Friday Flipbook: Week 7

Boardwalk

This week in pictures...

Witch Puddles

As eluded to in the previous Friday Flipbook, I planned on posting this recipe. When I pulled out my orange note card on it, I let out a "Hmmmph?!" Making them feels so natural by now that I forgot we just wing it concerning the ingredients' quantities. Half the fun is realizing you need more chocolate & waiting patiently (with your mouth watering) as you stir it into sublime submission.

If you prefer to have a strict recipe I know you can find several variations of it on the internet. So this post has become less instructional and more inspirational. 

Supplies:

Baking sheets

Parchment paper

Aluminum foil

2 microwave-safe bowls

Ingredients:

Oreos (We use Double Stuffs. How can you turn down double the filling? It's illogical.)

Bugles Chips

"Bakers" White Chocolate Baking Squares

"Bakers" German Chocolate (&/or Semi Sweet) Baking Squares 

Small Pretzel Sticks (Nabbed the pictured pretzel twists & the Bugles at the Dollar Store!)

Flaked Coconut

Yellow Food Coloring

-Color the coconut to your liking with yellow food coloring. Lay on aluminum foil & toast at 350° until browned just a touch. Keep an eye on it though! I've lost many a batch of coconut while drooling over the sight of melting chocolate elsewhere in the kitchen.

-Fill each bowl with respective chocolate & microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring in between, until melted.

-On a parchment covered baking sheet, use a spoon to ladle on the puddle shape. Cover the Oreo in chocolate & place on the melted puddle. Repeat with the Bugle & place atop Oreo. 

-Place a pretzel stick into the white chocolate & sprinkle a cluster of toasted coconut on top.

-Cool puddles in the fridge. Honestly, because this lacks shortening they handle better when they're chilled. We never took issue with this as when we set a plate out, they never lasted long enough for the chocolate to de-chill.

Just go with it on this recipe. Dowse the Oreos in a double layer of chocolate (just because you can), color the white chocolate green for a most wicked witch puddle, award a prize to the ghoulish gobbler who finds the M&M you've hidden in one of the Bugles.

Have fun this Halloween! 

Indulge in the sweet & savor the spooky.

(Oh! And ease your dentist's mind & maybe floss once. Or twice. Couldn't hurt.)

Some Life

Beyond The Clouds

It's time for Five Minute Friday. Despite its name, this activity can take place any time of the week after The Gypsy Mama announces the given topic. The task? Squeeze in five minutes of time to speak your mind without judgment, hesitation or editing. 

The Prompt: BEYOND

GO!

Woody: I have no choice, Buzz. This is my only chance.
Buzz Lightyear: To do what? Watch kids from behind glass and never be loved again? Some life.

Fear is a four letter. The kind that is offensive, in this case to our wellbeing. It is a cease & desist order that can hold us back from what we desire to feel, see, be. Fear of the unknown, fear of pain, fear of faith (or lack thereof). Why choose fear?


(As I typed that I conjured the scene from the stage production of RENT when a man is asked why he chooses fear. His deadpan rebuttal being, "I'm a New Yorker. Fear's my life." Such an evocative musical!)


I deal with choosing something else over fear everyday. Long ago, a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt became my mantra: "Do one thing everyday that scares you." Take it from me, fearing love is about as productive as loving fear. Our heart is a muscle that should be stretched, as Buzz Lightyear would say, to infinity & beyond.

Friday Flipbook: Week 6

I-95, Maine

This week in pictures...
(I realize it's Monday & I've fallen behind the Flipbook schedule. Once I got back from Maine in the wee hours of Saturday morning I was wiped out!)

Random

Foghorn Leghorn Hat, Affectionately

In life, things are thrown at you at random. You learn to juggle or you learn to bob & weave. 

In haphazard fashion, I'm going to toss some random tidbits about me your direction. 

You ready? Focus! Or you'll get blindsided by a dodge ball-sized factoid!

* In an old cigar box, I keep my growing collection of fortunes (from cookies). The fortune I opened just hours after starting my blog? "Use your charm & personality to obtain your wishes." Well I've been wishing to author a feel-good blog. How am I doing?

* I can't get into an unmade bed. Something about O.C.D. & crisply pulled sheets, I don't know.

* My mom lives in a town so small that only the last four digits of every one's phone numbers differ. It's like everyone has a pin number. I love it.

* Whenever I learn an interesting fact, I say to myself (sometimes out loud) "I have to remember that for when I'm on Cash Cab." Have you ever seen that show?! It's addicting.

