Happy Autumn!

 

We are in the midst of fall- my favorite season! Coming from Florida, summer used to be my favorite season. Mainly because that was when school was out and my birthday is in the summer, but really the other seasons in south Florida are not all too different from summer. So when we moved to Denver four years ago (in the summer, haha) I enjoyed the sunshine and warm weather I was accustomed to, however in September I became amazed as the leaves began changing colors and I finally felt that crisp in the air that you hear about. Now whenever the classic question, "What's your favorite season?" is asked, my answer is fall. Or autumn. 

I wonder why fall is the only season that has an alternative name? Hmmm....

Anyway, I'm going to share a couple fun fall things I have done this year to celebrate. The first one is a classroom activity I did with my Pre-K kiddos. Of course, during October one of our themes is pumpkins. This activity would be great for a Thanksgiving or food theme too. All you need is a paper plate, crayons or markers, and a cotton ball. After we had talked about different foods you can make from pumpkins, I told the children we were going to make pumpkin pies to eat with our families. I asked them to name everyone they wanted to eat their pumpkin pie with and we counted how many people that would be. Then I drew that many slices on their plate and wrote the numbers. Just a fun way to sneak in some math concepts. Then they colored their pie and glued a cotton ball in the middle to be the "whip cream."

My pumpkin pie has 8 pieces- one for me, Dennis, my mom, my dad, Jill, Janine, Richard, and Evalina!!

I have a cookbook called Great Food Fast from the kitchens of Martha Stewart Living and Everyday Food. It's one of my favorites to use and the recipes are divided by season. At the beginning of fall, I made "Broccoli, Chickpea, and Tomato Salad," from the fall section. It was really good and simple, just writing about it now, I want to make it again!

Here is the recipe:  Serves 6

• 1 pound broccoli
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Half of a small red onion, minced
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 can (15 ounces) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1. Cut the florets from the broccoli (reserve the stalks for another use). In a large pot fitted with a steamer basket, bring 1 inch of water to boil. Add the broccoli in a single layer. Cover; steam until crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the mustard, vinegar, olive oil, and onion; season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and broccoli; toss to coat. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

As the recipe stated to reserve the stalks, I actually did! I made Baked Broccoli Chips with them, using these instructions:  Save your stalks! It was a yummy snack and a great way to use all of the broccoli.

First post

The three of us, before Jill was even one!

So I’m still not entirely sure what will happen with this blog. But my dear sister and I have been talking about starting one for quite a while. Then a couple weeks ago, we made ourselves a deal, where by Halloween we both had to start one. Here is the beginning of mine, with 12 days to spare. 

My plan for this is to be a way to share some cooking projects, crafts, or just randomness that floats my boat. Really though, there is no plan…  :)

Since this is my first post, it seemed appropriate to share a little story about my sisters and our “sister tattoo” we got back in May. We decided when I went back to Florida for a visit, we’d all get a tattoo of nesting dolls to symbolize our sisterhood and friendship. When we first walked into the Lucky 7 tattoo shop, we were just expecting a consultation and to set up an appointment. However, fate had other plans…The artist we met, Jason Lawyer, was visiting from Georgia. After we explained our idea, he drew up a sketch that we all loved. He looked excited and asked, “Okay, who is going first?” Janine, Jill, and I all looked at each other in shock. We told Jason we were planning on coming back later for the actual tattoo, especially since the beach was part of the next day’s agenda. Since Jason was just visiting for a couple days, he said if we wanted to get the tattoo done by him, it’d have to be now, or it could be done by a different artist. After some sister discussion, we decided Oh well about the beach. We knew we wanted this tattoo, and since he drew it, and seemed really into our idea, he should be the one to ink us. So a few hours later we all had our lovely matryoshka dolls! Each one is basically the same, except with a little difference in shading for each one. They are also different sizes- I am the oldest, so I have the largest, with it going down in size. Even though this was my third tattoo, it was the first for Janine and Jill, and I’m so happy we all had that experience together.