Playing Favorites . . . ?

Halloween is right around the corner, which pumpkin is your favorite? Put your answer in the "comments" section so I can see.

Thanks for joining in the conversation.

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I thought I'd share a few of the pumpkins Shauna Puckett painted for the holiday

Of Mice and Men . . . ?

I love decorating at the holidays. How about you?

I traced these little mice out on thin foam sheets and then cut them out. Then I glued little wiggly eyes on and used poster gum to put them up all around the house.

I even put them out on the stairs and porch outside. Last year I cut them out of black construction paper but the rain ruined them. The foam will work well in Portland, Oregon's wet weather-I hope. There was only one problem with my plan, Sasha (my puppy) went around the house eating the little rodents. She didn't understand that they weren't real. Oh well, at least I'll never have to worry about being over-run by rodents - not with Sasha on guard.

Popcorn Balls - Treat for Tuesday

The "kids" still like helping me make popcorn balls. And this is an ancient family recipe I'm sharing with all my blogging buddies.



Okay, I know they're a little lopsided but so are my pumpkins :) They're supposed to look like Jack-o-lanterns. Use your imagination . . .

POPCORN BALLS

INGREDIENTS:

2 and ½ quarts popcorn
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
½ cup white corn syrup
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla (or orange extract)
(Food Coloring: 1 teaspoon Red and 2 teaspoons Yellow to create orange)

(OPTIONAL: Chocolate Chips, green gum drops, raisins and red licorice)

Heat water, vinegar, extract and white corn syrup over medium heat, add in food coloring

Slowly add in sugar and salt until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil – let boil 3 minutes.

Pour mixture over popcorn – in a metal mixing bowl, stir with metal spoon (mixture will be hot) When cooled a bit, shape into balls and place on wax paper or silpat sheet. Decorate them with green gum drop tops, raisin or chocolate chips for eyes and licorice for the mouth. Or, you can try whatever ideas you come up with.

You can also make ghosts out of the popcorn balls. You just don't use food coloring. These are fun and OH SO YUMMY!

Book Signing by Lisa Madigan - FLASH BURNOUT

Lisa Madigan had her debut book release at Powell's Books in Beaverton.

First a group of writers, like Jone MacCulloch, Suzanne Young, Laini Taylor, Lisa Schroeder, Suz Blackaby, Carmen Bernier-Grand, Matt Holm and others got together at Panera to share a cup of coffee and a pastry before we went over to Powell's Books to get our copies of Flash Burnout.

Lisa had Nathan, a young adult from Wilson High School, read excerpts from her story.

Then she talked about how she finds time to write by getting up early, even on the weekends, and gives up opportunities to watch t.v. and go to movies or parties but she said, "Writing is my passion." And we all find time to do the things we love.

Lisa also threw out candy to the audience:

What a great way to spend an afternoon, celebrating a book opening, eating pastry and chocolate and talking with old friends and making new friends. No better way to spend a Sunday.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

Art is Amazing - Artists are More Amazing

This is beyond words. Check it out here.

EYE See You

Eye think this pumpkin is my favorite. Kind of a cross between Monsters Meet Aliens, um, or pumpkins.

Shauna Puckett is an amazing artist - and I'll have a few more of these pics to post - 'cuz I'm going to be getting a few of these punkins from her for my front porch.

Gotta love 'em!

Earth-Friendly Friday - GO GREEN FOR HALLOWEEN

That's not the kind of "green" I'm talking about. And, sure, I know we can all be a little witchy as the weather turns colder and the skies get darker. But, with a little preparation and thought, we can save some money and maybe help the earth at the same time.

At the holidays, it's easy to be wasteful but, I'm thinking, instead of overspending why not spend more time at home (with the kids) doing crafts and baking? Those are the memories that have stayed with my kids - not the toys I bought them - well, except for maybe a few video games that the "kids" have never forgotten: like Legend of Zelda and Mario Brothers. But this weekend my daughter (who is 21) is going to spend some time with mom (me) making popcorn balls. I'll probably do a post about it-including my own recipe. Plus, we love to decorate them with chocolate chip eyes and candy corn noses. It's a lot of fun, cheap entertainment and oh-so yummy. The only bad side effect is the addition to my waistline. But what the heck, life's short - so, I just choose to eat dessert first.

And, I may not end up looking like My Pretty Glenda but I'll sure be a little sweeter.

And, with the holidays just around the corner, I thought I'd start sharing some links to fun cyberspots. So, here you go. Check out these earth-friendly spots.

Here's a great Halloween resource and my first and here's another: Baby's Enchanted Garden.

Hope you have a green weekend!