Cluck cluck oink.

It finally happened! I met my chickie! Everyone.... meet Marti (aka 1 of 2 chickens that looked identical; I'm going with yes, this is her.)

Thank you, Brad and Stephanie, for my lovely feather styling!

Superchickie.

Last week, Sarah M. and I headed out to the farm for the last volunteer day of the year. Much to my delight, cleaning the chicken coop was one of the choose-able tasks. Sign me up! (Aside from chickens, yeah!, chicken poop seemed like the least offensive poop available.) We scooped poop, spread some hay, collected eggs, then, I must confess... we hard-boiled the eggs and... fed them back to the chickens. EW! But... They seemed to love it.

Cannibal Chickens in the Avocado Jungle of Death

When we weren't busy with the chickens, we, of course, smooshed as many of the animals as possible. A friendly old man gave us a little tour and even took us right in with the giant pigs.

Tallulah likes belly rubs.

We thought for sure the giant pigs would eat us. But no, they're lovers!

This potbelly is on a diet.

Goats are cute.

Let the spooky begin.

I couldn't resist and pulled out the Halloween decorations on Monday. My dad thought this was hilarious. "Don't you get sick of looking at that stuff?" Um, clearly he does not know me very well. :) Mostly the same stuff from last year, but it still makes me so happy.

I still love my Medusa best.

We had an amusing casualty after Wednesday's windstorm.

For those not here... It's still mostly been a rainy fall. (It's raining again!) But we've had a few beautiful days here and there. Haven't ventured out anywhere too scenic yet, but I absolutely adore the bright red our tree out front turns.

To get in the fall spirit, I also made up some pumpkin bites yesterday. They're kind of like bread in cookie form.... fluffy, sweet, delicious! And just maybe I used an extra 1/3 cup of chocolate chips. And just maybe I had one for dessert after breakfast this morning.

In unrelated news, I joined Lisa for her first ever trip to the Treasure Mart yesterday. I've just recently re-discovered it myself again after a childhood of torturous visits (seriously? what kid wants to go there? that's just mean!). We giggled over the ridiculous (a green glass fu manchu bedside water carafe), oohed and ahh'd over the old-school kitchen pots, and found some Halloween costume accoutrement. And I picked up a new set for my growing chickie s&p collection!

Cutest ever.

Birthday excursion.

Mr. George's second birthday outing to Pet Supplies Plus and Project Grow Gardens... A pictorial. :)





* of course Heidi stole George's corn bone.

Terrific twos.

It still makes me cry to think of how Georgie came to us. The state he was in and how little and weak he was. But he never gave up. The second that little guy could stand up, he was up, ready to go. He ate like a piggie, drank his water -- he WANTED to make it. And he did. Two years later, he's strong, smart, sweet, a little bit crazy, but the rest makes up for it. There's nothing better than Saturday mornings when Georgie decides to grace us with his presence on the bed and he settles in for a little mom and dad snuggle. Watching him stretch and get cozy (even when I end up getting punched in the face) makes it all worth it.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Mr. Porge!

Our little teddy bear baby.

"Exactly who is this little person again?"

Our big strong man.

Cheesy update.

I just remade the Food Network Magazine lightened-up mac and cheese (I made it for the first time a few weeks ago)... and I was right about the cheese! This time I used all sharp cheddar instead of whatever random shredded mix I used before and no muenster (I would have used some -- I just didn't happen to have any). Just as ooey gooey, and, this time, it tasted like cheese! Glorious cheese! So note: If you make this recipe, listen to the instructions and use sharp cheddar!

Another note: I didn't make any cauliflower puree to add in, just because I didn't have any. The taste was exactly the same, as was the consistency. So this is obviously just added to get some extra nutritional goodness in there. Given the hassle, I'd rather eat a few extra carrots with my meal.

Gimmie advice.

Does anyone have an awesome food processor they love??

Tea party.

Just thought I would share my delicious evening snack with you. A little earl gray tea (thanks, Sarah!), complemented by Rachel's homemade lavender sauce (yum!). Paired with a DELICIOUS pumpkin cupcake from Zingerman's. I'm not a huge fan of Zing's cupcakes (I don't like many of their frostings), but this was tasty as can be (and filled with caramely goodness). Stay warm tonight, friends!

Falling for fall.

Fall is lovely. It really is. And I've had a special request from my no. 1 west coast fan for some images of the season. Just a few for now, but I'll be sure to keep 'em coming! (Unfortunately, it's been nothing but rain for days.)

Rain rain and more rain; first pumpkins of the year; turning the heat on (ick!); can anyone resist spooky cereal?

Once the weather turns cold, you start thinking about winter meals. Earlier this week I was mulling over dinner menus, and I decided to throw together a gratin with the potatoes I keep forgetting I have in my cupboard. I've never really made a gratin, so I used this Smitten Kitchen recipe as a guideline.

Who needs a mandoline? That's right. Me.

I decided on a goat cheese center.
I also used lots of sage.

And cream instead of milk and butter.

I cooked the gratin for 30 minutes before pulling it out to give it a little smoosh. That 30 minutes, and the following 30, were delicious torture. The smell was amazing. I credit the goat cheese.

Smoosh.

Done. Finally time to eat!

Paired with a salad to offset the cheese and cream.

Killed it.

As is slightly unusual for me, for a first-time recipe, I loved this. And I wouldn't change a thing, recipe wise. I knew it was just for me and Brad, and we didn't need leftovers for his lunch, so I made it on the thin size (and was sick of slicing potatoes). The finished gratin only had three layers of potatoes and, as you can see, we ate almost the entire thing in one sitting. This could easily be doubled, or tripled, to make a thicker, more substantial dish. I have many memories of eating scalloped potatoes growing up, and I don't know why cheesy potatoes have never really made it into my dinner repertoire. I think I need to change that.

PS. I've spent the past month or so working on a top-secret knitting project for Melissa's big 30th bday. A matching ivory set of slouchy beret and loopy scarf. Great projects for me because they forced me to learn new things (slip stitch, bind off) and both were fun to make -- even when I had to buy different yarn and do half-assed math to figure out how to reformulate the scarf pattern. I finally got to deliver her gift last night, and I think she looks lovely in her new hat (the scarf is the same color and is a connecting loop that twists and fits twice around the neck).

PSS. This post was written from the comfort of my Snuggie. Yeah, you heard me.

It's a 30 party.

Happy 30th Bday to the lovely Melissa!!!

I think this is how she feels about turning 30...

But I want to assure her, she's just as amazing at 30 as she was at 29. And take it from me, there's still fun to be had after 30!

Remember?