Scarecrow Invasion

No zombie invasion yet on this sunny Halloween day.

Instead, the town has been beset by scarecrows.

This one is at a clock shop, of course.

Naturally, there are some folk dancers.

A bridal couple: to love and to cherish even after death.

And my old friends Sally and Jack.

You Don't Sound Like a Senior

I'm getting overwhelmed by the number of senior citizen focused advertisements out there. I get senior dating spam, senior junk mail, and even senior sales phone calls. The latest phone call this morning made me see red.

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Mr. or Mrs. STM?"

"This is Mrs. STM."

"Oh, you don't sound like a senior."

Maybe because I'm not! Besides the fact that I'm not old enough to be a senior citizen yet, I find it really irritating that this woman thinks seniors have a certain sound. I'm always going to have a soft high-pitched voice and I'm going to sound pretty much the same in 20 or 30 years.

I may not look like this anymore...


But I'm not quite this, either...

Thank you phone company, for giving me something to rant about today.

Now what's your pet peeve for the day?

Pink Saturday: Sunset

Sunset at Hogwarts' Fall Family Weekend dinner last week.

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

Milestone

Ernest turned 15 and a half on Monday. He was set on getting his learner's permit as soon as possible so weeks ago I made a DVM appointment and had notes all over the house so I wouldn't forget.

We got to the DMV (slightly early, I might add, because I just hate to be late), only to find that their computers were down, state-wide, in all 144 offices. You could come back later, they told us. The computers might be back up. Well, the nearest DMV is a half hour's drive from our small town, so we didn't want to go home and come back again, to risk finding that the computers were still down. Disappointed, we went home.

I went online and was able to make an appointment for 8:40 the next morning. Ernest fortunately had these 2 days off school.

I was expecting huge crowds, but there were only a couple customers when we got there. They spend a long time in the back inspecting his papers, and I was worried something was wrong. It turned out they had a new version of the form, but they finally accepted our older version as long as he filled something out on the new form.

Bureaucracy never runs smoothly, does it. So he got the permit. But it wasn't valid until he has a session of driver training.

Luckily, the driver training instructor was able to fit him in the next day.

So this morning, here he is, driving himself to school for the first time. Ernest is pretty laid-back, but I could tell he was pleased and excited.

And More Apples

We're still eating our way through the apples. Handy feels they aren't big enough for his lunch but they look fine to me.

Since my last apple post, of course we've had apple sauce with our pork chops.



And apple pancakes (peel and chop one apple and add it to your regular pancake batter).

Thanks to Lala, I found Harvest Chili. It was different but very tasty:

Did I forget anything? I didn't have red onions or fresh sage.

Whoa, this is a HECKUVA lot of squash. I didn't use all of it.

Be sure you get a tasty chicken apple sausage. The Saag's sausages were delicious. But I've had some really bad ones too.

Pink Saturday: Cars

Aunt Snow's Pink Saturday quiz last week made me think about pink cars.

I have a facebook friend who counts pink cars, in an ongoing competition with her father and daughter who count purple cars. Her father feels there was some cheating involved when she counted all the pink caddys at a Mary Kay convention. Purple cars are rarer than pink ones.

Every once in a while, I snap a pink car picture and post it on her facebook page.

A pink Mustang, anyone? Even the wheels are pink!

This one says "Pink" on the bumper. I wish I had a picture of the whole car (Ernest took it while I was driving.) The lower half of the car was pink and "Pink" was written on the side.

A classic pink pick-up in Paso.

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

I Finished Something!

I finished the Klimt Coral needlepoint pillow, complete with vintage tassels I found in my stash. Good thing, because I started on the Taupe version.

UPDATE: I should have linked to the Ehrmann Tapestries site.

Apple Days

T

This morning's haul.

It's that time of year. The apples are ripe. This year the tree is obliging and drops a few apples every day, so I've been able to keep up with the supply. I know some of you intrepid kitcheneers would say "Can them," but I've never canned anything in my life. And the memory of the chaos in my mother's kitchen as she canned the neverending apricots will stay with me forever. Although I should not blame the canning...she just didn't like to cook period.

As always, I fall back on CH's Apple Crisp** and of course, PIE. But we can't live on desserts, so I've had to branch out (*rimshot*) in my search for apple recipes.

With a tub of yogurt in the fridge, Kitchen M's Apple Yogurt Coffeecake hit the spot. It was moist and delicious.

Apple Chutney was good with our pork roast last night.

I'm going to go apple free today, except for gobbling up the coffeecake for breakfast, but it's back to the apple fest tomorrow with Apple and Sausage Pie.

Do you have any favorite apple recipes you would share with me?

