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Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween Fun

We had a houseful of company for the weekend, so everything seemed rushed, but we tried to pack all the holiday fun in we could.

Rikard has been dreaming, planning and designing his costume for months. Here he is in all his zombie mummy glory! It was impossible to get him to hold still so every photo has a different part of him in focus. UGH! Boys!
 The girls were a bit easier. Keeli wanted to be a stick of pink cotton candy. She looks really good in person when her tulle is fluffed and pulled away from her body. Tatum is the Queen of Hearts, complete with pre-teen cranky attitude.
 Saturday evening we took Papa Charlie and Uncle Joe to a local Halloween festival, complete with haunted house and games. Tatum spent most of her tickets at this crazy bowling game. Apparently this game had the best candy prizes.
 At the end of the evening the kids talked Papa Charlie into the cake walk. There were three cakes left and when the first number was drawn it was the person next to Rikard. The second number drawn was someone else. Rick and I were excited that we didn't have to take a cake home. Then, Papa Charlie hit his lucky streak and won a candy corn cake!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Celebration cake

 This weekend we celebrated my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. My dad, Jim, is wearing the red shirt, and my mom, Joyce, is wearing the floral shirt. Here they are with my mother's siblings. To the left is Nancy (mom's older sister) and Ron, married 53 years. Immediately to the right of my parents are John (mom's brother) and Marcia, married 43 years. Farthest to the right is Jim and Paulette (the baby of the family), married 27 years.
 My brother and sister-in-law did most of the preparation for the party, cooking, cleaning, organizing and inviting. They did a great job and everyone had a great time and more than enough to eat. We had a house full for the evening and enjoyed seeing cousins who traveled from far and wide for the celebration.

I decided to make a cake to take along. I found this recipe in a cookbook that was compiled as a fundraiser for my former workplace, Big Bend Community College. It is called Painted Peach Cake. It is simple and very tasty. My neice said it tasted like Christmas.

Blend together one white or yellow cake mix, 5 eggs and 6 oz. cream cheese. This will be much thicker than a normal cake batter, like a pound cake. Grease and flour a bundt pan well. Spread 2/3 of the batter in the bottom of the pan. Place 1 cup sliced and well drained peaches on top of batter, making sure none are touching the sides of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup cinnamon (red hot) candies. Top with remaining batter.
 Top with remaining batter and bake at 350-degrees F for 35-45 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10-15 minutes before inverting and removing.
This is a wonderfully moist and very tasty cake, a great change from your ordinary bundt cake.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Apple Pie

Our wonderful children suprised us recently with their first ever team-effort apple pie. It definitely had the appearance of being constructed by enthusiastic youngesters in the kitchen. 
After dinner, it was served up with big scoops of vanilla ice cream. It was *delicious.* When we cut it open we found a treasure trove of stories to share for years and years and years. The top crust was nearly 3/4" thick where the larger stars were located, and while golden brown on top it was barely cooked in the middle. Most of the apple slices still had their peel in tact. They forgot to add sugar.

Despite all these crazy things, it was a wonderful dessert shared with our children.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Apples & Eggs

 My family loves - L-O-V-E-S - apples. Red apples. Yellow apples. Sweet, juicy apples. Green apples. Apples that make you pucker.
 After washing and slicing, they are put into the dehydrator. Some are left au-naturel, some are sprinkled with cinnamon for a little added anti-oxident and a flavor explosion.
 After a couple of hours, the house is filled with the sweet, warm smell of baked apples and we have handfulls of sweet apple treats.
 And, Suprise! Green eggs and ham for dinner. The lone surviving spring chick started laying last week and we are getting these fabulous-green shelled eggs. The hen is an Aracauna, the breed is also known as the "Easter Egg Chicken" because of the soft, pastel colored egg shells. Our other chicks are about 8 weeks old and should start laying between Thanksgiving and Christmas.