My little Pumpkin Carver

Halloween is over and today I took down all our spooky decorations. It was a good Halloween and the day was perfect for trick-or-treating. I was afraid it would be so cold, but it was actually pretty warm. The only problem was the slush! I can only imagine how wet all the little trick-or-treaters got. A few nights ago we carved pumpkins. I will admit at first I wasn't into it like I have been in the past. I wasn't looking forward to cleaning up the gooey, slimy, seedy mess. I was planning on doing a real simple design and at the last minute I got a little more excited about it and chose a design that was a slightly more difficult than I had planned.

Pacen, on the other hand, was very much into carving pumpkins this year. He carved an itty-bitty one and a very large one earlier in the month and this time he carved another large pumpkin. He carved a cute face into his itty-bitty pumpkin and a moose head into his first big pumpkin (I drew it and he cut it out). He turned his second big pumpkin into a murdered pumpkin. The funny thing about Pacen carving pumpkins is the fact that somehow he ends up in his boxers during the process. First the shirt comes off, next thing I know the pants come off, and a little later off come the socks, and then he's just carving away in his boxers! It's pretty funny. I guess real men carve pumpkins wearing only their underwear. :) I'm actually very grateful that I don't have to worry about washing pumpkin goop out of his clothes!

My Ghostly Lava Lamps

"Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin." ~ Simone Schwarz-Bart

My Little Picky Eater

My son is probably the oddest picky eater ever! He is opposite of most picky eaters I have come across. He loves vegetables and salad and stuff like that and hates things such as spaghetti and macaroni & cheese! I thought all kids loved spaghetti and macaroni & cheese! Not mine! I am a total pasta person and if I want pasta I usually have to order it at a restaurant or make it while Pacen is gone...unless, of course, I want to hear a bunch of whining, which I don't!

Yesterday I was trying to decide what to fix for supper last night. I've been having major difficulties the past month because I have been oven-less! It has been dreadful! I always knew I used my oven a lot, but I guess I never realized just how much until mine died. Rest in peace old, ugly oven! I was suppose to have a new oven by now but there was an accident. My family owns two True Value stores...one in the town I grew up in and the other is in a town 30 miles from there. My dad drove to the other store, picked up my new oven, and on the way home a semi drove past him and blew my oven over (yes it was tied down) and broke the glass out of the door! It's my luck! Things like this always happen to me! I don't know what I ever did to deserve the luck I have, but I guess I just have to live with it. Maybe I can offer some sort of sacrifice to the gods/goddesses/higher beings/whatever so my luck will change. I offer my old oven! :) Okay, anyway...my new oven door has not arrived yet for my new oven so I am still oven-less!

Oh, I got really side tracked there. Sorry. So, I was searching for something to fix for supper, something that could be made on the stove top. That is when I came across a skillet recipe on this blog that I follow. I had almost all the ingredients and I had other things I could use to substitute for the ingredients I didn't have. No grocery store visit? Yay!!!! :) So, I fixed up the recipe when I got home from work and it looked nothing like the picture on the blog so I was a little leery about serving it to Pacen, but we have a rule in my house: I fix it, you eat it. Maybe I should make that rule with the pasta too, but I try to avoid making things that I know he absolutely does not like. Anyway, the time came to serve it up and he loved it! He had two huge servings and is excited that we are having it as leftovers tonight! Yahoo!!! I love it when I find a recipe that is easy and that Pacen likes! This recipe is definitely going in the "make again recipe box"!

So, without further adeu, here is the recipe (and my substitutions/changes):

Romano Ranch Chicken and Rice Skillet Dinner

- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 1 packet Ranch Dressing dry mix, divided
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely diced (I used a little onion powder)
- 1 green bell pepper, diced
- 6 cloves fresh garlic, minced (I used the pre-minced kind in the jar, which is the best thing since sliced bread)
- 6 cups fresh spinach leaves, coarsely chopped (I used about a 1/2 bag of frozen spinach, which I would guess was around 10 oz.)
- 1 small can diced carrots and peas, drained (I used a 15 oz. can of just peas)
- 2 cups steamed long grain brown rice (I used instant brown rice cooked in the microwave)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
-1/2 cup shredded Romano Cheese (I used Cheddar Cheese)

