a creative dessert for an evening of fun

We had some friends over last night for dinner and games and it was so much fun.  As of Friday night we had NO plans for Saturday night and thought - 'why not have some friends over'.  So glad we did.  We had beef stew, salad, corn bread and these mini bundt cakes made to look like pumpkins.  We played Imagine If and Bill won.  But the rest of use were very close behind.  Then we had  boys vs girls for Cranium and the girls won!  

These mini pumpkins look sort of like something you'd take to a grade school party but the more I look at them the cuter they get.  They were quite tasty though.  I made a brown sugar cake recipe (from scratch!) and frosted them with a butter cream frosting.  I used a 12 cavity mini fluted pan that I got years ago and have only used once so far!  I took two mini cakes and put them bottoms together with icing in the middle to hold and then iced the top. The pumpkin stems are broken pieces of Pirouette cookies by Pepperidge Farm.   I'm certainly NO Martha Stewart, but they do look kind of cute!

feeling nostalgic for costumes, candy and adorable children

Fall is my favorite season.  I love the cool weather, the crisp leaves and the variety of weather patterns that appear in the fall.  Today it's a bright sunny day and tomorrow it's supposed to rain.  And I adore rain.  Seriously, I love gloomy, gray days where I can sit inside and hunker down at my desk and get work done.  Sip a cup of steaming hot coffee while cozy in my nice warm house.  I love the sound of the rain too.  I am waiting for the rain, and the weather man says tomorrow.  I hope he's right!

Fall brings stews, casseroles and hot cocoa.  And Thanksgiving, which is my favorite holiday.  The kids will be home from college and my parents will be visiting, it will undoubtedly be a wonderful week.  Before we can get to Thanksgiving we will be celebrating Halloween.  Halloween was such a fun holiday when the kids were little and in recent years we've been at parties with friends and haven't even been home to pass out candy and see our neighbors cute little kids all dressed up.   I'm feeling nostalgic for the old days with little kids and costumes.  This year I put out the small pumpkin lights and bought a few pumpkins.  Not very exciting, but with no kids at home I just don't have the motivation to go hog wild.

A few pictures of Halloween through the years

They are so adorable it makes my heart melt.  I remember those days like it was yesterday, but it was 13 years ago!  Why does time have to go so fast?

They made this great haunted castle our of graham crackers, pretzels, chocolate frosting and candy.  We did this several years in row.  Ah the memories...

The girls were adorable black cats, even Josefina (Sarah's american girl doll) had a matching costume. 

 

 

Happy Halloween 

a great day

My foot hurt less today and for that I'm thankful.  I slept about 10 hours, 4 of which I had my boot on (to help keep my foot in an appropriate stretch).  I woke up a bit sore, but NOTHING compared to last night.  I made an appointment for eye brow wax, I didn't want to be roaming Portland with two caterpillars above my eyes.  I set out from the hotel with plenty of time to get to the appointment.  I wanted to take things slow today.

The wax was quick and successful and I was off for more exploring.  I LOVE Portland.  It is such a great city.  It's clean, vibrant and has lots of green space.  When I worked in Portland (many, many years ago), I never appreciated all the great things there are to do.  After long days of working I would board the bus back to Forest Grove.  The commute was long.and I never spent much time exploring Portland.   Oh how I was MAX was around back then.  Things were quite different in 1986.  Now you can go from the airport to Hillsboro all on the best transit system ever.  And I love the free downtown zone.  And with my foot making me gimpy I have used the transit system quite a bit the past few days. 

After my wax, I headed towards the Pearl District and walked around.  I was intrigued by all the urban housing - so many great apartments and lofts.  And all the parks and green space.  My dream has been to retire to Seattle in a waterfront loft.  I am rethinking that.  Portland may fit the bill nicely!  I found a great spot for a small lunch.  Everett Street Bistro.  The Hungarian mushroom soup was quite tasty!  I then continued to meander around the   Pearl District and up to Nob Hill.  These areas were very different back in the mid 80's, so I took delight in the architecture, the people, the businesses.  I enjoyed my day immensely.

To help celebrate Jim's birthday tomorrow, I stopped at the Dollar Store to buy a balloon and a silly birthday hat and a table top birthday display.  I am going to make him wear the hat tomorrow to Pine State Biscuits.  That's his favorite biscuit place and he has been itching to go back.  He has meetings starting at 8:30 so we'll have to go early but it will be so much fun!

Tonight we are heading to Nostrana for dinner.  We met head Chef Cathy Whims when she taught us some cooking techniques at the Tom Douglas Culinary Camp in Seattle this summer.  She was kind and gracious and makes some mean fried squash blossoms.  Her restaurant is Italian and she has received numerous awards, most notably the James Beard Foundation Best NW Chef in 2009 and 2010.  We are eager to dine there.

And I talked to Jake today too.  I just love him.  He is a great guy and hearing his voice and chatting about things was icing on the cake to a great day.