Living Room Plans

Working out construction plans and details can tend to get a bit tedious and you can start to forget what you are working towards. So I whipped up this quick little mood board to help me remember that when all is said and done, I will have an actually living room (den, whatever) -

The furniture and poster are pieces I already have. The flooring, rug, and curtains are some maybes from Ikea.

A Simple Seascape

My mind is kind of occupied tonight with loading up for a photo trip to Death Valley, so this is from the archives... wanted to leave something fresh to look at since I'll be out of touch until next week.

I was planning a fall color shot for today, but while searching for the one I wanted, came across a different image that I've been meaning to post anyway. Not really sure why I like this so much but I do, something about the soft light and contrast of textures; sometimes really simple images can be really satisfying.. we don't always need to think so hard. I shot this several years ago out on some cliffs in the Big Sur area, south of Carmel in central California... well after sunset, one of those "one last shot before heading for the barn" type throwaways that like to pop up fairly frequently. The old "inner eye" strikes again.

Hoping to have some interesting new desert scenery to play with when I get back:)

Halloween Brownies

Mwwwhahahahahaha!

(Scary Halloween noise.)

However, there is nothing scary about these babies, unless you count the part where you make them with crushed Nutterbutter cookies. And crushed Butterfinger bars. And chopped Reese peanut butter cups. And chocolate chips. Okay, maybe that is a little terrifying. But I am a brave girl, and all I can say about these treats is, so long as you only make them once a year, you really DO need to give them a whirl. They are out of this world amazing, I promise, and just about as easy as a sinfully rich chocolately peanutty unbelievably awesome recipe can be.

This recipe is adapted from one that I ran across on the Bake or Break website (isn't that a cool name? Go visit them when you get a chance -- the link is on my blogroll. Great recipes and beautiful pictures.). Anyway, they said this was a good recipe to use for leftover Halloween candy. Huh?? First of all, the words "leftover" and "candy" have never once been combined in a sentence in my particular house. Second, if I tried to snitch even one Reeses Peanut Butter cup from my child's Halloween loot, I would be busted immediately. Believe me, that candy is inventoried as soon as it comes in the door and each piece is assigned a tracking number, and woe to the parent or dog who casually tries to filch one.

So I went to the Mount Everest of Halloween candy at Fairway and picked up my OWN, and a couple of hours later these babies were born. And they are all treat...no tricks here.


Happy Halloween!!

HALLOWEEN BROWNIES, adapted from Bake or Break

• 1 16-ounce package Nutter Butter cookies, crushed
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 7 & 1/2 ounces peanut butter cups (about 25 miniature cups), coarsely chopped
• 4 ounces Butterfinger candy bars (about 7 small candy bars), coarsely chopped
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a 13″x 9″pan with aluminum foil, allowing it to extend over edges of pan. Grease/spray foil.

Combine crushed cookies and butter. Press mixture into bottom of prepared pan. Bake for 6-8 minutes.

Combine condensed milk, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

Sprinkle chopped candy bars and chocolate morsels over crust. Drizzle condensed milk mixture over toppings.

Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan on wire rack. Using foil, lift out of pan. Peel foil away, and cut into bars.

Makes 28 small or 18 large bars.

Click here for printable recipe

Halloween Film Fest

Cover of Carrie (Special Edition)

Halloween is so much fun: the costumes, the decorations, all the parties and fun houses, and most of all, the MOVIES!!! I have so much fun lighting the candles and turning off all the lights, making popcorn, and sitting on the couch to watch as many scary movies as I can into the wee hours of the night(morning). The movies I will watch this year will be :
Saw(2004)
Jeepers Creepers(2001)
Halloween(1978)
Friday the 13th(1980)
The Exorcist (1973)
Carrie (1976)
Christine (1983)
Ghost Busters (1984)
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
I prefer the original versions of all these movies and while I have fun with the sequels, I think the original story is hard to beat. I am also going to watch a movie I just discovered entitled The Uninvited (2009). The movie had some parts that were predictable but overall I was on the edge of my seat really enjoying the movie!
Have a safe and Happy Halloween and here is a clip from the Uninvited.