The first step is to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Ha! I ended up cooking my chicken in the skillet over medium heat, which was a lot faster than baking it in the oven anyway. While the chicken was cooking I diced the pepper and started the rice. When the chicken was done I removed it from the skillet and drained any juice that was left. I then added the olive oil and let it heat up. Next I added the green pepper, garlic, spinach, and onion powder and let saute for 6-10 minutes (until the spinach was heated through). While the veggies were sauteing I cut up the chicken. Next I added the peas, cooked rice, salt, pepper, garlic salt, and ranch mix. I stirred it up and let it sit for a few minutes to heat through. I then added the chicken and cheese and stirred again. Time to serve! Easy and pretty fast! (It just sounds more time consuming than it really is.)

(The lighting in my kitchen is dreadful!)

"When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste." ~ Laiko Bahrs

Halloween

Halloween is by far my most favorite Holiday! I don't know why...maybe it's the mystery that surrounds the Holiday or maybe it's the fact that we get to dress up and pretend to be somebody else. I honestly can't tell you why I love Halloween so much...I just do and I always have. This past weekend a friend of mine and I threw a Halloween party at my house. It took us a couple weeks to plan it all and get everything prepared, but it was so worth it. We made many of the decorations ourselves and created a list of nasty looking food. We also made the invitations and that alone took us two nights and two bottles of hard booze! :) We had fun planning and preparing, but I must say that I'm glad it's all over with (I think she's glad too) as it was a lot of work and took up a lot of time.

One of the best things about preparing for the party was the fact that I had no choice but to get off my lazy rump and thoroughly clean my house. I've been needing to do it for a long time but I just haven't felt like conquering it! :) Unfortunately, some major cleaning had to be done the day after the party too. :) Okay, actually, all that really had to be done was some major mopping...my kitchen floor was so nasty! My friend, Alex, did a pretty good job of picking up stray beer cans/bottles and cups the night before! Raine, Dawn, and Sham helped me sweep and pick up the rest of the trash. It's so great to have friends who are willing to help with the nasty, not-so-fun aspects of such things as a party! :)






"Eat, drink, and be scary." ~ Unknown

"When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween!" ~ Unknown

Grape Harvest

There is a cute little white picket fence in my backyard that runs along the driveway...from the back gate to the garage. Unfortunately you can't even tell there is a white picket fence there because it has been overrun by about three different kinds of vines! Fortunately a couple of those vines produce grapes. A few weeks ago I was taking the trash out and I happened to glance over at the vines closest to the garage and lo and behold there were tons of marble size grapes (the other grape vine produces pea size grapes that I feel are kind of pointless so I let them go to waste every year). I tried one and boy was it good...a little tart, but much better than the small ones. That night Pacen and I picked most of the bunches of those grapes off the vine (at least 98% of them).



When I got done removing every grape from each bunch we had around 11 pounds of grapes!


I decided to make some jelly and juice. I found a couple recipes online. You will not believe this but I used a recipe that did not come from recipezaar.com. :) Here is the recipe:

Easy Homemade Grape Jelly

5 pounds of fresh grapes
Pectin
Around 7 cups of granulated sugar
Canning stuff (jars, lids, strainer, etc.)

Wash your jars. Now wash the grapes and then chop or mash them very well. I used a potato masher to mash them, but you can also use a food processor. (We're hoping to get at least 5 cups of juice from the grapes.) Put the mashed grapes in a large pot on the stove over medium to high heat and heat to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes (stir every so often so the grapes don't stick or burn). Meanwhile, measure out the sugar. Mix the dry pectin with 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside. When the grapes are done simmering put them through a strainer or cheesecloth. Pour the hot grape juice into a large pot and add the pectin/sugar mixture stirring to dissolve. Put the pot on medium to high heat until the juice is at a full boil (the kind that can't be stirred away). Make sure you stir frequently so it doesn't burn. Put the lids in a pan of hot water so they can begin to soften. Add the remaining sugar (6 3/4 cups) to the the juice and bring back to a boil and boil HARD for 1 minute. Fill the jars, put the lids and rings on, and process the jars in a boiling water bath (how long depends on altitude...I processed for 10 minutes).






