PUFF

Today's theme is PUFF: for some reason this was the word of the day for me. That ever happen to you? Maybe with a more intelligent word, you find yourself repeating it throughout the day like it's a theme song or something... just me. Ok, that's fine, liar. And what's with the Drew Barrymore picture? I would love to wear that dress! It is impractical, eccentric, eye catching ... perfect!

"Be daring, be different, be impractical, be anything that will assert integrity of purpose and imaginative vision against the play-it-safers, the creatures of the commonplace, the slaves of the ordinary." Beaton, Sir Cecil

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PUFF

Puff? It's what you will do if you spend too much time on the couch, heheh, but I want to tell you :iPod and iPhone owners might enjoy this applicationwhich allows you to program your Direct TV to record your favorite. You provide your account number as per the application set up and right away you can search and record a show to watch from your location. It's the DIRECT TV iPhone Application, oh, you want a link, here you go DVR scheduler

RICE KRISPY TREAT, INDEED

Do you believe, as I do, that chocolate is merely an excuse to have and to hold something nutty? No matter, let us do something extraordinary to Rice Krispy treats, something relatively classic and particularily unforgettable: Turtle Bar your Rice Krispy treats. Then, the next time you tell someone you're bringing rice krispy treats, down play it and bring these... they will love you long time (^_~) Recipe for Turtle Rice Krispy Bars.

PUFF PASTRY

Want to do something fun and easy to go along with a warm drink? Admittedly, this is for last minute or those not-that-ambitious moments. Cut this Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheet with a cookie cutter, brush top with butter and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Yes, I know this is a bat in February, focus people... It must be thistype of puff pastry because you won't have to butter each layer because face it, we only want it to look like we spent a lot of time making this wonderfulness for a loved one. Top with cinnamon sugar, sprinkles you'd put on cookies or drizzle with melted chocolate. Nice addition to a scoop of ice cream, too.

HAND HELD POT PIE

My favorite kitchen nerd, Alton Brown, makes a Chicken Curry Pot Pie that I believe would make wonderful innards to puff pastry. The same is true really for most stew type leftovers or meats with sauces or gravies. Just use a cookie cutter, biscuit cutter or end of an open can to cut a round from Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheet, add filling to center half avoiding edges, fold over and seal with fork or do something fancy to flute the edges, bake in 400 degree F oven until golden and violie. You could spray or brush on olive oil and sprinkle parsley and some of your seasoning ingredients to the top for added taste sensation.

PUFF HAT

For some reason, I was much too polite to ask

why, my mother gave me afur hat which I believe was circa 1950's. Always the re-purposer, I looked at it and thought instantly to stuff it and put a back to it by cutting and sewing a velvet cover to it and instantly I had the mostglorious pillow for my bed which was

already wearing a fur throw. It's gorgeous but the other idea I had was to attach it to a suede brimmed cap and make an entirely different looking hat for this outdated number. Either way, rather creative dontcha think?

Leave a comment! Comments, suggestions are always welcome. Just a pencil click away =)

ALL HALLOWS EVE

Vintage posters are so fantastic, don't you think?  And isn't there something so enjoyable about traditions and holidays, even the controversial ones.  Where I live, Halloween is a controversial one and is slowly being migrated to simply Harvest time by the old folks (anyone too old to enjoy a good Halloween party).  When I lived in a big city (Washington, DC) there were fantastic parades of people in the most creative costumes and it was truly fun.  A friend of mine who lives in NY shared a video last year of a group of people who got together and dressed as Michael Jackson's Thriller dancers and did the dance from the video.  It was great!  I'm naive enough to think that Halloween is just a time for fun anymore and  I want to share some fun that I've enjoyed participating in during this time of year.  

Follow this blog - we'll make beautiful, delicious fun together. Comments are always welcome,  just leave one where this article ends. Thanks so much =)

In our neighborhood, we played a little game that can easily be translated to the work place if you like and adjust the goodies to suit adults.  My little guy calls it "Ding-dong Ditching with candy" but if it has an official name it would be "Boo". Boo is a ghost you deliver

 to your friends along with seasonal goodies without revealing yourself and the recipient does the same to 2-3 others.  In a neighborhood, we get it started with 5 bags of goodies like popcorn, Sweet tart Bones and Skulls, Halloween colors M&M's, a plastic spider ring, you get the idea and this is a nifty poem to add to bag.  The official rules are here.  I got caught once by a neighborhood brat, er, child who insisted I admit it was me who rang her door bell while her mother stood there smirking and saying nothing.  I skipped them the following year.  Sorry, I'm not smarter than a 5th grader.  

