A Bit of Knitting for Long Anticipated Baby Boy + Tasty Chili for Our Annual Pumpkin Carving Party and Potluck

(I am happy to announce that the boys have arrived safely and happily in New Orleans. Tonight they rest, eat and visit with Brandon's grandparents. Tomorrow, perhaps they will take a river boat ride. I am sure they will choose something great to kick off their first day of their stay.)

(The colors in this photo are terrible. The hats look much nicer in real life. The dark color is a speckled and heathered dark grey while the blue is a bright blue shade that is between cobalt and tourquise.)

We have several sets of friends who have not been successful in conceiving a child by natural means. Many of them have gone to extra ordinary measure to have a family. Bob and Jen are one such couple. They've tried to start a family for years. They were finally successful with the aid of modern medicine and welcomed Owen into the world on Valentine's Day this past spring.

We've known Bob for many years. He owns and runs the company that takes care of the grounds at school. He has employed Ethan for many years and he has become a friend. He is a tall, reliable and honest man of few years. Word got back to me that it might be nice to have matching hats for the two of them. As you might imagine, I was thrilled and set to work. Since the set would be worn by a baby boy and an adult (I wanted something rather gender neutral) I spent some time thinking about the design. The color choice was an epiphany after noticing a pair of biking socks Ellie was wearing one day on the way to a race. I was struck. Color can do that to me. Really, I was kind of smitten. The challenge then was to find colors of yarn that fit what I had in my head. It took me several stores and a trip to the big store in Boulder to finally come up with something I was happy with. The next challenge was figuring out the design. This one was inspired by a series of quilts that people had pinned in Pinterest. I graphed it out and set away with clicking needles. Originally I was going to include a small bit of red, but did not have any with me when I came to that spot while away at a race. I decided to do without the red. It would have been a nice touch, but I am happy with the end result. Bob was, too.

The yarn is a superwash DK from Cascade. I wanted something warm, washable and not itchy. It fit the bill perfectly.


-----
We will host our annual pumpkin carving party and potluck tomorrow evening. I usually make a curried pumpkin soup and a cheesy garlic bread, but I don't think tomorrow's crowd is all that adventurous. I opted for a nice spicy, smokey chili instead. We will also have a baked potato bar with sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon bits and ham.

Here are a few images from the past years:

Here's a few fun Halloween Playlists as well:

-------- Boilermaker Tailgate Chili via: Allrecipes.com Serves 12

2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
3 (15 ounce) cans chili beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chili beans in spicy sauce
2 (28 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 large yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 green chile peppers, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon bacon bits
4 cubes beef bouillon
1/2 cup beer (I used water since I did not have a can of beer on hand)
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons hot pepper sauce (e.g.Sriacha or Tabasco™)
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon Smoke Flavoring (I added this. You can use liquid or powder form)
2 (10.5 ounce) bag corn chips such as Fritos®
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar Cheese

DIRECTIONS:
1. Heat a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Crumble the ground chuck and sausage into the hot pan, and cook until evenly browned. Drain off excess grease.
2. Pour in the chili beans, spicy chili beans, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Add the onion, celery, green and red bell peppers, chile peppers, bacon bits, bouillon, and beer. Season with chili powder, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, oregano, cumin, hot pepper sauce, basil, salt, pepper, cayenne, paprika, and sugar. Stir to blend, then cover and simmer over low heat for at least 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. After 2 hours, taste, and adjust salt, pepper, and chili powder if necessary. The longer the chili simmers, the better it will taste. Remove from heat and serve, or refrigerate, and serve the next day.
4. To serve, ladle into bowls, and top with corn chips and shredded Cheddar cheese.

Pumpkin Carving Party and Potluck

We had a blast at our annual Pumpkin Carving Party and Potluck. It was a smaller crowd this year since Ethan was out of town. Don came to our party to soak up some fun and have a bite to eat. We pressed him into service. He was happy to help Caroline.


The teen crowd stuffed themselves into the art room and had a wild time, as usual. Later they hung out in Ellie's room and enjoyed some tunes.


I always love this photo. We take one like it every year.


We had a younger crowd, too. Tim is probably the coolest little dude we know. He's cute, too.

Here's more cuties.

Toby thought he needed to check out what was going on. He wondered, was this something to eat?

Heather (my student teacher) and her boyfriend Roger craved up some lovely, artistic pumpkins.


These photos are fun, too. Aren't they a lovely family?

