Rubbers...Get your rubbers here!

Did that title get your attention? I hope it did because I have to share this amazing deal with you!

Roberta from Con-tain-it has just completed a 21 Day Purge in which she de-cluttered and organized her home, a.k.a "The Love Shack". On Day 20 and Day 21 she worked on clearing out her rubber stamp collection. Now here is where  the deal is...she is selling sets of rubber stamps for next to nothing! And all the profits will be going to the charity The Mercy House. She has over 50 sets and they are priced between $3 and $6 per set (plus shipping). You can't buy some of these stamps for that price and you'll be getting 2-6 per set depending on  what you like!

I've placed a bid on this one, I can see myself stamping it in the kids notebooks at school. 

She has dozens of Holiday stamps sets to choose from if you need to make a few last minute Christmas cards. Or maybe it's the perfect gift for a special someone. 

I also bid on this cute penguin set...only $5.00!

I love this set, it's so perfect for all occasions!

There are over 50 sets to choose from so hurry on over and Congratulate Roberta on  completing her 21-Day Purge and bid on your favorite stamp sets! Click either link below to see what is still available. 

Day 20 Stamp Sets

Day 21 Stamp Sets

Body Double

I don't know if you've noticed from any of the pictures that I've posted of Hubby and myself but we are body doubles.

We are both 5'9" in  height give or take a centimeter or two.

We both weigh within 5 lbs of each other. I'd like to say that I'm the lesser of the two but that is not always the case.

I often borrow his T-shirts and sweaters because I have a little boy chest.

And I've been known to wear his shorts on occasion too.

And lucky for me we even wear the same shoe size which means when Hubby is at work my feet find their way into his super cozy slippers. However, Carl has always insisted that I "stretch out" his shoes and slippers with my clown feet. You'd think he'd run out and buy his beautiful wife a pair of her own slippers to end the great slipper stretching debate, but he has yet to do this. He also insists that I "clam up" his slipper with my sweaty feet, but I like to consider it as "warming them up" for him. Whatever.

It finally came to a head and we decided there was only one way to end the feet debate. We went toe to toe for a knock down drag out battle. Well, not quite...we just stuck our feet together and took a picture.

This is the only time you will EVER see me write these words...My husband was right! My feet are bigger!

Oh well, I loose. Maybe Hubby will get me a set of my own  giant slippers for Christmas? Until then, I will continue to squeeze my boat  like feet into his man slippers. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing them right now! And come to think of it, I'm also wearing his shirt and drinking hot cocoa from his coffee mug! 

Remember men that when you get married- What's hers is hers and what's yours is also hers!

Unsolicited Product Endorsement

It's about time I let my readers in on a little secret. I have an addiction problem. Yes, I am addicted to ACTIVIA yogurt from Dannon.

I remember several years ago I could not and would not eat yogurt to save my life. I thought it was sour and gross and I was just not interested in eating it. However, I started having some stomach problems that began interfering with my daily life. Without getting into too much detail, here is what happened: I became "irregular" so to speak. This  would result in random bouts of trapped gas. If you have ever had trapped gas you'll understand the feeling. My stomach would bloat to 2-3x's it's regular size. It's not like when you get bloated after eating to much, I couldn't "suck it in" and I couldn't even button my pants. I couldn't move and it was painful.  Sometimes the pain would extend all the way  into my chest. I seriously thought I was having a heart attack one night and I was in my early 20's!  After going through a box of Gas-X a week for months I thought maybe I should try something else. 

After watching numerous TV commercials for ACTIVIA I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be my miracle drug. It really did work within 2  weeks and I can't recall having any major stomach issues since I started eating it. It has a great flavor that has never tasted sour and the texture is smooth. I like the Strawberry and Blueberry flavors the best. I did try the "enhanced" fiber enriched flavor and they are not good. The fiber enriched ones have a grainy texture that my pallet does not enjoy but then again I am kind of funny about food  textures anyway. 

According to my calculations,I have been eating ACTIVIA yogurt everyday for breakfast for approximately 5 years. The only reason I know it's been  five years is because I remember having my tummy troubles when Carl and I moved into a cute little rental house in Mooresville, North Carolina which was in November 2005. 

