Just a few pics

Pomegranate Margaritas on the patio.

o

Chloe & cousin Aspen help make rolls.

Mom would be proud - the rolls turned

out great.

o

8

We also got a little thanksgiving treat,

we caught up with a pod of about 50 Dolphins

while we were on the Jet Ski's.

It was an awesome experience!

No pictures, just one great memory.

Sweets for the sweet

I got this box idea from a design

guest on the Today Show. (Can't remember

his name?) He used the boxes plain,

but I embellished mine a bit. Chloe helped

me put them together.

We plan to place them on each plate

at the Thanksgiving table. I think they

turned out so cute.

I have many things to be thankful for this

year, but most importantly is my family!

Love you all!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're off the the beach...

Si por favor

**

Pomegranate Margaritas

These sound perfect for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner

cocktail on the beach - no? Found the recipe here.

I think I have all the ingredients too.

Muy Bueno!

Spiced Nuts

Bagged up some spiced nuts this morning

and gave them to Mom & Mike.

We will be spending the holiday

at the beach with Darryl's family.

Today I'm making Mom's spiced peaches to take

with us. Will also be making a spinach salad

with dried cranberries, toasted pecans, mandarin

oranges, red onion and gorgonzola - yum!

The kids will be helping me make Mom's

homemade rolls too - yum yum!

Economic stimulus

~

We had a little garage sale today.

Mike made the Obama sign, and it

really brought in the crowds. We all

made a few buck and got rid of some

stuff we didn't need. The kids made the

most money - selling their old clothes. Not

sure how that happened...? Who bought those

clothes anyhow...? Oh well, at least they

have some spending money for awhile.

Cheese board

Found this inexpensive idea in Food & Wine

magazine - using a slate tile as a cheese

board. I found one at Home Depot for $1.69.

You can write on it with chalk to label

the different cheeses or just use like you

would any other tray. Love it!

Need to go buy some cheese - ciao!

Movie to see

~

I can't wait to see this movie.

You can watch the trailer here.

It looks really cute & funny, and

it's written/directed by Nancy Meyer's

who did "Somethings Gotta Give" - one of my

favorite movies. I can't even count the

number of times I've watch that!

Something to look forward to after

all the Christmas craziness.

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Making a big batch of pizza sauce today.

Will use some tonight and will portion up

the rest and freeze it.

0

Great way to use up some of my basil. I am

also attempting to make homemade pizza dough.

I usually just buy a ball of pizza

dough at Trader Joe's or Fresh & Easy, but

it often doesn't rise well, so thought I

would give it a try. Will post the

recipes if they turn out good.

Recipe to try

~

This recipe for Ginger Pumpkin Tart

sounds really good and super easy.

I found the recipe here.

It's made by Claire Robinson from

Food Network's "Five Ingredient Fix".

Her recipes are all 5 ingredients or less.

The crust in this tart is made with

ginger cookies - yum! I think I might try

making this for Thanksgiving.

Pickled

I made a batch of these
Spicy Pickled Green Beans today.

I found the recipe here. I can't

wait to try them. I guess they have

to pickle for a bit.

Can you say delicious in a
Bloody Mary? - that's what I'm thinking!

Friends & Smores

8

We had friends over for dinner last night.

We made shrimp cocktail, delicious fish tacos

with all the fixings, sangria and cervesas for

the adults, and smores by the fire for dessert.

0

Taylor entertained us with his guitar.

0

Great evening by the fire.

First Tooth

Logan lost his first tooth last night!

It had been wiggly all week and he was really

struggling with pulling it out...So, the

tooth fairy (who he says is a guy), knew that

he was having a hard time, so he came in

the middle of the night and took his tooth,

right out of his mouth!

(That's our story and were sticking to it)

He apparently swallowed it, we can't find

it anywhere....ooops!

View from South Mountain

Beautiful sky while

hiking South Mountain this morning.

The sun rays were so pretty.

Afterwards we stopped for lunch at

Firehouse Subs - our new favorite sub shop.

Looking forward to having Darryl home

for the weekend.

Sweet puppy

8

Chloe and I came across this old photo

of Harley when he was a puppy. Sooo cute!

It's hard to remember when he was this little,

he grew so fast. He's still just a sweet though.

Getting ready to go for a hike at South Mountain.

It's a beautiful morning, a bit overcast, but

nice and cool. One might even say it feels

like fall...!

0

Glad it's Friday!

Pumpkin bread

Made some pumpkin bread this afternoon.

Great recipe, really moist - almost like a

pumpkin cake. Taylor loved it.

0

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Makes (2) 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaves.

Lightly grease the pans.

Combine flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda,

and spices, whisk and set aside.

Beat together butter and sugar till well blended.

Add eggs one at a time and beat well after ea.

addition. Beat until light and fluffy.

Add pumpkin and beat till well blended.

On low speed beat in flour mixture till

well blended. Pour batter into prepared

pans, dividing evenly. Bake for about 65-75 min.

or until tester comes out clean. Let cool in pans

for about 10 min., then turn out onto wire rack

and let cool completely.

Recipe to try

These nuts look delish. I found the recipe here,

and they seem really easy to make. I think they

would be great for the holidays, either to

eat and enjoy or give as a little gift.

o

Bar Nuts

2 1/2 cup unsalted, mixed nuts

(almonds, cashews, pecans or whatever you like)

2 Tbl. Fresh Rosemary, chopped

1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

2 tsp. dark brown sugar

1 tsp. kosher salt

1 Tbl. butter, melted

0

Preheat over to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheet with foil. Combine

nuts on baking sheet and toast till warm

and lightly golden, about 5 min. In a large

bowl, combine the rosemary, Cayenne, brown sugar

& melted butter. Add the toasted nuts and

toss well. Add kosher salt and toss again till

all are well coated. Serve warm.

