Super Duper Halloween!

So today was Halloween and what a blast it was - start to finish.

At work we have a tradition of dressing up as a department so we chose The Flintstones... I was Bam Bam, out of the gang I think Alicia was the best in her Wilma costume - so much fun...


Beside the fun factor of dressing up like kids, there are awesome prizes involved in putting the effort into your costume - it happens that this year (for the first time ever) my department won first prize, lunch on the company at PF Chang's... mmmm Candied Walnut shrimp here I come! Barb's department was 5 chili dogs... hmmm... well she looked cute...


Speaking of prizes - angry pumpkin (the only entry) won first prize also for the pumpkin carving contest... $25 at Edwards Theaters

After work I headed to the church for the annual harvest festival - AKA - the get your kids off the street for some amazing super fun time at the church! It was a great turn out -


this year again my small group served in the food booth, Lisa and Doug even helped out - the team effort blessed many hungry families and me... I love it when my group is together, it's like the culmination of God's plan for us - even though I know God has called her to Tanzania... I missed Carley...



Lots of kids from my sunday school class showed up - they were so cute... Sheri and the kids were of course there and Nicole and Micah even brought Kaitlyn by (forgot to get a picture with them)

I went home exhausted but with a full heart - what a fun day!

Savage Garden....

I was so busy at work this week I decided to express my feelings of frustration through fruits and vegetables as I have done in the past.... The angry pumpkin started it, then someone gave me the worried apple, followed by the scared pepper and the sad carrot...

Peri Peri Madness!

So Finally on Sunday night I put some chicken breast and wings into a nice bath of peri peri sauce to marinade over night. By the way don't eat Shelly's candy bar...


Monday I grilled the chicken! I could smell the citrusy goodness as they charred and sizzled on the grill -

The result - tender, spicy, awesome! I dounced them with Nando's hot sauce which I am in love with - I have almost finished one whole bottle in a week.

Peri Peri Sauce!

They're here! They're here! Weeks ago I ordered some Nandos peri peri sauce and today they finally arrived.


For those who don't know I love to read the blog The Food Pornographer. She occasionally eats at this restaurant in Australia called Nando's. One day through a link on her blog I got to exploring the site and their products which mostly centers around this "Peri Peri Chicken" stuff. It looks to me to be very similar to El Pollo Loco, however I had to find out for myself - So I ordered their special marinade and hot sauce... I hope I get a chance to cook up some chicken this weekend!

Finally a Plumeria Flower!

Over two years ago when I was in Hawaii I bought a plumeria stick from the ABC store with visions of growing my own tropical Hawaiian garden in my yard.

Well all this time later I have this gigantic plumeria plant that is nothing but huge green leaves... Until this weekend!

Two little buds finally opened into the most delightful smelling plumeria flowers... They are so beautiful... and it looks like there are a few more on the way...

Camping in Big Bear...

So this weekend my friends the J family and I went camping up by Big Bear Lake. It was an awesome time. We arrived at the camp site on Friday afternoon and after fussing with the tents and bundling up (it was about 40 degrees at night) we got some dinner started.

Sheri marinated some chicken with a spiced rub and bbq sauce, they came out great...

After we ate we made jiffy pop over the camp fire and of course smores!

The next morning the kids helped make an awesome scrambled egg breakfast.

Once we got dressed for the day we went on a few nature hikes and checked out all the sites around the camp area. The kids had fun climbing all over the trees and logs.

We had a yummy sandwich lunch and played games at the picnic area all afternoon

and of course got a nice nap in - I just love naps...

Around dinner time Maria, Charles and Angela joined the fun. We made carne asada tacos and sat around the camp fire.

A fun time was had by all!

Wings!

I have recently fallen back in love with chicken wings. I used to fry up big batches of them to eat but decided one day that fried chicken was not helping my waistline so I gave them up.

Well a couple weeks ago I found some wings in the freezer so I marinated them in a savory tequila lime sauce and grilled them out on the BBQ - THEY WERE AWESOME..

So this time I marinated two sets of wings, one in caribbean jerk and the other in mesquite. I let them chill in the fridge overnight...

The next day I tossed them on the BBQ - they were a little black and smokey and totally delicious...

Cold and Naked...

The other night I was working late at my Dad's and when I got it the car to go home it was a frigid 43 degrees outside!

The mountains look so naked... we have the temperature, just need some precipitation to dress those peaks up in white!

Shhhhh it's a secret...

Well kinda - I had a busy weekend secret shopping - I did 4 grocery stores on Sunday after church - $80 in free groceries, mostly all on sale filled up the fridge nicely...

Workin 9 to 5

So last week Mimi and I met Dad and Ron up in LA after work for 9 to 5 at the Ahmanson Theater. We had Phillipe's before the show: Ham, Pork and Beef Dips with various salads...

This time in addition to our usual coconut cream pie we tried out their carrot cake... just super!

The show was so good! Ironically Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block (who just finished playing Elphaba and Galinda in Wicked across town) starred in this new musical that was produced by Dolly Parton. The third character was played by Allison Janney who was on The West Wing for years. Mimi and I sat there pointing out who in our office matched the funny characters in the show... it was so much fun... Why do we look like we are married? No wonder our Salsa instructor calls her my wife...

Bread..

Have I mentioned before how I just love bread... white, wheat, soft, crunchy... I found this little delight at fresh & easy and put a chicken breast inside.... ohh it was so good...

Family...

Contrary to what my sister thinks... Why do I let my family upset me so much...

Debbie Meyer Green Bags

So I have heard nothing but great things about the Debbie Meyer Green bags. The package and infomercial claim that using these bags, produce will last up to 3 times longer! I am so excited as I feel like I am always throwing away expired produce... it hurts my heart... but not any more!

Per the instructions you must place the produce and fruit into the bags DRY... so I put my camera on blurry mode and patted down my lettuce.

I proceeded to place all of my purchases into the bags.Then I tucked them away into the fridge...

It's too early to report... But I already feel good about using the bags - Just look at Debbie - would she steer me wrong?