With that being said, Carl has come up with many nicknames for my yogurt over the years. Let's just say that every morning I wake up, drink my coffee, eat my yogurt, and then "complete my morning routine". Even if we plan on going out to breakfast at a restaurant I still get up early and drink my coffee, eat my yogurt, and "complete my morning routine" before leaving the house. I actually get a little anxiety if I am unable to "complete my morning routine". Anyway...

One day while in the grocery store with Carl we approached the dairy section. It's important to note that Carl has a very short memory and he often calls everyday products by the wrong name OR chooses to make regular products sound inappropriate and dirty. For example, in Carl's sick mind Dill Pickle = Dildo Pickle, or Broccoli = Fart Fuel. So as we approached the diary section I passed the yogurt and headed to grab the milk. Carl then points to the ACTIVIA section of yogurt and calls out to me, "Do you need any ACT-TURD-IA?".  I nearly lost it with  laughter in the store because quite frankly it was funny. He then proceeded to sing the name imitating the commercials. The more I react, the more he says it...just like a child. 

He has finally stopped calling it ACT-TURD-IA and he stopped singing it too. Unfortunately he has come up with a new name for it...TURD ACTIVATOR. I have to admit that it is also kinda funny considering that I do eat it immediately prior to "completing my morning routine". As long as he doesn't yell it out across the grocery store to me again, he can call it whatever he wants. 

Oh, and one last thing...when  I went to the ACTIVIA website to grab a picture for this blog post I found out that they are coming out with a new Dessert flavored line that includes Strawberry and Blueberry Cheesecake flavors. I know it sounds stupid, but I am really looking forward to trying them!

Have you ever tried Activia? What do you think about it?

This was an unsolicited product endorsement, I did not receive incentives, brides, free samples, or money from ACTIVIA. However, if the people from ACTIVIA are reading this and would like to offer me any of the above I'd be more than happy to oblige . 

Shutterfly: One Stop Christmas Shop

It' hard to believe that Carl and I have been in California for almost one year! Last year we spent Christmas with our family in North Carolina before heading west to start our California adventure. Unfortunately, we won't be able to make it home for the holiday this year but at least we can send a little holiday cheer back home thanks to Shutterfly's Christmas Photo Cards.


In our first year here we've been fortunate to experience just some of what California has to offer. We've taken some awesome photo's  and it'll be hard to narrow the selection down. Thankfully, Shutterfly has a HUGE selection of Holiday Cards to choose from. I'm  leaning towards this Holly on Top Holiday 5x7 Folded Card which means I'll be able to add up to 7 pictures and have plenty of room to write a holiday greeting inside!

Now that I've picked my Christmas Cards it's time to move onto Christmas Gifts! That's right, at Shutterfly you can also create beautiful Photo Gifts like Calenders and Mugs. 

I'm going to buy my dad one of these custom Wall Calendars. Not only can you customize it with up to 9 pictures per month but you can also add special dates through out the calendar with pictures and text! How cool is that! And right now Shutterfly is offering an amazing deal when you buy one ($21.99) you get the 2nd Calendar of the same size at 50% off! I'm  going to get one for myself too that way I can keep track of every one's birthday's and anniversary's this year! Can you say "New Years Resolution". 

I personally like the Year of Quotes Calendar design. Which style design do you like? 

I know I should be shopping for other people, but I just can't help browsing for myself too. Since Carl and I don't drink wine we don't have the need for "His &  Hers" champagne flutes or wine glasses. However, we both enjoy hot beverages on a daily basis like coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. I'm thinking of creating a set of "His & Hers" mugs from Shutterfly. 

I like this design the best  because you can  add up to 5 photo's and 2 captions! I'm thinking I'll put a few of my favorite wedding photo's on  it! And again, when you buy one Photo Mug you get the 2nd mug at 50% off! 

I also have to admit that I will be sending my Christmas Cards and Wedding Thank You Notes out at the same time. I am SUPER late getting the Thank You notes out. Thankfully, with the help of Shutterfly's selection of Cards & Stationary I should be able to find the perfect Thank You Cards too. 

Shutterfly is also hosting a special deal just for bloggers! If you're a blogger, head over to Shutteryfly and sign up  to receive 50 Free Holiday Cards and tell them Cortney at Living & Loving in California sent you!

Let the Holiday Cheer begin!

