Custom Costumes.....

So now the big day has passed, here's some quick costume updates.

A good friend has a daughter who wanted to be a Bat for Halloween. 

But ...not just ANY bat.

A Pink Bat.

A Pink...Sparkly....Bat.

The back.....

Lined with hot pink satin. For some reason it looks more red in this light. It was super cute on.

Omg. The cute little ears.

Zip ties to stabilize but also stay flexible for the 'veins' of the wings

Elastic sparkly armbands for the all important "over the coat" fit

Boo! Catching UP

Did I scare ya? Did I?

LOL

I love Halloween. I'm just a big kid really.

So you know that saying "When it Rains, it Pours..."? 

Yeah that was October for me....

Here's some catching up done in photos!

My Shopper's Drug Mart Flu Shot Campaign photos are everywhere!

Some stress baking led to Sallys' Baking Addiction Layered Banana Cake

OMG. Full disclosure this is YUMMY AND I ate half the frosting that's why this cake is naked.

One day in particular was rough at the office.

Who wants to do 250 pay out cheques?!

A terrible storm blew through and this was the end result.

It was the most vibrant rainbow I've ever seen.

Fall is here! Stocking up on essentials while cheap....veggie lasagna, shells and more.

3/4 way done my first sweater!

I knew it was time to put on the duvet when 3 quilts and 3 cats still wasn't warm enough.

A small car accident wrecked my car. :( So sad. Best car ever.

Costume I made for a Wild West Murder Mystery.....

Corn fields at sunset...no filter!

ummmmmm okay????

What's happening in your world?

Heat Wave!

What a crazy weather week we've had! 

Not one day under 30* Celcius....and nearing 40 with the humidity...in SEPTEMBER!

Now, I'm not complaining...I love the warm weather and I love summer. 

But...I've been battling some sort of crud and feel like I've been hit by a truck. Yuck.

So...confined to the house I've been knitting up a storm.

Most projects will be in my Shop (link above) and you can see more photos of them there.

And any scarf/cowl can be customized with colours or styles...let me know!

Muffin helps by supervising and keeping the birds away.

Vamp keeps a watchful eye from the catnip patch.

Weekend Wanderings

Like everyone else with loved ones in Florida I was glued to the TV watching coverage of Hurricane Irma.

 But I had to get some sewing done. And of course, my serger started to misbehave. Grr. Is anything worse than threading and rethreading and it still not working??? 

GAAAAAAH!!!! 

A 5:30 run to the fabric store for new needles. Proper ones that fit. Solved all my problems. I felt so dumb when I realized I'd put the wrong ones in....le sigh....spent my full Sat in the sewing room.

 Sunday....absolutely gorgeous out...and  because it was such a beautiful day, I went out and about.

I love to walk down through our City Hall, below are the photos from their gardens. Enjoy!

Stress Baking

Anyone else do this?

It's so overwhelming....everything that's going on and it's sometimes SO negative.

It might not be happening in  your back yard; but for me , the thought that my many friend & family are being affected...well, the feeling of helplessness is pretty hard sometimes. 

 So... I stress bake. One of my favourite movies is "Julie & Julia" ...and there is a scene

where Julie is baking chocolate cream pie, and says to her husband:

“You know what I love about cooking? I love that after a day when nothing is sure and when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. That’s such a comfort.“

Photo: NYtimes

YAS. This.

And I know that if I cream butter and sugar, add eggs, flour and chocolate chips, that I can share these cookies and make someones day better and say "yum."

My go-to comfort baking ??

Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

What could be better'n that??

oh.....I don't know....

TEN MINUTE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!!!

But wait, there's more?

TEN MINUTE SALTED CARAMEL CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!

STUFFED WITH ROLOS!

Ohhhh yeah.

So... I love me my chocolate chip cookies. And I love caramel. And salt.

Combining them all = superterficiciouswonderfulyummmmm.

(that's a word.)

So I have two amazing women whose blogs I follow:

Ashton @ Something Swanky

and Sally @ Sallys Baking Addiction.

If you haven't seen these two ladies in action...just...wow. 

Go check them out now. 

I combined both their recipes, adjusted the cooking time..and...voila.

Here is my adaptation & tweaking of their recipes to create 

 Ten Minute Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip 

Cookies!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter, cold, cut up into quarters

3/4 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 large eggs, slightly beaten - beat by hand in small bowl 

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 Teaspoon of salt (reduce this to half tsp if you'd rather less salty)

1.5 cups Mini chocolate chips

1 pkg of MINI Rolos

Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Melt the butter in a large microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds, check and do again for another 10-15 seconds.. You don't want it completely liquid, more gooey and soft.

Use a spatula to stir in the sugars. Add vanilla and eggs and mix well.

Combine dry ingredients together and stir into the butter and sugar mixture until dough forms.

Stir in chips.

Now, make a ball with approx 1.5 tbsp of dough. Place on baking sheet, and gently press 2 mini rolos into middle.

Do not push all the way to bottom! Just do about half way.

Make a 'lid' with a bit more dough and make sure edges are pinched closed.

Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, gently pressing into top.

Place each about 2 inches apart.

Bake for 9 minutes, they will look slightly underbaked.

When cooling, place another rolo in the middle of the cookie.

Let cool on the pan for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack.

September already?!

Holy cow. Summer 2017 FLEW by!

Anyone else super bummed we have to wait a year and a half until Game of Thrones returns? 

*raises hand*

Now it's back to school, back to the ol' grind....

oh! 

And it's nearly Harvest time for my garden!

Some prep going on already....

First year with the new Potato Bin.... never had taters grow so high! Can't wait to see.....

Mint, Impatiens and Sage...hiding.....

 Last week was a really nice week; sunshiny days and cool evenings. I pulled out my handy dandy Salton food dehydrator....and got to work. 

Man. The house smelled SO Fresh and yummy!

Gotta grow your own....CATNIP!

 I usually hang the catnip to dry; the oils in the air make the cats go bonkers.

Parsley, Sage,  Basil & Thyme...and Zucchini!

Stripping thyme leaves...for compound butter for Thanksgiving....

 What's happening in your corner of the world?