Happy Halloween!

A little look at Halloweens Past...

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Pink Swan ~ 2010

Cheerleader ~ 2009

Little Bo Beep ~ 2008

Have a fun and safe night!

Violated

A few days ago, someone came into our home, while we were sleeping and stole my Macbook

MY Macbook...it was MINE

Toby bought it for me 3 years ago for my birthday, and I loved it...I had begun to use it as my personal filing system

It had everything on it...all my pictures, all the videos I had taken of Lucy since she came home, all our passwords, all my inspiration files, all my recipe files

I just can't get over it

I can't get over the fact that someone was in OUR home while we were sleeping

and

I just can't get over the fact that someone stole MY memories~

Pumpkin Pie Popcorn {In My Kitchen}

I really have NO idea how I stumbled on this recipe from Family Bites, but let me just say...

I am SO glad I did!

Pumpkin Pie Popcorn!

I am NOT kidding...you MUST try this

(are the CAPITAL words getting my point across :)

It is a delicious caramel popcorn with a hint pumpkin pie spice

Pumpkin Pie Popcorn 

• 10 cups air popped popcorn, salted
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup light corn syurp
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

Preheat the oven to 250°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Coat a large mixing bowl with nonstick cooking spray, and dump the popcorn into the bowl, taking care to pick out and discard any unpopped kernels.In a medium saucepan, whisk together the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt, and 2 tablespoons of water.

Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Continue to simmer, whisking often, and bring to a boil.  Allow the mixture to boil for about 2 minutes, whisking occasionally. Immediately remove the pan from the heat, and whisk in the baking soda and pumpkin pie spice.

Quickly pour the hot caramel over the popcorn. Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the caramel into the popcorn, taking care to distribute it as evenly as you can. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake for 1 hour, stirring and turning the popcorn with a spatula every 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, and place on a cooling rack for 20 minutes. Gently break up the popcorn, and serve.

**I made two batches of popcorn in my Whirly pop, and it was the perfect amount**
**I only put in 1t of pumpkin pie spice, so it wouldn't overwhelm my kids :)**

I dare you to not eat the whole batch!!

I'm a little obsessed with Pumpkins :)

I have gone a little crazy with the pumpkins this year :)

Every time I walk into a grocery store...I look to see what they might have

Cinderella pumpkins have always been one of my favorites, and so are ghost pumpkins, but the many colors and shapes of squash are so fun too!

Yesterday, I stopped in Walmart and they had a big box of unusual looking pumpkins :), and my cart on "auto pilot" headed right for them...I found the one below

and I loved this one because it looks EXACTLY like a faux pumpkin I already have!

And to think, we haven't even been to the pumpkin patch yet :)

My Fall Porch

I love Fall

I love porches decorated for Fall

❖

Here is mine this year!

HERE is 2010

❖

HERE is 2009

Rain Rain Go Away~

This October is marked as being one of the wettest on record here in the Pacific Northwest...no big surprise really.

I have a first grader to walk to and from the bus stop, which means my umbrella is getting lots of use... so I started hunting around for fun umbrella stands.

Here are some I found...

I really LOVE this boot stand from
ZGallerie

via

Owls are quite the rage right now...LOVE it!

via

I found these two photos on Pinterest...

both cute DIY options with metal buckets

CUTE riding boot stand also from 

ZGallerie

via

This is another great DIY option...it was a stand found at a thrift store, painted and she added a monogram decal...LOVE it!

via

Do you have an umbrella stand??

LARA Bars {In My Kitchen}

I ♥ LARA Bars!

My friend Catie turned me on to these bars of goodness!

They are the perfect snack...gluten free, dairy free, soy free and Vegan

These sweet treats are made of basic natural ingredients, fruits and nuts...how much simpler could it be??

The only downside, is that they can be an expensive little habit :)...so with ingredients that simple, I decided to try making my own!!

I went with two of my favorites :)

❖

Cashew Cookie

1/2 cup cashews

1/2 cup whole pitted dates

(makes approx 4 bars)

~add cashews and dates to your food processor 

~blend until ground and mixture sticks together...you really don't want to chop too much so you still have some texture :)

~place mixture on plastic wrap and form into bars

❖ 

Cherry Pie

1/4 cup dried cranberries 

1/4 cup whole pitted dates

1/3 cup almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

(makes approx 4 bars)

** follow same directions as above**

~wrap each bar individually in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to keep fresh!

If you have never had a LARA Bar, give them a try...
if you LOVE them, make your own!!

Do You Ever.....

make baked apples??

I had a few apples that were past their "crispness" for me, so I showed Lucy how to make baked apples.  

My Mom used to make these for breakfast, and I truly forgot how delicous they are!

{Baked Apples}

4 apples 

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1t cinnamon

butter

raisins, pecans or anything else you might want to add

boiling water

~Preheat oven to 375

~wash apples and with a paring knife cut out stem and use a spoon to dig out all seeds making a hole 3/4 to 1 inch wide

~place apples upright in an 8x8 baking pan

~mix brown sugar and cinnamon and fill the center of each apple

(and raising, nuts, etc)

~put a small pat of butter on top of each apple

~pour about 1/2 inch of boiling water into the pan 

~bake 30 to 40 min or until soft...but not mushy!

~serve warm (with vanilla ice cream is yummy too!) 

What a perfect Fall dessert!!

Today...

I was "excused" from jury duty

and

the sky looked like this much of the day

so, I drank lots of this

{tea with a candle lit for my friend Emily and her Mom}

spent a little time working on this

and reading this

{I LOVED Rob Lowe in the 80's...I thought for sure we would get married :)...glad things didn't work out that way :)}