Spooky Halloween Dream

"Those who dream by day are cognizant of things which escape those who dream only at night."--Edgar Allan Poe

     I'm wishing each of you at the last minute a very happy, spooky Halloween!    Monday night the kids and grandkids came and carved pumpkins.  This is the spooky group that ended up on our front porch.




A few weeks ago I had a group of friends over for a craft night.  We painted wooden 4x4 pumpkins.  We also mod podged scrapbook paper on the opposite side so the pumpkins could extend their usefulness into the month of November.  Everyone's turned out a little different and all were so cute.  We used black vinyl for the faces and some jute or rafia for the vine.

 

October 17-20 was the Beehive Shop Hop.  For one of the days I went with my niece, my neighbor and my daughter.  We had a great day and we all went home tired.  My daughter ended up winning one of the prizes which was a jelly roll of fabric and a $50 gift certificate.  Thank you, Sandy Cotton Shop.

Here are some quilts that we liked from the Shop Hop.

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a recipe that is inexpensive to make and pretty darn tasty.

 

Kielbasa Beans and Rice

1 Tbspn. olive oil                                                                     2 cups INSTANT brown rice

1 onion, diced                                                                         2 cups water

3 cloves garlic, minced                                                           2 tsp. beef bouillon

2-3  ribs celery, diced                                                               ½ tsp. salt

1-14 oz. turkey kielbasa, sliced                                              ¼ tsp. pepper

1-8 oz. can tomato sauce                                                        ½ tsp. chili powder

1-15 oz. can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed            ¼ tsp. each of thyme, rosemary and basil  

                                                                                                          dash of cayenne pepper

Heat olive oil in large frying pan.  Add onion, garlic and celery and sauté for about 3 minutes. Add kielbasa and sauté for 3 more minutes.   Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn down heat to low and cover and simmer for about 15 minutes or until rice is done.

 Serves 6-8

 Optional: This is really good with a dollop of sour cream and a slice of avocado on each serving.

 

 

   This recipe is dedicated to my Dad whose birthday is tomorrow.  I used to make this recipe A LOT as a teenager because it was one of my Dad's favorites.

Carrot Pineapple Cake

Cream together well:

1 ½ C. oil

1 C. sugar

Add 3 eggs one at a time and beat well.

Sift 2 ½ C. flour with 1 tsp. soda, ½ tsp. salt and 1 tsp. cinnamon.  Add to creamed mixture.  Add 2 grated carrots and 1 C. crushed pineapple that has been drained.  Mix well and add 1 C. chopped nuts.  Bake at 45 minutes at 350°.

 

Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar                          1  3 oz. pkg. cream cheese

1 cube margarine                                  1 tsp. vanilla

 

 

     I picked up a free pattern during the Shop Hop for this Spiderweb Table topper.  It was so fun to make and super easy.  Just sew two sets of 6- 3" strips together.  Then cut 3 triangles from each set using your 60 degree ruler.  Most all of the spider web fabric was on sale during the shop hop.

     Along with a lot of people, one of my favorite books is To Kill a Mockingbird.  I never had the opportunity to read it in High School so I read it for the first time about 17 years ago.  I've loved it ever since.

 

 

Here in the country the houses are too far apart to trick or treat so we do the trunk or treat thing.  First we meet together as a neighborhood and have a sloppy joe dinner.  Then the trunk or treating begins.  Prizes are given for the best decorated trunks.  Here are some of the highlights of the night.

 

The End