Thanksgiving 2010

This was officially the second Thanksgiving dinner I have ever cooked and with that said I think it was successful. Since we couldn't make it home to North Carolina for the holiday we cooked a small feast for ourselves and our friends Steven and Taylor who are also celebrating their first Thanksgiving in California. Here is our day in pictures...with a few captions.

This  is my moment of panic when I realized that the gizzards were frozen solid inside the bird. 

14 pound bird + roasting pan + oranges + onions = really heavy

Once the Turkey was in the oven I took a little cat nap and a shower. Thank you to my husband for NOT taking pictures of me during either of those activities. 

Carl bought me this apron a few months ago and this  was my first chance to try it out. 

Also so note that this is my kitchen...yup, that's it. No dishwasher and little counter space. 

Our impromptu dinning room. We borrowed a dinning room table and chairs from Carl's work  and I covered it with a table clothe. I had to put away our coffee pot and toaster to make room for the food severed buffet style.  

Can you tell that Carl LOVES it when I make him wait to eat so I can get pictures. He piled almost everything on his plate with the exception of stuffing and cranberry sauce. He even tried my green bean casserole...which means he took one bite and then left the rest on the edge of  his plate. 

This was the aftermath. It wasn't too bad since I tried to wash as I went through out the day. I washed all the dinner dishes, pots, pans, and silverware before moving on to these... 

Steven and Taylor brought a Pumpkin Pie and Strawberry & Chocolate Cake. I made Apple Dumplings. I know what your thinking,  "There were only 4 of you and there are 3 desserts?".

Of course! I could have skipped dinner all together and just eaten these treats!

And the only way  to end the evening was to break the wishbone and have a good laugh. 

Although we are 1000+ miles from our family we got to see and talk to most of them today through the conveniences of technology and for that  we are thankful. 

We broke bread and ate hot food in a warm house with friends today and for that we are thankful. 

There will be no Black Friday shopping for us tomorrow because Carl has to go to work at a job that he loves and for that we are Thankful.  

Happy Thanksgiving 2010

Thank you for reading. 

This is just a test..but it might be funny too

Wednesday Wonderisms

It is noon on the day before Thanksgiving and I have just returned from a couple of stores where I grabbed a few last minute items (roasting pan, turkey baster, ice cream). It was relatively quiet and calm out which got me wondering a little so I thought I'd join in with Angela from Sew Loquacious for her Wonderisms Wednesday. The following are completely random questions that have popped in my head through the week.

1.) Since when did Black Friday start turning into Black Thanksgiving Thursday Night? Several of the stores in our area have been bombarding the TV and Newspaper ads with "Special Deals" starting at 5PM Thanksgiving night. Why? And one particular  department store will be opening it's doors at 3AM Friday morning...unless you are selling everything for a penny a piece I will NOT be there.

2.) How much do people really save by shopping on Black Friday? I don't know because I've never shopped on that day..I actually prefer not to leave the house that day at all.

3.) THIS ONE IS COMPLETELY RANDOM: How do male gynecologists go home to their wives and "get in the mood"? Here's how I see it-my brother use to work at Dunkin Donuts and after about a week he didn't want to look, touch, or smell a donut outside of work.Wouldn't you think the same rule applies to gynecologists?

4.)  How is it possible to clean the house one night and by the next morning new cobwebs have appeared where you just dusted/cleaned?

If  you'd like to participate in Wednesday Wonderisms visit Angela at Se Loquacious. And please feel free to help answer my wonderisms above. I assume that of my 2 male readers that neither of them are gynecologists, but maybe one of my lady readers is married to a gyno and can help answer this bizarre wonderism?

Feeling Nostalgic

WARNING: Mom and Bobbi if you are reading this go grab  some tissues because I know you two, and you're probably going to cry. 


I was inspired by my aunt Bobbi (better known in blog land as Roberta) the other day when she wrote about some of her childhood clothing that she has kept over the years. She is working on a 21-Day Purge to de-clutter and organize her home and she shared some of the pieces that remain nostalgic too her.  You can catch up on her 21-Day Purge and see her nostalgia by visiting her at Con-tain-it.

It just so happens that I had been looking through my own memory box the other day searching for old Christmas photo's when I rediscovered some of my own childhood clothing items. I was then inspired to look through the photo albums my mom has made for me over the years to see if I could find photo's of me wearing the clothes. Surprise, surprise...I found just what I was looking for.

