Pumpkin Carving

Tonight for FHE we did our traditional pumpkin carving. There's a pumpkin patch down the road from us where you can go and pick your own pumpkins. The pumpkin patch also had some cheap produce and delicious apple cider. It was way fun and Bailey had a great time too.



For carving the pumpkins, we found an awesome site, zombiepumpkins.com, where you can get all sorts of patterns. We didn't have special tools or anything, which I really think make a huge difference. I think next year we'll invest in some specialized tools.

Can you guess what we carved?



Happy Halloween Everybody!!

Car Seat Covers

This year for the Festival of Trees, one of our projects is to make car seat covers. I got the idea from my friend Abby who made me one for Bailey and I think it was one of the greatest gifts we got. It keeps out the sun, the cold, and hopefully the germs. I decided to make some for friends in addition the ones I made for Festival and took pictures along the way for those who want to try it out. I'm not a seamstress my any means so if I can make it work, pretty much anyone can do it.

The supplies you'll need include:

2 yards of fabric, one yard for the top and a corresponding yard for the underside
1 - 2 yards of grosgrain ribbon
(Before I knew the difference between ribbons I bought some of the silky stuff. It worked okay, but grosgrain worked better). If you are just going to tie knots around the carseat handle you'll only need one yard of ribbon, but if you want to tie bows you'll need closer to two yards.
a lighter to burn the ends of the ribbon to prevent fraying
thread
scissors
iron
and of course a sewing machine

Iron both pieces of fabric first then lay the fabric flat with both right sides facing each other.


I used the car seat cover I already have as a pattern and traced it with chalk.
(Because you're reading these directions I assume you don't already have a carseat cover to use as a pattern. hehe. Here's a simple pattern to help you out with the dimensions).



After tracing the pattern, pin all the way around the chalk outline and a few in the middle to keep the fabric in place.

Sew along the chalk line leaving about a 4 - 5 inch opening to turn the fabric right side out.


Cut off the excess fabric around the edge leaving about a half inch of fabric from the seam.
Turn the fabric right side out and iron the edges to make them flat and to create a nice edge. Be sure to push to fabric to the edge. And the place you left the 4 - 5 inch hold, tuck in both sides, iron it, and then pin.

Sew around the entire cover about a 1/4" from the edge. I used the right edge of the pedal as my guide.


On this particular cover I used ribbon to attach the cover to the carseat. I've also seen strips of fabric with velcro attached. The strips would require two pieces of fabric each 10" x 4". Use whatever fits your fancy.
I used one yard of ribbon cut in half for this cover, which makes each piece of ribbon about 18 1/2" long. If you want to be able to tie a bow around the handles of the car seat rather than a knot, you'll need about double that or a total of 2 yards of ribbon. It's just whatever you prefer.

Burn the edges of the ribbon to prevent it from fraying.

To position the ribbon, measure 12" in from the edge and 18" from the top of the cover on both sides and put a small chalk X.

Center both pieces of ribbon over the X and pin them in place.

Sew a square with an X through it to secure the ribbon to the cover.

Ta da. There you have it.
And here's the finished product.


I folded mine up so the ribbons could be used to tie up the cover like a little package. Cute huh!?

Let me know if I didn't explain something very well and I'll try to explain it better.

Have fun and I would love to hear how your own project goes.

And I just have to add that my daughter was very impressed at my work :).

Chicken Thai Crunch Salad

We had Zane and Brianna over for dinner and I tried out a new recipe. It was pretty tasty if you want to try it out. I didn't put in the wantons or bean threads, but it was great without them.

Thanks for coming and hanging out guys. We had a great time.



