bark box...

Since I'm getting so good at this on-line shopping business and since I started my farm box delivery, I thought I'd treat Charlie. The poor guy is always getting left out of the fun (unless he's cleaning up after the kids, getting into bags of marshmallows, chips, or loaves of bread). I found this company, Bark Box, that sends a box to Charlie once a month with goodies inside.  This month's came with several bags of treats, a frozen pina colada treat, a duck chewy stick, and a super cute plush toy. He enjoyed investigating the box, but honestly, I was way more excited than he was...well, until I opened a treat bag.  I'd say he's a happy pooch. 

day of the dead virtual run...

Saturday was the opening of the Agent Outerwear Day of the Dead Virtual run. My running buddy, along with new recruit, met out on the trail to get our 5K done and celebrated with a Sugar Skull cookie.  :)  This was my first virtual run, and it was great running with friends. I can't wait to get my medal in the mail. I'll post that once it arrives!

baking time....

Love this pumpkin load pan from Williams Sonoma.  I purchased this three or four years ago, but they still carry it.

I can't even begin to express the excitement that I'm feeling because Fall is finally here.  I spent today mainly in the kitchen. Okay, okay...there was a little t.v.-time and possibly even a nap squeezed in, but hey, it's Sunday and my day off. I wanted something quick, so I just used Trader Joe's Pumpkin Loaf mix. I did add a little extra vanilla extract, but I don't think it needed it. Sometimes I like to add extra stuff to cut that "box" taste, but this mix is yummy all on its own. I'm looking forward to baking more and spending more time in the kitchen, in between work, Scouts, workouts, swim practice, dance, and being my kids' personal chauffeur.  Who says we moms can't do it all. 

I didn't even get a chance to add a glaze or even a sprinkling of powdered sugar before the family dug in.

Dia de los muertos...

The basket that was donated. I'm not even sure who went home with them that night, but I hope they enjoyed them.

For the kids' Family Fun Night, I donated some sugar cookies for the Cake Walk. I threw together these Day of the Dead cookies, because I am obsessed with Sugar Skulls.  I definitely need to add some to my Halloween decor this year! I underestimated the time involved. I'm not sure why because creating any sugar cookie takes me hours, so I gave myself two days to complete these.  Each cookie took me about 30 minutes to decorate, but they were so worth it. I love the detail on each one. I learned my mistakes, and I'm excited to try these again with improvements!

The best part was getting to be creative and just throw on dots and swirls, along with choosing color combinations.

I liked the white on white, along with some of the swirls.

As they dried. I threw them in a container because I didn't want anything airborne to land on them (dust, grubby little kid fingers (haha), etc.)

national drink beer day...

Happy National Drink Beer Day!  Among the many other national days it was today, I chose this one to celebrate. Lucky for me, it's Sunday!  I don't watch football, although I did force myself to watch a little of the Niners game....until I fell asleep.  So, instead I went through the fridge and found a container of shishito peppers.  I got these in my Farm Box, which I am in LOVE with, by the way. However, I'm not great with different foods. I do what I do best...turn to the Internet. I found a super simple, tasty recipe for these little guys, so I gave it a whirl.  4 simple ingredients: shishito peppers, olive oil, lemon, and sea salt.  I found a great new little sea salt at Trader Joe's called Cypriot Pyramid Salt. It's chunky sea salt flakes. 

I heated up a pan on medium heat, drizzled in olive oil, tossed in the peppers. Tossed them around every few minutes for about 15 minutes until they started to brown and blister. I threw them in a bowl, squeezed half a lemon right over the top, and sprinkled on the sea salt.  

Served it up with a beer. They are a nice mild pepper and the salt and lemon add a nice flavor. The beer was pretty fantastic, too!