First up is what I call my "Piano Outfit". I don't know if you can tell from the picture but the outfit is quite small-size T-3. It is still in good condition with only minor wear at the collar. It's made out of that really soft velour material.

I call it my "Piano Outfit" because I received this little set on my 2nd birthday, the same year I also received a little piano. 

My big brother Wes helped me open my presents as my Bumpa (that's what we called my grand-dad) watched from the couch. 

Next up is my Prairie dress. I always thought that this outfit had been for one of my dolls because it is also very small, but apparently it fit me at one time. This dress is in near perfect condition and the colors are still as bright as ever!

My Nana and Bumpa picked this little dress up or me on a trip to Tennessee. 

That's my cousin Mitchel helping me with my gifts. 

Last, but certainly not least is what I call my "Doll house Dress". 

I call it my Doll house Dress because I wore it on my 5th birthday, the year that my Bumpa gave me a handmade doll house that he built himself. 

It was beautiful and had all kinds of miniature furniture, decorations, and people.  I still have the doll house but it is being stored back home in North Carolina until we have the space to bring it here. It also needs a little restoration work done to  it which I would like to do eventually. 

Even  the boys got into playing with it. That's my cousin Mitchel, my brother Wesley, and my dad. 

When I was searching through the photo album for pictures of me in my doll house dress I also came across this photo...

And low and behold  guess what I found in my memory box?

It's that very special card that my cousin Mitchel made me! It's in excellent condition despite being 22 years old!

I have to thank my mom for saving all these things for me until I was old enough to take care of them myself. Everything in my memory box is good condition and I hope to keep it that way.  I have a lot more nostalgia in the box and I  hope to share it with you again soon!

Do you have a memory box? What nostalgia do you have in it?

School Pictures

A few weeks ago our school held Picture Day. I thought it was just for the kiddo's, but apparently teachers have to get their portraits done as well...for the yearbook I guess.  So I sucked it up, pulled my hair into as neat of a pony tail as I could, wiped kiddie drool of my shirt, and tried to ignore the fact that I hadn't plucked my eyebrows in weeks and took the photo.

On Friday the kid's portraits arrived. My kids photo's all looked beautiful! You would never have been able to tell that I was in the background making stupid faces, clapping my hands, holding up bags of gummy bears as bribes to make them smile, or that in a few photo's I was actually ducked behind kids holding them. The photographers were excellent and took multiple photo's of each child until I thought they had captured the "essence" of each child's personality. When it was my turn I just took one photo and said, "that is fine". Then we moved onto the class photo which was not easy to capture. It was hard enough getting 1 kiddo at a time to stand still and smile and now they wanted all 10 kid's to sit and smile at the same time. I just told the photographer, "just  keep clicking...don't count or wait, just click away and you'll get one." It's not a great class photo, but it sure does illustrate the ciaos that is my class.

So when the photo's arrived I looked through them all and was surprised to find an envelope with pictures of me.   Apparently,  one of the "perks" of being a teacher is that you get a FREE photo package of yourself. I am thankful for this perk, but what am I going to do with 36 of these...

Yes, my package included 36 wallet sized photo's, 2- 5x7's, and 4- 3x5's. You know what it didn't include? A class photo! One of my assistants was nice enough to give me her copy. Then, when I was looking at the class photo last night I realized that my assistant Sofia is listed on the bottom of the photo as 'Soffa'! Which is HILARIOUS because one of our kid's can't pronounce her name and always calls her Sofa and she's always trying to correct them!

So, in the spirit of my school photo theme today I though I would share an old school portrait of mine with you. After looking through all of my photo's, this is the only school portrait that I have. Enjoy!

Holiday in the Park

Last night Carl and I bundled up and headed down the street for Burbank's 

Carl had heard that Magnolia Park (not an actual park, it's a stretch of road) was preparing for their annual holiday festival in which the town shuts down a 40-block section of Magnolia Boulevard. He heard there would be food, classic cars, street vendors, and music. It sounded like a holiday version of the Be-Boppin' In the Park that we attended in August which was a lot off fun. 

