It is Halloween at our Middle School

and among the 8th graders my friend Lara and I definitely stand out as true children of the 80s. As Jerrica and Jem...
Our interpretation--our glitter eyeliner and earrings rock


Our inspiration

Tasty Tuesday

My friend Marie-Etta over at Adventures in Matrimony is doing Tasty Tuesdays with blog links--post a recipe and link up with her blog to get great recipes!
Today courtesy of Epicurious
Frozen Pumpkin Mousse with Walnut Toffee Crunch
Ingredients
Crunch
Vegetable oil
1 cup walnut pieces (about 4 ounces)
2/3 cup toffee bits (such as Skor; about 3 1/2 ounces)
4 teaspoons (packed) dark brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Mousse
2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream, divided
3/4 cup sugar
5 large egg yolks
1 1/4 cups canned pure pumpkin
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice


4 cinnamon sticks

Directions
For crunch:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil; brush generously with vegetable oil. Toss nuts, toffee bits, sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add butter and toss to coat. Place mixture in center of prepared sheet; pat to single layer. Bake until toffee bits are soft (but retain shape), about 15 minutes. Cool crunch completely on sheet. Transfer to work surface; chop coarsely.

For mousse:
Whisk 3/4 cup whipping cream, sugar, and egg yolks in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Stir over medium-low heat until thickened to pudding consistency, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Transfer mixture to large bowl. Mix in pumpkin, rum, vanilla, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and allspice. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes.

Beat remaining 1 1/4 cups cream in another large bowl until cream holds peaks. Transfer 1/2 cup whipped cream to medium bowl for garnish; cover and chill. Fold remaining whipped cream into pumpkin mixture. Cover and refrigerate mousse at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

In each of 4 medium (10-ounce) goblets, layer 1/3 cup mousse and generous tablespoon crunch. Repeat 2 more times (some crunch may be left). If necessary, whisk reserved 1/2 cup whipped cream to soft peaks. Pipe or drop dollop of cream onto mousse in each goblet. Cover; freeze overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep frozen. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before serving.) Garnish with cinnamon sticks.

I don't have pictures of mine--but it was very good--my crunch burned a little and I pulled it out early so watch yours while it is in the oven!

GLEE!!

I am just in love with this show. The talent, the songs, the high school memories it brings up, and the one liners from Sue Sylvester(I am a middle school teacher and sometimes I think what she actually says out loud). My Entertainment Weekly just came and they are the cover story!!

Ready for some early Christmas Shopping?

Shelly over at SingleStoneStudios is selling holiday gift certificates at half price!! Yep that's right, you can get a $50 gift certificate for $25 and a $100 gift certificate for $50!! What a deal. Their work is fabulous and our apartment home is full of her designs, including one I submitted but haven't taken a picture of yet! I also have her modern mums in bronze metallic at the top of our stairs so cool!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

normally I am not in the holiday spirit yet but I have found our Christmas card on etsy!! This is the listing picture--I don't want to reveal the one with our pictures just yet!

Check out this new etsy shop--4 Leaf Boutique--cute cards and announcements!!

A personal note

I have been debating writing this. The hubby and I decided to try to get pregnant. I went off the pill and have spent all month dealing with the cystic acne I thought was long past me(I mean enough already I'm 33!) and last night my wonderful husband ran to the store to find a pregnancy test and Gatorade in case I couldn't pee. All for naught a minus sign, and another period(I have never liked my period anyways but now I hate it) I know we haven't been trying long and I know others have harder times and more difficulty than us but I'm still disappointed and a little depressed. I had promised myself if I wasn't pg I would order the jeans I have been covering from the Loft. One more day of wallowing over sone great tv and junk food


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Trash the Dress

What is Trash the Dress--check out this Today segment!
We did it!! For Kevin's birthday we decided to get some pictures done. I had been debating Trash the Dress for awhile--I really wanted pictures at the beach(but we got married in CO so that wasn't a reality). So we hooked up with Lynette who some other pics for me and had so much fun! We went to a farm, walked some railroad tracks, and got into a very cold river to get these shots.