Happy Halloween

While I'm waiting for the doorbell to ring later this evening, here's a photo of my sweet, sweet niece awaiting her very first Halloween!

The pants she's wearing above are the ones I bought for my oldest nephew to wear on his very first Halloween nine years ago!

Can't wait to see the rest of the costumes!

Happy Halloween!

UPDATE:  Three of the four nephews arrived.

Aren't they cute?

Here's what they really look/act like.

The last nephew arrived a little while ago. I just love his costume! He even had shiny black dress shoes to wear thanks to our other sister. One of her boys wore them to a wedding so tonight was the second time they've been worn.

I also love how he instinctively put his hand on the billy club...just like a real policeman!

While waiting on the cops to arrive, I actually had my first non-family member trick-or-treater in the two years I've lived here! How exciting.

Though, I think the porch light is going off...guess I'll have to eat the leftover candy. Bummer...

A Sharp-Toothed Snail...

I spent the day with a friend who admits that her 5-year-old is a nose-picker.

Disgusting habit, but she is not alone. There is just something about a nose that kids can't resist.

Anyone have an idea of what the attraction is?

The topic got me to thinking about one of my favorite authors as a child...Shel Silverstein.

Do you remember him? His books of poems were a huge favorite of my friends and me. We kept the copies of "Where the Sidewalk Ends" and "A Light in the Attic" checked out of our school library.

"The Giving Tree" and "The Missing Piece" are great books also by Silverstein...he was even a songwriter and his work included the song "A Boy Named Sue" made famous by Johnny Cash!

How did I go from a nose-picking 5-year-old to Shel Silverstein? Because of this poem...

Warning

Inside everybody's nose
There lives a sharp-toothed snail.
So if you stick your finger in,
He may bite off your nail.
Stick it farther up inside,
And he may bite your ring off.
Stick it all the way, and he
May bite the whole darn thing off.

- Shel Silverstein



Ain't Itchin' Anymore!

It's the weekend! I'm back from Chicago after a quick work trip and guess what?

No BED BUGS...despite my co worker's dire warning. (Pause for me to do a "na-na-boo-boo" dance.)

OK, I'm back.

As part of the meeting, we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo in a trolley...here's Hannah from Off the Cuff and me in a "self-portrait." I'm usually a hater of my photos, but I think she did a good job on this one! It's a keeper, unlike several others of me that she has squirreled away in her phone or computer...someday I'll find and delete them all...that's a promise.

While at Lincoln Park Zoo, we had dinner in a cool red barn housing the Farm-in-the-Zoo exhibit. Imagine a red barn surrounded by high rise buildings...such a cool visual!

The exhibit was very interactive - even for 30 adults! In addition to an actual John Deere tractor, the exhibit included a cool weather room, an incubator with live chicks and so much more. If you have children and are headed to Chicago, be sure to put this on your short list. No kids? Still a fun way to spend an hour or two.

I was enamored with the oversize eggs below. Not sure why I was...please no psychoanalyzing here.

Got my photo taken in a variety of poses on these eggs (I'm afraid those are going to show up on the most embarrassing places someday), including one with a couple of gal pals.



The trip to the zoo was the ONLY time they let us venture out of the hotel. To be a block away from Michigan Avenue and a couple of blocks away from Lake Michigan and not get to spend time at either one is a travesty! Gotta love business travel!

Happy Friday everyone!

I Itch...the Power of Suggestion

I really hate my coworkers sometimes.

OK, I don't really hate them but I majorly dislike them at times.

Well, not so much dislike as annoyed by them on occasion.

Just before I headed to Chicago on my solo road trip, a concerned know-it-all coworker asked me if I had seen the news reports about bed bugs and hotel rooms.

Of course I had! However, she went on to say how the nasty little biting hitch-hikers are more prevalent in hotels near airports. Now, I had NOT heard that particular news report!

Where was I headed the next day...a hotel near O'Hare...an AIRPORT, in case you didn't know.

Thanks. Thanks a lot.

I went home and packed all of my clothes in those big, resealable spacesaver bags. When I got to the hotel room, I set my bag on a stool away from the bed. Then I threw the comforter off the bed and did a thorough check for unwanted bed partners.

Now, it was a shame that I was so paranoid because it was a beautiful hotel room...no bed bugs at all. Lots of character and a way cool bathroom. But with the thought of those stupid bed bugs in the back of my head, I couldn't fully enjoy the experience!

