Sherlock Holmes

John's brother Steve's birthday is shortly after Christmas and Audrey did not want his birthday to go unnoticed, so she worked it out that we met Steve and Angela for a movie in honor of Steve's B-Day. We all agreed on the new "Sherlock Holmes" movie and really enjoyed it - great idea Audrey!

Christmas Day

We decided to just stay at our own house and enjoy Christmas with just the 3 of us this year. What a relaxing way to spend the day! We had a fun time opening our stockings and our presents. Kitty enjoyed batting around the used wrapping paper across the tile floor and checking out what we received - all new smells. After presents, we had breakfast. Christmas Eggs (a recipe we found on the internet and will NOT be trying again - yuck!) and Sugared Bacon (another recipe off the internet that we did enjoy). Then we went back into the living room to assemble the presents since John got a new computer desk, Audrey got a new computer chair and I got a new file cabinet for the office. ALL of them had to be assembled!! Had a late lunch of ham and cheese potatoes. And then Christmas movies in the afternoon. Just a very nice, relaxing day to enjoy with our immediate family.

Sugared Bacon

SUGARED BACON
1 lb. bacon
1 c. brown sugar
Water
1 tsp. cinnamon
Partially cook bacon - about half way. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper and place partially cooked bacon on sheet. Mix 1 cup of brown sugar & 1 tsp. cinnamon with enough water to make it a paste. Using a pastry brush, cover bacon on both sides with the brown sugar paste. In a 350 oven, cook the bacon until completely cooked (about 10 minutes depending on thickness of bacon).

Christmas Eve at Home

While we were at Grandma's, Santa stopped by and dropped off our P.J.'s !!!!!!!! We have always opened one present on Christmas Eve right before bed - thanks Santa!

Christmas Eve

We went to mom's for Christmas Eve and had a great time. We have settled into the breakfast-for-dinner tradition so enjoyed pancakes, oven-french toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and a Cinnamon Bun Cake that we brought. Brianna spent a lot of time in the kitchen making pancakes and even made a Mickey pancake for John and a heart-shaped pancake for me. After dinner we opened presents and visited until it was time to head home. Thanks for a great evening Mom!

Cinnamon Bun Cake

CINNAMON BUN CAKE

Batter:
1 yellow cake mix
3/4 c. oil
1/2 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
8 oz. sour cream

Cinnamon Swirl:
1 c. brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 c. chopped pecans

Icing:
1 c. powdered sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. softened butter

With an electric mixer blend cake mix, oil, brown sugar, eggs and sour cream. Set aside. For the cinnamon swirl, mix the brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped pecans in a separate bowl. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9x13 cake pan.

Pour half of the cake batter into the baking pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture. Pour the rest of the cake batter into the pan. Sprinkle with the rest of the cinnamon nut mixture over the top of the batter. Run a knife through the mixture to swirl the cinnamon with the cake batter. Bake for 45 minutes.

Prepare icing: Blend sugar, milk, vanilla and butter well. Drizzle over the cake after removing from the oven, while still warm.

Cheez-It (Cracker) Chicken

They served this at the ward dinner and we really liked it. I pulled the recipe off the internet so I think next time I will make it "soupier" as that was how it was at the ward dinner... kind of like having orange gravy!

CHEEZ-IT CHICKEN
4 to 6 chicken breast
1 small box Cheez-Its, processed into crumbs
8oz sour cream
Salt and pepper
1 cup melted butter

Dip chicken breast in sour cream and then into Cheez-Its. Place in a baking dish and drizzle with the melted butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered.

Grandpa Overalls

My sister had given me this hot pad as one of my birthday gifts. She called me later and said "I wanted you to know, the jean material is from dad's overalls." How cool! So I showed my hot pad to Audrey and then Audrey called Aunt Kathy and told here that she needed to make her something out of grandpa's overalls too. She suggested a pencil pouch and then told her she had to be sure to use the front pocket. Look what she created! Now Audrey has a place to put "the pen", the 4-color blue type of pen Grandpa always had in his pocket.