Yummy!

Chicken Stock

One of my favorite things about the cooler

weather, is that I can make & enjoy more soup.

Nothing better than big pot of chicken stock

simmering away on the stove, in my favorite green

Le Creuset pot. I almost always pick up a

roasted chicken when I go to Costco and the

leftover chicken & bones make great stock. I just

add whatever vegetables I have - usually carrots,

celery, onion, garlic, peppercorns, dill,

basil and this time I used the herbs from

my herb pot, oregano, thyme, & rosemary.

Put them all in the pot, and cover

with water. After it simmers on the stove

for several hours, I strain it, place in

containers to use or I freeze it. It will last

for months in the freezer and I can normally

make several pots of soup with each batch.

The homemade stock makes any soup taste so

much better than store bought.

Cold Lemonade in November...?

Can you believe we had a

lemonade stand in mid November?

I wish is was a hot cocoa stand instead,

but not here in Arizona. It was

actually quite warm and we had

a lot of customers.

0

Who could resist that smile?

Good Morning

It's usually just Logan and I up early on

the weekends - thank goodness for coffee!

Taylor is still sleeping and

Chloe slept over at a friends house.

This morning we made Micky Mouse pancakes

and sausages, Logan's request - he's

feeling better today - yay!

I sure hope he washed that hand before

he ate... hee hee hee. BOYS!

8

The weather is beautiful this morning,

nice and cool. Plan to spend most of

the day outside enjoying it.

Cowgirl fun

Here's where I will be going this weekend.

Kristin & Dan always put together such

amazing and fun events. I am sure this one

will be no exception. Wish Darryl was

here to go with me tonight...

Sunbursts

I bought these sweet little yellow tomatoes

at Costco the other day. They are sooo good.

I have been eating them like candy and in salads

along with some baby spinach - yum!

We never made it to Joe's yesterday.

Had to pick up Logan early from school with

a fever....oh joy. Seem like he just got

over the stomach bug thing... I guess it

comes along with being in kindergarten.

His teacher said ten other kids are out sick.

I stocked up on vitamin C, D & Echinacea.

Hope the rest of us stay healthy.

Free Cheeseburgers at Joe's!

Joe's Farm Grill is serving

free cheeseburger & fries today!

One of our favorite places to eat, and

the weather is perfect for eating

outside at Joe's. We may attempt to

go for dinner tonight, but the line

will probably be wrapped around

the building - twice.

Dinner last night

Everyone loved these stuffed peppers,

even Taylor who typically complains about

all vegetables. The recipe was adapted

from Giada's recipe here. I added sweet

italian sausage, fontina cheese and fresh

basil instead of mint, and a little tomato sauce

topping. I will definetly make this recipe again.

Didn't get a finished photo though,

the kids were to hungry to wait.

o

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 small can tomato sauce

2 zucchini, grated

3 sweet Italian sausages

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese,

plus more to sprinkle on top

1 cup shredded Fontina cheese

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 cup Orzo

2 Tbl. brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

4 cups chicken broth

6 sweet bell peppers

Remove sausage from casing and cook in

saute pan till brown. Drain & set aside.

Cook Orzo in chicken stock for about 5 min.

remove from broth and place in a bowl. Add

tomatoes, grated zucchini, garlic, basil,

parm., fontina, & sausage. Mix to combine.

Cut tops off of peppers and remove ribs and

all seeds. Cut a bit off the base to help

them stand up straight if you need to.

Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers and

place in casserole dish. Mix the brown sugar with

the small can of tomato sauce and spoon about half

over the top of the peppers. Pour the rest,

along with the left over stock, around the

peppers. Cover with foil and bake at

400 for 45 min. Remove foil and sprinkle

with more parm. cheese and put back in the oven

for about 15 min. till cheese is golden.

Served with bread & butter.

Halloween festivities

Pumpkin carving

Happy boy & Happy pumpkin

The finished pumpkins.

A little snack before trick or treating.

Inspiration from yesterday, my version

turned out beautiful too, & tasty.

Made a big pot of Pasta Fagioli

soup for dinner - delish!

Taylor's drunk pumpkin

Batman

Taylor, Logan & Dad

Me, Mom, Darryl & Logan

Sugar meltdown.....

It was a great day!

o

Pasta Fagioli

1/2 lb. ground beef

4 strips of bacon

2 carrots, chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

1 lrg. onion, diced

1 (15 oz) can cannellini beans

1 (15 oz) can kidney bean

1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 small sprig fresh rosemary

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 Tbl. olive oil

1 cup ditalini pasta

6 cups chicken stock

Parm. cheese

**

In large soup pot, brown bacon. Remove

from pot, leaving about 1 Tbl. of the bacon grease.

Add ground beef, s & p and cook till brown.

Add the garlic and red pepper flakes.

Remove meat mixture and set aside.

In same pot, add olive oil and saute onions

for a few min. then add carrots & celery and

more s & p and saute for a few more min.

Add back in the meat mixture, then add

both beans, tomatoes, herbs and the

chicken stock. Simmer for a few hours.

Add pasta about 20 min. prior to eating.

(Sometimes I need to add a bit more stock,

just depends on how thick you like your soup.)

Fish out the herb stems.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese.