Pumpkin Picking Adventures

Fall is my favorite season, the heat is gone so we can open the windows; the leaves are changing color and there's so much to do.

One of the things that's been fun is exploring the woods behind our house. We have a trail that Mike maintains back there that's quite a treat this time of year. It's like our own personal nature trail. We go there to walk, check out different animal foot prints and pick leaves. Ashley is really into picking leaves this fall. She's gathered many "presents" for me :) She likes picking pretty leaves but she's very particular about the kind that she'll pick up. They need to be rather small so that they can fit nicely inside her basket. We can't wait to walk the trail in the winter, I think Ashley will really like it.

Every year we go pumpkin picking to Atlantic Farms in Wall, and this year is no different. It's a nice place with a petty farm, hay rides and plenty of nice pumpkins to pick. We went there again, it was a sunny day, but way too windy. In fact, the wind was so strong it kept knocking Katelyn off her feet. She wasn't too happy about that and spent most of the day riding on my hip. We had to cut our trip short and only came home with two small sugar pumpkins, no big one to carve. Atlantic Farms isn't what it used to be, the staff wasn't friendly and they charge so much money for everything ($3 for a bag of carrots to feed the animals!!) that we decided that next year we'll go somewhere else. It's a shame, but there's plenty of other nice farms in the area.

This past Saturday we went out again in hopes of finding that perfect pumpkin to carve. The plan was to go to Eastmont Orchards next to our house, where we pick apples, etc. Well, come to find out they were closed for the season! Strike one. We certainly didn't expect that, especially before Halloween :( So, we headed to a farm on Rt. 34. We went one a nice hay ride there, but there wasn't any nice pumpkins left. Strike two. Delicious Orchards was our last hope. Lucky for us, we found a perfect one to carve :)

Technique Classes at Williams-Sonoma

One of my favorite kitchen stores, Williams-Sonoma, offers free technique cooking classes every Sunday morning. I started going to a couple of them to see if I can pick up some new skills, etc..

At the first class we learned to make Coq Au Vin (a French Chicken Dish), Spaetzle (German noodle side dish) and Creme Brulee. The store tries to push their ready made sauce starters (at $16/jar) as well as every kind of gadget you can imagine. Last weekend I prepared the whole meal from scratch except I cut the fat by at least half of what they did in the class, and Mike thought it was the best chicken dish he's ever had! It did taste pretty amazing, but how can it not, when you combine bacon, chicken, mushrooms, caramelized pearl onions and wine!!

Here's a picture of my creme brulee. I think this will be the desert that I make for our Christmas dinner this year, it's so easy to make and it tasted awesome :)


This past Sunday the topic was "Tough to Tender" and it covered how to make cheaper cuts of meat into some nice dishes. It was another good sales pitch for their products, include the Immersion Circulator that sells for $799, Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base ($16/jar) and Beef Stew Braising Base (also $16/jar).

The sous vide technique demo was interesting. The beef brisket first seasoned and seared, then cooled off and then cooked in a vacuum sealed bag in a water bath at 148F for 48 hours! After that it's seared, sliced and finished in the Williams Sonoma Belgian Beer and Onion Braising Base. The argument for using the Sous Vide technique is that the food cooks in it's own juices so it's more flavorful, and because it's cooked at such low temperature the protein fibers will not break down so it'll never overcook. After the taste test, I'm not convinced, the meat was really tender, but not enough to convince me that I need this $799 Immersion Circulator.

The nice thing is that I got to try something new and was able to reproduce the Beef Stew sauce from scratch yesterday afternoon in my Dutch oven. I can say it was the best beef stew I've ever tasted! The secret was taking the time to brown the meat up front and using dark beer and using fresh locally grown root vegetables to make the sauce. Not to mention fresh herbs form my garden :) I used white, purple and sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, onions, garlic, celery and red peppers! And the best part, Mike, Ashley and Indira loved it too!

Next Sunday the class covers Breads and Spreads for the Holiday table. Can't wait, although I already have some favs that would be hard to top.

I was in a cooking mood all weekend, so in addition to the stew I also make crepes stuffed with ground beef. Here's a picture:



May be one day I can have my own business doing this for living, but for now it's just a hobby that our whole family benefits from :)

Fright Fest at Great Adventure

This past Friday night we went to Great Adventure for Fright Fest. The kids stayed home with our good friend Theresa. She gave me a babysitting gift certificate for my birthday, so I decided it was a good opportunity for us to use it. (We wanted Indira to come with us, since she hasn't been to GA before)

After getting over the initial shock of the price of the admission we had a really fun time. We started with the smaller roller coaster - The Run Away Train and ended the night with two rides on Nitro. To my surprise there was practically no wait at any of the rides. In the past we've had to wait for almost an hour to go on a ride. Not sure if people were afraid that it may rain or the whole economy thing. The weather was just about perfect for October. It was in the 50s and a little windy, but not bad at all.

All of the roller coasters made us very hungry, so We ended the night at P.F. Changs in Freehold. We haven't been out with friends for a night out like this in a while, so it was really nice to get away :) We didn't get home until 1am!! Good times :)

Looking forward to taking the kids there next summer, just not for Fright Fest :)

We didn't bring the camera with us in the park, because I was afraid to loose it on one of the rides, but here's a picture of the sunset that we saw on the drive there:

Shea Lane Block Party

This past Saturday we had our first Shea Lane Block Party. It was a huge success! Even if I do say so myself :) We had beautiful weather (70F and sunny) and 16 out of 21 households on our street participated. We BBQ'd, had a firetruck and a policy car come visit for entertainment. We had potato sack races and tug-of-war contest for both kids and adults, a scavenger hunt, pinata, and even karaoke and smores by the fire! We started setting up at 10am, the party started at 1, and we didn't go inside until close ot midnight. Ashley and Katelyn both made some friends that day, and Mommy and Daddy got to enjoy their time with a nice drink in hand :) I feel very lucky to have such great neighbors, it really doesn't get better then this!
Everyone is already looking forward to next year's party. But before we get there we also have plans for a Christmas Tree Lighting party on our Cul-de-Sac, another annual tradition that we started last year. Can't wait!

Here are some pictures from the day:

We also had an "official photographer" who took some nice pictures as well:
http://shealane.shutterfly.com

Ashley and I survived her first day of Preschool!

Yesterday (Oct. 4th) was Ashley's first official day of preschool. We tried not to make a big deal about it ahead of time since we didn't want her to get upset. I worked from home in the morning and then Indira, Katelyn, Ashley and I drove to school to drop off Ashley. (Indira needed to see the way, since she'll be driving Ashley there and back).

Last week at the orientation the teacher gave each parent a heart sticker and told us to kiss our kid's hand and put it on when we come to drop them off this week. So that if they get sad they can think of us and feel better. It was a good idea. Ashley was happy to get to preschool and didn't seem nervious until it was time for us to leave, that's when I gave Ashley the sticker and told her I'll be back to get her as soon as school is finished. And if she missed me, she can just look at her sticker and think of me.

When we came to pick her up Ashley was very excited to see me, Indira and Katelyn, so excited that she and I broke into tears. She said that she missed me and looked at the sticker and felt better. It was very sweet :)

The teacher said that Ashley had a little trouble at first but then warmed up to everyone. She already has a favorite student teacher, her name is Ms. Jane. Hopefully she'll get used to the routine quickly and be excited to go there.

Here's a picture of Ashley after surviving her first day of preschool:

Today was Ashley's Preschool Orientation

Today was Ashley's first day of preschool. It was an orientation both for her and us (the parents) to get to know the teacher, the classroom, and learn about the program in general. This program takes place at our High School. There's a lead teacher and student teachers. There's a 1:1 ratio between student teachers and preschoolers. We've heart excellent reviews from everyone who's ever attended the program, so we've been excited for her to join!

Ashley, on the other hand, is not as excited. It's been a little rough for us trying to convince her that she's going to like school. She's very attached to me and is perfectly happy hanging out at home with Katelyn and Indira, but we feel that time has come for her to do her own thing, and learn to socialize with kids her age a little better.

We've tried to do everything possible to help her get ready for this big day, we've read books about school, watched TV shows, bought her a back back and a new outfit, and helped her get her stuff packed this morning.

This morning she put on her lilac pony outfit, and got her backpack ready. I assured her that I won't leave her there today. We drove to school, found the classroom, and as expected, she was my little cling on for the first half hour.. The student teachers tried really hard to get her to join the kids, while the adults were listening to the teacher explain how the program works, but she didn't want to go.
We managed to get her to sit in her chair and participate. Today they decorated backpacks to carry their stuff to school in, and make a little keepsake for first day of school. She kind of eased into it, but refused to wash her hands and have a snack when the time came. Overall, I think it went better then expected, now the real deal begins Monday, when we drop her off, turn around and leave. The program is four days a week, but only two hours, from 11-1. At this stage in the game I think it's perfect for Ashley. Keep our fingers crossed that she makes new friends and likes going there :)

Here are some pictures:

In the morning before we left the house:
She decided to bring her little kitty cat with her. We'll have to make sure we put him into her backpack next time, so that she's not holding it..


Doing a craft with student teacher's help:

Home grown watermelons!!

Fall is my favorite for many reasons, and one of them is eating freshly picked fruits and vegetables. This year we again grew watermelons in our garden. We didn't get as many, since it was a pretty dry summer, but nevertheless we got one round one and two long ones! They tasted amazing!! I already saved some seeds so that we can plant the same varieties again next year :)





I really love gardening. This weekend Katelyn and I spend about two hours in the garden pulling stuff that's done, and preparing the soil for the next round. Katelyn behaved pretty well, she kept herself busy eating raspberries and tomatoes, and then playing in the dirt.. Luckily she didn't put any of it in her mouth!

I planted more lettuce and radishes for the fall, and also some garlic. This is the first year that I'm trying to do garlic, let's see how it comes out.

A beautiful fall weekend :)

This weekend we spent some time decorating the house for fall. Ashley helped me put up the decorations, and she actually remembered some of them from last year, when she was only 2 1/2! We took some new pictures of her with the Pumpkin Man and the Black Cat, and I found some old pictures from two years ago when she was about 21 months old. You can tell how much taller she's gotten, I think she's going to be very tall.




The weather was beautiful this weekend, so Ashley and Katelyn ate their lunch outside on the deck. It was very cute :)

Human Baby Katelyn or KK the Monkey?

Katelyn has always been very active, even before she was born, she kicked inside my stomach so hard that I thought I was carrying a monkey and not a human baby. This week she discovered something new that she can entertain herself with..

She discovered that she likes standing on her head and likes looking at things upside down..



Ashley used to do the same thing, here's her picture from when she was 20 months:


The worst is that she now climbs up on the fireplace mantle and jumps off of it on the floor. She also figured out that she can do the same from Ashley's big girl bed.. It's kind of scary to watch, this child has no fear!! I pray that she doesn't get hurt one of these days.. this is new territory for us, because Ashley would never do any such thing..



Take II:
Watch for the kiss at the end. Katelyn runs up to me and blows me a kiss. She's so sweet :)

Katelyn's 15 Months Measurements

Weight: 22 lbs
Height: 33"
Head: 18 1/2"