Mad Pumpkin Carving Skills

From holiday

My deepest apologies for disappearing from the blogging world: I assure you, I've been mentally blogging my latest adventures. I just need the time to put it all down on paper -- er... blogger's server.

What better time than the virtual-one-extra-hour gifted to us by Mr. Daylight Savings?

Since it is Halloween, I will begin by sharing about our little pumpkin carving extravaganza. For the past few weeks, my housemate Angela has been dropping hints about getting pumpkins to carve for Halloween. I found it a little odd how excited she was about pumpkin carving... No, she is not 10.

Last weekend, she finally got her hands on 4 pumpkins and convinced us to get carvin'. You know those email forwards of crazy pumpkin carvings or those tv shows (perhaps only on food network) of professionals turning pumpkins into amazing works of art? My housemate can do that! She is secretly a professional pumpkin carver! She has mad pumpkin carving skills!

I'm almost embarrassed to show you what Dustin, Dan, and I came up with, but let's begin with Angela's work of art: Mike Wazowski.

From holiday

I have zero pumpkin carving skills and decided to make a pumpkin Pi.

From holiday

Dustin carved the Alfred Hitchcock silhouette.

From holiday

And Dan... he carved... this. (10 points for whoever knows what it is.)

From holiday

All in all, our pumpkins were a success. Too bad they were slightly mouldy by the time we displayed them at the front door tonight. Week-old pumpkins smell funny.

I'm crossing my fingers that I don't have to scrape them off the sidewalk because crazy kids thought it would be funny to bounce them like basketballs. I'm hoping Mike will keep the kids away: he's got his eye on them...

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11. Do not covet thy neighbour's purse

I've actually lost count of the number of Birdie Slings I've made. Yes, the factory has poor accounting.

I love each and every one of my Birdie Slings. But this was the first one that I actually wanted to keep. Not only because of the fabulously wild print (she wanted "hippy-earthy-tones" and was "not afraid of patterns") but also because of the fabulous green-hued pewter button. The main fabric is Amy Butler's Gothic Rose. Perhaps she will hate it. Perhaps she will throw it back in my face and say "YOU keep it!" [moment of time to think clearly] Let's be honest. I think I'll cry if she doesn't love it.

From sewing

From sewing

I also completed a Birdie Sling last month that was also truly fabulous. I used Echino Japanese fabric for a whimsical-not-to-loud look. The chic lining is the same in both purses: one in pink, and one in green. You get to carry a cute bag with women carrying cute bags. I wonder what's the lining in their bags?

From sewing

From sewing

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C is for Cookie

From Food

This is my favourite cookie recipe ever. And I've made a many cookies.

(I leave out the cinnamon. Cinnamon and chocolate? Yucky. At least in this recipe. If you're more of an oatmeal-raisin cookie fan, then switch the chocolate for raisins and leave the cinnamon. Cinnamon and raisins? That's yummy.)

Not only is it only 87 calories per cookie, but they are also made with whole wheat flour. Wait! Don't leave! The whole wheat flour really works with this recipe. It stands up to the heartiness of the oatmeal. That, and you can't even tell that it's whole wheat (unlike when you eat whole wheat pasta. Yucky.)

I made a double batch of these cookies for my colleagues at work when I left for a job rotation. They're basically my go-to cookies. Dustin's rating? 8/10. but only because I put 3/4 cup of chocolate chips. If you're a chocolate lover, and don't care about the calories, try 1 cup or even 1 1/4 cups. I don't know if I'd do much more than that... If you do, maybe try the mini chocolate chips.

From Food

Some other recipes I've done recently: Anna Olsen's Lemon Cheesecake Mousse, and Ina's Chocolate Cupcakes and Peanut Butter Icing. Both sublime. Er... I guess the cheesecake is sub-lemon?

From Food

From Food

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Cleaning Out my Closet

Last weekend, it was finally time for cleaning out my closet. But unlike Eminem, I was cleaning out my literal closet full of clothes without rapping to da beat. Don't get me wrong: if I could, I would -- but my rap skills are dismal.

Since the Spring opening of the breath-takingly fabulous Anthropologie store, I had given my closet a well deserved boost of "bohemian chic." Consequently, I caused a not-so-deserved crater in my bank account.

My Fall/Winter wardrobe needed to be better thought out. Before heading out to the shops for random "isn't this fabulous?" shopping, I needed to give it a thorough clean and assess my needs for the upcoming cold weather.

In the process, I was able to dig up a few cute things to share with you. (Yes, what an incredibly long segue to sharing these items...)

My maternal grandmother used to hand-make all sorts of things for us while growing up. Sweaters, hats, bibs (to name a few,) and cute little baby shoes. The pack-rat in me has kept these baby shoes in my closet where they will remain forever -- or until I have a baby girl: Dustin thinks they're too girly for a boy. Look at that craftsmanship! Grandmothers are amazing.

From me

From me

The next item up for bid (not really, but I love The Price is Right) is a pair of handmade mittens that transform into gloves. We bought these in England, at the market in Tavistock. I was 8. The lady was old. The mittens were fabulous. Old ladies make the best stuff.

From me

From me

And finally, I would like to share with you one of my favourite pictures of Dustin. The fact that it's on a button makes it even better. I get to make my "Isn't he cute as a button?!" joke forever and ever.

From me

At the end of the day, I saved a handful of valuable keepsakes, reorganized a closet of fall and winter essentials, and donated one very large garbage bag full of clothes to Goodwill. My mother has always reminded me to put old clothes aside for her first before giving it to charity. But like Eminem said "Sorry mama. I never meant to hurt you. I never meant to make you cry, but [last weekend I was] cleaning out my closet."

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Late Garden Harvest

A quick update on my garden. Yes, it is October, and my garden should be dead, but it is far from it.

First, the carnations. They are often viewed as the poor-man's roses. The bouquet an uneducated young high school boy would mistakenly purchase for his mother on mother's day. The "filler flower" that flower shops use to make a bouquet look more full. But in my garden, they are the center of attention.

From garden

My tomatoes are still coming. Although we only got two large tomatoes, the red and yellow cherry/tiny tims/grape tomatoes were abundant. Just this weekend we enjoyed a delicious mixed salad where each bite with a tomato from the garden sent a sweet explosion in the mouth.

From garden

We also put our small jasmine plant outside for the month of September. It quickly started to flower.

From garden

Finally, our strawberries. My coworker told me they were "ever bearing," meaning they will produce fruit all year round. Only recently did the plant start to produce fruit again -- in full force!

From garden

From garden

From garden

From garden

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Applecore?

From Food

My siblings and I used to quote this ridiculous "applecore" game from Donald Duck. It's real. Watch it, it's hilarious:



I've now taught the "game" to Dustin. It's dumb. We love it. There is even an entry in wikipedia about the original children's game.

The next few weeks will be filled with opportunities to whip applecores at each other as we try to tackle the giant mound of apples that we picked on Sunday at Applewood Farm Winery. My brother and my housemate joined Dustin and me in a fun game of speed-apple-picking as the rain poured down on us, but we walked away with a bazzillion Honey Crisp Apples. Delicious for making pies.

As soon as I saw this post on Love It A Lot, I went to the closet William Sonoma and bought myself some cute mini apple and pumpkin pie molds.

From Food

They aren't quite as easy to use as you would hope, but I managed. I refused to purchase the premade pie filling, or the pie crust mix, so I went to trusty Ina for a perfect pie crust recipe and just chopped up the apples to fit in the mini mold.

From Food

I also made a full size pie using my favourite pie dish. Get it?

From Food

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