Happy Halloween!!

Let the carving commence!

Cheers! 

What Tha Yurt?

Yurt: A yurt is a portable, bent wood-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by Turick nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. The structure comprises a crown or compression wheel (tüýnük) usually steam bent supported by roof ribs which are bent down at the end where they meet the lattice wall (again steam bent).~thank you Wikipedia.

I have decided that I want a Yurt. Forget camping with a tent. Well, I've never actually been camping in a tent other than the back yard of my grandparents farm. But that was totally camping, with a tent and everything and coyotes howling in the distance. But camping in a tent? You've got to be kidding after I have discovered the Yurt. Not only is the name incredibly awesome to vocalize but, most importantly, these things are freaking awesome! Talk about camping in luxury, which is my style of camping. Some people actually have more stable Yurts as their homes or even vacation homes but others have portable Yurts for camping or even greenhouses in their backyards! Watch out hubs, we are going to end up with a Yurt for every purpose! 

First of all you need a Yurt frame such as these examples. I am fascinated. The hubs just inherited some tools from my late uncle. I'm thinking its prime time to put him to work with those tools so he can make a nice little frame for me. He can take care of the exterior and just leave the interior to me. 

I've found the more permanent vacation home types have the nice wood floor. The Yurts for camping don't but I can totally live with that.

Various finished Yurts suitable for camping and/or vacationing: 

The interior of the Yurt:

Interested in purchasing a Yurt? Yep same here. I've done some research for you. They are dang expensive so just keep that tucked away in your mind. Here are a couple neat Yurt sellers:

Colorado Yurt Company

Pacific Yurts

Laurel Nest Yurts

Green Alpaca Yurts

Camping in a Yurt? Why I think I will if I do say so myself!

Cheers! 

It's Pumpkin Time!

I went to Central Market after work on Friday to pick up a dinner for two for the hubs and me. I felt like I was walking into a pumpkin wonderland. I was almost knocked over with fall decorating ideas. Pumpkins of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Then, Fall set in. Is it really Fall? I managed to survive suffering thorough 100 plus degrees for the 33rd year in my life? The torture, why do I do it? I do love my town but the heat can take a hike. But, Fall is finally here. Ah, my favorite time of year. Well, any time of year other than Summer is my favorite in Texas but Fall is numero uno. This time of year means pumpkin everything, including waffles with a side of leftover turkey sausage from yesterday. Hello pumpkin waffles...yes please.

Cheers! 

Yummy Lunch Wonderful Weather

Finally! Texas has cooled off! I am doing my happy dance now. Plus, not only has it cooled off it has been rainy as well. Cool rainy weather...I couldn't ask for more! This kind of weather makes me motivated to be a bit more creative...in the craft room and the kitchen! So, I perused my new issue of cooking light and found a great recipe for Italian sausage hoagies. It was delish and plenty was left over for dinner so I didn't have to cook twice in one day. I also spray painted my front porch furniture. I love it so far. I have a few more things to do before I post pictures. Living the good life today folks. 

Cheers! 

Roasting Some Chiles!

This is the time of year for Hatch Chiles. Yum! I look forward to it every year. Central Market has a festival with a plethora of fresh Chiles for your roasting pleasure. Plus, they sell just about anything Hatch! My favorite is the Hatch Chile brownie and Hatch Chile scones. OMG. Oh, wait...also the Hatch Chile crab cake and Hatch Chile fajita wrap. Obviously I have more than one favorite. So, in order to enjoy my love of Hatch Chiles throughout the year I bought about 30 of them to roast and freeze. Roasting peppers is very easy peasy.

How to roast Hatch Chiles (any just about any other Chile pepper you want):

Place your Chiles directly on a preheated grill

Roast the Chiles until the skin begins to blister then turn. Continue to roast until all sides are blistered

Place in a large zip lock bag and seal. Leave the peppers in the bag for about 5 minutes. This process helps the skin to come off. Open the bag and place the peppers, one at a time, under cold running water and peel off the skin. You may want to wear gloves depending on how hot (spicy hot) your peppers are because your skin may be burned from the acidity of the pepper.

Once you have peeled your pepper you can put it in the freezer whole to preserve or you can slice and dice and serve!

If you choose to can your peppers  you will need to use a pressure canner so you don't succumb to food poisoning a few months down the line when you decide to eat them. 

Cheers!!

Smoothie Time

I've been trying to be as healthy as I can be for the past several years now. I enjoy being healthy and when I get off track I can certainly tell...and yes, I've been a bit off track lately. So, off to the market I went for a restock of my usual healthy items. About a year and a half ago my uncle, who is super insanely healthy it is just ridiculous (I only say that because I am jelly), turned me on to wheatgrass powder. Back in the day when I worked at a little coffee shop, we actually juiced wheatgrass, so I was already familiar with it. Since I don't have a backyard full of wheat grass or a wheat grass juicer...I opted for the powder and have been drinking it since. It really does make a difference. I have more natural energy, not like when I've had too much caffeine and feel like I'm going to jump out of my skin. It also gives my immune system s huge boost and helps get rid of any toxins that may be lurking about from that mexican food I had the other day. So, I decided to get creative with my wheatgrass and made smoothie. It's was yum!

You can get wheatgrass powder from your local health food store. I get mine from Sprouts.

Just blend half a banana, one cup of apple juice (I used a little less), one scoop of wheatgrass, and 1/4 cup of berries. Blend together and there you have it!

Cheers! 

Macrame

Several weeks ago I got together with friends for a craft night. It was so much fun! We each worked on a project and had a few cocktails to boot. My project was to start working on knitting another pair of socks but for some reason I just could not get it together. I think I am going to have to start over. To me, socks are so hard to get started but when I get them going...it is easy breezy. But, during a craft break we sad on the front porch and I notice the cutest planters hanging. I asked about it was the reply was "Macrame". It was adorbs. She had planters handing in a macrame plant hanger which she macrame'd herself. So yes people...I had to do it to.I found a great tutorial here. Beware, once you get started you will want to macrame everything. I feel that there will be many hand macrame'd gifts for Christmas in the future. I have had these really cute pots that I picked up on sale from Anthropologie several months back. They were perfect for this project!