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.  

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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?

Taste Life

"We write to taste life twice, 

in the moment and in retrospection."~Anais Nin  

There are some foods I can almost taste when I think of them.  You too, right?  I'd love to know what yours are.  I will share a couple of mine, don't blame me if you smell them or get hungry.  Let's talk of Cilantro: the perfume of it is irresistible to me and every chance I get, I crush it between my fingers in to savor it the way this woman does in the John William Waterhouse painting.  It looks like she goes too far but I know exactly what she's after: she wants to fill her senses completely with the incredible scent in order to 

recall it's fragrance in her mind.  (My son says she looks likes she's making out with the rose, hehehe.) 

This time, things worth repeating...

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I want to hear what your favorite movie is.  My new favorite is Gran Torino with/ by Clint Eastwood where he is an opinionated son of a gun.  I like The Sweetest Thing with Cameron Diaz for laughter and love.  Another favorite "justice" movie I like is Tombstone with Val Kilmer offering to be your Huckleberry.  By the way, my DVD is missing and even though I know I can replace this easily - if you have it, I would like it returned with popcorn and some San Pelligrino water because you've had it for a long time.  Whoever you are. 

Apples and Cranberries are at the height of their deliciousness right now.  I mention it because a favorite drink for me once was hot apple cider this time of year and I my mind was drawn to the hot toddy thing and Sangria's.  I found this little something which appeals to the olfactory senses as well as is pleasing to the eyes.  Omit the brandy and share some with your little ones, it will quiet them for a moment.  You may want to take it easy on the sugar here, taste first then add.  I never require the amounts of sugar listed.  You're probably sweet enough, also =)  

Cilantro, Lime, and Chile in any dish simply rocks my culinary world.  Guess I'm easy.  Last night we enjoyed a Cilantro Lime Chile Shrimp with a rice noodle and braised Bok choy which

 is an Asian bitter green.  I enjoy this so much that I want to have it again and again but I translate it into variations in order that I may remain living at home.  Some discoveries are the Shrimp Taco

 version, the Chile Lime Cilantro Fajita a la slow cooker, and the clever Beef and Bean Empanada with Cilantro-Lime dip, it's a little sneaky but it satisfies the need.

This favorite knit pattern, which is knit on the diagonal and shown on the right, has been around for as long as I can remember.  It's easy, mindless hand work.  This little gem can even been done in much larger scale and created to be a pet blanket or for baby.  Something fun and out of the box is to use an acrylic  yarn and knit the dishcloth.  Most knitters only envision this in cotton but acrylic, that cheapy-do yarn is great because it doesn't hold on to the water or the bacteria so there is less if any odor and germs over time.  I've done this in the outrageous looking discount scary yarn and found that in this small scale, it is not nearly as atrocious.  Have you tried tawashi? You owe it to yourself to check it out.  Fun acrylic scrubbie patterns from Japan translated to English knit and crochet patterns such as this knit spiral tawashi shown here on left. Crochet version here.

And once, while attending some girly party of Bunko or the like, the host served popcorn.  It was a somewhat classy evening so I thought for a moment: Popcorn? As the evening wore on, ladies hovered over the popcorn like it was a cute guy whispering sweet nothings only to them.  It looked like ordinary popcorn and, being a little bit of a snob of course, I thought "it's just popcorn, what's the big deal?"  Well, I had some and it was more than "just popcorn" in was the kind of thing which makes you beg "what's in this?!"  For several seconds my taste buds were dancing with wonderment and gaiety. Yes, gaiety.  This stuff was delightful.  It turns out, it was White Chocolate Popcorn and this is the recipe.  

Fall - Autumn

Autumn, which is the time of year here in Colorado*, is so vibrantly colored.  It seems to be hinting with  its magnificent splendor that it's almost time to turn on the heat!  This is fine by me, am really in the mood for some major cuddling that one simply can not commit to in the throws of summer, that hit and run season.  *Having international friends and followers makes me want to point that out.

Gourd vase by Allure Event Consulting is a lovely collaboration of fall Chrysanthemums and the autumn harvest.  I see the gourds at the Market and wonder what I can do with them. Remove a portion from the top, keeping throat in tact, shake out any seeds, slice thin piece from bottom to make them stand and add water to your instant vase for your fall flowers.