Late B-Day Celebration

My two bosses took me to lunch for my birthday today, along with these beautiful flowers for an early Christmas present. They let me choose the restaurant and I had not gone to PF Chang's in awhile, so we headed downtown. Because of some meetings they had earlier in the month, we could not get all three of us together until today. So after a lovely lunch and a fun dessert (bananas in fried won tons with coconut ice cream, caramel sauce and strawberries & blackberries - YUM!) we headed back to the parking garage. Now... look at the calendar = the Monday before Christmas. The 5th floor of the parking garage did not seem so bad when we came in, but it was horrible getting out. We validated our parking stub at 2:10 and did not get onto the street until after 3:00pm! By the time we got back to the office it was nearly time to go home. So, an interesting adventure today and a promise that next year we will be no where near any shopping areas!!

Ward Christmas Dinner

Our ward had their Adult Christmas Dinner this evening and had asked various couples to each host a table. We were asked to do a table and bring our china, a centerpiece, a salad to share, set up our table earlier in the day and then serve & clear dishes from our table throughout the evening, pack up our dishes and wash them at home. The menu was Cheez-It Chicken, baked potatoes, green beans, homemade rolls and then cheesecake for dessert along with the salad we made. We were able to have Judy & Vern Black, Jennet & Ed Siniff and Laura & Larry Stevens sit at our table and we had a wonderful time! After the meal there was a sing along (12 days of Christmas, each table was one of the days) and then a nice program by the Mattoon's & Erickson's. A couple of my favs were "I'll Be Home for Christmas" with Ariel singing (she just got home from college) and a funny rendition of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen. Overall a very nice evening!

The Nutcracker

Mom took Mariska/Michelle, Kathy/Brianna and Audrey & I to the Nutcracker again this year. We started out with lunch at The Onion and then browsed Auntie's Bookstore until it was time to walk over to the performance. This year the Spokane Symphony was joined by the Memphis Ballet, which was a nice change. It is always good to see different costumes, choreography and interpretations. A couple of the differences I noticed were: The Rat King was friendly - he waved at the audience when he first came in and then did an Elvis impersonation when he was dying and then waved again before he closed his eyes. This production included the lady with the little bon-bons that come out from her skirt. When the Nutcracker and Clara head off in the sleigh, they actually raised it up as it travelled, which was a very cool effect. Thanks Mom for a great day!

Nuncrackers

We took "The Moms" out for an early Christmas present - dinner and the theatre. We started off by eating at HuHot and then headed to CDA for the Nunsense Christmas musical, "Nuncrackers". The sisters of Mt. Saint Helen's were taping a TV special in the convent basement and, if you have ever seen any Nunsense productions, of course they had issues! The show was filled with classic Nunsense humor, some caroling, some audience participation (Secret Santa) and an interesting take on the Nutcracker ballet. I think my mom and John's mom had a fun evening.

John's next project

We went on a little property tour tonight. Because we did not head out until after dark, we made sure to come prepared with flashlights. This old schoolhouse that is now just empty was advertised in a real estate magazine and figured I had to show John. But now he says he could have been in ignorant bliss rather than thinking about another project that is not currently in our budget. Oh well, it was fun looking into the windows and dreaming...

Ruby Red Layered Salad

Jell-o is so shiny... could not get a good picture, but still wanted to share the recipe as it was pretty tasty. Don't be worried about "Sour Cream", it actually adds a nice flavor and makes it not as sweet as it could be. I really liked this recipe. Took it for a potluck at work.

RUBY RED LAYERED SALAD
#1 Layer
3oz package cherry or raspberry gelatin
8oz can crushed pineapple, drained
16oz can whole cranberry sauce
Dissolve cherry gelatin in 1 cup hot water. Stir in crushed pineapple and cranberry sauce. Pour into 9x13 glass dish. Chill until set.

#2 Layer
1 pint sour cream. Spread sour cream over firm gelatin. Refrigerate.

#3 Layer
3oz package raspberry gelatin
10oz package frozen raspberries (no need to thaw)
Dissolve raspberry gelatin in 1 cup hot water. Add frozen raspberries, stir until well mixed. (I crushed them with a potato masher). Carefully spoon over sour cream layer. Chill until firm.

Promotion

John got a promotion at work and is now a Technology Specialist. He also is now a year-round employee for the district rather than a 180 employee. What that means is he no longer gets his summers off. He will also now visit all the schools on a regular rotation rather than just being at the high school. I think he will enjoy this new challenge and we are proud of him. Congratulations John!!