After making the jelly I still had 6 pounds of grapes sitting on my counter. I would've made more jelly, but I was out of jars and didn't feel like going to the store so I opted to make juice. Here is the juice recipe:

Homemade Grape Juice

5-6 pounds of fresh grapes
Cheesecloth or sieve
large pots

Mash the grapes with a potato masher and put into a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Slowly heat to a simmer and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally and halfway through cooking mash the grapes some more. Prepare the cheesecloth (I put some cheesecloth in a colander over a bowl). Ladle the cooked grapes over the cheesecloth and let sit for several hours or overnight in the fridge to strain completely. Now you can remove the cheesecloth and rinse and then strain the grapes again, but I just strained once. Pour juice into a container and enjoy. Mine made about 2 quarts. It was good but kind of tart.



Maybe next year I'll decide to use the little grapes too. We'll see. Everyone keeps asking me why I didn't make wine. Well, to be quite honest...I HATE wine! I do have a lot of friends that love that nasty beverage though, so maybe next year I'll make some wine for my "wino" friends (using the little grapes). :)

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do." ~ Galileo Galilei

" We ought to do good to others as simply as a horse runs, or a bee makes honey, or a vine bears grapes season after season without thinking of the grapes it has borne." ~ Marcus Aurelius

New me!

Yesterday I drove to Douglas to see my favorite hair stylist! She asked me what kind of style I was going for so I showed her a couple of pictures and told her to do whatever because I was having major attitude. She just laughed and said, "Just today? Isn't that always?" Okay, so she's right...I usually have attitude, but yesterday it was MAJOR attitude. I had the "my ex is a lying piece of shit and he and his two-timing, selfish, lying, married girlfriend can kiss my f*%$ing ass" attitude. Yeah, yeah, I still let him get to me. What can I say? That's what happens when you fall head-over-heels in love and then get your heart broken into a million pieces. So my goal is to prove to myself (and him, but mostly me) that I am way better off without him.

I'm going to work hard at turning myself into a new person. Starting with a new sassy haircut (I think this is the shortest my hair has been since I was little). Up next is training for a Triathlon. I know I want to do one next summer and I just got a treadmill so I'm going to start working hard at getting myself in shape. Something else that might be new is a job. I'm sending in an application for a job and I'm hoping I get it. So...new do, working on a new body, applying for a new job...hopefully I'll gain a whole new attitude from all this!





"The basic thing is that everyone wants happiness, no one wants suffering. And happiness mainly comes from our own attitude, rather than from external factors. If your own mental attitude is correct, even if you remain in a hostile atmosphere, you feel happy." ~ The Dalai Lama

Another Apple Creation

So I had my mom pick some more apples for me because I really wanted to try an apple pie recipe I had found. Glad I had her go to that trouble because the pie turned out DELICIOUS! :) It was easy to make too...no lattice work for the top crust or anything! The only problem I had with it was the fact that I "baked" it for 30 minutes before realizing my oven had died on me (both a good thing and a bad thing...that oven is so old and I hate it, but it wasn't a good time for it to meet its end). Just my luck. I ended up running the pie over to my sister's apartment to bake and, my luck again, I had grabbed the wrong key to get in. She was on her way to my house so she swung by her place to let me in. What a hassle! It was totally worth it though and I suggest you all try this pie at least once!

My dad just called to tell me he thought this pie was one of the best he's ever had (I sent a piece with Raine for him). So, there you go...try this recipe!

Yummy Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

For Pie:

Pastry for single crust pie (I use this recipe for all my pies)
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (I used my dad's apples, but I would think any would work)

Crumb Topping:

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup butter

Final Topping:

1/2 cup chopped pecans (I left this out as I'm not a big fan of nuts in baked goods)
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping (or as much as you think is necessary)

Prepare pastry for single-crust pie, being careful not to stretch the dough too much. Place in pie plate, trim and crimp edges (I'm not good at this part). In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt. Add apple slices and gently toss until they are coated well. Transfer mixture to pie.

