Happy Halloween

This one speaks for itself -

My Friend Josephine

I met Josephine just over three months ago. Friends now, I drop in on her weekly for a bit of chat and gossip. I enjoy our visits tremendously, so much that a thoughtful sadness tends to overcome me each time I walk away from her front door. I find her seemingly “normal life” (whatever that means) to be captivating but distant in a way that makes me want to know more about her.  

I Don’t Discuss Politics. I Bake Cookies Instead.

We are just over two weeks from the Presidential election and the country is shrouded in red, white and blue as the autumnal winds romantically hiss to the tune of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Ethel's Unity Pie

Ethel was H’s Irish granny. Well, both of his grannies were Irish so that was a wasted sentence. I've long heard of the family "Unity Pie" but never actually had it myself, so I had a go at it. It is delicious! It goes well with baked beans or my preference, steamed potato and asparagus.

Chicken Broccoli Dish

This was supposed to be yesterday's post (because it was last night's dinner) but I just didn't have time to type it all out. Remember, I blog between tantrums and yesterday was a tantrumastic day if ever! This is another one of Aunt Rachel's dishes, that is a favorite in this household. I didn't have the exact recipe but here is how I put it together and I thought it was quite nice.

Ink on Face

It is my fault. I wanted to have a bit of time to finish up some work. "I want a pen" she asked repeatedly  "Fine have it." I succumbed and handed it over without even looking away from my computer screen.

Gross Motor Skills Fine Tuning

The girls are a bit obsessed with anything with wheels. Rain. shine, freezing cold they insist on taking a ride on their bikes or scooters. When they ask my face sinks a little bit, and I say something like "why don't we draw a picture" (it never works). I hate being cold! Thank goodness for them H is a big cycler, cycling 25 miles into work each day. 

Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Butter-Cream Filling and White Fondant

There are very few things that I am good at. I can actually name tons of things that I do poorly but I was very pleased with how C's 2nd birthday cake turned out. It is a basic vanilla cake with a strawberry butter-cream frosting & filling and vanilla fondant.

Apple & Pear Tart

I made this as a "second option" for C's birthday ... for those who did not want cake. Both kids and adults enjoyed it. This is incredibly easy and would probably be worth trying with berries as well, or different flavored jams. yum yum.