Halloween

Oh wow, what a week. Halloween is always an exciting time. I try to plan ahead each year and get the kids to nail down what they want to be. It never works. Both Sela and Nina changed at the last minute. Sela decided to be a spider witch after we planned for Little Red Riding Hood. Nina was the newest barbie princess, Island Princess, instead of the mermaid she had wanted to be for the last two months. Rollin was going to be a dalmation, but he had a cold and it was pretty chilly, so he went to sleep before he could debut his cute little costume, the only homemade one I was actually proud of. But, it was all fun. We tried to keep the actual day of Hallween pretty low key. I made pumpkin cream cheese and bagels for breakfast and a Butternut Squash Soup for dinner so I did my best to be festive with the food. I also was able to get them to eat lots of veggies and pretty much anything I wanted all day so they could indulge in their candy that evening.

I have never met a butternut squash soup recipe I didn't love, but this one might be my favorite. It was so simple but the almond sage topping just made it. We have sage growing all over the yard so this was a perfect use.


Trick or Treating was really fun for the girls. Much to Sela's delight, we met up with Sela's best friend from school, Treela, and trick or treated with her family. We didn't even plan to see them and we met them at our first stop. We went to the only actual neighborhood on Hollywood Hill called "The Farm." It was so fun to go to each house.... the people really went all out with the decorating and seemed to love all the kids. When it got too chilly, and the little buckets were overflowing, we came home. The girls sorted the candies into like pieces and then asked me what all the candies were. That made me swell with pride. Just kidding. They threw away everything with colors or dyes very willingly and kept the chocolate. We put it up in the cabinet and they have pretty much forgotton about it. A piece here and there, but most went to the candy fairy who left them a small treat in exchange for the loot.


Nina made playdough for her friends at preschool.




Sela and Treela...Treela is so sweet, always holding hands and hugging Sela. She is very kind. They are best buddies for sure.


All week I prepared to teach this class at church on Holiday Gifts for Neighbors and Friends. I agreed in order to help my friend who was in charge, but it was actually a lot more work than I realized. I enjoy trying out new recipes and getting ideas, but it was just a busier week than usual, so it was a little stressful to have the class looming in my mind. I made Triple Ginger cookies from the new amazing cookbook, Macrina (a local seattle bakery), and Cranberry Orange cookies. Some of the other things I made for were a healthy party mix, cranberry almond granola, vanilla almond granola, herb nut couscous mix, Exfoliating grains, mexican spiced hot chocolate, two kinds of spiced nuts, and other non-food type gifts. It was really fun. I'm glad it's over, but also glad it got me organized for my own gifting for the holidays.