Halloween Pictures to Share!

That's all for now...ciao! xoxo

Pumpkin Patch - 2010

If you're not in the mood for A LOT of pictures, this is not going to be the post for you! We had a GREAT time at the pumpkin patch today! We started off the day with some sausage, egg and cheese breakfast muffins (recipe soon!). The kids HATED them. LOL! I don't know why? They were delicious! Even Adam liked them and he hates eggs. They rocked. I think the boys just woke up in a mood.

But, promises of a trip to the pumpkin patch lifted everyone's moods. We packed up and headed out with Grandma (my mom) to the Berryland Farm. They were tentative when we first got out of the truck, but it didn't take them long at all to warm up to the fun and activities!

Luc, Mikey and Benji...


Checking out the haybale fort! They LOVED this thing!



Time for a trip into the corn maze!!!!




More photo fun!


Ring and Bean Bag toss!




They also had arts & crafts areas and face painting! FUN!

Duck races...they loved this!


Then it was time for the (mildly) haunted hayride!


And a pumpkin hunting adventure! (This is Mikey with my mom!!)




Wish Will, McKenzie and Adam had been along...next year, for sure!


And last, but not least...hanging out with the smallest of my best friends. <3


After such a busy day we all zonked out for an afternoon nap! Bliss! I made pea soup for dinner (recipe later) and now it's almost bedtime!

Had a great day! Hope everyone else did as well!

xoxo

M&M Game

I grew up in a town that has a FIERCE football rivalry with the town I live in now. Every year, the “M&M Game” takes place between our neighboring towns…the oldest Interstate rivalry in High School Football History. It’s a BIG deal. I BLEED Maroon & Gold…you have to be FROM here to truly understand how deep our loyalties lie.

When I purchased my house, and moved to the enemy neighboring town, I didn’t think about football. My kids are little…what difference does it make? Well…it does. This morning, I dressed my elementary school aged boys in PURPLE (I’m gagging as I type) and sent them off to school for their pep rally. **heavy sigh**

This is NOT going to work…LOL! Is it sad that I’m considering open-enrolling them into a different school district? Haha! (Ok, kidding…sorta.)

I’m actually not GOING to the game this year. (Boo!) My brother, who is a senior this year, decided to quit football (DOUBLE boo!!) but I was there last year, all decked out in my Maroon gear cheering on the team with my family! (The games are better the year’s they play in my home town anyway! We have a far superior field…I think most folks from the other town would agree, to be honest.) BUT, tomorrow at work, we get to dress up to show our support for our home teams, so I will be here in my Maroon & Gold, loving on my “home” team in spirit!

Check me out...last year with my "little" brother!! (We won!)

And in high school...that's me...second from the right. U Rah Rah. :) (The cheerleading pic is actually from the Detroit Lions old stadium where we played and WON our State Championship game!)

A few (ok, maybe like 10) years ago, my Grandparents told me about an old tradition of the West End bar (which has since been torn down, (by my dad, actually) and replaced) making split pea soup and serving all of the bar patrons after the Saturday day-game. That tradition is sadly, long gone but in honor of it, this weekend I will be making Split Pea soup (so watch for that recipe!) My kids and I will be taking a trip to the pumpkin patch so that will be a yummy, warm lunch to come home to. More on that later!

Ciao,

Thanksgiving Tradition, Tips, Tricks and a Recipe

So, Thanksgiving and I have had a secret (or not so secret) love affair going on for the past 6 years or so. Turkey Day and X-mas run a head-to-head constant competition for my affection, and Thanksgiving just might have the edge.

I made my first Thanksgiving dinner the year I moved to Delaware with my (now ex-) husband. It was delicious. I was hooked. I have since continued with successful dinners (with the exception of the infamous oven fire of ’05!! Story in a minute…) and wanted to share some tips and a fave recipe of mine!

When I divorced and moved back to Wisconsin (home), I wanted to make my own dinner, but my family was NOT planning on showing up. They go to Grandmas’ every year and that is just that. Fine. I don’t want to miss out on that either, so I go to Grandma’s on Thursday (and then to the man’s Aunts house in the evening…yep! TWO Dinners…yummy!)

Then FRIDAY after Black Friday shopping, I come home and make “The Day after Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving!” Some might call me nuts…why go through the work if I don’t have to?? But, I love everything about this holiday. I love the food, the smells, the colors, the time spent with family, the reminder to be thankful for your life…ahhh…Thanksgiving rocks my socks! And I adore our yearly tradition of spending a day with family, and then spending the next day with friends enjoying good food and each other's company!

So, on that note, I am going to share a couple tried and true Thanksgiving recipes, tips and tricks. But first…the oven fire.

November of 2005...I was up early and a cooking fool all day long. I had everything timed out so that our HUGE dinner would be done at 2:45...one of my better “skills” in cooking is timing out my stuff to all get done at the same time, and let me tell ya...I was ON!

We were bringing dinner over to the local church to eat with a bunch of friends. The kids were dressed and ready to go, the ex was bringing food out to the car, and I was finishing up in the kitchen...RIGHT ON TIME.

