Tag Archives: pumpkins

boo!

31 Oct

pumpkin

Happy Halloween!!

It’s going to be a rather quiet Halloween at the Glodney residence tonight. We will most likely be staying in with takeout, wine & a movie- ideally a scary movie but that’s up in the air. Every time I tell Brian I want to watch a scary movie he says he doesn’t see the point considering I always make him turn it off twenty minutes in. I am way more of a badass in my mind than I am in reality. We did celebrate Halloween a few nights ago by carving our first pumpkin together. I can’t even remember the last time I carved a pumpkin. I’m sure I must have carved one as a kid but I honestly can’t recall. So carving a pumpkin has been a HUGE thing on my holiday to do list.

On Sunday afternoon we brought Frankie to our local pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect one (complete with a large stem per Brian’s request. I couldn’t tell you why). Once we settled on one we hurried home to create our masterpiece. I have to say I am actually rather impressed with our pumpkin carving abilities. Look how scary that thing turned out! It was creepy.

Sadly, our creepy pumpkin only lasted a few days. Is that normal? This being my first pumpkin carving rodeo and all, I assumed it was going to last at least a week? But after three measly days our pumpkin had a bunch of fury mold coming out of all the open crevasses’. GROSS! In an attempt to make him last until at least Halloween I cleaned him up with a paper towel and moved him from our kitchen island to the front doorstep. The next day I came home to a huge stream of liquid coming out of its base. SO GROSS. Considering we share a landing with three other units I knew I couldn’t wait until Brian got home later that evening and had to discard of it myself.

So, I put my big girl pants on, grabbed a pair of yellow kitchen gloves and handled the situation. I carefully picked the pumpkin up and made the journey to the outside trash shoot. Once I made it there I thought…well, now what? So, I set the oozing pumpkin down for a minute to think about my options. How I was supposed to pick up the thirty pound oozing pumpkin and hold the trash shoot open with only two hands? After a few minutes I decided I would use my foot to hold open the trash shoot door while bending down and picking up the pumpkin (thanks yoga for making this an option!). Best laid plans, eh? Thankfully there are no photos of what happened next. With my leg stretched and raised above my head holding the trash shoot open I reached down and made my move. I got as far as my waist before the pumpkin literally disintegrated all over me…covering me with mold, smelly liquid and chunks of pumpkin matter in the process.

This is when I began to dry heave.

I’m pretty sure I can handle any horror film that Bri puts on tonight because that shit was the most disturbing thing I have ever experienced.

My pumpkin carving days may have been short-lived.

 

 

 

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dinner club – moroccan food!

28 Oct

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The dinner club that we have with two other couples has been very neglected in the past few months. Originally it was supposed to be a once a month occurrence and a fun way to try a new restaurant. But between work, honeymoons & a baby the six of us have been busy and we went many many many many months without doing it. But we resurrected it!!

Instead of going out and trying a new restaurant, we decided to do a Moroccan themed pot luck dinner at our house. Why Moroccan? I don’t know…why not, right??

It was decided that the Glodney’s would take the main course, The Garahan’s would take the salad & The Rocciho’s would take the side dish & dessert, with each couple also agreeing to bring an alcoholic beverage. Good plan, huh? Brian and I settled on a Moroccan chicken dish and a Moroccan kefta Tagine with lemon and saffron butter sauce (aka fancy meatballs). Preparing these two dishes took all afternoon between the shopping and preparation but it was totally worth it because both turned out delicious. Also, I have said this before but I will say it again- I love cooking with my husband. It’s such a fun way to spend time with him. We both assume our roles in the kitchen- Brian the executive chef and me the always happy to help sous chef. Brian is just more confident at tackling big recipes than I am. Let’s be honest if I was alone I would have most likely panicked half way through the tagine dish and opened a bottle of chardonnay while dialing the nearest chinese restaurant.

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Where I do shine though is setting the dining table. I went with a fall theme (it’s my favorite time of year after all!!) complete with tiny pumpkins, flint corn & gourds, oh and two tiny gold camels, which were party favors from The Garahan’s wedding in May. If I told you how much joy setting the table brought me you would probably laugh. It’s the little things in life, right?

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The evening was perfection…oh and the food was AH-mazing. Rachel and PJ brought a beet (that was prepared with olive oil, lemon, salt, pepper, garlic & red onion), arugula, goat cheese & pistachios salad with a reduced balsamic salad dressing that knocked my socks off. Such simple ingredients but so flavorful. Loni & Mike brought a Moroccan carrot and quinoa salad that was not only beautiful to look at but so damn tasty- I devoured my plate of it (recipe found here) and for dessert they brought Moroccan date truffles which were tiny pieces of heaven!

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Do any of you guys do a dinner club?? It’s such a fun way to get together with friends as well as EAT!

 

inspiration, gratitude & surprises

26 Sep

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I have been a tad absent on the blog recently. I had big plans for the content I wanted to put up (seriously, I had the calendar all planned out) but instead daily life kept getting in the way and I had a hard time sitting down at my computer for a solid block of time. Luckily, I had a bunch of fabulous project 30 interviews lined up- did you read them? They were all fabulous! (Chelsea, Katie, Tobi & Amy Nicole).

The past few days have been full…we had friends staying with us, my momma’s birthday & Rosh Hashanah. In addition I have been under the weather the last two days. It’s just your run of the mill sore throat, headache & body aches but it’s knocked me on my ass. I just want to sleep all day. Sadly, Frank thinks sleeping all day is stupid. He’d much rather torture me with his tennis ball. Seriously, what do people do when they are sick and have small kids at home??? If a puppy is driving me nuts I can’t imagine a baby.

I’m planning on taking it pretty easy this weekend. The only thing I have on the books is a date with my little sister Briana. We are going to Aquarium Of The Pacific! I’m not sure who is more excited about this outing!

What inspired me this week?

30 things to start doing for yourself 

All the beautiful and moving essays that have been posted on the Manifest-Station recently

This quote…”The things you are passionate about are not random, they are your calling.“- Fabienne Fredrickson

What am I grateful for this week?

Long visits with Taline and baby Liam

A beautiful Rosh Hashanah dinner with family. It was such a warm evening filled with love and laughter…Shana Tova!!

Lunch with my brother and my momma to celebrate her birthday at a restaurant on the sand

My family for offering to take Frankie out on dates these last two days to give me a break while sick in bed

A margarita date with my friend Jen Pastiloff 

It’s officially fall…bring out the pumpkins and pumpkin candles!

My dear friend Ali had a healthy & beautiful baby boy

My husband…always my husband

What surprised me this week?

My experience at the DMV…story coming Monday!

Lastly, have you seen this video yet? I’m obsessed