* I didn't get my first kiss until I was 18. And it was awful (I'm laughing as I type this). So it goes!

* There is no need to consult the peanut gallery, honey mustard is the best condiment ever conceived.

* Speaking of peanuts! Peanut is the nickname given to me at birth by my mom. I respond faster to Peanut (or P) than I do my own name.

* I've had a broken nose (despite two surgeries) since I was 9. It's the result of fast pitched softball practice & modern medicine.

* Despite being right handed, I play pool as though I'm a leftie.

* I like to keep the feeling of the night on my jeans so I wear them again the next day before washing them.

* It's a compulsion of mine to take an item from the back of the shelf in a store rather than the one up front.

* I think coffee ice cream tastes like hot dogs. Mind you, I love coffee & I love hot dogs. But anticipating one & getting the other is most unpleasant.

* I love the smell of acetone (nail polish remover). It transports me to my childhood when my mom was a nail technician.

* I have a reputation for eating the crispy skin off poultry fresh out of the oven. My mom jokes (well, she's not actually joking because it's true) that if you don't beat me to the kitchen, your chicken or turkey is going to be bald by the time it hits your plate.

* I have to hit 'clear' on the microwave. Staring at :11 will make me twitch.

As see now that this is a gleaming display of my O.C.D. I have a surplus of neuroses so they were bound to take up a large portion of this list. What can I say, I'm quirky! And I embrace it.

Beauty In The Breaking

“I’d tell them, you can make a mess but you have to clean it up.” 

-Brad Pitt’s response when asked about his perspective on his kids’ playtime.

Reading beyond toys & trinkets, this is a very astute mindset for life. 

Life is messy. Things break, they shatter, sometimes they crumble.

When you sweep up its debris the dustpan always leaves behind a faint line. Along the way, some mess is bound to linger. That residual dust is the experience that settles into our psyche. 

Take it with you.

It's Raining Rainbows

Image By K Bost

Tell me one instance where confetti made your day worse. It's inconceivable, isn't it?

A confetti cannon fires then it rains warm & fuzzy feelings. To find confetti in assorted places on your person means that a good time was had! I propose someone invent an alarm clock that sprays a confetti cloud over your head when you hit snooze. Falling confetti could possibly be the best Monday morning wake up call ever, with the exception of a shower of sprinkles. (Sprinkles being an edible cousin of confetti makes it a similar kind of day changer.)

Wouldn't it be fantastical if this happened in real life? (Although, the amount of 'Clean-Up On Aisle 5' announcements would skyrocket!)

It may put my proposed alarm clock to shame. What do you think?

Friday Flipbook: Week 5

Since I am off the grid on hiatus in Maine, I'm not here to provide my week's picture playbook. 

Have no fear, stills of autumn in Maine will be provided for your viewing pleasure next Friday! 

As for the Friday at hand, it's a Friday Flashback! You remember the captivating baby photo of my mom? Well, here are a few more moments from my family's history...

Circa 1938

Oh, how a picture is worth a thousand words! The dark humor my family harbors is displayed here. 

The little girl is my grandma Mary Jo (my mom's mom), the man wielding the ax is my great grandfather Joseph, the woman whose throat looks to be in jeopardy is my great great grandmother.

I Put A Spell On You...

Do you have champagne taste on a witches brew budget? We do too! Since Mr. A & I are waiting until after Halloween to cash in on bargain priced decorations, we got frugally creative for our first Halloween together. We set a budget of $25 & let our imaginations take flight on a broomstick!

It all started when I saw an apothecary jar online priced at more than I would pay for a day at Disney World. "It's just glass!" I exclaimed. The gauntlet had been thrown & I set out to find a better deal. Unfortunately, when I unveiled the one I found, for $9 at TJ Maxx, to Mr. A he inquired with some hesitation, "Don't you think it looks a bit like a [censored]? I glanced back at the suddenly phallic looking jar & said, "Oh! Well that just won't do!"


When challenged with the task of finding other glasses & jars, it's amazing what was right under my nose. Raiding our cabinets & fridge, I found ten of them! (Some were still full so let's just say we're a bit sick of pasta sauce right about now.) What shapes I lacked I supplemented by spending $7.50 at our local thrift store. (It's a non profit that benefits the humane society. So naturally I'm there every week.) A basket loaded with candies & cobwebs from the dollar store completed our ghoulish puzzle. 

     We present to you... The Witch's Den

Time For Recess!

6th Birthday Party

It's time for to play! No, not the kind of play where your mom raids her closet then transforms you & your friends into mini grown ups. Although, I am not bashing that rite of passage! It made that party the best of my childhood.

