Frisch's Big Boy + Wendy

This year Drew came up with a fabulous costume idea for us...Frisch's Big Boy and Wendy. We've had some good costumes in the past, but this one is my absolute favorite.

Our costumes were cheap and fairly easy to put together...Drew found some white pants and we hot glued red squares all over it. We found red suspenders and then used iron on letters for the Big Boy. My blue and white dress was a Good Will find and the apron was from my grandma's. Every year our friends Stephanie and Tad have a big Halloween party complete with food and a costume contest. Here are a few other creative costumes for your viewing pleasure.

Grandpa and boyscout from the movie UP

Wine bottle...her husband was the cork screw

Chucky and Angelica from Rugrats

My best friend's parents...the zombies

The hostess and Wendy

Even though there were several fabulous costumes at the party...hubby and I won best couple costume. We got official trophies which are proudly displayed on our mantle. Happy Halloween Eve!

Corn Maze Cop Encounter

Have you ever been in the middle of a corn maze when lightning strikes? Have you ever had to be escorted out of a corn maze by a corn cop? I have.

We went to a corn maze with our good friends Bekah and Alex like we do every year and half way through the maze the sky started getting strangely dark. We were searching for clues hidden throughout the maze so we chose to ignore the signs pointing to severe weather and continued looking for clues. We were determined to get our prize! All of the sudden the sky went from light to dark and we heard thunder. As you know a corn maze is supposed to be tricky to get out of so we started to get a little nervous about finding our way out before a downpour. Luckily we ran into a corn cop who escorted us out of the maze. Phew.

We reverted to plan #2...pumpkin carving. We watched an old "scary" movie, drank pumpkin ale, ate pumpkin fluff and carved our pumpkins.

A perfect October evening.

Stepping back in time...

Drew and I went to visit my sister and her husband in their new apartment in Indiana this past weekend.

While we were there we went to a festival/reenactment of the battle of 1812. Everyone who worked there was in character and decked out in 1800's style attire. There was amazing food, entertaining shows and battles and adorable crafts.

My favorite part...they had homemade Rootbeer!

While we were visiting we also ate at David's Dad's Chinese restaurant (free delicious food) and played games on their rooftop. I loved being with my sister and brother-in-law and can't wait to see them again. We had a fabulous time visiting!

PW Potato Leek Pizza

I'm still working my way through the Pioneer Woman cookbook and probably gaining pounds to show for it along the way.

The other night I tried her Potato Leek Pizza and oh my gaaaahsh it is amazing. I never would have put potatoes on my pizza, but I trust PW so I went for it and I'm not sorry.

Here is what you will need:

-Pizza dough

-5 small red or Yukon potatoes

-4 oz. Goat Cheese

-6 slices of thick Bacon cut into 1 inch pieces

-1 pound Mozzerella Cheese

-3 Leeks (yes these exist, I know that now)

-Extra Virgin Olive Oil

-Ground Pepper/Salt

Step 1: Lay out your pizza dough and preheat the oven according to the dough you choose and lightly coat dough with olive oil

Step 2: Place bacon in skillet over medium heat. Fry until cooked, but not crisp then remove from pan

Step 3: Use the same skillet after draining grease to saute the leeks (set bacon and leeks aside)

Step 4: Thinly slice potatoes and layer around pizza in a single layer

Step 4: Sprinkle potatoes lightly with salt then layer mozzarella slices on top of the potatoes

Excited for my pizza!

Step 5: Place leeks on top of cheese then add bacon

Step 6: Add crumbled goat cheese and ground pepper

Step 7: Bake according to pizza instructions (at least 8-12 minutes)

Step 8: Enjoy!

Cooking by campfire 101

I'm really excited to talk about food with you all today. And not just any food. Food that is cooked over a real (made by the husband) fire. If you missed that hubby of mine and I's camping adventures you can catch up here. I'm going to share our camping menu with you and hubby and I have already decided to use the fire pit in our backyard to re-make some of these recipes. Since we only camped one night I have a dinner, a breakfast and some yummy snacks to share.