Can cookies and candies be sexy?  I say they can be.  Check these out... sexy, right?  What?  C'mon, they're gorgeous!  I made these by adding orange food coloring to a sugar cookie recipe but this time I'll try it with a decadent orange butter cookie recipe.  Be sure to add orange food coloring and if you eat more than one of these, that will

make two of us.  You know that you dip these in melted white and dark chocolate which you melt in double boiler, right? And just look at these caramel apples!  The stems are small candied pretzel sticks tied with ribbon and the butts, uh, dippers are a variety with pumpkin seeds, Halloween nonpareils  which you may call sprinkles and dripping chocolate wound around the caramel apple.  Sssssexy!  Try this with a variety of apples, why should that Granny Smith have all the fun?

Pumpkin Soup sounds wonderful to me and I wouldn't even alter it in general like I do everything else for flavor impact.  Then I saw this Thai Curried Pumpkin Soup recipe which made me change my mind.  It has 5 ingredients, recipe is right under picture but does not look like a recipe so look closely.  You're going to love that - it uses Thai curry and you can choose which variety, all is good here.

Pumpkin Ravioli is a fun dish to prepare with children, hint: keeps them busy for a long

 time.  Have you ever used the round wonton wrappers?  They are much thinner than a traditional ravioli dough and for that reason alone seem like a delicacy.  I first discovered them in a Bon Apetite magazine recipe for Goat Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Pancetta butter and they curled my toes back then even though my original purpose was to try a Pancetta dish for a party thinking every one loves bacon so this would be a winner.  I did not even want to share this dish!  This recipe though is for Pumpkin Ravioli and it is simple and fun and tasty and fun for your Bambinos to "help" you with. 

Just to be different one year, I searched for a different thing to do with the vast amounts of pumpkin seeds we always have left over from carving more than out share of  jack-o-lanterns.  I found this what we've called Roasted Pumpkin Pie Seeds recipe and they were a hit with my little sugar junkies.  This time I'm going to mix the traditional ones with the sweet ones to see if they go well together.   I'll let them try it first cause I'm like that, hehehe.

You need something beautiful and festive for your table, don't you?  I know, that's why I'm showing you this little joy. After removing the stem and tracing the bottom of a cancle, hollow out the stem area of a mini pumpkin and pop in your candle.  Wrap with a little bitter sweet garland and lovely, to behold and to be smell.  Wait...  If you burn that candle unattended and your little garland catches fire - just remove the garland, pumpkin head!

Remember that your comments are always welcome.  Do you have a Seasonal tradition to share?

Fall Trees

Trees change so much in the fall and I love the tree metamorphosis so trees are the current topic here at O.R...I know this picture is not really one of a fall tree but then again... =) [photo magnificence by Alexie One]

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So, trees...how does one get from trees to creativity? By telling you how delish is this pumpkin log recipe and a

how a favorite tree of mine is the apple tree so of course an Apple recipe? Then there are tree products to drool over such as turned wood knitting needles, double ended wooden crochet hooks, and the fun little project of this leaf flower centerpiece.

This flower leaf bouquet or boutonniere thingy is something unique to do with fall leaves when you simply can't just walk on by because they are so colorful and beautiful. The crafter here uses them as a centerpiece and I happen to think they'd look great on my desk, or yours, too, for that matter... but mostly mine cause I just don't get to see yours all that often. Just saying...

About the whole tree, wood thing: There are those among us who are aching to knit/crochet something this time of year. Whatever it is you choose for your project, these turned wood knitting needles and wooden crochet hooks will certainly make it all the more pleasantful. I know that is not a real word, but this is my blog, so...

Canned pumpkin distributed by Libby's. had a recipe on it for pumpkin log that was, in a word gorgeous and I really buy in to the whole "you eat with your eyes" thing. I earnestly strive to prepare dishes that are good looking, smell great and taste so good that you either want the recipe or I can't get you to leave at the end of the evening... in which case, you get to do the dishes. I had to adjust this recipe because it was nice and "basic". What I did was add a pinch more of each Cinnamon and cloves, used a neufchatel cheese for it's flavor and low fat and then

went with the 1 c. coarsely chopped walnuts. Need I tell you the

crowd went wild? Oh, I see, ok, the crowd went wild, heheh. I try to keep a loaf of this in my freezer for those times when I have unexpected guests and unfortunately, if you put this in your freezer thinking frozen will deter you from eating this: wrong-o. This is delish even frozen, don't ask, just trust me.

You'll want to know about this Strawberry Swiss Roll it is pretty and delicious also, substitute banana for the strawberry which isn't nearly as lovely to behold but since you'll be eating it more than beholding, who cares? Scroll down just past 3/4 mark at the site.

Seriously, you can not live on dessert alone, eat something reasonably healthy whydoncha? Like this sliced apple and crumbled cheese salad with balsamic vin dressing. Slice a red or apple of your choice and arrange atop romaine and scatter cheese, such as goat, feta, what have you and hit it with the balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette. Enjoy!