Mad for the Mad Hatter , or at least the hat, anyway + Egg Drop Soup Recipe

I love making costumes; in my next life maybe I will be on a team of people who make them for productions, performances or movies. For now I happily anticipate the next time I get to make a costume for a reason. This year Ellie and Kohlton will be Alice and the Mad Hatter, and they asked for my help making the costumes. I am thrilled.

With grand visions in our heads, we set out to gather materials. We found cool stuff, a great tutorial and lots of inspiration on the internet. Tonight I actually made the Mad Hatter's hat. I was nervous about how it would go. It is not unusual for the ameature online tutorials to forget some critical part of the instructions, but not this time. The instructions were awesome and I am beyond thrilled with how the hat turned out. It is made from cardboard, poster board, fabric, hot glue, wire and thread.

While I was making the hat, the kids were taping up the pants that were then spray painted. They are cool, too, but you have to wait until later to see them as they are spray paint stinky and so they are drying outside.

Here's the tutorial that I am raving about:


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Ellie made Egg Drop Soup as part of our dinner:

Egg Drop Soup
recipe adapted from Tyler Florence and For the Love of Cooking
via: Barefeet in the Kitchen blog
Yield: 6 small servings

5 cups chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon freshly minced fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, adjust to taste
1/4 teaspoon white pepper, freshly ground black pepper will work as well, adjust to taste
2 tablespoons arrowroot or cornstarch, plus 2 tablespoons water
2 eggs, beaten
2 green onions, sliced thin

Combine the chicken stock, ginger and soy sauce in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk together the cornstarch and water and pour into the simmering soup. Stir to combine and slightly thicken the soup.

Slowly pour in the beaten eggs, while stirring the soup in one direction. The egg will spread out and feather through the soup. Remove from the heat and add the green onions. Taste once more and adjust seasonings as needed. Enjoy!

Getting in the Mooood - Our Halloween Decor

Each year I eagerly anticipate the store displays of the Halloween goods. I both hope for wonderful stuff, and I dead it, just a little as that means that I have stuff that I want. This year it was a mix of both responses. Thankfully, I did not want much. But, I do love the various lanterns that are new this year. I had to have a few. A friend gave me the Owl lantern from Target and I bought a set of twin Blackbird lanterns myself.

Each year I basically put out the decorations in the same way. This year Ellie was inspired to take over some of the great spots and work her magic. I love to see what she will come up with. Her artistic vision is very different than my own. I love what she has done this year!

I've also been working on the invitations for our annual Pumpkin Carving Party and Potluck. This year we spiffed up card kits from the Recollections collection from Michael's.

I also worked a little hand lettering magic on the envelopes. I love imagining what people might feel when they find their envelopes in a stack of bills. I used to be part of mail art exchanges so that I could receive that kind of fun mail, too. I just don't have the time to be a consistent contributing member to such an exchange at this time. There will be time later on.

Our Weekend at Snow Mountain Ranch - AVS School Retreat ~ One Great Weekend! + Honey Teriyaki Chicken

We had a wonderful weekend at the Alpine Valley School retreat. We have this retreat every year and this year was a whole lot of fun!

On the way up it was cool and began to snow. As the evening progressed the snow picked up and began to really come down. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful scene outside.

Inside the cabin we were cozy, warm and happy. Game playing was happening on nearly every table. Conversations were lovely.

The Cures planned economical and yummy meals. Everyone took turns helping to prepare, cook and clean up.

Saturday was lovely. The kids swam, roller skated, and had fun outside. Ellie and Kohlton went for a long bike ride on the race course at SMR. Larr came up for the day since we could not leave Remmie home alone for so long and he could not stay in the cabin. When Larr arrived people greeted him and asked where Ethan was.

The evening was perfect for a campfire singalong. What a great time we had. Ethan had to work, so Andreas took up the job of tending to the fire.

On Sunday most of the families went roller skating at the Keva Center and then some of us closed up the weekend with dinner at Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs.

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Here's what we are having for dinner tonight:

Honey Teriyaki Chicken
via: Chocolate Broccoli Blog

Chicken
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Sauce
3 tablespoons sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Combine first 6 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag; seal and shake well. Add chicken; seal and toss to coat. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight, turning occasionally.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove chicken from the marinade. Add in flour to a medium sized bowl and toss to coat, shaking off excess. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and add the chicken, spacing evenly across the pan. Bake 20 minutes, stirring once halfway through.
While the chicken is baking, combine chili sauce, ketchup, honey, fish sauce, and soy sauce in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a low boil and heat until thickened; about 6-8 minutes. Combine water and cornstarch in a small measuring cup, whisking until dissolved. Add to sauce mixture, bring to a boil.
Remove chicken from the oven and pour the thickened sauce, stirring to coat each piece. Place the chicken back in the oven and cook for an additional 5 minutes more. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over hot cooked noodles or rice pilaf.

Fun at the Fritzler Corn Maze in LaSalle (near Greeley)

Corn Maze

Pig Races

Corn box

Pedal Cars

Other Stuff

Pumpkin Patch