Flashback Friday: Cat, I'm a kitty cat

We've got all the unimaginative classics here...

a blind genie, cat, scared pirate, witch and bumblebee

Way to think outside the box kids!

{Happy Halloween}



A Sorta Fairytale photo challenge- HALLOWEEN!

Mandy from A Sorta Fairytale is hosting a photo challenge and the theme is Halloween!  I can't wait to see all the cute little blogger children in their costumes.  Since I don't have a child of my own, last year my Sister let me dress up her bald babe as Charlie Brown.  That wasn't what he went as, I just knew one day he would have hair and couldn't pass up the opportunity. 

Of course I have cute fur babies who look great dressed up, SEE!  But I'm at the age where baby trumps dog.  I'm not even sure when that happened.

I couldn't even find a yellow shirt in his size.  What sort of Aunt am I?



"Take a Bite Out of Hunger" Auction

Saturday night Bryan and I went to an auction for the University District Food Bank.  We have a lot of activists in our circle and try to support them all when we can.  Unfortunately we didn't win anything we bid on.  Bryan questioned just about everything I put my name on saying "what are you going to do with that?" and my answer usually was "I don't know, gift it to my Sister".  You almost got lucky Kat!  Of course I never questioned the times he wanted to put his name on a 19 bottles of wine.  Okay that might not be true...I'm cheap remember?

We also tried our luck with the raffle.  You purchased a $25 pair of funny glasses and if you won you were able to pick one of six items from the live raffle, and you got it for $25!  The woman who won picked a food cart party for a group.  She picked it over 7 days at a Wyndham condo at ANY of their 60 locations in the world!  I was so disappointed in her.

I actually think I look pretty good in these.  Woody Allen would totally hire me for his next film.

Mr. Personality

Natalia, the activist ;)

Cute little pumpkin soup shots with a bone cracker

Sausage mummies

My favorite part of any good auction.  The dessert dash!

I don't know what it is, but I want it

So many to choose from.  I'll take the blurry German chocolate please

What are these?  Yum!

Apple tart with caramel rum sauce

We got the apple tart! 

I beg any of you that are on pie duty this holiday season... 

make some caramel rum sauce to serve with it!

Recipe HERE

Yep, I was that kid

The other day I was talking to a girlfriend about how her 5 year old daughter was "sexy dancing" at school.  Her teacher's words of course.  My girlfriend said "Nikki, she's going to be just like you."  The sad thing is, I knew exactly what she was talking about.

I was that kid that taught your kid about sex.  I don't know if it was that we were a very open family and all questions were answered, or that we had that book "Where do I come from?" that my Sister and I made sure to pull out and read to all our friends when they came over to play.

Heck it could've even been all those years of dance lessons that taught me about sex appeal (rest assured I've lost it all by now), but some time during elementary school, I taught your kid about sex. 

I wasn't however promiscuous at all.  I was just the opposite, a big prude for a very long time.  I found the subject of sex and relationships fascinating though.  I was an early bloomer, had the biggest boobs and was one of the tallest girls in 6th grade (then I quit growing ;).  Of course my therapist would have a hay day with all this later in life.  I guess there is always one kid that has to muddle the minds of others.  Too bad it had to be me.

Another friend and I were talking about what age is best to start talking with kids about the birds and the bees.  She has a baby and has no idea what she will tell her when that day comes.  When I questioned how she herself found out about it all she couldn't recall.  Instead she remembers that she felt her little Sister was WAY too young to be learning about the subject in Sex Education class.  Naturally her Sister came home with many questions for her Mother including "why would I ever want to put a peanut in my pajamas?"

Hey, at least I wasn't the one that told you there wasn't a Santa Claus.


How did you find out about the birds and the bees? 

Chocolate pumpkin cake

I want to make this cake for Halloween.  Of course I will probably modify it using this recipe to make it grain free, but you should make the real thing and then tell me how good it is.  I just love tall cakes.

via Country Living

Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup good-quality cocoa
2 tablespoons good-quality cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons fresh-grated nutmeg
3/4 cups buttermilk
1 1/2 cups pumpkin purée
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups (firmly packed) dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
5 large eggs

 Directions

1.Prepare cake pans: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter three 8-inch cake pans and fit each bottom with an 8-inch circle of parchment paper. Lightly butter the parchment paper. Set aside.

2.Make the batter: Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl and set aside. Combine the buttermilk, pumpkin, and vanilla in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, with an electric mixer set on medium speed, until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, until the mixture is smooth and light. Alternately add the flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, blending well after each addition.

3.Bake the cake: Divide the batter among the pans and bake until a wooden skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean -- about 35 minutes. Cool the cakes in the pan for 20 minutes. Remove cakes and cool. (For cupcakes: Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Place cupcake liners in standard cupcake tins and fill each with 1/4 cup of batter. Bake for 22 minutes.)

4.Assemble the cake: Trim each of the layers. Place one layer on a cake plate and top with one third of the frosting. Repeat with the second and third layers. (To ensure that the cake layers do not shift, cut three skewers to 1/4 inch shorter than the full height of the cake and insert them before icing the top layer.) Refrigerate until ready to serve.
 
 
Orange Cream Cheese Frosting
 
1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cups (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon orange food coloring

Directions

1.Blend the cream cheese, butter, orange juice, orange zest, and vanilla in a large bowl, using an electric mixer set at medium speed, until smooth.

2.Add the sugar and continue to beat until light and creamy -- about 3 more minutes.

3.Add the food coloring and gently stir until the color is uniform.

4.Chill the frosting until ready to ice the cake.

Woodinville Crush Festival

Saturday we went with some friends to the Woodinville Warehouse Wineries Crush Festival.  We did some wine tasting, ate some food, and enjoyed the rain. 

Veraci traveling wood fired pizza

 

I passed it up...can you believe it?

The ladies.  Even my camera had too much to drink.

Cabernet grapes...if I remember correctly

Sending them through the separator.

I love a man in rubber boots!

 

Stemless...well mostly

Into the crusher

Stems and skins

Then it was time for something a little stronger...

 

A distillery (that hasn't quite opened yet) for moonshine

Bryan watching the fermentation

The operation.  I'm hoping that tub is just for show...

Hmmm...decor or an ingredient?

Mackenzie, not a fan of moonshine

My favorite, Skillet Street Food to soak it all up

A bunless burger with blue cheese and bacon jam and poutine!

So salty but soooo good.

What did you do this weekend?

Flashback Friday: Pumpkin patch


Clearly I've always been drawn to perfectly round objects in pairs. 
Subconsciously I must have known I would never have boobs.

Not sure what that says for the kid on the right.


Happy weekend!  Are you going to the pumpkin patch?

Burlesque

My Sister sent me this awesome trailer.  November can't come soon enough!

Jackson and Kinley

A few weekends ago I finally had Jackson over night.   We invited our friends Trevor and Lisa and their 3 year old Kinley over for dinner and a playdate.

Warming up to each other

Lining up my coasters to make a track for the cars.

Odd thing is, after that night I have no idea where those coasters are...

Watching Caillou.

Jackson called me Auntie and Kinley called me "Annie"

Breaking the rules

Fast friends

Playing stop-go around the kitchen in Lisa's shoes.

It was too hot for clothes apparently.



Issy was the fire rescue dog all weekend and really loved playing tractors ;)

Vintage Lineman Bag

When I saw this lineman bag on Spool No. 72 I knew it looked familiar.  My Husband has one just like it, full of tools.

I think I need one for a weekend bag.  I didn't think they were cool until someone else had one.  Not that I don't think my Husband is cool.  Typical me.  I don't come up with my own ideas.  Wouldn't it make a great magazine holder too?  Wait!  I just came up with my own idea.  Sort of.

I'll take this one from Home Depot and vintage it up myself.  One trip through the luggage compartment should take care of it! 

Bryan, can you pick one up for me the next time you're out?

To new beginnings!

Not mine, other people's.


Saturday was a busy day.  We had a wedding and a christening. One North and one South.

I know I said I didn't have any weddings to attend this year, but this one was sort of last minute.  You see a year ago my co-worker was a bit of an Eeyore.  He sulked into work one day complaining, so I made the same suggestion I made every day.  Put yourself out there.  That day must have been the last straw because he agreed to let me make him a profile on Match.com.  Well, long story short.  He met a wonderful woman and now he is married.

Shhh....I'm not allowed to show any photos until after the honeymoon so Mum's the word.

Then we flew South to Dori's baptism.

No flash allowed so I tried to shoot manual.  Ha!  I don't think so.

Happy Grandmas

Dori's dress is zillionth generation.  Diana want to tell us about it in the comments?

I failed on photos this weekend.  I was exhausted. 

These are the festive fall centerpieces with butcher paper table cloths

The kids knew what to do!

So did the parents....

My sweet little Dorina Joy.  Okay she's not mine...

Dori  tells me about her tramatic near drowning...er baptism

Friends, stringy bangs and a very tired child of God 

What did you do this weekend?

Flashback Friday: The Fall I missed

A picture perfect Fall day in 1981.  A year before I was born...

Have you ever seen a photo so many times that you form a memory, even if the memory was never yours?  I have that with these photos.

My Dad and Sister in sweaters



My adorable Mother totally pulling off full denim



I love these photos.  Wishing you a perfect Fall day!