Harvest Party

The Harvest Party was awesome. Karen and I cooked all day, and then partied all evening, and cleaned until 1:30am. Phew!

Here are some pics!

Making Turkey Cookies for decoration

 He is one angry bird!

 Making my baking contest entry

 Part way through

 Decorations and Food - these are my caramel pumpkin cheesecake cups

 Kristina made this apple tree for her dutch apple cake. Amazing.

 So much food

 Me with Stephanie

 Jodi, Sarah and I.

I'll admit that Sarah won the contest with her Chai Cheesecake. Great job friend!

 Outside there was a fire and smores and in the garage there, there was a glow in the dark dance party. Awesome.

 And this is some of the atmostphere in the party...and also that's my Dad there.



It was a great night!

Bella Festa: an Italian Dinner Party

A while back our gang out friends was invited over to Jodi & Stefany's house for an Italian Dinner (a going away party for the dear Maynards) - not only was the food and decor amazing, but then Stef captured it beautifully with her mad photog skills. Combining a baker, a photographer and two darn talented ladies = guaranteed party success! 

Jodi's homemade Bruschetta - amazing.

 The drinks

 Jodi!

 Mozza

The girls also served Spaghetti and garlic Bread. We left there so stuffed.

Love mason Jars & Candles. Stef & Jodi understand the impact a bajillion candles can make!

 The whole gang of us

Being silly

 The ladies!

 The ladies, minus Stef

LOVE - Thanks ladies for such an awesome party!

Sweet love

I’m at work on a somewhat rainy day. Paul’s away hunting. I am working away on expenses – and as I enter numbers and information my mind drifts to how great it will be when Paul comes home from hunting Monday night. How much fun it will be to make him a great dinner, and have him come home to a clean and tidy house, with a beer waiting for him, and the look on his face when he sees me…and OH the big hug that will follow. As I thought about that moment (and the many we’ve had like it after absences in the past) I realized that my prayers as a young girl have been answered. I so badly wanted to have a marriage that was bursting with love. To have a man that feels this way about me. I also highly doubted that it was possible. To know that God knows my desires and has given me Paul….well it’s fairly overwhelming. I should probably stop typing this now because it’s making me quite emotional and I really don’t want to cry at work while entering expenses…or ever really. I’ll pick up on this later…..


I was going to write more but we ended up having a meeting at work (someone was giving a presentation on a recent trip to China and the lumber opportunities there – it was more interesting than expected). The final thing shown was a video of traffic and I now feel very nauseous…so I’m just going to sit here, drink some water and try not to throw up. Yum, eh?

And so you can also try not to throw up...some pictures of me and my sweet love:

Reflections on Food

Sooooo…Monday we did in fact stick with our goal of having creamy spinach soup, but since I had left over Eggplant and Zucchini, we had breaded baked veggies instead of Pita Crisps

Tuesday we had Roasted Spaghetti Squash and Cauliflower Pizza – though we did not have veggies and Hummus, as we realized the first two were more than enough!

Wednesday we ended up having friends over, so I made Seasoned Basmati Rice, Yoshida Chicken Kabobs, Steamed Asparagus and Roasted Vegetables. It was AMAZING.

I guess I’ve done pretty good at sticking to my meal plan – despite the craziness of last night! The friends that we had in town were from Oregon and needed a place to park their car before flying to Montreal. So they ended up, spur of the moment, joining us for dinner and the evening. It was lovely. Rachelle (the wife) is a new friend. She briefly moved to Vancouver from Calgary for a few months, and then was able to join her husband and Oregon by September. She came to our EN church in the summer, as she had been attending an EN church in Calgary. Despite only have gotten to hang out with her maybe 3 times – she is one of those people I just love being friends with. We clicked super quickly. She is a flight attendant with WestJet, so getting to see her is tricky. She is gone a lot! Especially now that she lives in Oregon, haha. I’ve hung out with her now (including last night) 3 times in Vancouver, and got to see her once in Calgary! It was nice to meet her husband Adam (who Paul had already met at the EN Calgary church a few years ago). And as Adam is from Oregon (Paul’s home state) and actually from a small town next to the small town Paul’s from, they have lots to bond over. Dinner with them was lovely.

