Smashing Pumpkins

No, I'm not talking about the music group. I'm talking about a poor little jack-o-lantern getting knocked off the porch.

I was so proud of my pretty little jack-o-lantern, and I set it on the porch to where it could easily be seen from the road. Scott warned me that it wasn't safe there and would probably get knocked off. I didn't think so, and it sat there safely for an entire week. UNTIL..... Scott "accidentally" kicked it off onto the ground Sunday. Whether it was really an accident or not, I'll never know; but he has promised to get me another one. He better get it TODAY since tomorrow is Halloween.

Here's my poor little smashed pumpkin:

Incredible Pumpkin Cake

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to cook and bake. I would love to go to culinary school someday and get a job as a chef. In the meantime, I love making creative meals and desserts for my family.

Here is the recipe for an incredible pumpkin cake I made for my family. I took a picture of it to show you how cute it is. It tastes as good as it looks, too!

If any of you make this cake for your family, I hope you'll enjoy it as much as we did, and let me know about it since I love hearing of others' cooking successes.

1 pkg. (2-layer size) spice cake mix
12 oz. cream cheese, softened, divided
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
Few drops each: green, red, and yellow food colorings
1 cake ice cream cone

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Prepare cake mix as directed on package, reducing water to 1/2 cup and increasing oil to 1/2 cup. Add 4 oz. of the cream cheese, the pumpkin, cinnamon and ginger. Beat on medium speed until well blended. Pour into greased 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan.

BAKE 40 to 45 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 min. Remove from pan; cool completely on wire rack.

BEAT remaining 8 oz. of cream cheese and butter in small bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy after each addition. Remove 1/2 cup of the frosting; place in small bowl. Add green food coloring; stir until well blended. Spread half of the green frosting onto outside of ice cream cone; set aside. Set remaining green frosting aside for later use.

ADD red and yellow food colorings to remaining white frosting to tint it orange. Place cake, rounded-side up, on serving plate. Spread with orange frosting to resemble pumpkin. Invert ice cream cone in hole in top of cake for the "pumpkin's stem." Pipe the reserved green frosting in vertical lines down side of cake.

Fun Idea
Place black gumdrops on sheet of wax paper sprinkled with additional sugar. Use a rolling pin to thinly flatten each gumdrop, turning frequently to coat both sides with sugar. Cut into desired shapes with a sharp knife. Use to decorate frosted cake to resemble a jack-o'-lantern.



(I must give credit where credit is due. The cake was made from 2 recipes, changed a little and added together, from www.kraftfoods.com)

Jack-O-Lanterns

Sunday afternoon, we had so much fun as a family, carving pumpkins. Sam had asked if we could do it this year since he hadn't ever gotten to before. (I didn't realize until he mentioned it that my child was so deprived.) So, we carved two, a large one for us and a smaller one for my mother-in-law. (Sam had promised her one and was bound and determined to fulfill his promise.)

I carved the larger one, and Sam was supposed to carve the smaller one since it was a gift from him to Louise. Unfortunately, the smaller one was too tough for even me to care it, and Scott had to do the honors.



Here are pictures of the finished products:

Florida Vacation, Segment 3

This is my third and final installment about my Florida vacation. It sure has been drawn out, and for that I am sorry. This segment is all about food ...... yum yum!

Scott went on this trip determined to have gator tail so he could brag about it to his friends when we got back home. We asked around and were told that we could find some here:



So, we went there and tried it. Sam and I liked it okay, but Scott didn't care for it. I thought it tasted more or less like chicken .... really! It was cut in bite-size pieces, deep-fried, and served with ranch. I would eat it again.

Since we were on a pretty tight budget, we cooked over a campfire as much as possible. (After all, isn't that what you're supposed to do when camping out in a tent?) In my humble opinion, those were our best meals, too. You can't really beat food cooked over an open fire.

My favorite food I had while in Florida was the oranges. I bought a BIG bag of them, and I have been eating 2 or 3 (sometimes more) a day since we got home. (They're almost all gone now ... boohoo!) I almost didn't buy any because they didn't look good. The peel was green. BUT, the people selling them had samples, and once I tried one, I was hooked. WOW! They are quite possibly the sweetest oranges I've ever eaten, even if they do look strange.

Florida Vacation, Segment 2

Anastasia State Park, where we stayed while in Florida, is near St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city. We fell in love with St. Augustine. It's so nostalgic and quaint. The day Sam and I walked around there started out nice but ended up very stormy, and we got soaked! Thankfully, I was able to get some pictures first.

We took pictures of each other in front of the mill wheel at the grist mill.





Here are some pictures of historic St. George Street:








When it was pouring down the rain, Sam and I stood a while under the balcony in the last picture. Eventually, we decided that we were already so wet, a little more rain wouldn't hurt us. I had to buy us each a new T-shirt to change into because we were soaked. It was a really fun adventure, though!

Florida Vacation, Segment 1

In going to Florida for vacation, we each had different objectives. Scott went primarily for the Z-Car Convention going on in Daytona Beach, Sam went for the beach, and I went to see some dear friends in Jacksonville.

Today I will focus on the beach. It was Sam's first time to see the Atlantic. He had been to the Gulf of Mexico several times, but not the Atlantic Ocean. Here's a picture of him the first time he stepped into the ocean.



Unfortunately, while we were there, it was stormy and not good for playing on the beach. We spent just a little while playing in the water, which was disappointing to Sam. We still had a lot of fun together jumping in the waves.

Here are a couple more beach pictures:



We stayed in a tent in the campground at Anastasia State Park. It was a great adventure, especially Monday night when it was storming so badly we were afraid the tent may collapse at any moment. My mother-in-law noticed right away that I forgot to take any pictures of our campsite. (bad me!!) It was Scott's first time to camp out in a tent, and although he started out very skeptical, he enjoyed it as much as Sam and I.

Tomorrow, I'll tell about more our vacation.

Did you miss me?

I was gone to Florida last week on vacation and was excited about being able to get back on here yesterday to tell you all about it and share some pictures. However, I had a bombshell dropped in my lap yesterday and just didn't feel like getting on here after that. I still don't feel like it today, so I'll just wait until tomorrow for the vacation stories and pictures.

What was the bombshell, you ask? Well, remember how I was soooooooooo excited about getting to go full-time at my job? Yesterday, my boss informed me that she has changed her mind and really doesn't need me full-time, so after this week, I'll have to go back to half-days. (She still needs me full-time this week since the receptionist had surgery last week.)

What was her reason? Oh, she said business is too slow right now, but it's actually no slower than it was 5 weeks ago when she gave the go-ahead for me to go full-time. I think it's really because she doesn't want to have to buy a new computer.

So, now that I've paid for after-school care for Sam for the whole semester and arranged for some payments to be taken directly out of my checking account through December, I'm back to working just half-days and about to GO CRAZY!!!!!

I know it sounds like I'm totally down in the dumps right now, but really, I'm doing much better than I was this time yesterday. I know that something even better will come along, and I am keeping my eyes wide open looking for it!!!

Have a great day and tune in tomorrow for tales and pictures of my Florida vacation!