by the numbers... lately

Despite the fact that I work at an accounting firm and I pretty much dream in numbers, it seems like a lot of happenings lately have been number-oriented...

 

{5,938th place, in a turtle costume}

 

{1st snowfall that stuck}

 

 

{my dad's 62nd birthday}

 

 

{and my grandpa's 91st}

I hope your Thanksgivings were lovely.  There will be some exciting changes on the ol' blog here soon... stay tuned, my friends.

The Sauce

the best holiday of the year is tomorrow.  though i don't claim julia child status in the kitchen (although i did learn today from morning npr that she always deconstructed her turkey before cooking so the light and dark meats could cook differently, then put it back together for the norman rockwell moment...), i've learned over the years what i like and how to get it there.  i've also learned what components are an absolute must for the thanksgiving feast, versus the ancillary not-worth-the-calories items (yeah, that's right, coleslaw and dill pickles, i'm talking to you).  one thing i'm an absolute die-hard-traditionalist-sucker for is... the sauce.  cranberry sauce, that is.  in fact, while this chart is likely accurate for most, 

 {source included on picture}

a graph of my consumption would be somewhere around a straight line at 4 marks up.  all year long.  however my fanaticism over this puckery sauce, i don't demand it for all holidays... just thanksgiving.

so, if you somehow find yourself without this essential holiday item before your meal tomorrow (and you coincidentally land here as well), here's a rather quick and easy recipe passed down from one of my grandmas:

(this recipe is for chunky cranberry sauce.  a text poll i just conducted my sources say that 1 out of every 2 people prefer chunky over smooth cranberry sauce.  like most things (peanut butter and jam vs. jelly, for instance), i like both but prefer chunky more.)

1 cup orange juice

1 cup sugar

1 bag cranberries

put all ingredients into a saucepan and stir together.  put the mixture on medium heat, being sure to stir frequently so the sugar doesn't burn.  eventually, the cranberries will explode (exciting and dangerous!) and the sauce will get thicker.  cook until the sauce is your desired thickness.  enjoy!

 happy spreads tomorrow!  i'll be in touch soon!

found this... i'm thinking this might be an awesome gift for a certain... moi.

{source}

trick or treat... on my street

we're sticklers for tradition at my house.  though these can be found surrounding just about anything, they occur most around birthdays and holidays.  call it "comfort food" for our to-do list, but these traditions make us feel warm and cozy... even if we're pulling them off at the last minute... 

putting knife to pumpkin in search of art... and then, once again, admitting this whole thang ain't easy and settling for a design much more simplified than the one in your head... yup, we do that.

{manda & the mondo one}

{the end product... all aglow}

in addition to the front stairs, we always put up gordon pumpkin, should we get any trick-or-treaters.

{gordo}

my mom always makes a batch of cupcakes that we take around to our neighbors (reverse trick-or-treating?).  we have quite a stock of themed sprinkles, so the desserts get dressed up too!

{unless they're nude-shocking!}

after traipsing to and chatting with our neighbors, we walk home to enjoy roasted pumpkin innards seeds and our sugary booty...

{yum & yum}

what did you do for halloween?