We walked from our house up  the road to the festivities. There were  a lot of people heading that way and we were pretty excited. One of our favorite bakery's had set up a tent on the strip and they had quite a long line for the free food samples and coffee. We continued walking, and walking, and walking. There were no classic cars. There were no street vendors. There were no food stands. 

We did see an ice sculptor. 

What you can't see in the photo is that directly to the right of the chainsaw wielding ice sculptor is a kid's play area. Yup, tons of little children tumbling on mats, climbing on play equipment, and running around. Who thought  that would be a good idea? Kids and Chainsaws go perfect together! Not to mention that fact that ice if flying all over the place and the ground is wet and slippery. 

There were a few street performers like jugglers, elves on stilts, and actors dressed as characters from the story 'Scrooge'. And of course the highlight of the festival was the 18-wheeler tractor truck decked out with lights, carolers, dancers, and music. It was a one vehicle parade. 

Apparently no one put much consideration into how this GIANT caroling truck was going to turn around once it reached the end of the 40-block stretch. It managed to turn around some how without running over any small children  or lackadaisical adults. 

We walked about 4 miles in an hour so at least I feel like I got my daily  exercise in and  worked up an appetite. When we got back to the house we hoped in the car and headed to downtown Burbank to grab a bite to  eat. Thankfully we were not in a hurry because we got stuck in  parking garage for 20+ minutes driving up 8 flights only to drive back down 8 flights because there were NO parking spots available. After we finally did get a parking spot in another parking deck we headed to a restaurant called Pomodoro. We thought there would be a wait  on a Friday night at 8PM, but we got seated right away. The food was excellent and they had perfect portions. 

After eating we  thought we would walk through the mall to get to our car and avoid the chill of walking outside around the mall. However, we soon realized that almost all of the stores were closed, including the one we had to walk through to get to our car. I have never heard of a mall cosing at 9PM especially on a weekend night and especially with the holidays close by. It's not like we wanted to go shopping, we just didn't want to walk all the way around the mall to get to the car. 

We were home by 9:30 and in bed by 10:00. And on the first day of my week off for Thanksgiving Break I couldn't sleep in past 7:00 AM this morning. It's raining. And for the first time in the 10 months the gardeners did not come at 8 AM this morning which means I could have slept in without being woken up by leaf blowers.  Go figure!

It's okay though, I have big  plans today. Clean. Read. Nap. Write. Cook. Laundry. And I will probably do them in that order. 

What are your plans for today? Do you get extra time off this week? Are you a Black Friday shopper? Why is the sky blue?

Professional Nap Taker

I am a self proclaimed Professional Nap Taker. Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner and many of us will find ourselves in Turkey Coma's shortly after the table  is clear, I thought I would share my wealth of nap taking knowledge with everyone.

Here are some basic guidelines that always help me take the perfect snooze.

#1- Nap on a couch or comfy chair. Some of the best naps I have ever taken were on my mother-in-laws' couch. My husband and I argue over who gets to sit/lay on the couch first  when we visit. Thankfully, she has an over sized chair that matches the couch and is equally as nap inducing.

#2- Do NOT nap in bed unless you are sick. My body knows the difference between the bed and the couch and if  I attempt to nap in bed I will sleep way too long.

#3- Get a comfy pillow. A bad pillow will result in a bad nap.

#4- Cover up with a blanket. It's important to feel cozy like a baby.

#5- Don't set an alarm, your body knows how much sleep  it needs. When I set an alarm I spend most of my nap time worrying how much longer until it goes off.

#6- Nap with the lights on. It is much easier to wake up from a nap when the lights are on than when it is dark. This is especially true now that it gets dark earlier.

#7- Don't try to take a nap if anyone in close proximity to you has a camera or you may end up with an unflattering photo like this...

Happy Napping!

My Husbands Idea of Holiday Decorations

Since we have moved several times within the last few years and have always gone home for the holidays,  Carl and I do not have many holiday decorations. Actually, this is the extent of our collection...

A snow globe that I keep out year round anyway and 2 stocking hangers minus the stockings. We don't really have a place to display them properly but I have an idea and I'm hoping to put something together after Thanksgiving. However, last night I heard my husband fumbling around in the other room so I grabbed the camera (like a good wife) to see what he was up to. Here is what I found him doing...

He's fiddling with his Ghostbusters shelf. What does that have to do with Holiday decoration? Take a closer look...