For the crumb topping: Stir together brown sugar, flour, and oats. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until topping resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over apple mixture.

Cover edge of pie with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 25-30 minutes more, or until top is golden. Remove from oven and drizzle top with caramel topping, then sprinkle with pecans. Cool on wire rack and serve!

"My tongue is smiling." ~ Abigail Trillin

My Little Diver!

This past weekend my mom and I took Pacen to Casper so he could participate in Bubblemaker's, an introduction to scuba diving class. I've been diving for about a year and half and I really want Pacen to have an adventurous and fun life so I thought it would be great to get him involved too. Pacen was super excited about Bubblemaker's and was pretty much bouncing off the walls with excitement. He had to watch a short video and then he got to do about an hour of pool time. He did really well and only had problems with a couple of things...the main problem being his "perma grin". He couldn't quit smiling so his mask kept flooding and his Instructor was afraid he was going to spit his regulator out and breathe in some water. Luckily he was able to keep his regulator in his mouth and he learned to clear his mask (a skill that you need to be able to do to pass the Open Water Diver course). The other problem he had was that he couldn't quite get used to being neutrally buoyant. His Instructor would get him neutral and he would be okay for a second and then realize he was just floating there and then he'd start flailing about. I think pretty much everyone goes through that at first...it's hard to get used to swimming with huge fins on your feet and trying not to use your arms.

Next year Pacen will be old enough to become a certified Open Water Diver. I hope to get him certified and then take him to Kids Sea Camp (they have them in The Bahamas, Grand Cayman, Bonaire, Belize, Fiji, The Galapagos, Costa Rica, Palau, and Silver Bank). I think it would be an experience of a lifetime and something he'd never forget. I also think more parents should introduce their kids to exciting and adventurous hobbies (scuba, rock climbing, etc.). These kinds of hobbies can open up a whole new world of opportunities.





"As a diver you are weightless and can move in all directions. You approach the freedom of a bird as you move in three dimensions in a fluid environment." ~ Dennis Graver

Fall Harvest

There is only one thing to do when your dad's apple trees go wild and produce hundreds of apples! Bake, bake, and bake some more! Quinn has been baking apple pies, apple crisp, cinnamon apple slices, etc. It has all been very delicious! Dad's apples have the best combination of sweet and tart flavors! Perfect for baking!

I picked two plastic grocery bags of apples and looked up many recipes. I finally decided to make some apple butter. I haven't had it in years and I thought Pacen would enjoy it. It turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. :) I have a caramel apple pie recipe I want to try, but I'll have to wait until I am able to pick more apples (I better hurry because it will be freezing soon).

APPLE BUTTER

Apples (enough to overfill a 4 quart crock pot)
1/2 cup vinegar
3 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Peel, core, and slice the apples. Add vinegar and cook on low for 18 hours (10 hours on high if your crock pot cooks fast). Stir occasionally. Add white sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir thoroughly. Put into blender and blend until smooth. Put back in crock pot and cook four more hours. Seal in jars. Makes almost 6 pint jars.

This was just about half of the apples I used. Yeah, they look kind of rough but that's from a hail storm.

See the apples on the side? That's what the whole batch looked like before blending it. I was nervous for a while that it was ruined.

"Almost all wild apples are handsome. They cannot be too gnarly and crabbed and rusty to look at. The gnarliest will have some redeeming traits even to the eye." ~Henry David Thoreau

My Little Hunter!

Last week Pacen took the Hunter Safety course. He hasn't taken the test yet. Thursday night is the defining moment. Anyway, yesterday was field day and all the kids went out to the gun club to practice firearm safety. I think they all had fun. They started out with the compound bow. Pacen hit the bear a couple of times.

They they shot clay pigeons with a shotgun. I was taking pictures like crazy (yeah, I'm one of those moms) and I finally thought "I think I've taken enough pictures of Pace shooting the shot gun". Just after I turned my camera off he hit a clay pigeon! He turned around to look at me and had the most excited expression on his face! I can't believe I missed that "Kodak moment"! His expression was priceless! I guess I'll be more on the ball next time!

My little hunter! Doesn't he look cute in camo? :)

He is still small enough that Dick had to kind of catch him as he shot the shotgun.

