Bloody good hot chocolate

 HAPPY SPOOKY HALLOWEEN FRIENDS!!! 

I've got a bloody good DIY for you today.  Some blood red homemade chocolate.  This stuff ROCKS!  I'd never made homemade hot choco before, and oh man, it is SO much better than that powdered stuff, mmm-hmmm.

It's pretty easy actually:

To make 4 small cups of bloody hot choco:

Heat 4 cups whole milk and 3 tsp sugar in a saucepan on medium heat, stirring constantly.  While that goes, melt 8oz milk choco chips in the microwave.  Still stirring your milk every 10 seconds or so, mix 1oz red food coloring in your chocolate.  When your milk is almost boiling, pour over melted red chocolate, and stir until choco melts.  Pour into two cups, but be SUPER careful with this stuff guys, boy does it stain.

That's it!

Got any rad Halloween plans???  Jared and I are going to look at a house, carve some butternut squashes into ghost faces, and then watch Stephen King's "It."  Remember that creepy movie???  Haven't seen it since I was a kid.

Here's to a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Trish

Stupendous Monday: 10/29/12

WHERE HAS OCTOBER DISAPPEARED TO????

Holy moly my friends!  I am shock.  Serious shock.  This month is almost over???  Wha??

I have been the busiest of bees with this house buying thing.  I love it, but sheesh... exhausting!!!!  Any advice for a new house buyer?  It seems like I have to make the most expensive decision of my entire life in like, negative 5 seconds, or it vanishes!  What's a girl to do eh????

Ah man.... at least I've managed to enjoy the best of months, October.  I love you October.

In case you were wondering (and why wouldn't you be??) that is green tea cheesecake with sourpatch kids.  Oh. My. God.

And yes, that is my boyfriend Garth.  Isn't he a stud?

Till next time my friends!  Till next time.....

Style lust: Yumi AW12

Yu scream Mi scream we all scream for YUMI!

AWESOME!!!  Totally nerdy, but I just had to do it. :)

Guys, watch this video and tell me you don't want every single piece in this collection.....

I am sooooooo into that fox dress.  Yes ma'am.

Here are some of my faves:

 

 

 

All of these items I found available on ModCloth, or you can check out the website directly here.

Have a great weekend friends!

Trish

Happy thoughts: 10/25/12

happy happy joy joy...... lalala

Well,

My best dear friend Maghag moved away to Albuquerque a few months ago (NOT happy, i know, bear with me here), and I got my first package of goodies of New Mexico stuff!!!!  Although I have missed my fave cool cat, I can't tell you how much it melted my heart to get this in the mail (you can all barf on me now).  It's been tough without her friends!

Want to see what's inside????

This is Maghag's school pic this year (she's a teacher!)  Foxy huh?

 

The best thing by FAR in this box, was some foil wrapped red chile brittle, which I devoured immediately and did not get a pic of. Oopsies.  It is SO SO awesome that she is sharing a bit of her life and experience with me still here in Seattle.  I called her immediately for a big thank you and some much needed girl talk.  

This box definitely makes me happy. :)

 

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Need I say more???

 

I LOVE you pumpkin food!!!!  Does it get any better than pumpkin cheesecake????  HECK NO FRIENDS!

I've made one of these the last 3 years in a row for an October tradition, Canadian Thanksgiving.  This year, mine was a little burny in the crust, but still soooooo delish.

Recipe found here:

What You Need:

 

38  NABISCO Ginger Snaps, finely crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)

1/4  cup  finely chopped PLANTERS Pecans

1/4  cup  butter or margarine, melted

4  pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1  cup  sugar

1  can  (15 oz.) pumpkin

1  Tbsp.  pumpkin pie spice

1  tsp.  vanilla

4   eggs

 

Make It:

 

HEAT oven to 325°F.
MIX crumbs, nuts and butter; press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9-inch springform pan.
BEAT cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add pumpkin, spice and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour into crust.
BAKE 1 hour 20 min. to 1 hour 30 min. or until center is almost set. Loosen cake from rim of pan; cool before removing rim. 
REFRIDGERATE cheesecake 4 hours.