Yup, those are the Ghostbusters sporting Santa hats.  My husband was so proud. This is my husbands idea of holiday decorations. I admit that they are cute and festive, but it's going to take a little more than this to make it feel like Christmas around here. Stay tuned because I'll be back to post about my version holiday decorations after Thanksgiving. 

His & Her Dinner # 7- The Soup Edition

It has been quite awhile since I have posted the feature His & Her Dinner, but I am happy to be bringing it back now! For those who may not be familiar with His & Her Dinner let me explain. My husband is one of the pickiest eaters I have ever known. When we moved to California we decided to try to cook at home as much as possible in order to save money. However, with his very limited pallet it soon became very  difficult to find meals that we could both enjoy together. So to solve this dilemma I began cooking 2 different meals, one for him and one for me, but used the same base ingredients to create both which still helped cut down on our food expenses. You can catch up on past episodes by clicking the links below. 

His & Her Dinner #1

His & Her Dinner #2

His & Her Dinner #3

His & Her Dinner #4

His & Her Dinner #5

His & Her Dinner #6

And without further adieu, here is His & Her Dinner #7

The Soup Edition

Carl has always enjoyed a nice bowl of soup and has actually expanded the variety of soups he'll eat. By expanding I mean he went from eating 1 kind of soup to enjoying 3 kinds of soup now! I should also tell you that it  took several attempts before he would try soup that I cooked-if it didn't come from a restaurant or from the grocery store's hot soup bar he didn't want to eat for some reason. Thankfully,  one day the store was out of their Loaded Baked Potato Soup so I told him again that I could make him a soup just like it and he finally agreed to try it. He now asks me to make it regularly.  

His: Cheesy Potato Soup with Bacon

If you hadn't noticed, Carl likes to eat almost an entire loaf of French bread with his soup!

Her: Fall Chowder

Look familiar? That's because I just posted the recipe, click here to  get it. Remember it had 3 kinds of peppers, spices, corn, and potatoes! It was exploding with flavor. Speaking of exploding,  I took some to work the next day and put it in the microwave to heat and when I came back to check on it I found that it had exploded all over the microwave! Not only did I spend my lunch break cleaning up the mess,  I also went hungry! That is what happens hen you don't own a microwave for over a year-you forget how to use it and end up ruining your lunch!

The base ingredient this time is Campbell's Creamy Potato Soup. It's such a versatile ingredient. I also use it when I make myself Chicken Pot Pie, which Carl still refuses to eat. 

If you enjoyed this episode of His & Her Dinner, you'll love the Thanksgiving episode coming soon!

$45 CSN Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who signed up and participated for their chance to win the $45 CSN Giveaway. I used the Random Number Generator to choose the winner. I hope you will trust me on this since it would not let me copy  and paste the actual results like I had intended.  But with out further adieu...

The Winner is...

Comment #36

 Roberta said...

Your blog button is posted on my sidebar and I just posted about your giveaway today for Mosaic Monday ;)
http://con-tain-it.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/11/twinkle-twinkle-little-starmonday-mosaic-a-giveaway.html#tp

November 1, 2010 11:44 AM 

Congratulations Roberta!

Roberta is currently working on a 21-Day Challenge which she has re-named her 21 Day Purge. In the first four days she has managed to tackle the daunting task of sorting, downsizing, and organizing her blog subscriptions, magazines, coupons, and shoes! What will she do  next? You can find out by subscribing to her blog at Con-tain-it. 

I wish  everyone could be a winner here at Living and Loving in California but I only had one gift card to giveaway. However,  the following lovely blogs are holding giveaways to CSN Stores too, so head on over for more chances to win!

New Blessings Everyday, $45 CSN Giveaway, ends November 12th

Happier Than A Pig  In Mud, $50 CSN Giveaway, ends November 15th

Passages to the Past, $100 CSN Giveaway, ends November 21st

Shortly before I held this CSN Store giveaway I was lucky enough to win one myself. Here's a quick peek at what I picked out! 


 I have to thank Cheri for leaving the link to these boots in her comment. (I'm sorry you didn't win). I saw them and I also fell in love. I went for the red ones instead of the turquoise though!