Halloween Plans

I am so slacking this year. I barely have any of my Halloween decorations up (and I only got them up last week). And of course I haven't even thought about photographing any of it.

We're playing it pretty low key this year - pizza, monster movies, lots of candy for the trick-or-treaters, and Emmett in a pumpkin costume. If the feeling hits me, I may make green swamp punch. That's about it.

For your viewing pleasure here are some shots from last year -

Chicken Shepherd's Pie

Yes, I am aware that chickens don't have shepherds. But I thought if I called this "Chickherd's Pie" you would really think I had gone off my rocker. If anyone has alternate ideas for what I should call this, bring 'em on!In the meantime, here is how this little number was born. A little while ago I made this:

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Which I loved (I am a sucker for comfort food of any kind), and while I was eating it I thought, what if instead of a more conventional crust, I used mashed potatoes? And, what if instead of using regular mashed potatoes, I used THESE mashed potatoes???

Aligot Potatoes

I think my heart actually started beating faster.

So what you have here is a thick chicken pot pie base, with lots of carrots and peas and other good stuff, topped with a layer of cheesy mashed potatoes, and then baked until the potatoes are browned on top (but still gorgeously creamy underneath). You can make it in either individual dishes, or do it all in one casserole and scoop out the servings. Which will look like this.

Is anyone else salivating right now besides me?

Sorry. Anyway, here is a recipe mash-up of the chicken pot pie and the aligot potatoes, and if anyone has any better recipe title ideas, don't hold back.

CHICKEN SHEPHERD'S PIE

Serves 4

4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1 cup frozen peas
1/1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 tablespoon salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

1. Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add carrot and onion and saute for 6 minutes.

2. Add flour and stir to coat. Cook for another 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Add broth to carrot mixturem whisking constantly. Bring to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened.

4. Add chicken, peas, thyme and season with salt and pepper.

5. Divide mixture among 4 single serving baking dishes. Preheat oven to 425.

6. Put sliced potatoes in large pot and cover with water. Add salt. Bring potatoes to a boil, partially cover and, reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and wipe out pot.

7. Put potatoes, garlic and butter into food processor and process for 10 seconds. Add one cup of milk and process until smooth, about 30 seconds more.

8. Put potatoes back into pot over medium heat. Gradually stir in cheese, stirring continuously until cheese is melted and potatoes are smooth. If mixture becomes too thick, gradually stir in more milk until creamy.

9. Spread potatoes over chicken mixture. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until top of potatoes start to brown (watch it carefully). Serve immediately.

Click here for printable recipe

coleman.

my little coleman died this afternoon and its amazing how devastating losing a pet can be. i'm wishing tonight that pets could live longer. but maybe that's just greedy.

coleman.

my little coleman died this afternoon and its amazing how devastating losing a pet can be. i'm wishing tonight that pets could live longer. but maybe that's just greedy.

3 years and counting

Twas a cold October evening in the year 2006, the wind was howling and the body lay there cold on the floor.... Shit wrong story! Ah hem, forget the body bit. A young (ish) woman was stumbling around the internet looking for an online journal of sorts, something to record her thoughts for a personal development project. It was for her new counselling course, as the old pen to paper of recording thoughts thing wasn't working for her. Somehow she stumbles upon 'blogger' and Bob's your mothers aunt. She ponders for a while on what to call this blog thing (for about 2 minutes), nobody is going to read it anyway, so what does a name matter? Then the poor gal falls down a rabbit hole and awakes three years later.......

Lessons Learnt in Blogging

If you are a newbie blogger or just clueless like I was (well still am), then I think that you will enjoy reading the posts that I wrote for my first and second blogging anniversaries. I have learnt a lot and it really can't all fit into this one post. I will still highlight some of the information from those previous posts, in this post, as I try and sum up three years of blogging fun. This is blogging 'Personal' stylee, not making money, not professional writing, blogging tips or anything like that. This is just my little journey through HTML hell, troll dung and template tiffs.

Year One

My first blogging anniversary was a tad late,who knew you had to write an anniveresary post for every year you don't quit.