Birthday Movie & Lunch

Today was my choice for the birthday movie, so we went to The Princess & The Frog (along with a zillion little girls in the movie theatre). It was a cute movie and vintage Disney, meaning you already know how it ended : )

After the movie we headed to lunch. We must have got a relatively new waiter... Audrey ordered a root beer and our waiter delivered a rather clear amber liquid to the table. When we questioned "What is that?", he replied xxx Beer. (Without being a beer drinker, I cannot remember what brand he said it was, but it was a type of beer). I mentioned that she had actually ordered a ROOT beer and by the way, she's only 16!! He could not scoot that beer off our table fast enough (since he obviously did not card her). I guess we had to add a little excitement to our previously G-Rated day!!

Candy Bouquet

My sister-in-law made this cute candy bouquet! Thanks Michelle!!

Birthday Girls

My niece Cristie and I share the same birthday, so we had their family over today to celebrate both events. We had dinner (cream cheese chicken, jello, veggies/dip and chocolate cake) and then relaxed, opened presents, visited, watched Christmas videos and goofed around. Fun time - Happy B-Day Cristie & Sam!

Favorite Jello Salad

This is one of our Go-To jello recipes. You can change it up just by the flavor of the yogurt and the flavor of the jello.

FAVORITE JELLO SALAD
6 oz package of Jell-O (used Strawberry)
2 c. boiling water
Dissolve Jell-O in boiling water. Add tray of ice, stir until melted, remove large pieces. Then whip in:
6-8 oz yogurt single serving container (used Strawberry)
Regular size Cool Whip
Place in bowl and refrigerate until set.

May substitute other flavors of Jell-O but coordinate Yogurt to match (either actual flavor or vanilla or plain).

Saturday Events

The WVHS football team played for the AA State title today, so my husband and his friend, Jon, went on a road trip to the Tacoma Dome to watch them play. They left at 4:30am, watched the game, stopped for lunch and got home about 7pm. The Eagles played Lynden but lost 16-6. John said he had a great time anyway and was glad he could go to root for his school.
Meanwhile, mom and I went to the Spokane Symphony Holiday Pops with Ronan Tynan as the guest artist. He was part of the original Irish Tenors group and had a very interesting history. He did not start to perform until he was 33 (he was a medical doctor prior to that), had both legs amputated when he was 20 and won 18 gold medals and 14 world records in the Paralympics. In addition, he had a wonderful voice.

Cheesy Chicken Chowder

This soup turned out rather tasty & flavorful, but I have to admit I thought the recipe called for too much chicken broth, so I only added 2 boxes. What that made is more of a casserole texture. It was good that way, but a little too thick to really call it a soup. So put in 2 boxes if you want it incredibly thick or the 3 boxes the recipe calls for if you want it to be chowder : )

CHEESY CHICKEN CHOWDER
2-3 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded
3 boxes chicken broth
1 onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
3-4 carrots, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup white rice
1/2 lb. Velveeta cheese, cubed
Salt and pepper

Bring the broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the veggies and cook about 30 minutes. Stir in the rice and continue to cook for 20-30 minutes or until the rice is tender. Stir in the chicken and Velveeta, stirring often as the cheese melts. Be careful not to boil the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Advent Candy Calendar

This is what I made for the ladies I visit teach - a candy Advent calendar. Some Jingle Bell chocolates and some scrapbook paper and Viola!

Decorating the Tree!

Don't you love teenagers? My niece, Brianna, was at our house so I put her & Audrey on the decorating task. Between the two of them, they decorated the house and the tree and even made an "All Star Trek" tree. I think the girls did a great job and I enjoyed a lovely nap : )

Anniversary Celebration

We celebrated our 21st anniversary by going out to dinner at the Melting Pot this year. Our first time there so we tried everything - cheese fondue, salads, meat fondue (both chicken and beef) and ended with the chocolate with peanut butter fondue. What an enjoyable evening, and perhaps it was the company, but it was incredibly romantic. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Thanks for 21 years honey!!

Ornament Shopping

We went on our annual ornament shopping trip with Gma today. We headed over to the Old World Merck outlet shop and enjoyed searching through the bins to find particular ones. This year the store cat came out to visit customers which was fun too. Afterwards we headed up to mom's for lunch (Ham buns, salad, pumpkin trifle) and visiting. Thanks mom for the fun day!