Lime-Cilantro Dressing:
1/2 Cup vegetable oil 1/4 Cup rice vinegar 1/2 Cup coarsely chopped cilantro 1/4 Cup minced red bell pepper 1/4 Cup honey 4 Teaspoons Dijon mustard 2 Teaspoons sesame oil 2 Teaspoons lime juice 2 Cloves garlic Dash salt Dash ground black pepper

Spicy Peanut Sauce:
1/2 Cup crunchy peanut butter 6 Tablespoons hoisin sauce 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar 2 Tablespoons light brown sugar 1 Tablespoon chili sauce (or chili-garlic sauce) 1 Teaspoon sesame oil 1/2 Teaspoon minced ginger 1/2 Cup water

4 Small skinless chicken breast fillets

Crispy Wontons and Bean Threads:
2 to 3 cups vegetable oil or vegetable shortening 8 wonton wrappers handful bean threads

Salad:
1 Cup cooked edamame 1 Cup lightly salted cocktail peanuts 12 Cups chopped napa cabbage, chopped (1 large head) 2 Cups thinly sliced red cabbage 2 Cups shredded or julienned carrot 1 Cup julienned cucumber 4 green onions, chopped (green part only)

Lime-Cilantro Dressing:
Combine all ingredients in a blender on high speed for 20 seconds, or until cilantro is chopped fine, but not pureed. Cover and chill.

Spicy Peanut Sauce:
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium/low heat. Heat until sauce is hot, but not boiling, and sugar is dissolved. Pour mixture into a blender and blend for about 20 seconds. Cover and chill.

Chicken Breasts:
Flatten chicken breasts by covering them with plastic wrap and pounding them thin with a kitchen mallet. Rub oil on each breast, sprinkle each with a little salt and pepper, and grill for 3 to 4 minutes per side or until done. Wrap and chill the cooked chicken.

Crispy Wontons and Bean Threads:
Heat 2 cups of vegetable shortening or oil in a medium saucepan to 375 degrees. Slice a stack of 8 wonton wrappers into 1/4-inch wide strips. Slice those strips in half. Fry them in hot oil for about 30 seconds or until light brown Drain on paper towels.

Fry beans threads in hot on "for about 10 seconds or until they float to the top of the oil. Drain on paper towels.

Edmane and Toasted Peanuts:
Cook edmame following the directions on the package. If the soybeans are in the pods, remove them and chill the beans after they have cooked. Toast the peanuts by heating them up in a skillet over medium-low heat for 3 to 4 minutes or just until starting to brown. Immediately remove them from the heat so that they don't burn.

For Each Salad:
Combine 3 cups napa cabbage, 1/2 cup red cabbage, 1/2 cup carrot, 1/4 cup cucumber, 1/4 cup edamame, 1/4 cup toasted peanuts, 1/4 cup crispy wontons, and a couple tablespoons of chopped green onion in a large bowl. Thinly slice a cold chicken breast into bite-size pieces and add it to the salad. Pour 4 to 5 tablespoons of cilantro-lime dressing over the salad and toss well. Carefully pour tossed salad onto a serving plate. Sprinkle about 1/2 cup crispy bean threads on top of the salad. Spoon spicy peanut sauce into a squirt bottle and squirt the sauce in a sweeping motion over the top of the salad. repeat for remaining salads.

Enjoy!

Lake Powell

We took our annual trip to Lake Powell during the third week of September. We usually go in July or August and sweat to death in the sun and heat, but this trip was a little chillier, but it was okay to hang out in swimsuits and sweatshirts. We were trying to decide if we should take Bailey or leave her with Nana Graybill. We decided to take her and it was a really good time. She was so chill and loved the boat. Well... I don't know if she loved it, but she was very relaxed falling asleep every time we went for a ride.

I had a hard time enjoying the temperature of the water and I figured she would feel the same way so we opted to try it out for a short photo op. You can see how it turned out.


Maybe this was the cause for all the tears. I feel the same way when I have to wear my swimming suit.


Here are some more shots from the trip.

Paige got back from her mission back in August from Mesa, Arizona.

Grandpa taught Taygen how to drive the houseboat. Way to go Tayg!


Bailey looked so cute in her new life jacket all bundled up.

Bailey and her daddy.