I made a Curried Pumpkin soup, as usual, but this year I switched up the recipe a bit. (I will be posting it soon). James offered a Pork and Cider stew that was amazing. I decided to have that for dinner, forsaking all of the other stuff. I offered to trade him my left overs for his. He graciously gave me the little that was left. He, like myself, kind of cooks by feel. He told me what was in the stew. I intend to figure it out and write out a recipe for it.

I also had a fun time putting together a playlist for the party. It is a sampling of lots of different styles of music.


I'd love to hear suggestions for more songs to add to this. Do you have some to share?

Recipes, Paper Crafts and Inspiration

I'm close to jumping into summer and I've got too much to recap from just the last week or so. I'll delay it a bit and share some recipes, as well as some inspiring links instead.

Here's what I made for Larr's lunch that is hiker friendly:

Pepperoni Pasta Salad
Yield: 10 servings
Time: 20 minutes + 1 hour refrigeration
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

1 -16 oz package multicolored pasta
1 small can olives
3 large carrots
1 green pepper
1/2 bunch green onions
2 tomatoes (or 1/2 C sun-dried tomatoes)
3/4 C pepperoni
1/2 C shredded parmesan cheese
2 T olive oil
1 T Johnny's Garlic Seasoning
1 t sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 bottle Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (I use Light)

1. Boil up your pasta, rinse in cool water and set it aside in a large bowl.
2. Chop up your veggies and the pepperoni.
3. Add all ingredients, but the Zesty Italian Dressing to the pasta and mix well.
4. Refrigerate for at least an hour.
5. Just before serving pour the Zesty Italian Dressing on to taste.

----

Here's one that I copied from The Cooking Photographer. She changed it up for ButterYum.


Lemon Vinaigrette
2 teaspoons finely grated lemons zest
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more if needed to wet pasta

Blend the lemon zest and juice, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette to taste with more salt and pepper.

Pasta
1 pound cappelletti (Hat shaped pasta)
1/2 pound diced ripe tomatoes
16 ounce tub fresh mozzarella pearls, drained
Lemon vinaigrette
Lots of fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook the cappelletti according to the directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Move the pasta to a large serving bowl and toss together with the rest of the ingredients.

Notes: I rewrote the recipe so the above picture could be copied, but this recipe idea belongs to Patricia from ButterYum. Visit her picture by picture instructions at http://butteryum.blogspot.com/2009/04/caprese-pasta-salad-basil-tomato.html

Lemon vinaigrette recipe belongs to Giada De Laurentiis. Picture and write-up by Laura Flowers.

Or how about some cinnamon rolls? My friend, Laura, called me this morning and we had virtual breakfast together. She was eating cinnamon rolls, I was prepping for a meeting at my house so I made some for my meeting. I wanted to try a new recipe. This is one I snagged from allrecipes.com. It is a nice, less dense and not too sweet version that we all enjoyed:

Cinnamon Rolls II from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

* 1/2 cup milk
* 1/2 cup water
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 3/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
* 1/4 cup white sugar
* 1 egg
*
* 3 tablespoons softened butter
* 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/3 cup white sugar
* 1/3 cup raisins (optional)
* 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
*
* 1 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 1/2 tablespoons milk

Directions

1. In saucepan, heat 1/2 cup milk, water, and 2 tablespoons butter until very warm. Place milk mixture, salt, flour, yeast, sugar, and eggs in the pan of the bread machine in the order suggested by the manufacturer. Select the Dough cycle. Press Start.
2. Once Dough cycle is complete, remove the dough from the bread machine and punch down. On a floured surface, roll into a large rectangle. Smear with the softened butter. Combine the cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar. Sprinkle over the rectangle. Generously sprinkle the raisins and/or chopped nuts over the top.
3. Roll the dough up into a log starting at the long side. Cut into 12 slices. Place the rolls cut side down into a 9x13-inch greased baking pan. Cover, and let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Combine the confectioners' sugar, 1.5 tablespoons melted butter, vanilla extract, and 1.5 tablespoons milk into a thick frosting; set aside.
5. Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool 10 minutes. Spread frosting over baked rolls and enjoy.
----

If you happen to have a few minutes to spare you can find some wonderful inspiration over at:

Paper Crave's review of the National Stationary Show. part I and part II

Paislee Press has fun scrapbooking and party stuff.

Rebecca Thuss has some really fun, inspiring paper goods, especially for parties.

If you want a great international theme summer playlist, check out the one that Molly Irwin shared on her blog.

Then to round it out, be sure to check out this amazing paper sculpture by a young Japanese college student. It took him four years to make and includes a fully functional train, as well as lights. It is by Itoh Wataru: