The Scare-o-meter

When it comes to Halloween decor, there are different levels of fright. A one being a blowup Tiger holding a pumpkin. A ten being a demon baby with an axe coming out of it's head. 

The neighbors really get into the spirit with the decor, but in the 1-4 range of fright. 

I suppose that makes sense, considering the average trick-or-treater visiting Dandelion Wine is under the age of six, and dressed in some sort of Disney get-up.

After taking inventory of the loot we scored at the pop-up Halloween store, Justin and I realized we needed to adjust our decor to try to maintain good re pore with the neighbors. 

Loot was divided, and anything over the scare factor of 5 was donated to Brehan & Brian's Halloween party that happened on Saturday. Which by the way, was epic. Here's how this weekend's party ranked on the scare-o-meter:

Skull-Clown entry way, Scare-o-meter score: 6

Creepy clown, scare-o-meter score: 9

Unicorn playing with a giraffe and a blue princess, scare-o-meter score: 0

Unicorn & Raven Princess, combined scare-o-meter score: 2

Unicorn & Creepy Clown, combined scare-o-meter score: 6

No party is complete without good finger food. Warning: there are lots of cutesy Halloween dishes lurking out there on the Internet. They involve food coloring, marshmallows, tootsie rolls & pretzels morphed to look like pumpkins, finger nails, spiders, etc. Resist the urge to slave in the kitchen for hours, creating something that looks kinda cool, but no one actually wants to eat. My holiday advice to you: don't ever sacrifice taste for presentation.

 I brought my go-to dessert: Nutella Cookie Cups. I found this recipe on Daisy Chubb's Tea & Treats, and modified by following the Original Toll House Cookie Recipe. 

Nuetella Cookie Cups

photo courtesy of daisychubb.com

Grease a cupcake pan with butter. Follow the Toll House Cookie recipe, but instead of adding semi-sweet chips at the end,  scoop about a tablespoon of dough into the  cupcake pan. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes. As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, press down the center with a melon-baller, then fill your indent with a scoop of Nutella. 

You can whip up a dozen of these babies in 20 minutes. Make this your go-to for all your holiday parties this year.

xoxo

-Lisa

Potato Gleaners

I was invited to go potato gleaning last weekend. What is potato gleaning? If asked on a test to define, my answer would of been "the art of polishing potatoes until they glisten like the sun."Leave it to us city folk in Anchorage to need an explanation. 

Turns out potato gleaning is when you scour through the potato field after the farmer comes through with the heavy machinery, and you pick out all the left over tots. Think peasant labor meets Easter egg hunt, meets berry picking. 

A fellow "Big Sister" was kind enough to open her family farm, Boyd Farms in Palmer, to Big Brother Big Sister matches for a nice little Saturday activity. Caidence (my little sister) and I were all over that invite like greek yogurt on baked potatoes.

I was particularly interested in gleaning because I just returned from a trip to Amsterdam, were I was able to visited the Vincent Van Gogh museum. I learned that Van Gogh's early work was influenced by peasants and "gleaners." Except I think it's safe to say Caddy & I were having more fun than the gleaners my boy Van Gogh depicted:

                                                              

So now here I sit, with a bin full of enough potatoes to last Justin and I a year. Let the potato pinning begin! 

Friday night in the fall screams for soup. And soup in the fall must be eaten on the couch, cuddled up with lots of blankets, with a fire crackling in the fire place, while watching a scary movie. It must. It's like, the law. Just as Pinterest.

Like just about every recipe I make, This one began with a recipe I found online (by Food and Thrift). It was modified once by me, to work with the ingredients on hand. Then a second modification by Justin, who stepped in after the soup was cooking to taste, and adjust the seasoning. The end result is what I will call "Fright Night Corn and Potato Chowder."

Our first movie choice was  The Shining, however Netflix disappointed us with the selection. We opted instead for Stephen King's Children of the Corn which seemed appropriate given the soup in hand. Let's just say, I slept with the light on last night, and probably will again tonight. Stephen King movies are the kind of flicks that stick in your head and haunt your dreams months after you thought you'd forgotten. I watched It two years ago and I'm still afraid of street drains. Whatever your movie choice, grab your coziest blanket and enjoy this recipe. 

Fright Night Corn and Potato Chowder

1-32 oz. container of chicken broth
1- 14 oz. can of condensed cream of celery soup
5 potatoes, diced 1-14 oz. canned corn 
3 Tbls EVOO
plus 1 Tbsp. for finishing
1 med. onion chopped
3 cloves garlic chopped 
5 carrots scraped and diced
1 medium tomato diced

1 cup portobello mushrooms diced

1 cup frozen peasfresh thyme, about 4 or 5 sprigs

fresh rosemary, about 2 sprigs

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 tsp crushed red peppers

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne 

Start your stock pot going over medium heat, and add 2 tbls EVOO. Add your onions, carrots and potatoes, and allow to cook down, about 7 minutes. Next add mushrooms and garlic, and the rest of your EVOO. Allow that to cook another 8 minutes. Add your tomato, canned corn and aromatics, and let everything cook together another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Finally add the condensed soup and chicken broth. Stir, cover, bring to a boil, the reduce and allow to cook slow and low for at least 30 minutes. Add peas 15 minutes before your soup is finished.

XOXO

-Lisa