trick or treat...

It was a slow halloween at 1702 Norris Dr this year. I had a huge bowl of candy but we got about 20 visitors during the night. I was giving the candy away by the handful but I only managed to give away half of the bowl.

Halloween trips the alarm which alerts me to start stocking up on canned pumpkin. Pumpkin bread is just around the corner. This is indeed my favorite time of the year.

mini me....

A couple of months, I satisfied a chocolate craving by making a 9" devil's food cake with chocolate ganache and chocolate glaze. I almost hurt myself eating the whole thing.

This weekend, I made the same batter but I made 2 6" cakes. One went straight into the freezer. The other one was split into 2 layers, masked with ganache and glazed (pictured). The 6" version is just as thick as the 9" cake but I'll have an easier time maintaining my girlish figure with the 6" cake.

The happy thought is that I'll be able to thaw the other cake in a few weeks. Whip up a little ganache, glaze it, enjoy. Just like that. Easy. Piece of cake....

it's all in the feet.....

I went to Gatesvillle to see one of Caleb's soccer games a couple of weekends ago. Mooney Plumbers is the corporate sponsor. I think the best part of a soccer match is the post game blueberry flavored ice cone. Yum

There were only 4 players that showed up on Caleb's team so they were outnumbered. This is the lowest age group . The coaches get to run up and down the field to tell instructions. It's fun to watch youth soccer because all of the players group around the ball and chase it.

Even though they were outnumbered two to one, Moody's Plumbing was victorious. We celebrated with a burger and shakes from Burger Boy in downtown Gatesville.

half a decade in the books....

Carrie came to town for Caleb's birthday this past weekend. Wow - 5 years old already. I figured it was high time for him to learn how to ride a bike so that was my present to him. We had a pizza party at a local arcade and then came back for a treasure hunt and cake. He has learned to put his foot up on the bar when posing for a picture. I figure I'll give him a few weeks of riding around with the training wheels and then I'll see how he does without them. I'm scheduled to see a soccer game that he's playing in next weekend. That should be fun.

you don't need that thing anyway....

I picked up Emily from school at 5:00pm on 9/14 and she had a bit of a stomach ache. By 7:00pm she was doubled over in pain. I suspected food poisoning but her doctor suggested we take her to the Emergency Room. After an hour of "take a number and wait", they slipped her into a CAT scan machine and announced that she had appendicitis. Then the pain medication kicked in and off she went into a dopey haze. At 9:00am the next morning, she had surgery and within 30 minutes she was in the recovery room. This picture is around noon and it's her post operative popsicle. All she had were 3 small laparoscopic incisions that were sealed with super glue. She went back to school the following week sans appendix. Pretty amazing.

We are collecting the bills and we are playing The Price is Right on the total amount. My favorite one so far is $859 for "emergency evaluation and management services". Giggle

happiness is a brown banana....

I got a little carried away with my banana purchases this week. This picture is the pre-production for Day 2 of some banana bread loaves. Check out those nice mushy bananas. How that stuff in the bowls transforms into loaves of bread boggles my mind. It must be my magic mixer.

I made 6 loaves yesterday and 6 loaves today. I think Kevin was going to celebrate by buying tub of butter in anticipation of his bounty.

glimmerglass....

I did a "drive by" of Cooperstown on Friday (8/27). I took Ruth out to dinner at Pizza Hut, paid too much for a room at the Lake and Pines Motel and ate breakfast at the Cooperstown Diner. The weather in central New York was great. It was cold at night (50's) and warm during the day (70's). It made for foggy mornings. I had breakfast around 6:00am and then stopped by the lake front park before heading out of town. It was so foggy on the lake, I couldn't see the end of the boat docks.