Monday I made the Cheesecake Caramel Pumpkin Cups for the baking contest as a trial. They looked GREAT (can’t wait to get my iPhone so I can show you these things). They tasted good – not amazing. I’m trying to figure out what they need to be a bit more special. I’m thinking they need a bit more pumpkin to be perfect. We’ll see, I guess. I’m doing another run of it tonight.

Also tonight? I get to babysit Connor and Austin, wahoo! I know I’ve said it before, and I’ll definitely say it again in the future, but oh man, I love those Nephews of mine! Cannot wait to tuck them in to bed, read stories with them, etc. I’ll admit though, I’m hoping for no poopy diapers.

Alright it’s back to work to start my first time doing expenses – I learned their system yesterday, so here goes!

New Car!

We bought a car today!

For the past few weeks our car has sounded like it was trying to garberate marbles. Ridiculous. For the past few months it's been making weird clicking noises. It wouldn't pass aircare....we only had a month to either have it pass air care or get a new one. The marble sound helped seal the deal.

Anyways we got a '97 Rav4, in red. I love it, it's beautiful. We got a great deal & it's around 130,000 clicks. Woo!

So beautiful. 

Anyways tonight is date night with Paul before he heads off for hunting tomorrow morning at 6am until Monday. Have fun babe!

Menu Plan Monday

I found this a very hard week to meal plan for. I mean, I do have a plan but it seems trickier than normal. First off, three weekends in a row have been full of food that has been pretty much entirely out of my control - thanskgiving, youth retreat and family dinners/friend dinners. This means that my weightloss goals have been tricky. I've not gained anything, but I've not lost anything either.So I need to make healthy things, that are warm and fall like. 

Monday and Tuesday all three of us are home. Wednesday, Paul and I are home and Karen is away at camp. Thursday only I am home, as Paul is away hunting and Karen is still at camp. Friday Karen will be back from camp, but Paul will be hunting and all weekend Karen will be home but Paul will be hunting - and we'll be doing food prep for the Harvest Party on Saturday night - for which I'll be making a triple batch of Pumpkin Soup, a batch of Apple Brownies, a baking contest entry Cheesecake Caramel Pumpkin Cups, AND Turkey Cookies. Phew! But regardless, here goes my first official Menu Plan Monday with OrgJunkie.



Monday: Creamy Spinach Soup w. Garlic Pita Crisps (Karen is sick and craving soup and this is her favorite kind / see recipe below)
Tuesday: Roasted Spaghetti Squash, Cauliflower Crust Pizza and Veggies & home made Hummus (suggested by Laura)
Wednesday: Salad w. Steak & Garlic Cheddar Biscuits
Thursday: Salad w. Chicken
Friday: Forage!
Saturday: Harvest Party
Sunday: Giant Veggie Roast to use up all the veggies in the fridge before going grocery shopping again. Served with grilled chicken if necessary.



Creamy Spinach Soup Recipe:

Ingredients:


• 10oz Fresh Spinach Leaves
• ½ Cup Shredded Carrots
• 4 Cups Vegetable Broth (or 4 Tablespoons stock with 4 cups water)
• ½ Cup Diced Onions
• 8 Teaspoon Garlic
• 1/3 Cup Becel
• 1 Cup Fat free Milk
• ¼ Cup Flour

Procedure:
In stock pot boil water, add veggie stock/broth, spinach and carrots.

In a sauté pan, melt butter/becel and add onions and garlic. Once onions turn translucent, add flour gradually.

Add mixture into stock pot and simmer for several moments. Puree fully. Place back in pot and slowly add dairy.

Simmer for 2 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!

Weekend

This has been a great weekend. Friday night was pumpkin night and a date with Paul. Saturday we spent the day with our wonderful friends the Froese's. We love to play board games with these friends - and turns out the 4 of us can put together a great feast! AND Laura can take beautiful pictures of the games and the feast. All credit for the awesome photos of the day go to her - you can read more about her here!

Our entire feast

 Devilled Eggs

 Boursin & Crackers

 Veggies & homemade Hummus

 Mmmm Tuna Sandwiches

 My homemade Zoo Sticks (also, breaded eggplant sticks)

 We had many mac products in attendance

 Playing Agricola

 So cute!

