I think I must have trained Daniel and Nathan well because this evening they created their own little Halloweenie treat by making dirt cups. I don’t know if they were specifically thinking about Halloween, but it is October so it works! I do love that their dirt cups are much posher than the ones we ate at my primary activity on Tuesday as they were served in stemware rather than disposable plastic cups. 😂
Long time readers know that eyeballs are an inside joke around here. As such, when I see something eyeball themed, I just have to give it a try! This particular eyeball is a mini cookie cup which was originally made of a peanut butter cookie with a white chocolate mini peanut butter cup and an M&M. Pretty much all those things will kill 50% of my children, so I definitely tweaked the recipe to make it my own. I made a dairy and egg free almond butter cookie base. Mini sunbutter cups made a great filling but they don’t come in white, so I smoothed a thin layer of dairy free melted white chocolate on top of each before adding a Skittle. A food coloring marker provided the last details, and they were ready to eat. They turned out fantastic! Seriously, I ate way too many eyeballs…
Yesterday was applesauce day. Ever since I was introduced to homemade applesauce when I married Kevin, I have really had trouble with the watery, weak applesauce you can get at the store. For me and all my kids, applesauce should be thick. Having said that, there does come a point when it is too thick. For instance, one litmus test for thickness is sticking a wooden spoon straight up in the bowl. If it just hangs out there forever, the sauce is probably a little too thick. 😂
Once I got the sauce the appropriate consistency, we ended up with 57 pints, and all but 2 jars sealed. That’s a successful day!
As October approaches each year, I start trolling the internet for new fun food ideas. There are always more themed treats than I can cover in a month of FHE treats, but part of the fun is deciding which ones to include in this year’s assortment. Ever since I found an egg free high altitude brownie recipe that actually works, I like to do something with brownies in October. Part of that is because I have a not Matthew friendly white chocolate brownie recipe that I really love, and it gives me an excuse to make them for myself while still providing him with a similar treat. Another part is because there seem to be so many cute ideas for gussying up brownies!
This year’s brownie art is a classic graveyard scene. I saw a multitude of different versions of these, so I took all my favorite ideas, ditching the ones that aren’t safe for my kids (like those little candy pumpkins-Matthew and Malia can never eat those), and came up with a design I am super happy with. I even bought a special chocolate mold so I could make tiny white chocolate bones. That part was so fun!
Stay tuned for more creepy cuisine! There are five Mondays this month which means I get to choose and create a bonus creepy treat!
Malia has settled into school and now that she can actually get to all her classes without getting lost, she is feeling much more confident. One of the unexpected highlights of her school days are the bus rides to and from school. Not only does she get to talk with her friends during transit, but she really likes her bus driver. He is funny and nice and contributes to the entertainment value of her travel time. His name is Curtis and since we are Muppet fans over here, on the very first day her brain linked Curtis with Kermit the frog and she has taken to calling him Kermit.
Malia enjoys making gifts for people that she likes, so she has crafted a tiny Kermit keychain out of clay to give to her bus driver, who displays other such gifts from the kids in the front of the bus. Her mini-Kermit is even wearing a baseball cap like her bus driver. Her artistic skills always astound me as I can neither draw nor sculp, and I love that she gets such enjoyment out of sharing her talents with others!
About a week ago, Matthew informed us that he was going to Homecoming. We were somewhat surprised as he has never really gone on a date before, but he had a date, a group, and a plan and the only thing he needed was some advice about where to get a corsage.
Homecoming was last night and the group he went with was entirely composed of band kids. That was kind of a necessity, and here is why. On Friday afternoon, they took their Homecoming pictures and then headed over to the high school to fulfill their pep band responsibilities for the Homecoming football game. Saturday morning found all of them at a marching band rehearsal until noon, after which they went on their day date to Top Golf. The remainder of the afternoon and part of the evening was taken up by a marching band competition which was, luckily, at a nearby high school. Otherwise, all the crazy back and forth travels would not have been possible. After their performance time, they zipped home to change into their fancy clothes and then headed to the dance for a while. When they were done going deaf at the dance, they stopped by their respective houses to change back to casual clothes and then drove back to the competition to be there for the awards portion of the event. (As a sidenote, they took first place in their division as well as the caption in visuals!) The evening was capped off by ping pong and card games at one of the kid’s houses. Matthew’s date had an 11:30 curfew and he got her home right on time. He didn’t get home himself until midnight though because apparently his date’s mom talks forever.
I know my schedule was just as wacky when I was in high school, but at my current age, it makes me tired just thinking about it! But Matthew has the typical ability of a 16-year-old to function on very little sleep, so he was able to get where he needed to be when he needed to be there and had a great time!
Malia has embraced her new school and is exploring what social life looks like now that she has left elementary school behind. While she doesn’t care a whit about football, she has discovered that going to the high school football games is an opportunity to see friends. She has taken to wearing a baseball cap most of the time and now that she is one step closer to high school and knows that her entire school and all her new friends will feed to the same school, she has added a new hat to her wardrobe. Go Sentinels!
I love fresh peaches. Bottled and canned are alright, but fresh peaches are a delight. Due to their delicate nature though, they are only available around here when they are in season. It is peach season right now and my family and I have been enjoying it wholeheartedly. Kevin stopped in Brigham City and bought a bushel and we have eaten all of them. We have enjoyed pancakes, cobbler, and muffins as well as many bowls of simply peeled and sliced peaches. As we neared the end of the bushel, a neighbor arrived with peaches from their tree as they had more than they could eat. We consumed all those as well. And since I was still peach hungry, another box was purchased so we could continue to enjoy the bounty for as long as the peaches are available. Honestly, it has been heavenly.
Nathan has also been enjoying peach season. As a Logan resident, he is much closer to Brigham City than we are, and he has taken advantage of that. He split a box of peaches with some friends and has been baking up a peach flavored storm of his very own. His version of peach muffins was a hit, and he has peach baked oatmeal nestled into the freezer to be eaten as a quick breakfast on busy school mornings. Nathan enjoys cooking and he loves peaches nearly as much as I do, so he has been having a great time. And Daniel, who cooks so he won’t starve to death and not because he enjoys it like Nathan does (and therefore has a tendency to make meals that require little effort) has been lucky enough to sample Nathan’s creations. I suspect he is going to benefit from Nathan’s culinary enjoyment often.
As peach season winds down, I am already looking forward to next year. We have tucked some bags of peaches in the freezer to enjoy in the meantime, but as mentioned before, they just aren’t quite the same as fresh, unprocessed peaches.
