Weekend Wrap-up: Farmtastic Weekend

Silly Apple - He looks familiar . . .

This weekend was farmtastic!  The weather was amazing and I spent my time exploring the local farmers market with mom - scored some lovely organic beets and colourful swiss chard.  I also was lucky enough to spend time with both parents on Sunday, at my favourite farm (also here and here) doing some apple and pear picking.  In my opinion there's no better way to enjoy the last day of September than picking delicious apples and enjoying apple cider slushies. 

Asian Pear Photo Shoot

Random Pear Photoshoot

I believe these were the Honeycrisp - the others we picked were McIntosh, Spartan and Gala

Jonagold - not ready for pickin'

Weird Floaty Looking Apple . . .

Apple Picking is an Intense Adventure

Hiding Amongst His Favourite Apples!

What a Hull!

Arms Full

Pretty Pumpkin - I only purchased one pumpkin for soup, I intend on returning to the farm closer to Hallowe'en for my Jack-o-Lantern Pumpkin so I had to leave this fella in the patch . . . sad

(Not) Juggling!

Winner!

White Pumpkin

Okie Dokie

My Loot from the Farm.  Ready to Become Apple Sauce (minus the pumpkin, cider and pears of course)!

Happy Autumn!

Tonight I realized I had yet to put up my 'autumn' garland.  I found a few more decorations in my bin so I decided to add some fall decorations around the house - mostly in the dining area.  I love fall decor but love my Hallowe'en decorations even more so I can't wait to pull them out next . . .

Weekend Wrap-Up: Brrrrrrr. . .

Ingredients for Guacamole

This weekend was not exciting at all. AT ALL.  Trust me.  It's almost not even worth blogging about but oh well, here it goes anyway.  On Saturday I did a bit of housework and a lot of artwork (trying desperately to complete on project I have on the go).  For a treat we had Chinese for dinner and watched 'Limitless'.  I'd give that movie a B+.  Sunday we ran some boring errands and did a lot of walking.  Made dinner and dessert at home and that's about all.
Have a great week!

Weekend Wrap-up: Work, Work, Work . . .

Yep, I set up our tree in November.  Deal with it.

Takin' the new car for a spin

 This long weekend was mentally exhausting.  I am half glad it's over and am very ready to get some things resolved and put in the past.  I spent most of the time working on art projects with due dates fast approaching.  On Sunday afternoon Phil and I decided to take a break from everything and went on a long walk to one of the local parks.  I took my camera and boy do I need to get practicing again.  But not nearly as much as Phil needs a lesson or two.  Check out the photo below. ha-ha. 
Anyone want to hire him as a photographer?? Anyone?? 

Dessert of the Day: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know I'm not the only one to start craving baked goods with pumpkin around Hallowe'en and this is one recipe I tried a couple weeks before.  I found this recipe from this blogger and thought it would be a good one to try.  And it was!!  I didn't have any mace so I omitted it and added a bit more cloves.

They also made the perfect present for D's birthday

Dessert of the Day: Angel Food Cake

Don't let the name fool you.
Angel Food Cake is not an angelic recipe to make.
I do not plan on making this recipe or one like it any time soon.  And that you can quote me on.
Okay enough with the dramatics. . .
I had a weird urge to make an Angel Food Cake and I can't really recall why.  Maybe it's because I remembered having it years ago at my grandma's house and loved the texture and the fact you could squish it all the way down to your plate and it would bounce back exactly to it's original form.

After a long trip to Costco I had my star ingredient and was ready to roll.  Using this recipe I started the long process of makin' my cake.

I baked it for the amount of time specified, but couldn't really tell if it was cooked (obviously never baking this type of cake before didn't help) so I kept adding more time to it and eventually called it quits (or cooked that is)

I kept it upside down in the pan overnight-maybe this is a no no??  Whether it is or not, I awoke to a stuck cake that was moist around the center part of the pan. AGH!! So back in the oven it went. . .

I still had a rough time getting the friggen thing out of the pan and ended up with a lovely crack through on side but stuck the thing back together and pretended it was perfect. . .
I made this glaze to go on top of it since we had a lot of apples to eat up and it is fall after all-I just wasn't in the mood for summer berries.  I did add chunks of apple to the glaze and it was delicious!!

And despite the cake resembling a 'Mr.Clean Eraser' it was eaten up at a dinner we hosted, so at least my one and only Angel Food Cake was appreciated.

Weekend Wrap-Up: Fall Festivals

This weekend was fantastic!  It was quite cold out but the sun was warm, so Phil and I spent a lot of time outdoors.
On Saturday we got up early (for us anyway) and did an hour or so hike in the forest.  We only passed three other people during the hike and I thoroughly enjoyed the quiet and Phil's company.  After a quick shower and costume change, the two of us headed out to have lunch (for the first time here) and I have to say it was maybe one of the best lunches I've ever had. Ever.  The company was lovely and the food was ama-za-zing!  It was nice to not be in a rush and we took our time and enjoyed ourselves.

Bruschetta Med

   On our way home we stopped off here to check out the Fall Tasting Event they had going on in the parking lot.  A few yummy samples were. . .sampled. . .although I was so full from lunch I couldn't try too many things. . .There were many vintage tractors on display and a Theshing and Grain Grinding demonstration that was pretty neat.  Phil decided to take on the part of a stereotypical farmer and called me 'Little Lady' for awhile (luckily it didn't last long) whilst balancing a piece of straw between his teeth...

On Sunday Phil and I checked out the Fraser Valley Mushroom Show held at a local church.  I wasn't quite sure how it would be, but there were many varieties on display and it actually turned out to be really interesting.

I kinda wished I brought my camera but here are some iPhone pics instead:

Lastly, for Sunday night's dinner Phil finally made his giant burger and invited his brother over to join in on the fun.

Ha...Thought I'd throw a pic of my salad in...

Phil didn't think the size would be portrayed correctly in the pictures so out came the measuring tape.

Yum-yum!