Baking Monday

On a chilly day it's so nice to warm up the house with the oven and smells of good food baking. Today I got a few things in the oven: bread, pumpkin muffins and chocolate chip cookies, my man's favourite. And just to get a jump on tomorrow's breakfast, I mixed the dry ingredients for pumpkin scones - yum!

The bread recipe is from my mom, just simple whole wheat with brown sugar and milk. It's got a slightly chewy texture and makes wonderful toast.

I used pumpkin from our Hallowe'en jack-o-lantern that I'd baked up and froze. If you're careful with the candle, there's no black from smoke. If there was, you could always scrape it off before baking the pumpkin. It's not quite as sweet as pie pumpkin but the flavour is still very good and works well in baking.

I have tried for years to make cookies like my man remembered from his mom, the best ever I've been told. I've used recipes from magazines, from friends and the same recipe that my mother-in-law gave me but never quite got it right. (They were all good, especially the ones made with butter.)

It comes down to the fat. When I used golden crisco (normally makes me cringe), the chocolate chip cookies were finally deemed perfect. And it is the recipe from the box, although if you're not so picky as to buy Crisco, use butter and the recipe found here. They are good cookies...

So much for good intentions...

Hallowe'en has come and gone and my plans were mostly just that, plans.

• I never did make a raven or try out the mole recipe
• My pictures from Hallowe'en didn't turn out - camera setting perhaps? I need work on light settings...
• I was such a slacker not posting what did get done...

On the up side:

We made sugar cookies in the shapes of witches,  pumpkins and ghosts

We had  a great time out at the pumpkin farm, getting apples and pumpkins, and looking at their Hallowe'en shop

I did make my boy his dragon costume and update my girl's vampire costume

We did decorate the front yard with a fresh grave, tombstone and candles, spiderwebs, etc.

well, onwards and upwards...

Not for the faint of heart

I had my own little horror show last night when I sought relief from the cough that has been keeping me awake for over a week. I don't normally take over-the-counter medications because of an underlying health issue but when desperate...

I went to the drug store to choose some cough syrup. I read lables. I tried to stay away from ones that would target a broad range of symptoms. I avoided non-drowsy formulas. Finally, I spotted on with a warning in big letters: May cause drowsiness. I grabbed it. Didn't really read the label any further...(to my subsequent peril!)

At bedtime, I prepared to take the medicine. I read the dosage. I found a medicine cup. I opened the bottle. I was overwhelmed by the smell. Oh my god! Oh my god! As I'm repeating that out loud, I hear chuckles from my man upstairs. Apparently he knew what I was in for. It smelled like a bottle of Vicks Vaporub. Only this was Buckley's Nighttime formula.

It may as well have been melted Vick's: thick, creamy white liquid smelling strongly of moth balls. The box proudly boasts that each teaspoon contains 22mg menthol. The non-medicinal ingredients include camphor and pine needle oil. The minimum dose is 2 teaspoons.

Was I really that desperate? Could I get it down without it coming right back up? Yes and yes as it turns out. I pinched my nose and got it down. I breathed out moth balls. I felt a little like one of the homeless men I knew when I worked at a shelter who had a preference for drinking Aqua Velva.

Oh please god make it work...

Well, I did get a full night sleep so I guess I'm happy about that. That said, I think it will take many more sleepless ones before I go for the Buckley's cure again. Oh the horror....

Favourite Hallowe'en Tales

When I'm laid low with a cold (like this week) I like to curl up with a mug of tea and a good book... or snuggle on the couch and watch a movie. This time I got to thinking what are the best horror flicks and books?

Let me qualify that by saying that I'm not into gore so slasher flicks like Hallowe'en and Friday the 13th need not apply. I like the Omen series though...perhaps because I watched the first one on a black & white set alone in my bedroom when I was a young teen. Scared the bejeezus out of me!



I like some good suspense, to get a little scared or creeped out. Here's my list; I'd love to hear what would be on yours!

Books/Authors

• Dracula by Bram Stoker
• Edgar Allen Poe
• Stephen King
• Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
• Flowers in the Attick by V.C. Andrews
• Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Films

1. The Shining
2. The Omen series
3. The Sixth Sense
4. The Amityville Horror
5. Seven
6. The Birds
7. The Changeling (1980 version)
8. Alien

Her Fearful Symmetry

Be careful what you wish for.

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is a perfect example of the perils of going to far to get what we want. With sympathetic characters and the evocative backdrop of London's Highgate Cemetary, Her Fearful Symmetry is a ghostly love story perfect for the season.

Between the gentle yet unrelenting exploration of human flaws and dysfunctional families, and the growing suspense, I found it hard to put down.

You can download the first chapter at Niffenegger's site. You can also see some beautiful pictures of monuments in Highgate Cemetary here. Gorgeous! I'd love to visit.

BTW. I also loved her book, The Time Traveller's Wife.

Night Marzen

A wet and cold ride out to Vankleek Hill struck gold at Beau's Brewery. I was able to pick up a couple jugs of their seasonal beer Night Marzen, a traditional Oktoberfest lager. Also able to fit into my saddle bags were one jug of Happy Pils and Sneaky, a dark wheat beer from their Wild Oats series. You can only get these at the brewery or if you're lucky on tap at a bar. Feeling very pleased with myself, I ignored my soaked hands and feet, and concentrated on riding safely back to Ottawa.

After a warm bath, getting dinner made and my girl to and from ballet, my man and I were able to cozy up on the couch and enjoy a glass. So much to celebrate: my longest solo ride yet, the long Thanksgiving weekend, and the kids being in bed!

Should you be local to Eastern Ontario and perhaps a beer drinker, I highly recommend Beau's. It's a family-run brewery that uses local spring water, 100% organic malts and hops, and the leftover mash is provided to a local farm for their organically raised pigs. You can enjoy excellent beer and feel good about how it's brewed. If a trip to Vankleek Hill is not in the books, their flagship brew, Lug Tread lagered ale, is available at the LCBO.

PS. The first time my man and I went to the Brewery, we were introduced to Night Marzen and told it's nick name was Night Mare - fits with the whole Hallowe'en theme :)

This little light of mine...

We found our latest Hallowe'en acquisition on a beautiful fall ride last week to Merrickville. It was at The Christmas Shop on St. Lawrence St. They are opening a room upstairs dedicated to Hallowe'en. We went in because the window display was so good. I'd love one of their tombstones. Somehow, at ~3 feet tall, they wouldn't fit in any of our saddle bags...

On our list of preparations are:

- make costumes
- bake scary treats
- stuff a raven
- learn to make mole
- set up a graveyard in the front yard

We plan on celebrating Day of the Dead too - I love those skulls. You can see one of my favourite designs here.