Happy Haloween

Happy Halloween 2011


   We have been so busy that we almost forgot about the pumpkins!  I was very surprised that my kids never even mentioned them!  So I picked them all up after school and took them to the pumpkin farm.

     Here are the pumpkins they picked out...............

    So they set out to cut out the lid....and scrape out the insides...

   My son has a very weak stomach, I don't know if it was the smell of fresh pumpkin, or the way it felt in his hand....but that's all it took.....and he lost his lunch.........

        Sorry, but we were all laughing...I guess it was just the moment but I had to add this picture!  haha
       So Grandma Keller filled in where he left off and cleaned out the pumpkin.

     Once the lid was off, and the pumpkin was cleaned out it was time to core the gourd....otherwise known as carving the pumpkin!

         Yes, that is a squishy little toy rat that Derek has decorated his Jack=O=Lantern with.   Great Job kids!!!
  
      Then comes Trick-or-Treating.....Derek doesn't want to go this year, Ieshia wants to walk around and take pictures, but Emily still wants to go and get all the candy she can drag into the house!  haha

        So Emily went with my other daughter, Sharayah, and my grandchildren, Blaize and Lyndee, and their Dad who was the DD..(designated driver) which is just as annoying as driving a group of drunk people......driving a bunch of sugar hyped kids!  Poor Andy!  So everyone left, Derek went with his Dad and for the first time in 22 years....I was sitting alone on Halloween.  It was the first time that i didn't take my kids from house to house.  Did it make me sad??  Absolutely not!  I grabbed my book and enjoyed it for a few minutes!   
           My Grandson, Blaize was a monkey...............

     My granddaughter, Lyndee was a Zebra.............

      My two nieces were Cowgirls........

Lauren

Kate

         My sister in Law, Donna and baby Audrey were Raggedy Ann...................................

        They always have the cutest costumes!!!!      

                   
                              A great Halloween for all!!!!                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

Family wiener roast...

Last night was our annual wiener roast.  We had several friends and family over.  It was the perfect night for it....low 50's, very calm out...and John built a beautiful fire....

  Food preparation begun earlier in the day since I had to cook for the wiener roast and for our church potluck the next day!  For the potluck I made BBQ'd little smokies, 7-layer salad, and chocolate chip cookie bars.  For the wiener roast, I made more chocolate chip cookie bars, caramel hot chocolate, cheeseball, homemade vegetable beef soup and smoked sausage and potato soup! (recipe to follow)  Of course we had the typical hot dogs, buns, and condiments.   Becky brought 2 double layer pumpkin pies, and some peanut butter cookies, however they were confiscated by my husband and hid in a truck!  We all had a lot of fun!

   While most of us enjoyed sitting around the fire....Blaize insisted on the sandbox for his entertainment...

  We even had an unexpected visitor...

  It was Walter, our Saint Bernard.....after we were done eating, he came around a picked up all the scraps.
                                                 
Here is the recipe for my Smoked Sausage Soup:


You will need:
2 lbs of potatoes
2lbs  of Polska Kielbasa fully cooked smoked sausage
5 oz of matchstick or shredded carrots
3 cans of Bean with Bacon soup


Peel and dice your potatoes.  Put potatoes and carrots in a pan.  Cover with water and boil until soft.  Drain some of the water off, leaving about 2 inches of water in the pot.  Add all the soup.  Slice the Smoked sausage and add it also.  Bring to a simmer and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes of until everything is hot.  Serve plain or with cheese and crackers.  


Variation:
If your family likes spicy foods....You can add jalapeno peppers. 

                                                       Enjoy!                                                                                                      

Peppermint Mocha

After a long shopping day with my Mom and my sister, Sheri,...we decided to stop at McDonalds to get something to drink for the 45 minute ride home.  They were wanting peppermint mocha coffee...

                                                    
.since I'm not exactly an avid coffee drinker, I do drink coffee from time to time, I decided on the peppermint mocha hot chocolate....And I would recommend it!!  It was very warm, creamy, and refreshing!  You absolutely must try either the hot chocolate or the coffee!
                                                     
              Here is my sister, Sheri, enjoying hers..............

                                                
     I make a lot of salads through out the year...one of my favorites is an Italian pasta salad.   It's so easy, and fast to make...I guess you could call it my "go to" salad.  It's the one I always make in a pinch because it's fast, easy and cheap!   It also has so many variations of ingredients, that I usually always have enough of something on hand to throw it all together.....Here's how I made one the other night..                     


First of all I start my water boiling for my pasta....I chose Radiatore                    

                                                          
Then I got busy chopping my my veggies........ I chose, tomatoes, red, yellow, and orange peppers, shredded carrots, and mini pepperoni's....                             

     I also added some sliced black olives.....I put it all in a big bowl and I added the pasta and one bottle if dressing.........

         This dressing always works best for me....since it's light, it's not as oily and it doesn't have quite the bite that some of the others do............

 and there you have it.   It's a great, easy side that most of my family loves.   You can also use broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber, green bell pepper, green onions...basically any raw vegetable.