I pulled the rolls out of the oven...moved the sweet potatoes up to the top rack and set the oven to broil to brown the marshmallow stuff on top. As I'm tossing rolls in a basket, I smell burning marshmallow...ohhhh no!

I open the oven and I kid you not, my entire effing oven was ablaze. I about peed myself. I run out the door and yell for the ex to “COME BACK REALLY FAST" (LOL…I didn't want to scream "FIRE!!!!!!!" across the parking lot…) I remember him saying he could hear the panic in my voice.

He runs up, slams the oven door shut...I'm screaming that I already tried that...Luc's at the gate to the kitchen going "Oooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and pointing …it was bad. Ex grabbed the fire extinguisher, and emptied the WHOLE THING into the oven.

(As a side note, my grandpa would be so disappointed in me...before he retired he worked for Ansul (Tyco) Corp. traveling all over the world teaching businesses how to use different types of fire extinguishers. He taught us what to do when we were little kids, and like a total d-bag, I did nothing. I got a box of baking soda from him for Christmas that year…LMAO!)

So anyway, I later realized what happened…I was using throw away pans...they've oven safe...but they're CARDBOARD!!!!! Broiler lights the cardboard on fire, which lights the sweet potatoes on fire, which must’ve lit the coils on fire…and the rest is history. The oven was destroyed by the way. Super bummer.

SO…

TIP #1…if you’re using disposable pans, ONLY USE ALUMINUM! (OR…read the directions and don’t stick the cardboard pans under the broiler…whichever!)

TIP #2…Do you struggle to bake a perfectly golden turkey like you see in movies and on commercials? I am going to describe my turkey baking process to you. It hasn’t failed me yet, and I have yet to have a single Thanksgiving without people raving about my Turkey...both how it looks and how moist it stays.

Clean the turkey (I use a 20+ lb-er, for the record), don’t stuff it, put it in the pan, and brush it with an entire stick of melted butter. Bake per package directions, basting as you go. I KNOW…I know some people say not to baste...that it's "unneccessary". Well, “Some People” have not tried MY turkey. Baste it…often.

When the top starts to brown, tent it with aluminum foil until it’s done. After you take it out of the oven, let it sit a good 15-20 minutes before carving it. You won’t be sorry. :)

TIP #3…Get someone else to do the dishes! ;)

And, as promised, a recipe I LOVE.

I got this from a photographer friend and I make it every year...

WILD RICE & SAUSAGE “STUFFING”

1 package Uncle Ben’s Wild & Long Grain Rice (Original…not Quick)
2 Tbsp. Butter
½ cup Chopped Onion
½ lb. Bulk Pork Sausage – Cooked

1. Saute your rice in butter until the white rice turns light brown. Remove from pan.
2. Saute your onion in the pan until soft.
3. Stir in the seasoning packet from the rice, the browned rice and boiling water according to package directions, as well as the cooked sausage.
4. Pour into a baking dish and bake at covered at 350 for 45 minutes. You can then either use it as a stuffing (which I’ve never tried) or serve it as a side dish.

SO yummy! I hope every one of my readers has a beautiful holiday! I'll be back posting Friday or Saturday!!

See you then,

'

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Alright...I'm just gonna throw this out there. I am not a baker. I LOVE to cook. I'm all about a good soup...I can grill like a pro (ok...maybe "pro" is pushing it, but I hold my own!) Salad? Sure! Breakfast, lunch, dinner...you got it! Dessert...ummm...maybe not.

Don't get me wrong...I'll DO it. I just don't love it...and I'm more prone to failure with baking than I am with cooking.

So when I saw these ADORABLE pumpkin pie bites on Bakerella...I honestly thought twice before saving the recipe. But, I do love pumpkin pie, and I DID need to bring a dessert item for my girl Kel's baby shower at work...sooooooo...I caved. I tried the recipe, and am SO glad I did!

They weren't difficult at all! They taste great and they're adorable!!

I'll repost Bakerella's recipe here for you, but if you haven't seen her site, you MUST! SO much baking fun!

Bakerella's Pumpkin Pie Bites
2 Refrigerated Pie Crusts
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup sugar
1 eight (my "eight" key is broken :( so I'm typing it out) oz. cream cheese -- softened
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

(On her blog she also has ingredients for a chocolate topping if that's your thing. I skipped it.)

1. Roll out one of your pie crusts. Thin it out a little bit with your rolling pin. Using a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter, cut out several pumpkins.

2. "Stuff" each pumpkin into the cup of a mini-muffin pan. Make sure you leave the stem of the pumpkin out. (My cookie cutter was a little bit too small, so I had to stretch each one out before putting it into the muffin tin...worked out fine!)

3. Egg wash the edge of each crust with egg white from one of the eggs.
4. Mix together the remaining ingredients until smooth.
5. Fill each pumpkin "shell" with ingredients (right to the top).
6. Bake at 350 degreens for about 10 minutes...or until your crust is starting to look golden brown on the edges.
7. Pop each one out of the pan and cool it on a rack. Keep refrigerated!

ENJOY!!

I'm linking this up at The Knock Off Knock Out at It's so Very Cheri and at Kimba's DIY Day on A Soft Place to Land. And seriously...check out Bakerella!!