I'm talking about the playtime that involves  l e a v i n g   o n   a   j e t p l a n e ! (I couldn't top myself from singing that as I typed.) Alex & I are off to Maine to spend my mom's birthday with her.

We're going to unplug from the technological grid, slow down to enjoy the changing scenery, laugh until our sides split, savor every flavor that comes our way & embrace the people that make each day count. That, my fellow fuzzy feeling hunters, is...'the way life should be'! (And that is actually Maine's state motto.)

A l l  m y   b a g s   a r e   p a c k e d ,   I ' m  r e a d y  t o   g o . (Drat! That song is in my head now!)

Follow The Leader

Mom & Me, Key West

It's Five Minute Friday time! It's also not Friday. I don't adhere to convention. It's time to take five minutes to write without hesitation.

The Topic: "Ordinary"

GO!

We all are someone's child. It is a common rank that we all share. As Desiderata states we are "A child of the universe" first then we are our parent's child. Though it's commonplace to have parents, parenting itself seems no ordinary task (I speak from the perspective of a daughter with an extraordinary surplus of love from her mom). Since there isn't a standard-issue style of parenting, it is up to them to form our upbringing.

Parents are the breath to our life. They are our security blanket when the world intimidates us, our training wheels as we prepare to take life by the horns & our biggest cheerleaders as we learn from our mistakes. They are the boo-boo healers, the sandwich (without crusts) makers, the heart healers, the advice givers (unsolicited or not).

They are challenged with an extraordinary feat: create, sustain & nurture. Their routine actions shape our psyche. I imagine they can't help but feel the pressure of that.

Give them praise. And a break once in a while! (They've been on the job for a long time running now.)

Friday Flipbook: Week 4

Boo!

This week in pictures...

Can I Get An Amen?

In addition to our nourishing diet of Modern Family, Big Bang Theory & Happy Endings, Mr. A & I have added a musical feast to the mix. Let me just say, this choir girl's & band boy's ears have never been happier! Ladies & gents, have you witnessed the wonderment that is The Sing Off? Turns out that I've been living under a rock as this is already its third season.

This competition show features & celebrates a cappella groups from all walks of life. Their bodies & breath are the only instruments that create their glorious sound. It is something to see  hear! In this life & the next, I will forever be grateful for the beautiful grace that is music. Today I want to showcase the show's latest castoff, Kinfolk 9. I have no doubt that their lead vocalist, Moi Navarro, is destined for greatness. Listen & love...

A-MEN!
If you wish to indulge further, treat yourself to clips from the actual show here. 

Or here. And to get that warm fuzzy feeling, click here. 

I can't stop myself. I need to walk away.
One more? Alright, here's a classic tune!

My New Mantra

'No Whining' Print by Hammerpress

October is such a glorious month that it's hard to find a single thing to complain about! 

That being said, just in case a complaint comes to my lips, this wall hanging displays my new mantra (& desktop photo & #1 desire on my wish list thanks to Urban Outfitters).

A wise fellow named Theodore Roosevelt once said, 

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." 

No matter where we're at, we always have a hug, a smile & a warm fuzzy feeling to work with!

And that, my friends, is my unsolicited wisdom du jour.

This Gourd Smells Weird

I love fall; this is no secret. I love food, also not a secret. Lastly, I grocery-browse. A lot. I take joy in being a perpetual peruser. Therefore, when I’m not outside soaking up the grandeur that is October, I’m in the grocery store being a food floozy. My senses become giddy at the sight of endless apples, the overflowing bins of pumpkins, the decadent display of Halloween candy & the intoxicating scent of cinnamon brooms.

As of late, I’m on the prowl for those seasonally elusive cinnamon baking chips. I hear they exist. I know they are shipped all about the globe, yet they have escaped my grasp. But not this year! While I wait, conciliatory batches of brownies with a zing of cinnamon will just have to do. While they are delectable, I can’t help but think ‘You know what these brownies need? Cinnamon chips.’ It’s only a matter of time…

Back at the grocery store, I delightfully skipped over to the pumpkin display. I’d been waiting for days to approach it as I wanted Mr. A & I to pick out one together. (A bit of back story here: Last October lacked its usual antics, as I was injured & neck deep in boxes preparing to move from Arizona to Maine. In turn, Halloween was the first day of Mr. A's long distance relationship & mine. Now we’re together & prepared to take this October for all that it’s worth!) Mr. A dove into sorting the pumpkins & displaying their shapes for our observation. Here is a sampling of our commentary: