10/7/10 More Signs of Fall

Hearty crockpot meals...this is Chicken Sweet Potato Stew (shout out to Lap-Bander Lena at "Fat Frog Diary" for this recipe)...yes, I cooked it (Don't look so shocked...and yank up that chin)...I had no choice...DH is in Seattle all week, so it was either cook or have him come home to dried up, emaciated kids (DS2 threatens to call Children's Services after a few days if I don't feed him something besides frozen pizzas LOL...and that skinny boy comes home starving!)...besides, crockpots are anti-cooking for we folks that are much too creative to cook. I secretly want to be one of those cooks who can throw in a pinch of this and a dash of that, but getting off-recipe is all too tempting for we creative ones and has never worked out too well for me...guess you have to actually learn what you're doing before you get to that point and there's not enough appreciation for the time spent to hold my attention to learn it all (eg. I spend all day cooking for that Thanksgiving meal and they scarf it down in 15 minutes...I always make them sit and just look at it for a minute...drives them nuts.). I'd be really good as a 'presentation chef'...it always looks just beautiful...as long as you don't have to actually eat it. Maybe I'll try taking more pictures when I cook before they eat it...food porn...that's why I love art...lasts forever...I'm off subject again, aren't I? OMG this smelled SO good cooking (nutmeg and cinnamon); it just smells like Fall...and my kids LOVED it (even asked to have it again tonight instead of freezing the leftovers...that NEVER happens). I love it when I actually use things from my herb garden. I picked my fresh basil from the garden for this stew, you add it at the end...YUM!

Foyer Table with DS2's gourds he grew.

Fall smelling candles, more gourds he grew, and indian corn here and there.

Front door is bedazzled...I always get at least one kid every Halloween night who tries to take one of my fake apples out of that basket, thinking they're what I'm giving out (good thing they're glue gunned in or I'd be making some kid choke).

Fall boots in brown and black...can I just say these are the first boots (other than ankle ones) that my calves have fit into in years! I'm still on the hunt for some spiky ankle boots.

Sweaters have replaced tank tops in the closet, and leggings and jeggings have replaced shorts and Capri's (oh, and the black boots fold over...maybe I'm too old for the thigh highs?...but I thought they might be OK since they're flats and not the spiked-I-still-think-I'm-20 ones, like DD bought. Or maybe I should only wear them folded?).
YAY Fall!