Pumpkin Carving 2014

We carved pumpkins tonight after dinner.

It was 80 degrees today.

This was so much better than how I remember carving pumpkins as a child. 

I can remember being so cold and the inside of the pumpkin freezing your hands when you went in to scoop. 

We were all in shorts tonight. Ha!

Jay insisted on drilling his again this year and Lizzy wanted a happy face. She also wanted ovals. 

I know Joseph was glad that she didn't insist on her other favorite shape--octagons. 

Happy (almost) Halloween!!

Birthdays, Boo at the Zoo and Bass Pro Shops Halloween

I really think that October calendars should be super-sized when you have small kids. 

We've been to three birthday parties this week.

Two were Frozen and another was at our neighborhood playground.

To keep things lively I decided to take the kids to Boo at the Zoo on Friday night. 

I went by earlier in the day and bought our tickets and ride wristbands and we were the very first people in the zoo when it reopened for the night's festivities. 

We were also the first on the train and Jay picked the seat in the "tippy back"

We trick-or-treated, played carnival games, rode the carousel, watched the wildlife show and took a hayride. 

Going early made everything do-able and not so scary.
We also had a great parking spot considering every extra lot was full when we left! 

We went to the Trunk or Treat at church Sunday evening, I missed out on taking pictures, but did get to meet some new families and the kids had fun! 

Monday night after dinner we put our costumes on again for a trip to Bass Pro Shops and a photo with Charlie Brown and friends.

(I was trying to get a picture of Lizzy and got photo bombed by a daredevil fireman!)

We've been packing in the family fun this week and still have 4 days until Halloween. 

We're digging deep, sugaring up and hoping for a strong finish to all of this October Fun!

I have huge plans for a nap on November 1. 

Pumpkin Patch 2014

Last Friday we took a quick trip to the Pumpkin Patch at Shadow Lake with the kids. 

I got Jay out of school a little early, called Dede and invited her to join us for lunch and we arrived just as the school groups were leaving for the day and had about an hour and a half with the whole place mostly to ourselves. 

Woo-hoo!

The kids wanted to jump as soon as we got there--the timing was perfect.

Then we took our hayride and Jay of course paid close attention to the tractor the entire time.

Jay spent some time with the goats, Lizzy spent her time on the outside of the goat pen talking to the goats. Or "ghosts". "heeeerrreee ghosts, heerrrreee ghosts, meh, meh"

We rode the train and then picked our pumpkins.

They picked the smallest two. 

We played some games and called it a day. 

As usual, it was 78 and sunny, so we were ready for some shade and cool drinks just as the patch closed for the day. Perfecto. 

Bacon-Wrapped BBQ Chicken with Apples

I was talking to my mom as I left the grocery store the other day...

Me: So, I think I'm gonna wrap some chicken breasts in bacon, 

put barbecue sauce on them and roast them in the oven. 

I'm gonna put apples on top somehow.

Mom: I'd put he apples on the side.

Are you just making this up off the top of your head?

Me: Why, yes I am.

Y'all. It is so good! 

Tender and sweet with a little bit of BBQ spice. 

Winner, winner (another great) chicken dinner!

Here's what I did.

Heat oven to 350

Place 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts on a baking sheet and season (I shake some Tony Chachere's on both sides). Wrap each piece of chicken with bacon securing the ends underneath the chicken.

I used about 1 and 1/2 slices if bacon per piece of chicken. 

Sprinkle brown sugar over the top and bake for 45 minutes. 

Top with barbecue sauce and continue baking for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, peel and chop 2-3 medium apples, discarding cores. 

Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat, add apples, 1 tsp (or so) of cinnamon, 

2 tablespoons of brown sugar and reduce heat. 

Cook about 10 minutes stirring occasionally until apples soften to your preferred tenderness. 

Some folks like them firmer, others prefer them cooked to an almost liquid state. 

Y'all this is so great-can be made for a crowd for Sunday dinner or a weeknight supper. 

It was such a hit at our house and just enough spicy and sweet for everyone in the family. 

Ingredients list:

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

6 (or so) slices if bacon

1 Tbsp Tony Chachere's

4 Tbsp Brown Sugar, divided

1/3 cup barbecue sauce (more or less)

2-3 Tbsp butter

2-3 medium apples

1 tsp cinnamon

Enjoy! 