Pumpkin Trifle

Audrey had this at a dinner and really liked it. She describes this as pumpkin pie without the crust. I shared the recipe with Kathy and she brought it to mom's for our lunch today.
PUMPKIN TRIFLE
2 to 3 cups crumbled unfrosted spice cake, muffins or gingerbread
2 & 1/2 cups cold milk
4 packages instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 can (15oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon each ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice
2 cups heavy whipping cream

Set aside 1/4 cup of cake crumbs for topping. Divide remaining crumbs into four portions; sprinkle one portion into a trifle bowl.

In a large bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin, pudding mixes and spices; beat until smooth. Spoon half into the serving bowl. Sprinkle with a second portion of crumbs. In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; spoon half into bowl.

Sprinkle with a third portion of crumbs. Top with the remaining pumpkin mixture, then remaining portion of crumbs and whipped cream. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs around the edge of bowl. Cover and chill at least 2 hours before serving.

John's Birthday!!

We had a fun time celebrating John's birthday ALL DAY today!! We made him open his presents first thing and it was no surprise that we had a Star Trek theme going on. Audrey got him Star Trek pez dispensers and he also received his annual Hallmark Star Trek ornament. A new leather jacket and a book rounded out his gifts. As a family, we always let the birthday person pick the movie & lunch. Today John picked "2012" which was not the favorite choice of Audrey or myself, but then was surprised by how much we all enjoyed it. So, good pick!Afterwards we headed over to Frank's Diner for breakfast-for-lunch! We were purposely trying to stay away from some of the restaurants close to malls & the black Friday shopping, and did well by choosing Frank's. Good food and not too crowded. Plus the added bonus of interesting architecture and lots of history! Then, because that was not enough celebrating - we headed to Grandma Carter's house where John's brother Ralph lives. He and John share the same birthday, just 11 years apart. So we were able to have a nice dinner of lasagna, open presents and eat cake, and play a game of picture charades. Note our matching t-shirts : ) as I also got to open an early b-day gift. Happy B-Day John!!

T-Day!!

We had an absolutely wonderful time on Thanksgiving. We headed up to my sisters' house where we enjoyed our Thanksgiving Day with her in-laws, her immediate family and 2 retired couples from her ward. Our meal included a smoked turkey, potatoes/gravy, yams, stuffing, my Fruit & Spinach salad, my Cranberry relish, appetizers of warm spinach & artichoke dip as well as my Cougar Gold cheese & crackers. Then after we had a little time to rest, we got to try the plethora of pies. There were almost more pies than people and the choices seemed endless! It was a fun time!

Pumpkin Cake

PUMPKIN CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
4 eggs
1 & 2/3 cups white sugar
1 cup oil
15oz can pumpkin puree
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt

Frosting
3oz package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, mix the eggs, sugar, oil, and pumpkin with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Stir into the pumpkin mixture until thoroughly combined. Spread the batter evenly into an ungreased pan (jelly roll or cake pan) and bake for 25-30 minutes (for jelly roll, more for cake) or until cake test done. Cool before frosting.

To make the frosting, cream together the cream cheese and butter. Stir in vanilla. Add confectioners' sugar a little at a time, beating until mixture is smooth. Spread evenly on top of the cooled cake/bars.

Fruit and Spinach Salad

FRUIT AND SPINACH SALAD
1 head leaf lettuce (red or green or romaine)
1 bunch spinach
2 Johnny smith apples, chopped
2 cans mandarin oranges (drained)
1/4 red onion, minced
1/2 c sugared almonds (see recipe below)
Feta Cheese to taste
Orange Poppy Seed dressing (bottled or homemade)

Sugared Almonds - 1 c raw sliced almonds & 3 T sugar. Place the nuts in a small skillet and sprinkle with sugar. As the sugar melts, stir the contents of the pan and let the sugar turn brown, being careful to not let it burn. When the sugar has reached the color of a paper sack, place the nuts on a cookie sheet to cool.

Toss all the ingredients together and add the dressing right before serving. I used a bottled Orange Poppy Seed dressing and added a little fresh orange juice before adding it to the salad.

