Happy Homemaker Monday - October 18

The weather in my neck of the woods:
Woke up this morning to dark skies and the sky covered in dark clouds.  Within 10 minutes they were all gone and we're back to sunny skies....blech.


Things that make me happy:
Flavored coffee, I know it sounds lame but really, I love it.


Book I'm reading:
Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlaine Harries
Don't Kiss Him Goodbye by Sandra Byrd (Review)
America's Prophet by Bruce Feiler (Review)


What's on my TV today:
Episode 3 of Downton Abbey



On the menu for dinner:
Beef Stew, homemade bread

On my To Do List:
Finish off the Laundry
Bathrooms


New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:
Soft Pretzels

In the craft basket:

Granny Stripe Crochet Blanket, I've been making some progress on that one, will have to take a picture to show you all

Looking forward to this week:
Parent/Teacher Conferences


Tips and Tricks:
Establish a command center. Designate one location (usually the kitchen) for daily mail, calendar, bulletin board, car keys, school papers, grocery lists, etc. Every family member should have a shelf for messages and an out box or folder to deal with clutter on the spot.


My favorite blog post this week:
Didn't do blog reading last week, had no time.  Hoping to go around today and see what I've missed.


Blog Hopping (a new discovered blog you would like to share with the readers):
Slicelicious - My friend Jacki who I went to school with in South Africa, has just started a blog.  She moved to the States about 4 years ago :)  She is amazing with cakes, you should see some of the stuff she makes, I only wish I wasn't so scared of fondant LOL


No words needed (favorite photo or picture, yours or others you want to share):

Lesson learned the past few days:
That my life is not perfect.  I often get emails asking me if I really am as happy as I come across, and yes for the most part I truly am, I feel that I've been blessed immensely.  But I also have my bad days, I also have times when I break down, when I feel run down or taken for granted, unappreciated.  It's part of life.  What I've learned is that I'm not as strong as I think I am and that everyone needs to vent and everyone needs a good cry once in a while, it doesn't make you weak, it makes you NORMAL.


On my mind:
Halloween


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Proverbs 18:21

Enjoying Autumn!

It's so hard to act like it's autumn when everything around me points to Summer.

The heat, the green trees, the heat.....the heat and the heat.  HA!

Oh I've missed blogging, I feel like I'm on this constant rollercoaster going full speed with twists and turns and no way to get out, no matter how much I try.  I need to slow down, no really, I HAVE to slow down because I can feel myself running out of steam.

So I decided to just stop, ignore the extra things I throw into my life and just stick to the basics which really are just enough to keep me and my family content.

Like this picture below, do you know that I could happily live in that place?  Of course my husband thinks I'm crazy LOL   See, simple!

We're simple folk, we don't like elaborate things, we're pretty content just being us which on a given day could be anything from just hanging out doing our own things, being alone in our thoughts, or, doing something together like decorating the outside for the season.

You may think that's ridiculous, but really it's not, it's a way of spending time together, of having some good belly laughs, of catching up on our lives and what is going on, our thoughts and wants etc.

Our house is bursting with the anticipation of Halloween, there's costumes and decorations and graveyards outside and pumpkins inside and the scents of Fall wafting through the house.  It's pure joy for me, I am content.

So let's see, I have a few giveaways coming up on the blog, lots of goodies to giveaway so be sure to keep an eye out.  I have book reviews and cooking reviews and I'm super excited for one I'm doing next weekend, but I won't say much more on this, just know that I have some cute things to giveaway which would make great Christmas gifts.

But back to Halloween, I love this time of the year and I've been totally indulging in all the scary shows and movies on TV.  What about you, do you like a good scary movie?  And am I the only one who thinks that they just don't make scary movies like they used to?

Here's a list of spooky shows and movies you can catch on your TV's this month.


All Month Long

• ABC Family - 13 Nights of Halloween
• AMC - Fearfest
• Disney Channel - October Takeover
• Hallmark - Countdown to Halloween
• Syfy - 31 Days of Halloween

October 19

• NBC Parenthood - "Orange Alert"

October 25

• NBC Chuck - "Chuck vs. The Aisle of Terror"

October 26

• FOX Glee - "Rocky Horror Glee Show"
• FOX Raising Hope - "Happy Halloween"/"Family Secrets" (one-hour episode)

 
October 27

• ABC The Middle - "Halloween Time"
• ABC Better With You - "Better with Halloween"
• ABC Modern Family - "Halloween"
• ABC Cougar Town - "You Don't Know How it Feels"