And I have to thank 'floating' who gave me the idea to get a scale. I have not stepped on one in over a year...actually, I haven't stepped on a scale since the day before my wedding. I'm married now, my husband promised to love me tubby or not, so why should I care? Let's just say I bought the boots for myself and the scale for my husband...but don't tell him that!

Thanks again to all of my loyal followers who have been with me with or without giveaways!

Your daily support is motivating and uplifting and I appreciate every single visitor. 

To my newest followers, I  hope to see you in blogland soon!

Fall Chowder

Back in October the lovely ladies, Amanda, Leslie, and Lindsey, from Messy Aprons held a  giveaway for a Vera Bradley Recipe box containing all the yummy recipes that they have featured. (I am a HUGE Vera Bradley fan) The ladies asked followers to leave a comment telling everyone what their favorite Fall meal or treat was. Here is what I said: 

Cortney Lyon said...
My favorite fall food is a tie...anything made from apples and any kind of soup. I am going to be posting soon about my favorite soup-it's a Roasted Red Pepper and Red Chili Corn and Potato Chowder...I need to come up with a shorter name for it though. Any ideas?

OCTOBER 20, 2010 6:31 PM 

Although I didn't win, it did inspire me to get back into the kitchen this fall and try some of my favorite recipes again. The girls were nice enough to respond to my comment via e-mail and helped me come up with a much  shorter name for my favorite chowder recipe. So, my formerly named Roasted Red Pepper and Red Chili Corn and Potato Chowder has officially been re-named Fall Chowder thanks to the gals at Messy Aprons. 

And now I'd like to share that recipe with you! I will warn you that this chowder is very spicy according to  my pallet, so feel free to tinker with it to please your taste buds.

Ingredients
2 cans of Campbell's Creamy Potato Soup
2 cups milk
1/2 of a red bell pepper
1 red chili pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 orange hot pepper, seeded and chopped fine
1 clove garlic, chopped fine 
1 cup frozen sweet corn
1/2 tsp. Coriander Powder
1/2 tsp. Cumin Power



Directions
1.) Quarter the red bell pepper and put 2 quarters away for a rainy day.  Take the other 2 quarters and lightly brush with oil and place in a lined baking dish. Broil red pepper for 10-15 minutes on high until the tops start to blacken. Remove from broiler and let cool.

2.) Finely chop 1 clove garlic, 1 red chili pepper, and 1 orange hot pepper. When the red bell peppers are cool enough to touch, peel off the blackened skins and chop the roasted red pepper quarters into small pieces. Place all chopped ingredients into a medium/large pot.

3.) Over medium/ high heat saute peppers and garlic. Add 1/2 tsp. Cumin and 1/2 tsp Coriander while sauteing. I don''t know how long to saute them for, I just know when  it starts to smell REALLY good that I start adding other stuff. I love the smell of Cumin!

4.) Add 1 cup milk and then add both cans of Campbell's  Creamy Potato Soup followed another cup of milk. Whisk together until smooth.

5.) When the mixture starts to bubble around the edge of the pot, add the frozen corn.

6.) Simmer, uncovered for 15 minutes. Season to your taste if needed. If  it's too spicy try adding a little bit of heavy cream or half & half.

7.) Serve! Depending on how much of this spicy chowder you  can handle in one sitting, it makes 3-4 servings.

This picture doesn't do the Fall Chowder justice, it looked and tasted yummy in person!

I like to eat my Fall Chowder with a few slices of Sharp Cheddar Cheese and some tortilla chips to help cut down on the heat. This particular batch made my eyes water, nose run,  forehead sweat, and lips tingle. But boy was in good!


Every fall I also like bake my  favorite apple dishes such as Apple Pie, Crisp, Turnovers, and good ole baked apples. This year I wanted to venture outside my usual Apple comfort zone and try a new recipe. I found a delicious new recipe for Dutch Apple Bread courtesy of Shannon from North Dakota Kitchen.

It was so yummy while it was still warm and the apples were perfectly cooked through out the loaf. The day after baking it I buttered up a few slices and threw them on a hot skillet for the best toasted apple bread I have ever tried.

If you'd like to try this recipe head over to North Dakota Kitchen soon. Shannon has a wealth of other delicious meals, sweats, and treats to share as well.

I hope you have found some fall food inspiration here or from the lovely ladies who have inspired me. Thanks again to the gals at Messy Aprons and Shanon from North Dakota Kitchen!