Posts Tagged ‘fast’
Autumn is definitely in the air here in upstate New York. Mornings and evenings are chilly ~ and I always know that when I wake up to heavy fog, fall can’t be far behind. It’s absolutely gorgeous. Autumn where we live is so incredibly beautiful, although I hate that winter follows close behind. :( I can’t wait for my favorite honeycrisp apples, though! (Did you know that they are patented? How interesting!) When September 1st rolled around, I was in disbelief. This year has gone by so fast! My birthday will be here before I know it. (I’m turning 29 … again.)
Anyway, I thought that I would share an autumn recipe find with you: Cheesy Squash Casserole. It’s from Food TV’s website, courtesy of “Uncle Bubba” ~ and we all know that any recipe associated with Paula Deen is probably a winner! :) We usually get lots of squash this time of year through our weekly CSA share. I can see this dish with potatoes added, too. Hey ~ anything covered with cheese is a hit in my book! :)
What is your favorite dish to fix during the autumn season? I’m thinking about doing an “Autumn in New York” blog giveaway here very soon, featuring a bunch of yummy fall goodies from our area for one lucky reader. Stay tuned!
I finished this knitting project last night for my mom. She asked if I would make her a bunch of kitchen dishcloths, which made me really excited. (Maybe she’s just humoring me, LOL!) They’re incredibly fast and easy. Sometime I’d like to try a tip that my friend Marilyn recently told me about. Wal-Mart’s craft department sells this threadlike stuff ~ it’s intended for a ballerina tutu or a wedding gown, to make the material somewhat pouffy. (I’d never heard of it before, but Marilyn bought some that’s green and said that there are different colors.) She holds this thread along with her yarn when she’s knitting a dishcloth, and it makes the dishcloth very scrubby. I felt one of her dishcloths, and it was like an exfoliant! Perfect for scrubbing dried grime off dishes (and probably lots of other household uses). I’m going to find some of that stuff the next time I’m there. One of my next knitting projects will be an Indiana dishcloth, and I’m very excited about that!
Busy afternoon today. I’m dropping Lucas off at preschool at 12:30, and I have lots of stuff to bring with me. I’m taking four empty milk jugs to contribute to the construction of the school’s igloo, and I also washed some dress-up clothes as part of their winter cleaning. While Luke’s in school, I think that I’m going to take Meredith over to the local yarn store that a friend told me about yesterday. (Lord help my wallet, LOL!) Then, after preschool, Lucas has a quick checkup at the pediatrician’s office. Sometime today, I also have to make a grocery list and work on the finishing touches for this town calendar. And I’m doing laundry ~ and I’d also like to relax and do some knitting tonight, if possible. Such a busy time of year!
Yesterday afternoon, I took the kids over to our town’s train station to help decorate for Santa’s arrival this Saturday. Lucas was *so* excited about the model train that’s there. He also saw Santa’s chair sitting in the corner and asked me, “How tall is Santa?” It was super cute. The tree that they chose for the station is so beautiful and full and smells incredible. Lucas is contributing his glittery bell ornament that he made during moms’ group on Tuesday. :) I helped string lights on the outside of the depot, and while we were doing that, we saw an eagle flying overhead! Yesterday was a great day for decorating because it was actually pretty warm ~ in the 40s and low 50s! I can’t wait to take some pictures on Saturday. It’ll be interesting to see whether Meredith enjoys Santa or is afraid of him! Oh, and Santa will arrive on one of the town’s fire trucks!
Well, I’d better go ~ the laundry probably needs to be switched around. This week has gone by *so* fast ~ how did it get to be Thursday?
A *very* happy 33rd birthday today to my husband! (He’s now as old as me!) While Lucas was in preschool, I carefully wrapped Jeff’s birthday gift. And by careful, I mean that I *painstakingly* tried to disguise what was inside ~ the new Force Unleashed video game for the Xbox 360. He had mentioned a few gift ideas to me, and that was one of them. So, I got a box and wrapped the game in paper towels for cushioning. Then, I went around the house to figure out what items I could include inside the box to make some rattling noises. I seriously thought that he would never figure out what was inside. (He has this annoying amazing talent for guessing what’s inside a wrapped package.) Afterward, I called him at work and proudly said, “You’re *never* going to figure out what’s inside this box! I did a *really* good job of camouflaging it!” And then, he replied, “Hmm, let’s see … is it … The Force Unleashed?” I swear. Why do I even bother? I spent 10 minutes of my life putting together that box and going to such special effort … next time, I should just hand him some money and say, “Happy birthday ~ go buy something!” LOL! :) But, he said that I totally “hit a home run” with this gift ~ that it’s what he *really* wanted. So, I’m excited about that. P.S. Isn’t it neat that my birthday is 9/12 and his is 12/9?
Speaking of birthdays, I always try to keep Jeff’s birthday separate from Christmas preparations. I don’t give him any Christmas-related gifts, and I don’t wrap his birthday presents in Christmas (or even winter-themed) wrapping paper. He wanted a “Star Wars” cake, but unfortunately I don’t have one put together. :( Hopefully I can concoct something yummy for a special dinner tonight, though.
Lots of Christmas cards are starting to appear in our mailbox! So exciting! I *love* getting our mail this time of year! Thank you to everyone who has sent us cards so far! Ours are gradually going out as I get them addressed. By the way, if you’re still working on your holiday cards and need some inspiration (fast!), ChristmasCardsDirect.com has a ton of fresh, original, pretty designs that you could use to create Photo Christmas Cards this year. We always do a family portrait for ours, and it’s especially neat to see how our children have grown and changed from year to year! For 25 cards, you pay only $1.99 per card ~ and the price drops with the more cards you order. One thing that I like most about the website is that it’s *very* easy to navigate ~ more so than some photo uploading sites out there. They even give you ideas for sentiments to have printed inside your cards. And what I found interesting to read was the section about photography advice and tips. There are articles about photography basics, photographing special events and milestones, nature, and family and friends, to name a few. There’s also a “Photo Tip of the Day.” ChristmasCardsDirect.com features more than 200 card designs, and you can also request up to six free samples if you’d like to see the finished product before you order. So, if you’re nervous about getting your holiday cards out on time and want something a little different this year, make sure to check them out!
