Blustery Week

Well it's been a windy week in the Bay Area. Leaves all over the streets, branches falling off the trees. The darn wind even blew Boney's hand off. It cause Gavin a great deal of distress but I assured him we would be able to reattach the severed limb.

Of course, this weather calls for some serious cookin' and bakin'. I have been in the kitchen all week whipping up some goodies for the family. I made brownies yesterday and today a lovely pasta fagiole and pumpkin bread. The house smells fantastic and the kids are munching away. I was a complete dork when I made the bread and doubled the recipe (which I usually do) but I used a different recipe. Of course, I didn't realize until I had already mixed part of the ingredients together. When I got to the 3 1/2 cups of sugar I was like, oh crap. Yep, 7 cups of sugar, 6 cups of flour, 8 eggs. My Kitchenaid was smokin'. Needless to say, I ended up having to transfer everything into a much larger bowl and mix the remaining ingredients by hand. The end result was fabulous but I ended up baking for over 3 hours. I think I'm done baking for a couple of days.

Halloween is just a few days ok and the kids are so excited. I'm looking forward to it too. Our neighborhood is fantastic when it comes to Halloween. It's such a safe, family friendly area and I love the opportunity to take the kids out.

I had the amazing opportunity to see Donna Downey teach at Scrapbook Territory a couple of weeks ago. This lady is so amazingly talented and I love all of her work. She was a kick to watch and so very nice. And her work is incredible. As for Scrapbook Territory, if you haven't had a chance to venture out, it's in Berkeley and it is a fantastic store. If you want it, she has it. The store literally has just about everything you could think of.

I replaced my dead camera and am gearing up for some shoots. I took pictures at Miss Pickle's Pilates class last week and it was so much fun. Never been to a pilates class before but guess where I'm going tomorrow night? You got it. My butt is getting back in shape and who better to help me than the lovely Miss Pickle? Isn't she freakin' adorable?? Check her out at: MissPicklePilatesAndFitness.Blogspot.Com

OK, well I'm updating at Starbuck's and Vinnie is bugging me because the Warriors game is on. WHY?? So I better go before he bites my leg off. Stay warm, don't blow away in this wind and I hope you don't have to take the Bay Bridge because it looks like it will be closed tomorrow also. Have a great one!!

Surprise!

See, I said I'd keep on top of this and I am trying!! Well we had a very busy 2 week Fall break. It was fun spending time with my boys and being a mom. Took Kieran to his first SF Giant's game. He was thrilled and excited to be at AT&T Park for the first time. Had to get him the big giant finger and he wore all of his Giant's garb, some inherited from his big brother, Vinnie. I was so happy to take him to his first major league game and at such a beautiful stadium made it all the better. And to top it off, the Giant's totally kicked butt so it was great all around.

Next up: baking and cooking. I went to see Julie & Julia with the fabulous Nancie Fancy Pants a few weeks ago and it inspired me to pull out all those cookbooks and whip up some good fixins. If you are like me, I have like 40 cookbooks that I just HAD to have yet have not made one thing out of them. Hey, they look super fancy sitting on my counter. I LOOK like I cook. Fooled ya' huh? Well, my family has been fat and happy because I have been whipping it up for 2 weeks. Made chicken with sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms, portabella mushroom risotto (first attempt at risotto was successful thanks to Jim), Bobby's Goulash from Paula Deen's sons' cookbook, and the list goes on. For dessert, Jim's fabulous cookie bar with chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts, graham cracker crust and sweetened condensed milk. Heaven. Can I just say, homemade is so much better and more satisfying than take out. And with the holidays coming up I will be a baking fool. Be prepared for our favorite pumpkin bread. I can smell it now. YUM!

Made a trip out to Monterey Bay Aquarium. It was much cooler there than in our neck of the woods so it was very refreshing. The kids loved seeing all of the different animals there and even got to touch a stingray!! Pardon the crappy picture. My camera is out of commission but a new one should be here shortly and I will be back in business. In the meantime, I am stuck using a crappy little Olympus point and shoot. Literally just point and shoot me because it SUCKS!!!

But just look at those faces! These boys love the ocean. We took them on 17 Mile Drive which was amazing as always. It is so beautiful out there.

And we actually decorated for Halloween this year. The house is all creepy and we have lights up and a lovely full sized skeleton on the porch that we scored at a garage sale for $10!!

So that's it for now. Interested in any recipes, let me know. I'd be happy to post them with pictures!!! Enjoy this fabulous Fall weather!!