The blog looked like this

You can also see it in action here, thanks to the Way Back Machine (records all your old horrors). I have no idea how it works, but maybe you should check to see if your blog is there? Wayback Machine

The first actual incarnation was a horrid green spotty classic template (no offence to those that have the horrid green spotty one, although you could change it). There are No screen shots of that, because I had no clue what a screen shot was.
Main lessons learnt after year one: Posted like crazy, several times a day, twas a bad idea. Tried paid posting, it got boring,fast. Horrid template at first, messed the HTML, did a million memes, got bored.

Year Two

The blog looked like this

The wonderful Design Bug designed this for me and I loved it, still do.

Main lessons learnt after year two: Started doodling again, twas a joy, found more of a 'style', posted a lot less. Made some great friends, not all people on the internet are scary. Rediscovered twitter, found it vastly appealing. Twitter also led me to connect to people closer to where I live.

Keep Reading for more wonderful insights........

Read more »

Halloween Thoughts.....

Go here for more haunted fun

Pumpkin Walnut Fudge

Yes, yes...we all know how wonderful pumpkin pie is, and pumpkin bread, and pumpkin muffins. And of course, when you add bacon to pumpkin you are pretty much on an express train to heaven.

Pumpkin Soup with Bacon and Blue Cheese

But up until now, I had not tasted true pumpkin nirvana, and now I have, and its name is Pumpkin Walnut Fudge. Let me start by saying that this recipe calls for 12 ounces of white chocolate, and an Entire Jar of marshmallow creme, which us regular folks know as Fluff. So if you are looking for the health food blog, you are in the wrong place. But oh, mama...it does taste good.

This recipe is adapted from one I found on Recipe Girl, who sounds like someone I would love to hang out with, just from her name alone...and she has some rocking great recipes on her site...check out her link on my blogroll. Anyway, the only significant change I made to her fabulous recipe was to add about a cup of chopped walnuts, which I both stirred in and sprinkled on to the top. This recipe does involve a candy thermometer, which always slightly terrifies me, but honestly, it was a snap. Get one of those ones that clips on to the side of your pot and you are all set.

So there you go, Pumpkin Walnut Fudge...it's only three short hours away, and two of those hours are cooling time. It is your civic Halloween responsibility to make some. Recipe below -- thanks again, Recipe Girl!

PUMPKIN WALNUT FUDGE, adapted from Recipe Girl

3 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
½ cup canned pure pumpkin
2 Tbs corn syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
12 oz package white chocolate morsels
7 oz jar marshmallow crème
1 cup chopped walnuts, plus another 1/2 cup for sprinkling on top
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line 9″ square pan with aluminum foil. Spray with nonstick spray.

2. Stir together first 6 ingredients in a 3½ quart saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234° (soft ball stage) or for about 12 minutes.

3. Once mixture reaches 234°, remove from heat and quickly stir in remaining ingredients until well blended.

4. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining walnuts on top and press down slightly. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares.

Click here for printable recipe

plank.

photo series yoga mats by plank.

plank.

photo series yoga mats by plank.

Yes Please

I'm a sucker for deer. . .

I would have absolutely no place to put it, but that doesn't make me want it any less.

checker set - pirates vs. ninjas.

checker set - pirates vs. ninjas by goosegrease. [via byrd & belle.]

checker set - pirates vs. ninjas.

checker set - pirates vs. ninjas by goosegrease. [via byrd & belle.]

Treasure Box Wednesday: Heavenly Finds

And a-one, and a-two, and everybody sing...

Er, no, better not. Let's just talk about our friend the conducting cherub here, and the other found items for this Treasure Box Wednesday.

The elaborate winged fellows are a lamp discovered at Construction Junction architectural salvage. This has already made it's way into my blue room. I would say it probably was the land-speed record for lamp placement in America.

How the lamp managed to survive in that store amid the big chunks of heavy marble mantles, thick wood planks, and masonry, I can't imagine. It does have some issues, certainly. A chipped wing here, a missing bit there...

