Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fall. Show all posts

September 22, 2013

FARMER'S MARKET



How did you spend the first official day of fall? The family and I did our tradition stop at the farm and picked up some farm fresh produced as well as homemade pickles and corn relish. After we got home I made a roast chicken with some of the stuff we picked up.  This weekend went by so fast that my heart aches a little. A part of me just wants to use an extra day to curl up in with the 3 of them and just watch television and cuddle all day long. Maybe next weekend.

September 1, 2013

SEPTEMBER


Farm trip from 2012

September welcomed me with a cool breeze in the morning. I am looking forward to the crisp mornings and cool night with the sent of wood burning fireplaces in the distance. The leaves changing to yellow, bright orange and apple red. Currently I have filled my home with the season, Nutmeg & Spice candles, orange and white porcelain pumpkins, chocolatey brown throw blankets. I nearly died when I found out that the Pumpkin Spiced Latte would officially release on September 3rd, this undoubtedly marks the true beginning of autumn.

I am looking forward to so much this month. Besides the start of 1st grade and all that comes with it, I am anxious for trips to the farm filled with hayrides and pumpkin patches. Farm fresh produce, pies and jams. I can't wait until its socially safe to start decorating for halloween, I figure it will be when it officially becomes fall on the 22nd. I'm looking forward to cable knit sweaters, brown leather boots, light jackets and warm apple cider.

What are you looking forward to? 




October 22, 2012

YOUNG COUPLE

 
This weekend the kids went to grandma and grandpa's house!

Usually when the boys back up their little suitcases with looks of excitement and joy washing over their tiny faces, I tend to feel an itch of what I call the I-miss-my-babies blues, however, I was so ready to have a solid weekend of alone time with my husband that I was so frigging excited. Oddly I feel guilty for admitting that, as if as a mother we are never suppose to feel excitement when you kids leave you, but I know I can't be the only one out there that feels this way from time to time, especially since the last date you had been on with your husband was when you went to see The Dark Knight Rises.

 Aaron and I got to act like a young couple again, we were carefree (for the most part) and spontanious, no checking in with babysitters or any of that nonsense, we were young. Sometimes we forget how young we really are. When I am juggling two kids, homework, parent teacher meetings, work, bills and all that grown up stuff our age get's lost in all of that. We are probably the youngest parents out of all of the parents in Joshua's class, but that is a whole other blog post!

On Saturday the boys went with the grandparents. Aaron and I got some "oh my dayum" good Five Guys burgers. We watched Paranormal Activity 4, against the advice of critics and indecisive public reviews, I say it was aight! After that we enjoyed dinner at an all you can eat Sushi restaurant. What I didnt realize is that for ever leftover piece of sushi on your plate you get charges $2!! Aaron and I shoveled down salmon and white fish down our throats! We were stuffed.

Sunday the husband and I left the city!

 

We ventured off to Niagara Falls which we have dubbed as "Our Place".


 


This is definitely our "go to" destination because there is just so much to do here. I must also mention that the fall colours were absolutely amazing here!


 

Apart from viewing the falls, we stoppin off at the Hersey store where I got some peanut butter chocolate fudge! the aroma coming from that place was abolutely heavenly. We also picked up a gift for the boys so that they would know that we were thinking about them on our time away.


Clifton Hill is amazing. It reminds me of The Shore, yes the Jersey Shore that I use to frequent when I was living at home. There are games, rides, haunted houses, gift shops..and yes a t-shirt shop!


Not to mention that every where you look, there is a spectacular view of something.

 

After that we drove back to the Toronto area and went to the movies again but this time we watch something that was adored by both critics and fans, we watched Argo (I highly recommend it). We grabbed a drink and some wings at a local restaurant and sat in the bar section, you know the section where Aaron and I would never bring the little ones? Yea! we sat there!

The great thing about having a whole weekend to ourselves was that we got to focus on only "us" again and remind each other why we got married in the first place, cause lets face it...marriage isn't always rainbows and unicorns.

Today  Aaron and I were both give the day off from work so we slept in, then grabbed some lunch at the new PF Changs that opened in our area. Yes I know, this place has been around in the States for a while but this is the first one in Ontario and probably all of Canada for that matter.


After that we did a little grocery shopping sans kids. It's funny how it feels going up and down the isles, searching, looking, comparing things without feeling the urge to rush through it all because someone is poking someone else.

However I found that not having them there meant that we took twice as long to get out, plus we ended up forgetting things. I guess the kids kept us organized! On the car ride home, I broke into a box of cupcakes and endulged. It was a great way to end out time alone! 

September 11, 2012

TIMELESS RECIPES

With the comeback of Starbuck's fall lattes, I can now ignore the calender and say that it is officially fall! The S family has put away the air conditioners, the big ugly fans and traded them in for big fluffy comforters and full pajama set. I woke up this morning to a crispy chilled room and loved ever minute of being buried underneath the warmth while breathing in and feeling the cool air on my face. I love fall. Every red, orange and yellow moment of it starting at the tops of those colour changing trees and overcast skies, going down to the dewy grass sprinkled with brown leaves.

What can I say? I love big cable knit sweaters and cardigans. I adore brown leather boots and fall coats, not to mention the fact that fall means the start of holiday season for us; Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas!

I have a plan for this fall. This fall I plan on baking more as well as making soup at least once a week. A few weeks ago I made a butternut squash soup and it was lovely! An amazing thing about this recipe is that it's super easy to make. It's not the kind of meal that requires your attention, you kind of set it up and forget about it while you attend to other thing. Another great thing is that my kids loved it and it's so hard to get my oldest to eat any sort of vegetables.

So here is the recipe I used courtesy of All Recipes.

Butternut Squash Soup


  Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
1 (32 fluid ounce) container chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
 
 

Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.  


Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.
 
 I found that I didn't need to add anymore stock on to my soup at the end. It was perfectly creamy!
This batch gave serves about 6 people.