Instead, I itched the entire time.

Now, I'm headed back to Chicago for another meeting soon. This time the hotel is downtown but I can't help but worry a bit about the possibility of getting bit!

Darn it...I itch again.

Wordless Wednesday...Lemurs Love Pumpkins

Lil' Sister and I headed to the Indianapolis Zoo with her little guy and two of our nephews last Saturday. They were excited to see all of the animals, including the elephants.

Since it was the weekend before Halloween, the zoo was decorated with skeletons, spiderwebs and more. Several of the animals had pumpkins to play with, including my favorite of the day, the lemurs.

The little guys really enjoyed watching the lemurs' antics but eventually one of those blow-up decorations caught their attention. Even lemurs inside a pumpkin can't compete with a kitty cat popping out of a Jack-o-lantern!

Linking up to Wordless Wednesday, A Beautiful Mess, and My Life in Jenga.

(Oops...linked to these parties last night but forgot to put up my post. First time that has happened!)

Baking Up Some Chewy Goodness

I am a huge believer in cookies.

Cookies for breakfast (I blame my mother). Cookies for a mid-morning snack. Cookies for a late-night snack. You see where I'm going here, right?

I have plenty of tried and true cookie recipes, but I'm always willing to open the recipe book and welcome a new one into the fold. This summer I saw a recipe for "Chocolate Chewies" in the local newspaper that intrigued me. It was from a local baker and the idea behind all of the recipes featured was gourmet cookies at home. It only had 5 ingredients and no flour. I had to try it.

Since the recipe calls for egg whites and powdered sugar, the end product had a lightness to it that normal cookies don't seem to have. Just remember one thing when you are working with powdered sugar...it's powdery and can made a real mess if you get a bit crazy with the whisk!

The recipe called for toasted nuts - like walnuts - but I didn't have any so I just added extra chocolate chips. I also used Ghiradelli 60 percent Cacao (bittersweet chocolate) chips to punch them up a notch. Totally worth it!

This recipe is definitely going into the recipe book. And, Leah, these ARE making an appearance at the office this week!

Chocolate Chewies

3 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cup cocoa
5 ounces chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups toasted nuts (such as walnuts)
4 egg whites

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine sugar and cocoa, whisking well to combine. Add chocolate and nuts. Add egg whites, and mix until combined.

Scoop golf ball-size portions of dough and place on parchment-lined sheet tray. Bake for 25 minutes until the tops begin to show small cracks.

Makes 1 dozen cookies (or more if you scoop out ping pong-sized portions).

From August 20, 2010 Indianapolis Star

That Time of Year...Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins!

My sister called the other day to chat. During the conversation she casually reminded me that I haven't made any pumpkin chocolate chip muffins yet this year.

I'm not sure where I got this recipe (so if I got it from you...remind me) but it's become a family favorite. Usually I start thinking about making them right before Halloween (when I start seeing pumpkins everywhere). I make them several times between now and Thanksgiving. I think we like them all the more because they only appear for a short time. Kind of like Christmas cookies, Easter Peeps and mint dark chocolate Kit Kats (Hershey's PLEASE bring these back this Christmas).

Since Baby Sister and family were home this weekend to introduce Miss Jocelyn to her great-granny and other relatives, it was the perfect time to start baking. Mom had the whole family (all 14 of us) over for supper on Saturday night and I brought the muffins as a dessert option. We NEVER just have one dessert at a family gathering...Mom made her chocolate chip cookies too.

The recipe calls for 8 ounces of pumpkin but I usually buy the 15 ounce can so I usually double the recipe and make both mini muffins with mini chocolate chips and full-size muffins with regular chocolate chips. I really wanted to use the dark chocolate chips from Ghiradelli (not sure what they are called) but I didn't have them in my cabinet...so definitely next time!

I also had some fun Halloween cupcake liners that I picked up at Macy's after Halloween last year for dirt cheap so I pulled those out to use.

Love how the spiders on the big muffins look orange because of the pumpkin!

These are a great option either for dessert or breakfast. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
8 oz. canned pumpkin
3/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin and oil until smooth. In separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-line muffin cips 3/4 full. Bake for 16-20 minutes or until muffins test done.

Serves: 1-1/2 dozen.