This & That

Halloween, Or the Lack Thereof

Happy Halloween to everyone! At least, I think it's Halloween. You can't tell it by my house or the activities going on in it. There's no specific Halloween stuff out.

I've opted instead for a general fall feel that will last through Thanksgiving. After all, no one is dressing up here and the grandbabies are too far away. We don't have streetlights on our street and the houses are a distance apart, so we don't get many trick-or-treaters...usually only 2 or 3 groups. One bag of candy is overkill for me.

When all the kids were home, I used to wake them up on Halloween with the stereo blasting "Night on Bald Mountain". Nothing like a little Mussorgsky to get in spirit of the day.

I didn't even get cards made this year because the 12 class is kicking my trash. I'm not sure I like getting my trash kicked.

There was one little bright spot in the Non-Halloween season at my house.

Yeah, that 180 Days project is a motivator for all kinds of things.

 

A Rainy Day

We had actual rain here recently. I know. The thought boggles the mind, but there you go.

It had been a long time since we'd had a good, soaking rain. As you know, I'm a big fan of wet weather.

Living in the high desert as we do, it's a fairly rare occurrence and deserves documenting. Just because it's something that makes me really happy. 

Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies

I'm always looking for ways to use dead bananas. We just don't eat them like we used to and I will often end up with one or two black ones. The title of this recipe is quite a mouthful, but these are very good, and since they have both rolled oats and bananas in them, they are just about healthy, aren't they? The recipe I used said I found this on the Six Sisters Stuff blog, but I can't find it on their site to link directly to the recipe.

Chocolate Chip Banana Oatmeal Cookies

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup butter softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup mashed ripe banan (about 1 large)
• 1 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat over to 375. Mix dry ingredients together and set aside. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg, vanilla and banana. Add the dry ingredients and mix together. Add oats and chocolate chips. Place Tablespoonfuls of dough onto ungreased baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake cookies until golden bown and just set, about 12-13 minutes. (In my oven it didn't take nearly that long, so watch them carefully.)

12 for the Week

Got more paper playing time this week. 

This is the Personality category layout and documents a boring summer afternoon last year when The Girl and a couple of friends made shoes...out of duct tape. The design is a tweaked lift of a layout Stacy Julian did for the class.

This is the Holiday category layout for the month and shows PB's 19th birthday. Used a Scrapbook Generation kit and sketch for the design.

Here's the Things category layout...some things that make me happy. It uses a Cathy Zielske sketch download from the BPC Boot Camp class. The title block and grid design is hers. 

The Places category layout....the river near the cabin. Used a Scrapbook Generation sketch for this one.

This is the Fun category layout and is about how my grandboy grabbed an unattended quesadilla off the table at the cabin and helped himself. It's one of my favorite pictures of him, ever. The design is a tweaked sketch from the Becky Fleck second sketch book. Extra points for those who can name the movie the title comes from...and my boys don't count.

The People category page that documents how the guys in my family love to try to catch fish in the river by the cabin. They haven't been terribly successful, but they love to try. I really love this series of picture of my boy doing something he really likes. The design here also comes from that same Becky Fleck sketch book. Wondering about the random red brad there? Each category in the class is assigned a color and we're supposed to include an embellishment of that color on each layout. So, my People category is red. My Personality category color is yellow, which explains the random yellow flower button on the first layout. Yep, if you see embellishments in a color that doesn't make sense, that's the reason.

The Outtakes

You would be surprised, or maybe you wouldn't, by the number of ham-it-up shots that happen during a photo session with The Girl. Of course, most of them are caused by other people shouting various posing instructions at her.

Like "I am Woman, Hear Me Roar!"

Or, "Look serious...or maybe moody...or mad?"

"Work it, Girl!"

"Do the Bryce!"

"How about The Thinker?"

"OK, now just do.....something else!"

"Try a flex!"

Which prompted this picture:

And of course, brothers are just so helpful.

 

 

 

Senior Pictures, Again....

For Andrea, senior pictures are something they do here in my neck of the woods....maybe not everywhere, but at least here in the west it's not uncommon for seniors in high school to have some formal portraits taken to mark the occasion of their graduation. 

This next set required a change of wardrobe, and you have to picture it....The Girl, in the bushes, changing her clothes, because it's a little walk from the cabin and there wasn't any convenient shelter anywhere close. 

We're still on the bridge, just facing the opposite direction. Admit it, B, you covet the bridge. :)

I thought it was really nice of the bridge to have nice coordinating rust. If you look at yesterday's photos, you can see the reddy-rust on that side of the bridge. On this side there's a nice little mustard streak to go with this sweater. The bridge is very versatile. 