October 28

• ABC It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• NBC Community - "Epidemiology"
• NBC The Office - "Costume Contest"
• NBC Outsourced - "Bolloween"
• NBC Scared Shrekless

October 31

• ABC America's Funniest Home Videos - "Episode 2105"
• ABC Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - "Oregon School for the Deaf"
• ABC Desperate Housewives - "Excited and Scared"
• AMC The Walking Dead - "Dead Man's Identity"

 
November 7

• FOX The Simpsons - "Treehouse of Horror XXI"
• FOX The Cleveland Show - "It's the Great Pancake, Cleveland Brown"
• FOX Family Guy - "Halloween on Spooner Street"
• FOX American Dad! - "Best Little Horror House in Langley Falls"

And with that I'm out, I have housework to catch up on and then I'm going to sit down with a big bowl of popcorn, close the curtains, make the house nice and dark and watch some scary stuff.

CVS Flag Review and Giveaway!

I was contacted by a representative of CVS Flags and asked if I would be willing to do a review and a giveaway on my blog. 

CVS is a wholesale flag distributor that has been around for over 30 years. In addition to great customer service, all of the flags are made right here in the USA.

 

 I received by Air Force Flag in the mail, and immediately opened it up.  One thing with flags, I always have to make sure that they are made right, I look at the stitching and the fabric and want to be certain that it won't fall apart on me.  I was happy to note that the flags from CVS Flags are of great quality, bright and colorful.

I handed it to my hubby and you should have seen the smile on his face, this is his first Air Force Flag and he's been in for 19 years so you can imagine his surprise and joy.  With retirement just around the corner, this will make a wonderful keepsake.

I went to the CVS Flags site and looked around, needless to say I was there for quite a while because they have a huge selection of flags, besides the US and military flags they also have state flags, world flags, sports flags, and even city flags.......and one of the great things, the prices are really affordable.

But judge for yourself because the wonderful folks at CVS Flags have offered to send one of my readers their very own 3x5 Military Flags or a traditional US Flag, whichever you prefer. 

They would make a great Christmas gift for a military member.  They DO ship to APO addresses to again, this would be a wonderful gift for the troops.

Here's what I need you to do:

- Leave me a comment, PLEASE make sure you include an email address so I can contact you if you win.

- Let me know which flag you would like, either a military (what branch) or the US flag, and who it's for.

The contest will be open to all US residents until Sunday, 24th of October at 12am Pacific.  I will then use Random.org to pick a winner.  You will have 2 days after I notify you to claim your prize or I will have to pick a different winner.  Good Luck and feel free to let your friends know about the giveaway.

I received a flag from CVS Flags for the purpose of a review and giveaway.  All opinions are mine alone.

Winner of Dewey's Nine Lives

Thank you all for entering the contest.  I used Random.org to get the winner and it came up with comment #10...Mel.

Congratulations Mel, I will be contacting you shortly to get your address.

Cooking Thursday - October 14

Won't you join me and share with us one of your new recipes, or an old family favorite, you can even throw in a recipe for homemade soaps or detergents (just remember to specify).

For the guidelines, you can go here.

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Soft Pretzels

Printer-Friendly Version

Ingredients:
For the dough:
1½ cups warm water (110-115° F)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. kosher salt
2¼ tsp. instant yeast
22 oz. all-purpose flour (about 4½ cups)
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
Vegetable oil, for greasing the bowl

For finishing:
Cooking spray
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 egg yolk beaten with 1 tbsp. water
Pretzel (or kosher) salt


Directions:
To make the dough, combine the water, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Mix on low speed to dissolve the yeast.  Add in the flour and melted butter and mix just until the dough comes together.  Switch to the dough hook and knead on medium speed until the dough is smooth and clears the sides of the bowl, about 5 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a bowl lightly greased with vegetable oil, turning once to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place, about 50-55 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 450° F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and spray lightly with cooking spray.  Bring the water and baking soda to a boil in a large saucepan or stockpot.

In the meantime, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces.  Working with one piece at a time, roll a segment out into a 24-inch long rope.

Make a U-shape with the rope and holding the ends of the rope…cross them over each other and onto the bottom of the U-shape in order to form the shape of a pretzel.

 Place onto the parchment lined baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 or 2 at a time, for 30 seconds.  Remove from the water with a slotted skimmer and return to the baking sheet.  Once all the pretzels have been boiled, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle lightly with salt.  Bake in the preheated oven until dark golden brown, about 12-14 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.