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

Mount Gordon Lyon

I joined the club. The "Alaskan Wild Women Hiking and Backpacking Group" to be exact. There are countless trails to explore in the Chugach- many right under your nose that you didn't know where there. I'm excited to have trail guides, and explore some new routes.

My first trip was this week. To Mount Gordon Lyon- a peak with a stunning 360 view of Anchorage & Eagle River. Who knew such spectacular views where just a few miles in from the Arctic Valley main parking lot?

Me at "the Summit" at Mount Gordon Lyon

Alaskan Wild Women taking in the view

Facing Eagle River

The Alaskan Mountain Range- I believe the furthest to the right is Mt. McKinley

Arctic Valley Ski Lift

Thank you Caitlin for sharing these pics. I'm going to shoot to meet up with this group at least once a month, which switches to skiing & snow shoeing in the winter.

XOXO

-Lisa

Tunage Time

What's playing:

My pandora station of choice lately is Rolling Stones Radio.  I love music in my home. Music, lighting and scent together seem to transfer the house from that empty "is anyone here?" vibe,  to a relaxing hangout atmosphere. 

Justin and I both had a few DIY projects going on this weekend, and we glided through our to-do lists with Tom Petty and Jimi Hendrix by our side. 

I have music on itunes, and even some classic mix CDs from back in the day, but I mostly listen to Pandora. I've upped my streaming plan with AT&T so I don't go over (Between Pandora and Netflix streaming adds up pretty quickly), and finally coughed up the $4 a month for commercial free listening.  

You can follow my Pandora profile here: http://www.pandora.com/profile/lisakopec5 

xoxo

-Lisa

Brussels Are the New Kale, and how to organize your entire life in seven days

I am a list-maker. When I'm checking things off, everything in my little world runs like a well-oiled machine. But sometimes I revert away from the list, into what Justin calls "the funk." A lack of planning leads me astray to time-suckers such as Buzzfeed, Real Housewives of New Jersey Blogs and Teen Mom 3 (is it true that rodeo girl is pregnant agian?!).

I have decided this week I will burst out of the funk in full force, with the help of my Google Calendar. This week is planned to a tee, so if you need me, just ask, and I'll add you to my calendar view.

Lisa's world for the week of 10-13 to 10-18

Menu planning is a big one for me. If I don't plan what I'm making, I end up ordering pizza, and my weekly farmer's market finds spoil in the fridge.  Trashing produce that seven days ago was a glorious find from the South Anchorage Farmers Market feels like a crime to me. Like the Rempel Farms family will chase me down in their jean skirts, and lock me up in a prison where you are forced to eat bleached white bread and drink orange juice from concentrate- or even worse- grape soda. 

Speaking of prison, Brehan and Justin have got me hooked on Orange is the New Black. It's basically what would happen if one of us went to jail. Lead character Piper is a 30-something-year-old who has to serve 15 months in the slammer because ten years ago she transported drug money.  A lot of jokes stem from her "white girl problems" in the slammer. Including her typical Whole Foods grocery hull, now replaced with prison food. Makes me appreciate my freedom, and easy access to kambucha, fancy dark chocolate, and locally grown beets at the South Side Farmers Market.

This week marked the last outdoor market. The last harvest yielded lots of squash, pumpkins & brussels sprouts. 

Have you ever seen brussels sprouts straight from the farm? They grow out of this huge burley veggie stick and you need to "shuck" off the sprouts. 

The best part about the shucking is the loose leaves that fall from the brussels, which make the best chips you have ever tasted.

Take a break from kale, or save it for your smoothy.

Savor these little crunchies on a lazy Sunday while you binge watch orange is the new black. 

 Here's how to prepare:

Brussels Are the New Kale Chips

-The first couple leaves off each brussels sprout
-TBL EVOO
-salt & pepper
-lemon wedge


Preheat oven to 415. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Take the leaves and toss with EVOO and s&p. Spread evenly across lined baking sheet, and bake for 6-8 minutes. Spritz with juice of a lemon wedge and serve up!



XOXO

-Lisa

Warm Weekday Breakfast Cereal

We've had one of the loveliest falls in Anchorage since I moved here four years ago. The days are sunny and pleasant.  The cool, dark nights combined with flannel sheets make for long, sound, nights of sleep. My body is loving all this rest. It's interesting how your body falls in line with the season. Good sleep was hard to come by when it was in the 80s and sunny till midnight this summer.

The welcomed mild temperatures also turns the mood in my kitchen to warm, slow & low cooking. I picked up a bag of cream of barley breakfast cereal from Alaska Flour Company at the South Anchorage Farmers Market this weekend. I've had this for breakfast every morning this week and I'm not tired of it. It takes about 3 minutes total to make, but tastes like it came from a bubbling crock pot. Here's my take on this yummy, satisfying weekday breakfast:

Warm Weekday Cream 'O Barley Cereal

1/4 cup of cream of barley cereal
3/4 cup water
2 tbls unsweetened almond milk
1 tbls ground flaxseed
1 tbls agave nectar
1 tbls cinnamon
1/2 banana

Combine cereal and water in your serving bowl, and pop in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds (caution: keep an eye on it! It builds up like lava in a volcano, and if you turn your back for a second, it may explode all over your microwave).

Top your cereal with remaining ingredients and enjoy. So, easy, you'll have time to eat breakfast AND do your hair before work.


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