**Apple Crisp (originally from Low Cholesterol Desserts by Terry J. Siegel)

6-7 tart cooking apples, peeled and slice (I don't peel them)

1 T. lemon juice

1/2 cup white sugar (you can use less)

1 1/4 t. cinnamon

1/4 t. nutmeg

3/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup light brown sugar (you can use less)

3 T. oil

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place the apples in a 9" deep-dish pie plate. Sprinkle the apples with the lemon juice, white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. (You need to stir a little.) In a small mixing bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, and oil. Sprinkle over the apples. Bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

Testing the iPad

Yup, it works, sort of...if I use an iPhone app. Most of my Homer stealth photography is on the iPad. I take pictures of him on my lap and e-mail them to my husband who does nor believe that Homer sits on me. Bwahaha, dear.

Pink Saturday: Prickly Pear Lemonade

Pink Saturday - Beverly at the blog "How Sweet the Sound" hosts Pink Saturday. Let the color pink inspire you!

And thanks to Aunt Snow and Karen for inspiring ME!

This is prickly pear lemonade at one of my favorite local restaurants.

Yesterday's adventures

(Written yesterday.)

Ernest walks out of the house with a lighter load this morning. No music today, so no saxamaphone or music binder. Just backpack, gym bag, and massive AP Euro history book.

As we get out the door, he says the gym bag strap is all wet. Eeeew. The dog wet on the picnic basket. No, wait, that was from National Lampoon's Vacation. Homer wet on the gym bag.

Mad rush to pull out the uniform and goo he just put in there 5 minutes ago and find another bag.

Drive him to school. Drive home. Find pee on the ground under gym bag. Find pee on floor in house where gym bag was sitting. Curse Homer. Clean up pee and wash gym bag.

Find history book left outside door. Text Ernest. Yes, he needs it. Drive back to school to put history book in his locker. In the rain. Have minor panic attack thinking I have forgotten something, but remember it is still 20 minutes till my hair appointment. Time enough to go home for coffee.

Drive home. Can't find house keys. Have slightly larger panic. Search purse and pockets 3 times. Have major panic, mostly because my coffee is locked inside the house! Go to hair appt without coffee. 90 minutes later, search pocket and miraculously keys appear. Feel stupid. Open door while observing stream of ants around feet. Find ant spray.

Fortunately, the coffee maker was still on!

Pee, goo, rain, false panic and ants.

But today the sun is shining and nothing weird has happened. Yet. It's only 9:30!

How is your day going?

Still Here

Either nothing much has happened or a lot has happened, depending on the way I look at it.

I set some half-assed goals for September, and unbelievably I achieved them...to do some major housecleaning, attempt some physical activity (I firmly believe said houskeeping falls in this category if you break a sweat doing it), finish a project, and spend less money.

So I have degrimed the kitchen and the bedroom. Pulled out the dresser to vacuum behind it, and voila, an electrical outlet! 23 years and I never knew it was there. It will come in handy for charging computers and cell phones.

And I finished stitching my Klimt Coral needlepoint (which I mentioned a long time ago here and more recently here).

I was trying to spend less money this month but computer things kept dying and cars needed tires and service and so on and so on. I did manage to save a bit by cutting out what kept me entertained all summer: going out to lunch and to the movies. And my gas bill is significantly lower since Ernest doesn't have to be driven to the zoo.

I plan to keep the same goals for October. On the cleaning front, I was a cruel cruel mom and told Ernest his room looked like something out of Hoarders, so I suppose I should offer to help him deal with it. I don't think he has OC issues, I think he's just a lazy teenager with too much stuff. But seriously, it's time to ditch the children's toys and a lot of Lego that he hasn't touched in 5 years. As a little boy, he loved to keep the packaging from the toys. Now he keeps shoeboxes. Soccer shoes, running shoes, hiking boots, converse all-stars. He couldn't find his cell phone one day and it was because an empty shoe box had fallen on it. Here's a brilliant idea I just had! Pack the Lego into the shoeboxes!

Enjoy October!

Dirty Paws

Someone has taken to doing his business outside, coming in with very dirty paws.

Yes, I washed the placemat afterwards.

Paula Deen's Spice Cake with Caramelized Pears and Maple Frosting

This recipe is from Paula Deen's Holiday Baking which was an $8.99 impulse buy at the checkstand, but worth every penny. Full of decadent deliciousness and no ads. It was a tossup between this spice cake and Gingerbread Cake with Creme Brulee Filling and Scotch Whiskey Buttercream...who has the next birthday??? For Thanksgiving, I may go hog wild and make the Pumpkin Cake with Cranberry Mousse filling.