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While window shopping online for some unique fall decor, I came across this bit of fall fabulocity: Etsy April Hiler Designs  $22 USD 6" Autumn Pomander/Kissing Ball.  Ms. April had other intentions for this fantastic pomander but I thought it would be gorgeous to float above my kitchen table because it seems that at my house, my boys are frequently taking over the table and anything else would have to be moved so often that it would suffer mysterious damages and potential fatality at the hands of the infamous "I don't know" and his little wrecking crew of "wasn't me".  

Sunflowers

One son of mine grew a sunflower forest this summer.  It was incredible and from his height it must have been ethereal and the stuff memories are made of.  Now though it's just scraggly and withered but to keep the fun going a little the cut down stalks can be used for a fall display.  I would suggest the decor because of my femininity but the lad could not be less interested so for him and you if you have them, the sunflower seed heads are a food source that you can leave outside for the squirrels and birds. Attaching like they do here a screw eye to the backside of a seed head and then inserting a cup hook into your deck or other wood post or part. Be sure to use pliers to close the cup hooks as much as possible for the safety of the critters.  I place the sunflower seed heads in my bird bath, I don't keep water in it because of the whole mosquito infection scare.  I've done this for years and have not had any ill side effects, I was concerned about rodents.  They need to eat too but the invitation is not for them.

RECIPE SUNFLOWER SEED MIX

Sunflower seeds are the incredibly arranged gift of the sunflower and an anti-inflammatory with cardiovascular benefits while loaded with Vitamin E.  Once upon a time, and perhaps still today, Native Americans used sunflower seeds to make pudding, gravy, bread and coffee. When combined with dried fruits, the seeds also make a sweet and nutty snack.

mini recipe:

2 cups raw sunflower seeds, 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, 1 cup pine nuts, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup sweetened, dried cranberries (Craisins)

Measure the ingredients into a paper bag, fold over the top of the bag and shake to mix. Store the mixture in an airtight plastic container. Makes 6 cups.

Nature in all it's fascinating glory begs to be mimicked just as my yarn stash begs to be used.  I found this is a lovely crochet hat pattern for what appears to mimic the beautiful sunflower.  It will fit a child and has instructions for infant sizes.  In this basic form  it's certainly  nice but even more so if you attach a beautiful faux flower to one side.

Eat Your Damn Oatmeal

You don't have to take that tone with me...not about oatmeal.  Way back when I wore my hair in two 
braids and donned that catholic school plaid, I had a thing for oatmeal.  I recall mornings in the kitchen spent pretending my oatmeal was porridge and that my two brothers and I were the 3 bears.  I hear you laughing.   We didn't have a Goldilocks but my "porridge" was always just right.  I don't fashion my hair in two braids much anymore but my thing for old fashioned oatmeal still exists.  

Now I no longer rely on little brown packets for my oatmeal fix.  Did you know that Starbucks serves Perfect Oatmeal and Jamba juice dishes it up as well? If these leaders can do oatmeal - you know I will!

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Before Oats became the love interest of the healthy heart industry, I knew it to be one of those things I loved that was not bad for me.  There aren't enough of those so we should enjoy this at every opportunity.  Opportunity #1: veggie burgers.  I used to buy these premade and frozen and they really don't taste all that exciting so we had to fix this pronto!  This is a superb recipe I found at vegweb.com for  Garlic Potato & Oat Black Bean Burgers  that I would make and serve any man who gets all "meat and potatoes only" with me.  I'd wear a low cut dress, too and stiletto's but that is just so he'd give it a try and then I'm sure he'd love it after that and I could wear any old thing... Opportunity #2: traditionally pie crust is made with a large amount of white flour  which I find a little 

disturbing and it should be noted that there is another way that is clever and tasty and makes sense for fruit pies: Oatmeal Pie Crust recipe found here at Cooks recipes.com. made with quick cooking oats.  Feeling your oats? Bake an oatmeal pie, see picture and then make the Hey, that tastes good!: Oatmeal Pie featured in the photo.  Nectarine Raspberry fruit Crisp with Spiced-Oatmeal crumb  topping at Bon Apettite is crunchy and homey.  Give it a try.