This was a BIG hit and if you mince the red onions, the kids will eat it anyway 'cause they won't know it is in there! (But you get the added flavor).

Molded Cranberry Sauce

I got this recipe from the Williams Sonoma website since I was using a cranberry mold I had purchased at Williams Sonoma. It was quite tasty and smelled divine while cooking. However, since I forgot to spray the mold with nonstick cooking spray, it does not look as pretty as the picture on the packaging. But it was tasty!!

MOLDED CRANBERRY SAUCE
1 lb fresh cranberries
1 cup plus 2 Tbs. sugar
Zest of 2 oranges
2/3 cup fresh orange juice
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup plus 2 Tbs. cold water
1 envelope unflavored gelatin

Lightly coat the inside of a ceramic cranberry mold with nonstick cooking spray. I forgot this part!!

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the cranberries, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, salt and the 2/3 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the cranberries have burst, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour the 2 Tbs. water into a small bowl and sprinkle with the gelatin. Let stand until the gelatin softens and swells, 5 to 10 minutes.

Spoon 1/2 cup of the juices from the cranberries into the gelatin and stir until the gelatin has dissolved. Pour the gelatin mixture into the cranberry mixture and stir to combine. Pour the cranberry mixture into the prepared mold and let cool to room temperature. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Turkey Cookies

I made these little treats for the sisters I visit teach. I'm sure they were cuter on the website where I got the idea...

TURKEY COOKIES
Double Stuff Oreos (2 per turkey)
Small Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups (1 per turkey)
Whoppers (1 per turkey)
Candy Corn
White Frosting (in the tube for the eyes)
Chocolate Frosting (in the tub)

Take an Oreo and carefully separate one of the cookies from the frosting. Gently press the pointed tips of 6 candy corns around one half of the Oreo. My one turkey would only take 5, but 6 definately looks better! Take some frosting and cover the oreo cream and re-attach the cookie. Take the second oreo and lay it flat on the table. Pick up your Oreo with the candy corn and put some icing on the bottom of the oreo and attach it onto the flat oreo so that it is on the back half. Take the peanut butter cup and cut a small section off so it will be flat. Place some frosting on it and attach it (the body). Attach the Whopper on top of the peanut butter cup. Add two drops of white icing for the eyes. Cut the tips off of 2 candy corns (feet) and the remainder for the wings. I found that the chocolate frosting worked best for the "cement" and only used the white icing for the eyes.

Happy Anniversary to us !!

21 years ago today I married the most wonderful man in the world. Happy Anniversary to us!!

Funny story: Last night Audrey wanted to know if she could take today off from school since it was a family holiday (our anniversary). I quickly told her "no" and even mentioned that John and I also had to work. But then I started laughing and said "I, however, always got the day off from school on my parents' anniversary since it was Veteran's Day." Of course, Audrey did not think this was fair and even asked again this morning if we'd reconsider.

Released from Young Women

I am officially down to just a couple callings = I play the organ for the 4th Sunday and the 5th Sunday and I accompany the choir. I was released from my Camp Calling earlier this month and my best buddy Jessie is now the Ward Camp Director. She was ecstatic (and will do very, very well!) - I was released as the YW Secretary also. It was just too hard to have 5 callings and full-time work and "life", so I am thankful for the respite - - but will miss this crazy & lovely & wonderful bunch of Young Women!!

WSU Game

Though the score was pretty terrible (43 UCLA to 7 WSU), we still managed to have a terrific time at the Cougar game this year. We rode the bus down with the Dreyer's folks and took part in the Corporate food tents again, but before the game started - all 3 of us got to be on the field for the coin toss. Then John and I stayed on the sidelines for a good portion of the 1st quarter before heading up to the private Cougar Mania suite. Where the heat is on. And there is food to eat. We enjoyed the half time show - it was Dad's Weekend so during the marching band field show, the drill team members had their father's on the field doing a dance number with them. Fun! Then during the 3rd quarter, the cheerleaders swapped places with the drum line so the band members were doing cheers and one of the teeny-tiny cheerleaders was walking around with a bass drum. Couple times we thought she'd fall over! After the game was over (well, after the 4th quarter ended), we headed back to the bus and watched the movie RV on the ride home. They also had sandwiches, pop and ice cream bars. Oh, I forgot to mention: on the ride down Audrey won a shirt in a drawing and I won a sweatshirt!! Good win for the Carter family!!

