Fun Fall Checklist

Here are some music options while reading the checklist

Antonio Vivaldi's 'Fall'

or

"It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown' -Intro Music

My Fun Fall Checklist:

(In no particular order)

-Go Apple Picking

-Collect leaves with my kids

-Go to an Oktoberfest

-Eat a lot of Apple Cider Donuts

-Make Apple Crisp

-Go Pumpkin Picking with family

-Watch 3 really Scary Movies

-Watch "It's a Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown"

-Make a Pumpkin Pie

-Drink Pumpkin Beer

-Go to a Haunted House and Corn Maze

-Make Caramel Apples & Popcorn Balls

-Host a Chili Football Day

-Go for a Scenic Fall Foliage Drive

-Help with a Food Drive

-Play Football in our Front Yard or Catch

-Go to a great Halloween Costume Party

-March in the NP Halloween Parade

-Make Hot Apple Cider

-Trick or Treat

-Make at least one Halloween Decoration from my Pinterest Halloween Board

-Make and mail out Halloween Cards

-Do everything on this list!

This is another Pinterest inspired activity.

Pinterest Food Brag

Alright this post is to purely brag about my Pinterest accomplishments this week.  If you know me, cooking and baking is really not my forte.  I'm very late in the game on learning how to cook, so the more recipes I try and I'm successful with, the more I feel like a superhero.  Normally I feel like the people on this website http://www.pinterestfail.com/ Hilarious messes. But not this week!

So with my new found superhero confidence, plus the narcissism that comes with using FB and blogging that makes me want to share, share, share, I bring you my list.  All recipes were found on Pinterest, tasted great, and my family loved them.

1) Minestrone Soup
The flavors in this were great- but I would maybe cook the zucchini longer or before putting in the soup.  The recipe recommended adding it at the end and they were a bit too crunchy for my liking.

2) Crock Pot Corn Chowder 
Super easy to make.  Directions are right under the picture in Pinterest so you don't have to click around to find it.  My only 'mistake' was adding all the ingredients at once but it really wasn't a mistake because it still tasted great.

3) Lemon Zucchini Bread
I whipped this up while O and N were watching Mickey's Clubhouse.  Which I was proud of as far as timing goes.  Nothing is more challenging than trying to cook or bake with two little ones under your feet.  While baking it made the house smell great and was a hit with O and N too.  Yes I am counting the zucchini bread as their vegetable.

4) Buffalo Balls
This was the easiest thing to make on this list.  It was so yummy, perfect for game day, and company.  I had it sitting in the warmer for an extra 45 minutes while waiting for company that was running late and it didn't dry out at all.  (My company gave it a thumbs up too.)

5) "I love ramen" recipe from 'A Beautiful Mess' blog
This was my lazy lady lunch one day.  I love ramen too, not only because it really is yummy but because it cooks so fast.  I altered the recipe and added in bok choy and some left over veggies and chicken.  The best part about this recipe was my kids ate it.

Non Pinterest Food Accomplishments:
Apple Sauce & Tomato Sauce- pictures uploaded to Pinterest as well. (Both were canned)

To view the recipes go to my Pinterest Board- 'Delicioso' via http://www.pinterest.com/anniepilek/delicioso/

Christmas Post Cards

I've been feeling pretty crafty lately and I've had this one on the back burner for a while.  This easy, fun, and cute craft just took a few simple craft supplies and a sense of humor.

The Supply List:

1. "The Joy of Peanuts Christmas- 50 Years of Holiday Comics"- This is something I picked up at a thrift shop years ago and spent $2 on it.  It is filled with so many adorable, charming, and funny comics.  If you don't want to spend the money but like the idea use old newspaper comics.  Ask your neighbor or even sneak a comic out of the library paper.  (shhh!)  But really any kind of paper can be applied here you just have to love how it looks and says how you feel.
2. Old post card I got for free from Pathmark supermarket years ago.  I used this for two purposes; I added to the cover to create a new postcard and I also used it as a template for its size.
3. Cereal box.  I traced an already existing post card to get the dimensions correct.  (Some post cards I didn't want to change but worked great as a template.)
4. Scissors
5. Stick glue
6. Pen

Additional Supplies to embellish:

• Scrapbook paper
• Stamps
• Marker
• Hole punch

Holiday Postcards

These are still a work in progress.  I added a few Santa stamps to the negative space on one of them and I am regretting that because now it looks too 'crafty'.  I was going for a different look but you learn as you go, right? Either way I am pleased with the results.

I hope you enjoyed the simplicity and thriftiness of this craft.  

Enjoy your day!

AP