paring knife or similar, pull the tip from the center of the cake to the outer edge to form the spider web.

Step 6: Decorate, cover cupcake pan with plastic wrap and place in freezer for at least 3 hours. You can leave in lots longer with no problems.

I used the same pairing knife and ran it around between the crust and the cupcake pan to get them out. Gotta be careful not to cut into the crust.

VOILA! Spider Cheesecake Cupcakes!

For mine I made my own Chocolate Ganache, but you can use just plain chocolate syrup. I won't tell anyone! The spiders are the ring spiders you find at WalMart or the Dollar Store. I like them cause the band for the ring holds the spider in place better.

N there you have it!

                                              

Banana Pumpkin Bread

All The Baking We Will Do!

There are many things I love about October: the change of weather, Halloween of course and to me it's the kick off to the Christmas Season. Yes, I say Merry Christmas. One of the other reasons, is all the baking. I'm no old pro when it comes to baking, been doing it for only a few years. I am getting to the point where I understand it and enjoy it. Now that I have my little helper, it's so much more fun.

So every week in October, I will be baking a pumpkin treat.



Mix, mix, mix

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas

2eggs

1/3c veggie oil

1c pumpkin puree

1/2c brown sugar

1/2c sugar

21/2c flour

1t baking powder

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

2t pumpkin spice

1t cinnamon

1/2c walnuts

Pumpkin Spice

1t cinnamon

1/2t ginger

1/4t nutmeg

1/4t cloves

all ground



In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder/soda, salt, pie spice, and cinnamon. Set aside.

 

Pumpkin Pie Spice

In a large bowl mash very ripe bananas then add, eggs, sugars, pumpkin puree and oil

Add flour mix to pumpkin mix little at a time until fully mixed



Til it looks like this!

Mama's Helper



Add walnuts
Pour in to bread pan, bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean

Cool loaf in pan for about 10-15 minutes

Then finish cooling on rack.

Then EAT!



Pumpkin Cookies w/Walnut Glaze

Today was a cookie kinda day!

Here is my first pumpkin dessert for the season. With the exception of pumpkin pie(don't like at all), I love pumpkin desserts.  Mark has been away for work and is coming home today, YAY! One of his favorite desserts is cookies. So because I am so happy he is coming home today, I made him a batch of my pumpkin cookies.

The Ingredients:
2 sticks of butter
1/2c sugar
1/2 packed brown sugar
1c pumpkin
2c flour
1 egg
1t vanilla
1t baking soda
1t baking powder

21/2t cinnamon

pinch salt

pinch nutmeg

pinch ground cloves

For the Walnut Glaze:

4T butter

1/4c packed brown sugar

1/4c milk

2c powder sugar

1/2c walnuts

In a large bowl, mix butter and sugar until well combined and a little fluffy

The add the pumpkin, eggs and vanilla and mix until well blended

In a separate bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder

cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt

Mix a little at a time into the pumpkin and combine until well mixed.

Make sure to stop a couple of times to scrape the sides of the bowl

Drop by tablespoon fulls onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes @ 350.

Cookies should be light and fluffy. Put the warm cookies on a

cooling rack until completely cooled.

NOW THE GLAZE

In a sauce pan melt butter and sugar until it gets bubbly while stirring constantly.

Mix in milk then sugar 1/2c at a time stir until completely incorporated.

Add walnuts and reduce heat to the lowest simmer. Using a small spoon or knife,

spread on cookies. Must work quickly cause the glaze will solidify. If it does turn up the heat a little and it will smooth out again.

MJ Picking out his Cookie

This is what they look like once you glaze them. The

glaze is supposed to harden.

These are delicious Mama!

These came out really tasty and was easy to make

Give them a try!

Halloween Finger Puppets!

I Love Halloween!

I enjoy it even more since I have my little Monkey. I was Googling Halloween Crafts the other day and came across the finger puppets. Easy enough for MJ and I to do. So we did em. Was fun and super easy. Now I know you can buy the precut foam ones at Michaels, but where's the fun in that? I decided we are going to make them from scratch using felt.

All this took was some felt, fabric glue, stick on eyeballs and scissors

I made the templates on Word. It was super easy to do. I printed it out on card stock, regular paper would be too flimsy. After I made the templates I realized one of the sites I saw this on already had a printable template to use. That's what I get for getting too excited and not reading directions!

Then using a pen, I traced and cut out all the shapes. This is was the only time consuming part and it went pretty quick.

Then I glued all the pieces together. I used the same template for the cat and the bat.

Then you gotta let it all dry completely or it will come apart as I found out.



Mommies Little Helper!

                                                              MJ modeling our creations.

 



Dat's SPOOKY Mama!



PUNKINS!



That was fun Mama! Let's do more~Direct quote from MJ



He calls the bats spiderman?