Evening in Excellence

Tonight was our Young Women Evening in Excellence program. Audrey created a wonderful DVD video with pictures of the girls throughout the year. She did a terrific job and spent countless hours working on this project. In addition, she made a 30 minute DVD with the evening's background music for before and after the program.

I was also involved in the program by accompanying every single musical number. The program was basically 'song - short narration - song' all evening, so I was kept quite busy. But I did enjoy the opportunity to accompany some very talented singers (Mollie, Mike, Tiffani, Angela, Jessie, Tycie).

Lion King

I bought our Lion King tickets early enough (like 8 months ago) which meant we were able to get excellent seats - main floor row G! Audrey and I have been looking forward to this night for a long time. We started out the evening with dinner. She ordered steak and I ordered salmon. But the best part of our meal was the roasted veggies. I usually do not like zucchini, but boy was it cooked well (still crunchy) and I liked the spices mixed with the grilled flavor and the roasted red peppers. After dinner we headed over to the Opera House and saw this:
They had removed seats so that there were two inner aisles on the orchestra level. When the show started, the animals came down these aisles - so we got to watch an elephant & some gazelles go by. They used the aisles throughout the evening for entrances and exits. The costuming = fabulous. Who thinks up this stuff? Like the way they dealt with the water or the grassy fields or the stampede. The acting & the singing = wonderful. Such talent. Audrey's favorite character was Rafiki (best described as the narrator) and my favs were Scar and the hyenas. What a great evening to spend with my daughter. Thanks Audrey for the idea to go! The evening was marvelous.

The Mail

Good mail today. Was looking forward to the Conference Ensign and the very nice personal card from someone was a definite bonus. Really needed to read that. Thanks.

Halloween

I really like when Halloween falls on a Saturday - seems to leave more room for family time that way, at least at our house. We had already done quite a few events earlier in the week - a Youth Tri-Ward Halloween party (Sam & Audrey), the Ward Trunk or Treat (just Audrey), the Scout Haunted Hike in Dishman Hills (just Sam & John), so we decided Saturday was a family day. We cleaned the house, went shopping and then made Coney Dogs before settling in for our Trick-or-Treaters and some movie time at home. Audrey made us our own personalized treat bags. And then she played with some flavored syrup to make her orange pop look a little more spooky? Probably just to kick the flavor up a notch. Our door bell rang exactly twice. The first one was adorable. The little girl was very talkative and had asked me if she looked like a cat. I told her of course she did because of her whiskers and nose and ears. As she walked away she exclaimed "That lady is so nice!!". Awe shucks : ) After the second group left we went downstairs and tried to watch Arachnophobia. Audrey and I could only get into about 45 minutes before it gave us too many goosebumps. So we switched to some very tame cartoons before bed so we wouldn't have dreams of spiders crawling up our leg. John stayed up and finished watching it 'cause he's the man.

Coney Island Hot Dog Sauce

Made these for our Halloween dinner. I liked the flavor, but did not like how my hot dog bun got soggy quickly, so would advise toasting the buns first. Personal preference.

CONEY ISLAND HOT DOG SAUCE
1 & 1/2 lbs ground beef, browned & drained
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 - 1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons chili powder (seemed too much, I did only 1 TB)
6oz can tomato paste
6 ox can water
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
Dash Worcestershire sauce
Hot dogs & hot dog buns

Add cooked ground beef to crock pot along with all ingredients except the hot dogs and buns. Cook for 2 hours. Serve the coney sauce on top of cooked hot dogs with diced onions, mustard and grated cheese.

Halloween Candy Bouquet

The door bell rang and look what I found - isn't she cute?! And she brought me this!! My sister-in-law Michelle is the greatest. Always thinking about others and surprising us with really fun things. Thanks Michelle!

Leaves

I love our trees. Well, except that one day we decide to rake. We had heard it was going to rain and/or snow, and figured slightly wet leaves were better to pick up than really soggy ones. In 1 hour (in the dark) we picked up all this! 14 bags worth. If it were a sunny & bright afternoon, we easily could have taken 3 hours to do the same. Amazing how a warm blanket calling can motivate!