Next on the agenda was rifles and pistols. The kids had to practice shooting in the four positions (prone, standing, sitting, and kneeling) with the rifle and then they got to shoot a pistol. Pacen did alright. He hit the target a couple of times. It was great to see him get excited about something. I just wish he had an experienced person to take him hunting.


It turned out to be a pretty good day. Well, except for the weather. It was so windy and cold that I could've swore winter was moving in! I was proven wrong today though, as it was nice out. Wyoming. *sigh* When we got home in the afternoon I turned the heat on and made some hot tea. I couldn't feel my hands! Pacen, on the other hand, was hot. He ran around the house in his underwear. Go figure!

Oh, and I participated in field day too! Yup, I shot more than just my camera. I shot everything except the shotgun. I don't like how they kick. I must say I think I did pretty well with the rifle and pistol, especially considering how bad the wind was blowing.

"A child educated only at school is an uneducated child." ~ George Santayana

Home Improvement Projects

Everyone is always giving me grief because I have started many home improvement projects, but I haven't finished all of them. Sometimes I get motivated and I'll start a project and then half-way through I'll lose that motivation, or I'll run out of material, or I'll find that I need help, and the project is left to be finished at another time. Unfortunately a few of those projects have been waiting to be completed for a year or more. What can I say? I'm not the best at asking for help. I like to be independent and prove to myself that I am capable of doing things on my own. I also find it hard to go back to a project that was started when I have decided there is a more "fun" project that needs to be done! :) It's never ending.

Well, during Labor Day weekend I decided to complete a project that I started about a month ago. The sidewalk in my backyard ends just past the garage door and beyond that is 10' or so of dirt covered in weeds, leading to the back gate (leading out to the alley). When I moved into my house that area was a jungle of bushes and trees, which I had removed the year after. I decided it would be nice to have a rock path to the back gate so when Pacen or I take the trash out we don't have to trudge through nasty weeds or mud. So, about a month ago I started digging the area out (about 10'x3' or so). I dug down 4" and tried to make it as level as possible. Luckily as I was digging I found many flat rocks. Apparently there was a path there before the trees and bushes took over. When I was done digging I laid some landscaping fabric down (so the weeds wouldn't come back) and covered it in sand (2-3" deep). I then beat the bejesus out of the sand with the flat side of a snow shovel, trying to pack it down (while relieving some stress). After I made sure it was packed down pretty well I laid the flat rocks out the way I liked. I then spread red rock
(five 5-gallon buckets full) around and swept it into the areas between the big rocks.

That's it! I finished a project! Yahoo! Maybe now I should finish a project that is half-way done. I think I'll finish the guest room so my sister can sleep there when she comes twice a week to work at the hospital! :)

Do you see how I screwed up here? I forgot to lay the landscaping fabric down first! *big sigh*

I fixed that problem! :)

"Little by little does the trick." ~ Aesop

Road Trip

A couple of weeks ago I decided to take a road trip. I knew there were still some fawn around with spots, and I also knew they would be outgrowing those spots very soon! I wanted to try to get pictures of them before they completely outgrew those cute spots! I also just needed to be by myself for a while. I needed to get out of town and just drive where the roads would take me. I do some of my best thinking in my car with the music blaring. I feel very at home in my car. Driving relaxes me, and sometimes I just need to get in my car, drive, listen to music, and sing at the top of my lungs! So, I drove in a big circle on some country roads around Lusk. It took me a couple of hours and it was exactly what I needed. I saw a few fawn who still had some spots, an owl, and lots of great countryside! It was even nice enough for me to drive with my windows down, so I got some fresh air and I got to take in all the wonderful smells of the country (okay, all the smells are wonderful except for the smell of cow manure!). I think I might take a road trip at least once a month. Head in a different direction each time. Maybe even make it a weekend road trip...get out the state or head to a different part of Wyoming to see some new scenery. I know a perfect country road near Cody, WY that has been calling my name for over a year!

The leaves looked so pretty as they blew in the wind while the sun shone on them.

This owl was just sitting in the road.

There are still so many sunflowers along the roads. So pretty!