Happy Halloween!

May this day bring treats galore,
And kids with costumes to your door!
Happy Halloween!

Traditional Halloween clam chowder!

Every year the clan about five p.m. to eat some clam chowder and then trick or treat in the neighborhood, stopping by numerous times for potty breaks, unloading sacks of candy, grabbing snacks and going back into the dark street with lighted pumpkin doorways.

Here's the recipe:

In a stock pot, melt 8 oz. of cream cheese and a stick of butter......adding a quart of 2% milk, 2 14 oz. cans of fat free chicken broth....bring to simmer but do not boil. In a separate frying pan cut 1 lb. of bacon in small pieces and fry until grease is cooked out and drained. Peel six potatoes, dice and add to broth mixture along with bacon. Add 2 cups of celery slices and a large can of white shoe peg corn, 2 cans of minced clams with the juice. Season with thyme, a pinch of oregano, coarse black pepper and 1/4 tsp. of cayenne pepper and salt to taste. When potatoes are soft to the fork test.....thicken with 2 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with a little water or soup base. If you like it thicker add more. Serve with crusty bread!

Happy Halloween!

When goblins and ghost hide under your bed.
Remember my friends, it's all in your head.
If monsters are lurking and zombies there too.
The weapon of choice is throwing a shoe!
But, dragons are different, so take a small chance.
Hold out your hand and ask them to dance.

Happy Halloween....Joye

Youth is like spring, an over praised season more remarkable for biting winds than genial breezes. Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits. ~Samuel Butler

I wish a wreath on every door!

Quote of the Day

I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in. ~John Muir, 1913, in L.M. Wolfe, ed., John Muir, John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, 1938

Bulb time!

You can plant gorgeous spring color now! There are lots of bulbs on the shelves to plant until the ground is frozen. True confession time....I actually used a pick axe to dig a hole after the ground was frozen....but don't try this at home! Follow directions on the package and don't forget to add a little fertilizer mixed in with the soil that you cover them with. You will so happy when the first signs of spring are blooming.

Plantings for late fall and early winter!

The beauty of a late fall garden or window box, can be enhanced by planting kale and pansies.....and accented with fresh gourds, pumpkins and cornstalks. When late fall turns to December....replace fall decor with holly branches, pine cones and cut evergreen branches and of course, twinkle lights....the more lights the better.

Grandma Bolles....the good fairy godmother!

Quote of the Day!

A grandmother pretends she doesn't know who you are on Halloween.
~Erma Bombeck

Gracie!

Halloween is so much fun!

I remember when I stopped dressing up scary and went for the friendly godmother look. That was the time I scared a poor little tiny one so badly she bolted through the hedge and into her father's arms screaming blood murder. From then on, I tamed down the costume and answered the front door with a friendly ghost smile and a bowl full of Snickers! But, I miss sacring the smile off the teenagers faces that are too old to be trick or treating and pretend not to be afraid of anything. Life is always a trade off.....a scary mean witch or a winsome fairy godmother. Perhaps there is room for both!

Apple or Pear Butter!

Apple Butter or Pear Butter is easy......peel and dice a crock pot full of fruit, add a cup of brown sugar, 2 tbsp. of cinnamon, 1/2 cup of orange juice and cook for hours until cooked to a thick spread consistency. Seal in hot sterilized clean jars with new lids and put rings around loosely until you hear a pop....then tighten rings, cool and put away for use anytime.

Quote for the day....

I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself than be crowded on a velvet cushion. ~Henry David Thoreau

There are those days...........

I knew there would be days that would fill you up to the brim and overflow. And gleaning apples in a Washington orchard with family was one of those. We picked, we ate, we partied in the barn.....then went home and made apple butter, apple fritters, apple pies and apple sauce. What is that saying? "An apple a day keeps the doctor away?' I think we're good for another year!