 

That's it!  It's actually much easier than one would think.  A word of advice: make sure your cream cheese is softened before making this!!!  I made that mistake last year, and it was not the best.  Also, don't be frightened by the "almost" set center when taking it out of the oven.  This was the mistake I made this year! 

I arranged whole pecans on top about half way through baking to make it super pretty. :)

Enjoy!

This girl's goals: Fall update!

Holy moly you guys!  It's already been a month since fall started!  Sheesh!

Well.... what FEELS like last week, but was actually 4 weeks ago, I made a list of 4 goals that I wanted to accomplish this fall.  Isn't it strange how time seems to fly by in the blink of an eye, but then when you look back at specifics they seem like forever ago????  That's how I feel about these goals.  I remember when writing this list, buying a house was sort of just a pipe dream.  Now, Jared and I have already been shopping around for houses with a loan approval!  Also, our produce bin seems to diminish down to nothing these past 4 weeks.  Hooray!  I am getting things accomplished!  Hooray!

So..... I've definitely been walking miss Toots quite a bit more, but I wouldn't say every day.  However, if I don't, Jared does.  I gotta say though, the beautiful scenery of October has been more than enough motivation to get me out and about on walks.   The kicker here is that the rain has started in the last week, and I am finding myself wanting to curl up with a blanket and some cider more than anything.  hmmm..... this is where my whiny voice comes out and I start to come up with other inside things that I "have" to do.  I've got my sights set on braving the rain this coming season, but so far this week, it's kicking my ass.

On another note, have any of you heard of the Couch to 5K????  It's decided. I started it last week, but only managed to do it twice rather than three times.  I've been looking for motivational tools to use on the eliptical, and this one is AWEsome.  I know that my goal is 4 times a week for an hour, but hey, gotta change with the times right?  My problem always seems to be starting off with a BANG, and then quitting a few months in.  This 10 week program doesn't sound like too much work, which means that I might actually finish it.  Fingers crossed.

Well..... when I began writing this post I was convinced that nothing had happened, that it was too soon and I had been too busy.  After typing things out, I am pretty happy with the progress I've made. HOORAY!  HOORAY! 

How are you doing with your fall goals? 

A song for Monday: I Put a Spell on You

Are you ready for some RAD RAD Screamin Jay Hawkins????!!!  Oh my gosh, could there be a cooler dude?  Nope.  I luuuuuuv him. :)

Pic found on lastfm.com

This is one of those songs that makes me feel like it's FINALLY HALLOWEEN!!!  So stinkin cool.  And I so dig the smoking skull cane that he carries around with him. 

Hope you are having a spooky Monday friends!

Trish

Guest blogger: Jennifer from Grits and Moxie!

Good morning friends!

I've got quite the treat for you today: Jennifer from Grits and Moxie is guest posting!  I've been following her rad blog for quite a while, and was super psyched when she said she would guest post!  This is my first guest blogger, and I couldn't have asked for a cooler chick.

Check her out:

Well, hi!  I'm Jennifer and the lady behind the curtain over at the quirky lifestyle blog Grits And Moxie.  This is one of my first guest posts so I'm beyond thrilled to be here at JellyBones...and I'm so happy that Trish invited me over!

This month I've really focused on the things that I love about the fall season...and October especially.  This is a month of country fairs, pumpkin picking, sweater thrifting, leaves crunching underfoot, Halloween and baking.  Ah, baking.  One of my favorite things to do!  And I'd love to share a recent expierence with y'all today...

I noticed yesterday that the lovely ripe apples that our friends gifted us from a local farm needed to be eaten, cooked or something ASAP. Having never made an apple pie during the fall season...or ever, I decided to give it a try.

*fingers crossed*

See this? I made this! My first ever apple pie all from scratch! Well, I didn't make the crust, but it is still a pretty monumental experience in the Keene/Carrington household.

If I say so m'self, it was delicious...and now I'm crowing about it from the rooftops!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 9-inch double crust pie, either from scratch or store bought (I used store bought because I’m working on perfecting my crust!)