Dinner:
If you are going to cook over a fire you have to try making a Hobo dinner aka a tin foil dinner. They are called hobo dinners because you can make a handle out of the tin foil and when you want to check to see if your food is done you grab a stick and pick the dinner up (therefore looking like a hobo). I have made a few varieties of Hobo dinners and I usually use hamburger meat, but hubby and I decided to live large and try steak. We bought steak that was already cut up for stir fry, which made for easy preparation. Other ingredients:red onions, steak seasoning, green peppers and potatoes.
Step 1: Cut up all your veggies (and meat if necessary)
Step 2: Place a sheet of tin foil out on a hard surface
Step 3: Place the steak on the tin foil (add any seasonings you wish). It is best to have the steak on the bottom since it will take longer to cook and you don't want your veggies getting overcooked.

Step 4: Add the veggies (we decided to cook the potatoes separately since they too take a while to cook)

Step 5: Seal up the tin foil on all sides to ensure you don't lose any food!
Step 6: Place the food on a grate above the fire
Step 7: Turn the food a few times while cooking
Step 8: Check to see if all the food is cooked through and do a taste test
Step 9: Open and enjoy your dinner! Yum!

On to my favorite...Breakfast!

Menu: Biscuits, Bacon, Orange Shell Blueberry Muffins, Hot Cocoa
My hubby told me about how him and his cousin used to always make biscuits on a stick so we brought along biscuits. We didn't end up cooking them on a stick, but you definitely can do that! We put them in tinfoil over the fire. We also put the bacon in tin foil and cooked it the same way. But my favorite campfire food this trip was our blueberry muffins. Don't stop reading it is way cooler than it sounds. You haven't heard how you make them. Nope you don't need baking cups or a baking tin...all you need is muffin mix and a few oranges. Start by cutting 3-4 oranges in half. Then scoop out the insides and save them for later.

 Fix up your muffin mix (mine was an easy "just add milk" mix)

 Fill your orange with muffin mix!!!

 Put the top of the orange back on to the orange and wrap in foil

 Place your orange over the fire and be patient. They did take at least 20 minutes to bake properly.

 I was so excited about how well these turned out. They were moist, slightly orange flavored and delicious!

A few other must have camping snacks:
*You always have to take a bag of Jiffy's to pop over the fire...it's just so fun and the sound of popcorn popping is music to my ears.
*Trail mix
*Smores are an absolute must!

I'll end this post with a picture of us stuffing our faces, which is appropriate since this whole post is about food. :)

Hiking is "in-tents..."

Friday that hubby of mine and I took off work and went on a much needed camping adventure. We spent a few days stocking up on all the supplies we would need...visiting a do-it yourself trail mix bar is must, but more on all our good camping food in another post.

So the car was packed to the brim (for one night of camping) and we headed North to Hueston Woods a fabulous Ohio State Park. We got there and scouted out the perfect campsite...we decided to rough it and choose a non-electric camp site, go us!

 

We set up our home for the night and I learned that yes hubby and I really do make a good team because setting up our tent was a breeze. We celebrated with a hike to check out our surroundings.

Fall truly is the best time to go camping. I love seeing all the color in the trees! After our hike on the Cedar Falls Trail we decided to cook some grub. Since we ate so much delicious food I'm saving all of that for a post later this week...you will definitely want to tune in for my Campers cooking tricks and tips.

Obviously to cook food at a non-electric camp site you need fire...duh. Well thankfully God blessed me with Mr. Nature lover who is obsessed with survival shows and learning about the outdoors. Husbands these fire starting tips are for you although ladies it is always good to know how to start a fire just in case...

1. Make what my husband calls "Fire Taffy" using drier lint, vasoline and parchment paper. This will be a good fire starter.

2. Use flint, matches or a lighter to light the "Fire Taffy" and yes it does resemble a dead mouse.

3. Add pieces of cardboard/wood, etc. to fuel the fire.

4. Build a tower of logs above the flame...be careful not to crowd the fire. It needs to breathe.

5. Continue adding wood...Stand back and watch the flames!
Hubby and I enjoyed our time in the great outdoors. We ate yummy food, had great talks under the stars, got visited by a family of raccoons and slept in a cozy tent by the fire.

Stay tuned for some amazing camper's recipes.