SPICE CAKE
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 large eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray 3 9-inch cake pans with nonstick baking spray with flour. In a large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add egg yolks, one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a medium bowl, combine flour, cinammon, baking soda, ginger, nutmeg, salt and cloves. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. In a medium bowl, beat egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Gently fold into batter. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Maple Frosting over one cake layer. Top with half of Caramelized Pears. (I didn't follow that part, just smashed up 3 pears with a little applesauce.) Top with second cake layer, and repeat procedure. Frost top and sides. (At room temperature the frosting is a little soft for piping. It firms up quickly in the fridge.) Garnish with chopped walnuts, if desired. (I used shaved chocolate instead because Frank doesn't like nuts.)

MAPLE FROSTING
1 cup butter, softened
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
5 cups confectioners' sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter, cream cheese and maple syrup at medium speed with a mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until smooth.

CARAMELIZED PEARS
1/2 cup butter
6 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon sugar

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pears and sugar; cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently, until pears are very tender.




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Twenty-One

Something about having a child turn 21 makes me feel really old!

But we had a party for him anyways.

Sweet Frank, he still thinks I'm SuperMom. "Did you cut all those flags yourself?" Ha!

I'm not sure I like the word Geek.

geek

  [geek] Show IPA

noun Slang .

1.

a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used byoutsiders.)

2.

a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, especially one whois perceived to be overly intellectual.

3.

a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid ordisgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.

I assure you, Frank has never bit the head off a live chicken.

Looking at Ernest makes me feel pretty old, too. We may have lost one designated driver, but we'll have another one pretty soon.

Had to have champagne for the 21st birthday. Time to get out my grandma's glasses.

I made what I call a "pretty cake" this year, as opposed to the novelty cakes of prior years. Mr. Thomas was eager to take a bite.


Ernest took this picture for me. I would have needed a footstool to get the camera up that high. He didn't. Sigh.


This was one fantastic cake.


I'll post the recipe tomorrow.

My Spidey Senses are Tingling

We've had a glorious spider web in the front yard for a few days.



I cheated on that picture -- I sprayed the web with water first.

If you're at all squeamish about spiders you might not want to look at the next two pictures.



Can you take it? Here's another.



I warned you!

Ribs

Frank was kindly finishing some leftover ribs (leftovers, the bane of my existence) and Homer decided to help.

Yes, Frank gave him a bite.

When Homer was done, he daintily licked the sauce off his paw.

Signs of Fall 2011

We're starting to see the usual signs of fall around here.

Handy's laid in a good supply of firewood and is itching to use the fireplace or woodstove. He wanted a fire Saturday morning and I begged him not to since it was going to be hot in the afternoon.



Frank and I love blueberry bagels for breakfast. Late on Sunday afternoon, the pickings were pretty slim at the store. I picked up these seasonal pumpkin bagels, and they are actually quite delicious.



Since I'm not working right now, I've set a few minor goals for myself. This is totally unusual for me! One of them is to complete some of my many unfinished projects. This needlepoint was shoved away on a shelf for a couple years. I was annoyed to find that it had gotten a little motheaten. I've repaired most of the damage now, and am stitching away. Of course, finishing the canvas is one thing. Then it still needs to be turned into a pillow.



We don't get a lot of fall color here. We go from green to yellow to brown. So I was quite pleased to find this gorgeous leaf in the yard this morning which runs the usual gamut and adds some surprising red in it.


My apples are slowly ripening.

Francine feels good cat camoflage is appropriate for any season.

What says fall in your world?

Home Alone

Yesterday was my first day home alone...no husband, no kids, no job, no worries. Well, maybe not the last part. I always worry about something. My mother always said I had worry lines on my forehead as a baby.

I did get some things done...some cleaning, some cooking, some exercise, some reading.

We were expecting a 100° day yesterday. Ernest said it hit 101° just as cross country practice started. So I wanted to get my cooking out of the way before it got too hot. I baked enough chicken for 3 meals...roast chicken last night, green chicken enchiladas tonight, and maybe chicken chow mein in a day or 2. I've got to give them a break from chicken tomorrow night!

Cluck cluck cluck.

Homer feels he hasn't had enough press lately so he decided to crowd into my chicken picture. He also feels it is misleading to say I am home alone when he is such good company. Homer had a very successful day yesterday when he managed to con Handy into a second dinner at 6:00 while I was out of the house. "Meow meow, what? No I haven't been fed yet. Meow meow. I've been starving all day. Meow meow. " That lying cat. I fed them both at 4:30. And his accomplice, Francine, just went along with it.

To be Fair

To be fair, I really haven't been able to look at Frank's phone to note the subtle differences.

What he has TOLD me is: his screen is bigger, the phone is lighter, he can easily expand his memory with a mini sd card, and he can play old Gameboy games on it. So there, Mom.

We're still a house divided.