And this fellow is completely sans-arm. But I think some clever patching will make it less obvious, and just add to the character. Too much was brilliantly intact for me to care very much...
Sometimes I think it's the imperfections in well-made old pieces like this that make them even more worth rescuing to me. Like I have to save them from further damage!

At the Salvation Army yesterday, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this pink hobnail vase...
I've seen this in white milkglass a bazillion times over the years-- in fact my mother had one-- but never, ever in pink! This was quite a surprise to me. I believe I recall it being an Anchor Hocking piece, but don't hold me to that.

I had also picked up this green Depression glass platter...

Funny, I'd been in line, saying to the friend I was shopping with how there were just a few small chips on the bottom, but how no one would see those. And the woman in front of me in line sniffed, "Well, I can tell you're not an antique dealer, then!"

Er, yes. I probably wouldn't expect people to buy from me something that had chips. But given it was for my own use? Well, you all know how I feel about that. Again, it's another pretty item whose beauty isn't ruined by the little flaws.

And my last second-hand venture of the weekend was attending a flea market at a local synagogue. It was set up almost identically to the church rummage sale I went to just a week or two ago. And there, I set my eyes on this great sandwich-glass and lightly-lustered amethyst dish...
(Here you can see an aerial view)...

And this excellent large, old mirror for a whole $2...

So it's been a pretty heavenly week for fun finds! And a nice respite from working on that fireplace.

• Folks who've not yet seen the whole fireplace installation extravaganza can check that out here.

It's going well, by the way. I installed the rest of the trim last night. It still needs a few coats of paint, and then I have some other touches to add. Oh-- and the mantle shelf. But the mantle shelf issue is one I'll share with you later. I think you'll laugh.

Take care, and I hope you'll pop back on Sunday for our next post!

Treasure Box Wednesday: Heavenly Finds

And a-one, and a-two, and everybody sing...

Er, no, better not. Let's just talk about our friend the conducting cherub here, and the other found items for this Treasure Box Wednesday.

The elaborate winged fellows are a lamp discovered at Construction Junction architectural salvage. This has already made it's way into my blue room. I would say it probably was the land-speed record for lamp placement in America.

How the lamp managed to survive in that store amid the big chunks of heavy marble mantles, thick wood planks, and masonry, I can't imagine. It does have some issues, certainly. A chipped wing here, a missing bit there...

And this fellow is completely sans-arm. But I think some clever patching will make it less obvious, and just add to the character. Too much was brilliantly intact for me to care very much...
Sometimes I think it's the imperfections in well-made old pieces like this that make them even more worth rescuing to me. Like I have to save them from further damage!

At the Salvation Army yesterday, there was absolutely nothing wrong with this pink hobnail vase...
I've seen this in white milkglass a bazillion times over the years-- in fact my mother had one-- but never, ever in pink! This was quite a surprise to me. I believe I recall it being an Anchor Hocking piece, but don't hold me to that.

I had also picked up this green Depression glass platter...

Funny, I'd been in line, saying to the friend I was shopping with how there were just a few small chips on the bottom, but how no one would see those. And the woman in front of me in line sniffed, "Well, I can tell you're not an antique dealer, then!"

Er, yes. I probably wouldn't expect people to buy from me something that had chips. But given it was for my own use? Well, you all know how I feel about that. Again, it's another pretty item whose beauty isn't ruined by the little flaws.

And my last second-hand venture of the weekend was attending a flea market at a local synagogue. It was set up almost identically to the church rummage sale I went to just a week or two ago. And there, I set my eyes on this great sandwich-glass and lightly-lustered amethyst dish...
(Here you can see an aerial view)...

And this excellent large, old mirror for a whole $2...

So it's been a pretty heavenly week for fun finds! And a nice respite from working on that fireplace.

• Folks who've not yet seen the whole fireplace installation extravaganza can check that out here.

It's going well, by the way. I installed the rest of the trim last night. It still needs a few coats of paint, and then I have some other touches to add. Oh-- and the mantle shelf. But the mantle shelf issue is one I'll share with you later. I think you'll laugh.

Take care, and I hope you'll pop back on Sunday for our next post!