Once when my little one developed a nuclear rash on his unmentionables, research lead me to the colloidal oatmeal bath as treatment.  Yep, it was pricey but it was magical and should be noted that it looked disgusting.  Research time: grinding store bought oatmeal in blender, food processor or coffee mill repeatedly until it's a very fine powder creates colloidal oatmeal for pennies.  As a powder it mixes with the water in such a way as to float throughout.  Careful, this will be slippery on the tub.  1/3 C. will do. Helps soothe skin irritations like eczema, pox and rashes.  My itchy boy would not go for this now and we'd maybe make some oatmeal bath bombs if he was itchy.  For me, I would add 1 c. dry milk and baking soda for something silky during the winter when the heater dries the skin.  Oatmeal facial - I recommend you grind the oats in a coffee mill but certainly not necessary - Combine 3/4 cup oatmeal with half a cup of water and cook for a few minutes, the way you'd prepare it for meals. Allow to cool. After a few minutes, add 1/4 quarter cup of honey and mix well. It is that simple. You now have an oatmeal mask great for evening moisture in skin and soothing/shrinking pores.

Warm and fuzzy:  This little nest for newborn cargo is used as a photo prop and available for sale by Crickets Creations.  This one is called Oatmeal fringe and Cricket shows a variety of colors which can be purchased from her Etsy site.

Instant Satisfactions

Often it seems that the projects in my life have such a long way to go and I need some kind of pay off NOW! So, I work on little things with immediate pay off here and that to quiet my need for accomplishment. Instant gratification I think they call it. Et vous? Well, the next time you feel that need, I hope you'll try some of the instants that have made me happy: reading, knits, cooking, decorating or share some of your own at the bottom in comments section.

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Quite naturally, my favorite place for reading instant gratification is the micro fiction

found at http://pentenscribes.ning.com/

This site offers and excellent collection of short stories all told in 10 sentences or less. Oftentimes, you will leave feeling as though you read a very short book. A favorite quote there is "It is my ambition to say in ten sentences; what others say in a whole book."~Friedrich Nietzsche

Pieknits shares this little wrist pillow knitting pattern and several others for free. I actually use this little pillow for my elbow oftentimes and make them from scraps of yarn and stow them away to give as gifts. Organic yarns and other soft yarns make excellent candidates for this project. This little project is where I learned to knit short rows, well, sort of. It was my intro to the technique but I learned to turn short rows at Knitty.com. Knitting short rows is a technique which creates a bump out in your knitting like what you'd need for the heel of a sock or in the bosom area of a garment.

My favorite instant gratification at dinner time is Egg Foo Yung. I order this often at Asian restaurants and discovered in a miniature cookbook that a friend gave me: It literally takes about 5 minutes to prepare and can be filled with whatever vegetable or cooked meat which you have handy. I've used mushrooms to replace meat in this dish as well as shredded carrots for variety. This can be a complete meal if you want low carbs or serve over a bed of rice or try it with angel hair pasta or rice stick noodles for a light fare. The angel hair and the rice noodles cook for about 5 minutes so you can begin boiling the water before starting your foo yong, foo yung, foo young...whatever way you spell it.

As for instant decorating satisfaction, I like to accessorize with paint and little unconventional

items. For instance, I am in love with this burnt orange paint color at the moment and niche's and nooks at my house are sporting this warm and friendly new coat. Little things though, which require even less time that I play at are putting tassels of all kinds on each door knob. I just keep an eye out for them when ever I'm shopping, only buying them when on sale and hang

them like earrings from any knob or just from an antique key which fits nothing. I like ornate tassels and there was a time in my life when I would have just made one and would have used the Boutique Tassel instruction found here. I also like to put flowers around for instant pick me up. I am not a great arranger of flowers so I keep it simple and try to use unique bud or color for impact such as this little display here with deep purple calla lily and white fringed tulip. Maybe you are more creative in this area. Hey! leave me a comment or suggestion and be sure to support my sponsors by clicking on a link... that and best wishes for an excellent day =)

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!