Turkey remix 2013

Turkey is probably the preferred poultry in our house.

And since we're entering the glorious time of holiday feasting we're also looking to make the most of our leftovers.

Here are two new couldn't-be-easier ways to rework your turkey bird.

Balsamic Pasta with Turkey and Roasted Vegetables
1-2 cups leftover cooked turkey
1 pound box of pasta (i had tri-color rotini on hand)
1 bottle of balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1-2 cups fresh spinach
1/2 cup crumbled feta, plus more for garnish

Cook up a box of your family's favorite pasta-or whatever you have on hand-penne, rotini, rigatoni, ziti.

While your pasta's boiling chop or dice 1 and 1/2 to 2 cups of turkey and coat with about 1/3 bottle of balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Set aside.

Chop tomatoes in half, if they are really juicy, squeeze some of the juice and seeds out onto a paper towel. Grab two handfuls of fresh spinach and roughly chop.

Once pasta has been cooked and drained combine pasta, turkey, tomatoes, spinach, 1/2 cup feta cheese and another 1/3 bottle of the dressing and toss. Place in a large covered casserole and bake covered at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. You want this to be warm, but not baked and dry.

Serve up and top with a bit more crumbled feta.

You could marinade your turkey overnight for this dish, it certainly couldn't hurt.

Turkey Tacos
A turkey and a taco kit walk into a bar.....have yourself a margarita and guess what happens.

My advice is this--warm your leftover turkey in a skillet with 1/2 cup chicken stock, then add taco seasoning and instead of using the water that the box calls for, replace it with chicken stock. You simply can't go wrong.


If you want more turkey ideas here are some other dishes we've done at our house

BBQ Turkey Stack on Pumpkin Cornbread

Turkey Vegetable Pie

Calzones just sub your turkey for the chicken

Cavatappi with Turkey and Peas

Happy Thanksgiving!
Watch a parade or some football!
Have a laugh and/or an adult beverage!
Enjoy the weekend shopping or hunting or trimming your tree!

Such a fun party! Leaf Jump and Pumpkin Hunt 2013

We had such a fun day! I've had this party in mind since last fall and it was simple and so very much fun, this may become an annual tradition!

We have lots of leaves and lots of trees and once Jay got his treehouse for his birthday I knew we needed to have this little party with our friends.

I'm so glad we did.

We had a perfect amount of kiddos and they had a blast and parents got to visit and enjoy the day. Did I mention the weather was g-r-e-a-t? When we were first planning, I thought about doing this party about 2 weeks before Halloween, but decided to wait until now to guarantee lots of leaves. It worked out perfectly to have it now--between Halloween and Thanksgiving when its still good weather wise but not quite as busy with parties and events. 

(unless you're an Alabama fan and were cheering on the Tide and didn't get home until 1:30 a.m.....but that's a story for another day.)

I didn't get many detail pictures of the party and the truth is it was very simple.

We served turkey sandwiches, fruit cups, Peanut Butter and Chocolate popcorn, cheese puffs, cupcakes and s'mores cookies. Tea, Water, Capri Sun.

 (Sweet Heather helped out with the food and these cupcakes. Perfecto.)

I printed up some food tags and toppers for the goodie bags and set up everything outside.

(Shoutout to my awesome husband who blew leaves like nobody's business Saturday morning so we had a nice fluffy bank of leaves for jumping the afternoon away.)

We jumped in the leaves, climbed all over the yard, enjoyed the treehouse, slide and swings.

Is that the Cozy Coupe on top of the treehouse?!?

We also had a quick pumpkin hunt with foam cutout pumpkins from Hobby Lobby.

(considering that we found forgotten Easter eggs until after Labor Day, I thought it best to use fake pumpkins, lest we turn our yard into an pumpkin patch by accident.)

We had some school friends. cousins and old friends and new friends from the neighborhood. It was truly a great time for us all.

Jay introduced Sadie to some friends from school and their parents by saying "This is Sadie. She's my best girl." Love them!!

I hope everyone napped well after the party or sleeps well tonight. Every child was trying to negotiate "5 more minutes" so  I think they all had fun.

This party was simple to do (says the one who did not do the leaf blowing....) and was the most fun I've ever had at a party we've had for the kids.