Caramel Apples - GOURMET!

As a part of my “10 Tasks in 10 Days” challenge, I wanted to make some GOURMET caramel apples! I'm also linking this post up at A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day and at Cheri's Knock Off Knock Out party!

I had initially intended to make my own caramel, but in the interest of saving time and sanity, I opted for good ol’ Kraft caramels. The kids helped me unwrap them all and then we were off to the races.

I started with a pot of boiling water. I dunked each apple into the water for a minute and then used a paper towel to scrub off any wax leftover. Most apples sold in grocery stores are waxed for shine. This can cause issues because your caramel may slide right off. (That is the point of wax, right?) I actually tried just washing the apples first, but they were still shiny, so I’m glad I included this step. Just dunk quickly and then using a dry paper towel, scrub off the shine.

**NOTE…apples do not look their prettiest when they’ve just been dunked in boiling water, but they’ll be FINE! Trust me! You’re covering them anyway…it’s all good! And FYI, I used 6 BIG granny smith apples.

So next I needed to create a double boiler. Since I don’t have an ACTUAL double boiler, I set a vegetable steamer tray on top of the pot of boiling water. I set my glass bowl of caramels onto the veggie tray and then stirred. (And stirred…and stirred…)

I used approximately 1 and a half bags of caramels. (The man got into the first bag and was snagging a couple each day!) After the caramels were just starting to melt, I added about 4 Tbsp. of water. This aided in the melting process and in smoothing the caramel out. Melting the caramel (especially with my “homemade” double boiler) took quite a while, but it worked out great in the end. As I stirred (and stirred), I continued to add water as necessary until the caramel was the consistency I wanted. I wish I could describe this consistency to you, but I can’t…you’ll know it when you see it! Not too thin, not too thick! You got this!

I removed the bowl from the double boiler and sat it next to my apples. I had already put the sticks (included in the bag of caramels) into the apples (on the stem side). I had also prepared a tray for the apples. I used a cookie sheet covered in a few layers of plastic wrap, which I then “greased” with butter flavored shortening. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP. Don’t use waxed paper, and don’t forget to grease the plastic wrap! It is the easiest way I’ve ever tried as far as getting the apples off without them sticking.

I dunked each apple, one at a time. I allowed quite a bit of caramel to drip off the apple and used a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the apples (no sense in any more caramel pooling at the bottom than necessary). I sat the apples on the tray and transferred the entire tray to the fridge to allow them to set. I let them sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes…they were still slightly soft, which was just what I wanted.

I took the tray out and took each apple off the tray so I could scrape the excess caramel off the bottom and back into the bowl of caramel. Allow that to melt (remember…stir, stir, stir!) I then dipped a couple of the apples in caramel a second time. Some of the apples were getting a chocolate coating, so those were NOT double dipped in caramel. (I just didn’t want the coating to be too heavy.) I then took the apples that WERE NOT being double dipped and rolled them in some nut toppings. (One in finely chopped peanuts, and two in pecans that I ground up (not TOO fine) in my food processor). The whole tray then went back into the fridge.

While things were setting up again, I used my trusty “double boiler” to melt a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips. Again, I added water until I had the consistency I wanted. After letting the apples sit in the fridge for about 45 minutes, I removed them, got my chocolate smooth and ready, and went back to it. The apples that were rolled in pecans were then dipped in chocolate. I rolled one of the double dipped caramel apples in toffee (finely chopped in the food processor), and then drizzled with melted chocolate. The peanut apple was left as is, and I left one double dipped in caramel “plain”. The last one, I dipped in a thin layer of chocolate (scraping much of the excess off) and then rolled it in toffee.

I then refrigerated overnight and let me tell you…I am SO happy with our results. We have thickly coated, decadent caramel apples that would make an excellent gift. (Have you ever seen what these sell for? I’ve seen $20 apples…seriously!! Insane!) I left the sticks in, but these can NOT be eaten off the stick. You have to slice it off and enjoy it that way! They turned out exactly as I had hoped and I can’t wait to do it again with some different toppings!

ENJOY! And don't forget to stop by Kimba's and Cheri's to check out other great projects!!!

Zucchini Bread

I LOVE zucchini bread. It's taken some time to perfect my recipe, but my family and friends all love it. The kids especially!

Jenn's Zucchini Bread

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup cinnamon applesauce
1 cup white sugar
I cup brown sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts

**I use 1/2 cup chopped pecans and 1/2 cup finely chopped peanuts, but you can use whatever you prefer or have on hand! Raisins would be a delicious addition as well!


1. Grease and flour two bread pans and preheat your oven to 325.
2. Stir (or sift, if that's how you do it) flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl. (I just use a fork and mix well.)
3. Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients slowly into the wet mixture, and beat well.
4. Stir in zucchini and nuts.
5. Pour batter into prepared pans.
6. Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, until center appears to be set. Cool in the pan for about 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and cool completely on a rack.

Mmmm...the cinnamon-y (yes...I made that word up!) smell just OOZES Autumn to me! Gosh I love fall!

Enjoy!