• 1/2 cup salted/ unsalted real butter (not margarine)

• 3 T all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup room temp water

• 1 tsp fresh ground cinnamon

• 1/2 cup white sugar

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 2 T maple syrup

• 6-8 medium sized apples peeled, cored and sliced or 4 fresh apples peeled, cored and sliced, and 1 cup of dried apples

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, cinnamon, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

1. Place the uncooked bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Drizzle apples with maple syrup then gently pour the simmered liquid over them. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. Top with other crust and vent with small knife cuts or crust punch (which is what I used). Place the pie in oven directly on mid rack. Place empty sheet pan on lower rack to catch possible drips.

1. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

1. Let cool at least 1 hour before eating. The pie needs time to settle down and get all flavorful.

You can top your slice o' pie with ice cream or a splash of heavy cream or just leave it plain.  Regardless of how you do it, I hope you enjoy it!  Plus your kitchen will smell delightfully sweet.

If you have a moment and would like to stop by my blog then I would be oh-so-grateful.  There are lots more recipes, pictures, adventures and fun stuff to be had.  Oh, and Trish is guest posting over there right now.  So, I hope to see you soon!
Thanks again Trish...for everything.  You're awesomesauce!

Oooooooooh, I am a super sucker for pie. :)  Thanks so much, Jennifer!  Don't forget to check out my guest post over at Grits and Moxie, where you will find a cute and spooky Halloween craft.

Well...... it's Jerdy's 30th bday today, so I'm off to make our apartment into a swanky cocktail hour party.  Have a great weekend friends!
 

Weeknight supper delight: October 2012

Gimme pizza...... P-I-Z-Z-A!

Remember that crazy Olsen twins' song????  ha!

I've got a quick and easy pizza for you that just screams fall....... apples, pecans, spinach, goat cheese.... need I go on?  Are you sold yet?

I found this recipe in one of my cooking magazines and just knew I had to make it.

Here is the recipe that I got from the link:

• 1 (1-pound) six-grain pizza crust
• Cooking spray
• 3 cups thinly sliced Fuji apple (about 8 ounces) $
• 1 cup (4 ounces) crumbled goat cheese
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil $
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice $
• 1 1/2 teaspoons honey
• 2 cups baby arugula $
• 3 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted

Preparation

1. 1. Preheat oven to 450°.
2. 2. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Arrange apple slices evenly over pizza crust; top with cheese. Sprinkle thyme evenly over cheese. Bake at 450° for 8 minutes or until cheese melts and begins to brown.
3. 3. Combine oil and next 3 ingredients (through honey) in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add arugula; toss gently to coat. Sprinkle pecans evenly over pizza; top with arugula mixture. Cut pizza into 6 wedges.

 I ended up using spinach instead of arugula, and it was AW-some.  I think it may have turned me into a "make your own pizza" addict.

Now for that Olsen twins' song!!!!:

Could you stand it longer than 30 seconds???? hahahaha!  You'll have this stuck in your head for days. :)

Stay tuned tomorrow for my first guest blogger!

Trish

October tradition: Canadian Thanksgiving

When somebody asks me what my favorite food is..... I usually want to answer with "Thanksgiving."  Ha!  OMG friends I love Thanksgiving.  I am fortunate enough to have a fab Canadian as a good friend, who celebrates a SECOND THANKSGIVING!!!!!  Whoa.  Whoa.  Actually, it comes before ours in the year, but still, I get TWO Thanksgivings!!! HOORAY!

Each year she slaves in her kitchen cooking close friends a feast at the beginning of October.  This year, it was ALL about the dessert.  I think we had like, 6 different pies.  Sounds pretty good eh?

 

This dinner is something that I look forward to each year.  It truly marks the beginning of fall in our family, and I am so so thankful to be a part of it.  It's pretty rad to have a Thanksgiving with friends, where you can just laugh and drink wine, and eat amazing food.  Then, the next month I get another one of these dinners!  Quite a different experience with my cray-cray fam though. :)

Have a great Thursday guys!

Trish