After a lovely visit with Nick and Laura we headed over to Surrey for a family birthday dinner with Paul’s Dad and Step-mom and all the kids. There are 5 kids and actually 5 partners. We had 4 of the kids there and 3 of the partners - plus David and Carol. We ordered chinese food, drink wine, and had great conversation. So awesome. 

In the AM we met up with friends downtown at Library Square Public House - I had an amazing Steak Sandwich, and we enjoyed great conversation with John and Crystal. Afterwards I headed to the Apple Store with my sister to work on a personal project. I was helping her work on a flyer for her new soup business and our trainer was an amazing help. I learned so much about pages and I am so excited to have the opportunity to be taught about this great program. Then I went to church and after church my great friends Stefany and Jodi hosted a going away dinner for our other friends Candace and Earl. Stefany and Jodi went all out - it was an amazing 5 course italian meal complete with phenomenal decorations and food. Wow. 

Ceasar Salad Course

 Lynds, Candace and I

Also last week I had a family dinner for my nephew austin's bday: Here's a photo of Austin, my, my sister (Jenna) and my mom. Love!

And now it’s time for bed! Ready for some sleep!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Tonight was all about pumpkins...pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins...And it started with Soup.

Cream of Pumpkin Soup

Preparation Time:  45 minutes

Cooking Time:   20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 large pumpkin 4-5 lbs
• 1 cup of heavy cream (I use skim milk instead)
• 1 cup of butter
• 1-2 Tablespoons of salt
• Garlic & Onion Salt to flavor
• 4 onions, sliced
• 1 Tablespoon Minced Garlic

1. Wash the pumpkin well on the outside. Cut a lid on the top of the pumpkin big enough to use for a bowl to hold the soup later. Discard or save the seeds for baking, whatever you prefer.  Using a spoon cut/scrape out pulp from the inside of the pumpkin including the excess from the top. This would be about a ½ inch of pulp from the inside of the pumpkin. Work slowly and carefully to avoid piercing the outer skin of the pumpkin.  Set pulp aside.
2. Melt butter in a sauce pan and add onions. Cook slowly until the onions are tender but not brown. Add the pumpkin flesh. And about 4 cups of cold water.  Bring to a boil and allow pulp to simmer.  Cover with a lid and let simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Puree the mixture in a food processor or blender in several small batches or however you normally blend soup.  Add Heavy cream, salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste.  When ready to serve pour into pumpkin shell and add chives to garnish.

Optional Crockpot Instructions:

1. Wash the pumpkin well on the outside. Cut a lid on the top of the pumpkin big enough to use for a bowl to hold the soup later. Discard or save the seeds for baking, whatever you prefer.  Using a spoon cut/scrape out pulp from the inside of the pumpkin including the excess from the top. This would be about a ½ inch of pulp from the inside of the pumpkin. Work slowly and carefully to avoid piercing the outer skin of the pumpkin.  Set pulp aside.
2. Put pumpkin pulp in crockpot with 6 cups of water on high (for 4 hours). Melt butter in a sauce pan and add onions. Cook slowly until the onions are tender but not brown. Add the mixture to the crockpot.
3. After 4 hours, puree the mixture in a food processor or blender in several small batches or however you normally blend soup.  Add heavy cream (or milk), salt & pepper to taste.  

Back to the date night: it was lovely. One goal in our date night was to use one pumpkin to make pumpkin soup, roast pumpkin seeds & carve a pumpkin. Success! Recipe and photos below. Also I made Skinny Taste's Garlic & Cheddar Biscuits that were a huge success at Thanksgiving - and a great success tonight, also. We were hungry also when we first got home - so we had Boursin & Crackers to start. I love date night! and as promised, as soon as I post this I will put my computer to sleep so I can focus on my husband. 

Boursin and Crackers

 Paul helping me attack the Pumpkin

 Pumpkin carved out

 Seeds, begging to be roasted

 After the butter is melted, and the onions & garlic are sauteing you add the puree! 

It looks like this:

 About to roast

 Pureed!

 Sooo tasty

 Mmmmm

 Look! Look! Favorite Biscuits and great soup - so happy.

 Paul set the table

 And dinner is served:

 Paul carving a pumpkin