We finally gave up on the bridge and moved back close to the cabin. We tried that "against the logs" shot again.

I think I still like this one best. Yep, I think it's my very favorite of all the ones I've done.

Then we moved to a little grassy patch. The grassy patch looked like this just a couple months ago.

And now it looks like this. So nice of it to change color to coordinate with her outfit, don't you think? This is actually the only photo of her not smiling that I really like. 

Senior Pictures, Take 2

We took some more potential senior photos for The Girl recently. If the place looks familiar, you'll perhaps remember it from AP Boy's family pictures. Same place, and the same day. So we had the grandgirls in the mix, along with several other family members giving advice on poses and such. Some were helpful...some were not.

That same bridge in the background. It turns out that when The Girl saw the photos in this outfit, she decided that she really hated the outfit, so I doubt any of these will be making the final cut, but I thought some of the pictures were pretty good, anyway.

Like the glimpse of the river here.

My sister, who takes better pictures than I do, covets this bridge, lol.

Hoping to Stop Brain Leakage

I have told you in the past that my brain is leaking out my ears. I'm fighting it tooth and nail, though, and one way I try to do this is by doing the daily newspaper crossword. Admittedly, it's not very hard. I can get it done pretty quickly. The Sunday one is more challenging, but I tend not to get to that one with the whole Mormon "day of rest" myth.

Are there specific things you are doing to prevent brain leakage?

Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

My DH is very much a meat and potatoes kind of guy...not a huge fan of poultry unless he brings it home with his own two hands, and I'm talking things like pheasant, duck and goose. As an aside, he's perfectly capable of bringing it home AND frying it up in a pan. In fact, when it comes to birds, he does a better job than I do. 

Anyway, I tried this recipe and it was a huge hit for everyone including DH. I got the ultimate compliment, "It's not bad...for chicken." The orange flavor is not overwhelming and I imagine you could substitute types of vegetables freely. I found the recipe on the Mommy's Kitchen blog. One hint when you make any stir fry recipe. I always make 1/3 to 1/2 again more sauce so the rice gets nicely coated.

Orange Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry (Chinese Take In)

• 4 - boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut 1 - inch pieces
• 3/4 - cup flour
• 1/4 - teaspoon salt
• 2 - tablespoons olive oil
• 5 - large carrots, julienned
• 1 - small onion, cut
• 2 - bell peppers, red, green or orange, cut into chunks
• 4 - 6 stalks celery, sliced
• 1 - 8 oz can water chestnuts, drained (I left these out)
• salt and pepper to taste, to taste

Orange Sauce:

• 3/4 - cup fresh orange juice
• 1/4 - cup soy sauce
• 1/2 - teaspoon ginger
• 2 - teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1/2 - cup brown sugar
• 1/2 - teaspoon sesame oil
• pinch of red pepper flakes, optional
• 2 - tablespoons corn starch
• 1 - cup chicken broth

 

Cut the chicken breasts up into 1 - 1 1/2 inch cubes. Combine the flour and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl or large zip lock bag. 

Toss the chicken around in it until all of the pieces are covered. Heat up a large skillet or wok.

When it's hot add 1 tablespoon of oil and then add the chicken. (add in batches of two so the chicken cooks evenly) you don't want to crowd the pan. Cook your chicken until it is golden all over. (About 10 minutes) While your chicken is cooking up, chop up your veggies. Make sure they are about the same size.

When the chicken is golden brown place it on a plate lined with a paper towel. Add another tablespoon of oil into the hot skillet.

Add your veggies and cook over medium high heat until crisp tender...about another 10 minutes. While your veggies cook, mix together the sauce ingredients.

When your veggies are crisp, yet still tender add the water chestnuts, sauce and chicken into the pan. Stir the mixture to combine and heat it through. The sauce will thicken. Serve over rice or Chinese noodles. Serves 4-6

 

12.

I tried this week to wholeheartedly find time to play with paper. To a certain extent I was successful, but not quite in a 12-ish way.

I spent a good share of my available time playing catch up in my 365 album. No, this wasn't the album I was specifically working on. I didn't stop to take a picture. This is 2010's album, but you get the idea. 

I also got caught up with the 180 Days album set up. I still need to do a cover for it but at least I got papers chosen and got captions on the photos I'd already put in. I know you haven't seen that photo of The Girl there yet. We took some potential senior shots during our last cabin trip and this was one of them. I really like it. There will be more in the blog next week, including out-takes.

I did, however, manage to get at least started on this month's 12 class layouts. This is the Inspiration category layout. As usual, it's design was based on an ad.

This ad, to be specific. So there was playing with paper, just not as many 12 layouts as I would have liked.