Eat Eat

Thanksgiving dinner for Halloween? Why not?! Danny wore the costume to go grocery shopping with me. Most people laughed. The employees were really entertained. Danny dressed up our Christmas penguin so he could enjoy the holiday as well. It began snowing as we snapped these photos. Ah well, it had to happen eventually. So far, it isn't sticking to the ground. Hope you've had fun (or quiet if you don't dig Halloween).

 Don't let the blue skies fool you-it was freezing out there! Still, the moulds and ragweed are dying, which is very good news for anyone with allergies. The spiderweb leggings made their yearly debut.  I was up early  baking the Barmbracks for Halloween. I made four-one for us, and three for my husband's office. Danny decorated some cookies shaped as pumpkins, cats, etc. and I'll probably make popcorn balls sometime before Tuesday. I stopped by Penzy's to replenish the baking spices before the holidays start. The fair used up most of my cinnamon/nutmeg/allspice/ginger. It definitely pays to buy in bulk if you bake a lot, which we do. I'm lacto-fermenting some of the green cherry tomatoes from the end of the garden, and so far, so good. I pickled the nasturtium seeds, and made more spaghetti sauce for the freezer from the ripe tomatoes. I have a few quarts of green ones left that are destined for relish-then, I'm done. i do feel like it was a great accomplishmen...

Parkin is best made a week ahead, so if you want some for Bonfire Night, you'd best start planning now. This is a photo from a few years ago, and though it isn't pretty, I assure you the gingerbread is wonderful. Every year I bake one, then wish I'd made two. I'm going to try doubling the recipe this year, and I'll report back on how that goes. It might make more sense to simply make two separate batches. You Will Need: 1 cup butter 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar 2 ounces dark molasses 7 ounces golden syrup (or corn syrup if you can't find golden) 3/4 cup rolled oats (not quick) 1 3/4 cup plain flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 4 teaspoons ground ginger 1/4 cup finely chopped crystalised ginger 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon mixed spice 2 large eggs 2 tablespoons milk Line a 9x13 inch pan with parchment.  Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. In a saucepan, melt the butter, sugar, molasses, and golden syrup over medium heat until combined. Don't let it bo...

I thought you might be getting sick of all the neutrals, so I dug out this bright green polyester horror of a bridesmaid's   dress. Can you believe the sleeves have been altered (by the last owner) and were even wider at one point judging by the amount of fabric still inside?! I own a similar dress in pink with sheer sleeves which you can see in the sidebar. Our weather is changing as you can see by these scattered rose petals. A few more windy days and most of the trees will be bare. We have hard frosts expected later in the week, so I'll be gathering the last of the green tomatoes and pickling the smallest ones. The cooler weather is also bringing on kiddo's mould allergies (all those damp leaves growing spores) and we've been back in the allergic asthma cycle. He's okay, (frustrated, but okay) but we've been having some very late nights and two AM nebuliser treatments. I'm thankful for the portable machine so he can be treated at home rather than the hosp...

 October is finally in full swing-hooray! Time for red eye makeup. I confess, I didn't think this would be a look I'd wear, or that it would last more than a season. The thing is, red is so wearable-on just about everyone. You'll need to find the right shade for your complexion, but once you do there's something so wonderfully dramatic and unexpected about red eye makeup.  I went somewhat tame here as it was a daytime look, but I will be posting a more elaborate red look at some point. Today, I wanted to show you how a subtle bit of red can enhance your eyes. Here's another confession-that's a deep red blush on the lids and lip liner around the eye. Yup. I have recently purchased some proper red shadow, but this works as well.  To prevent looking like a bunny rabbit, I also used a bit of black eyeliner marker on the upper lid and a white pencil on the wetline. When your nose and cheeks are always bright pink, the bunny issue is a real concern (particularly in co...

As Halloween approaches I thought it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane. The beatnik costume was the result of us being broke, and Danny being too young to care about a costume. The bongo drums are made from empty Neocate containers. Since the stuff was costing us more than caviar (and although medically needed, wasn't covered by insurance) I wanted to get my money out of it by re-using the canisters. Hey kid, quit teething on my City Lights editions. Why don't you ask my log? When I needed them to custom cut the log for me at the garden centre I had to explain the Log Lady to a kid that never saw Twin Peaks. Mostly, he just looked at me like I was mad. The waiter from The Meaning of Life. That's some very expensive fake vomit in the bucket. Still haven't thought of anything else to do with it. I'm sure even Mother Goose wanted to throttle that bloody fowl once in a while. The Penguin and Lola Lasagne Frank the Combine from Cars. Gorgon Slayer! I had so mu...