Happy Halloween!

My favorite holiday! I don't know why, probably because it has to do with fun and monsters instead of religion.

As a kid, today was all about CANDY! I remember being so excited that the day just went on forever (kinda like Christmas Eve and waiting to open presents) and it seemed like the night would never come.

The pic here is one of my dogs, Ike... this was taken when he was much younger. Probably under a year. Now, he's 8 and a half. His muzzle is now almost all grey. He's my sweet old man.

He was not at all happy to have that on his head and it took both my husband and I and a whole lot of cheese to make it happen.

We don't have human children so tonight is about keeping the dogs relaxed. We'll start a couple crockpots - italian beef for the hubby, veggie chili for me, and come 5:30 when trick or treating starts, we'll put up the baby gate to keep the pups downstairs, head to our media room and switch on Ghost Hunters Live (Sci Fi channel from 6pm - 1 am, CST) and hang.

We don't give out candy because it just stresses the dogs.

I hope you have a delightful Halloween, no matter what you do.

Sons of Anarchy

I resisted. I did.

I kept seeing the commercials for this new show on FX over the summer and I had to endure my hubby's excited outbursts when he saw one and I was able to resist 3 episodes before I was sucked into the fray!

It's a fabulous show and I blame my husband.

The Sons of Anarchy website describes the show as "an adrenalized drama with darkly comedic undertones about a notorious outlaw motorcycle club intent on protecting their sheltered small town against encroaching drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. The club is equally determined to protect their ruthless and illegally thriving arms business. Charlie Hunnam stars as Jackson 'Jax' Teller, a man whose love for the brotherhood is tested by his growing apprehension for its lawlessness."

With star power like Katey Sagal and Ron Perlman as the leads of both the show and the 'family' and an eclectic and seasoned supporting cast, this show is gritty and makes no apologies.

There is strong language, stronger violence and an even stronger feeling that you're watching things you shouldn't be.

Charlie Hunnam as Jax is compelling. He's real in his portrayal of a son conflicted. He's a new father who is at odds with himself and those around him. He's touching and sweet one moment, and hardcore and dangerous the next. He teeters on the brink of an undying loyalty to the club his late father helped build and his longing for a different life.

It sure isn't fluffy and it sure isn't for everyone but it has a strong underlayer of the importance of family and the bonds of friendship and loyalty. It isn't always politically correct or fair and sometimes it's downright horrifying in it's depiction of what humans are capable of.

It will make you angry and sad.

Like a train wreck, you can't help but look and wonder and hope that everyone comes out of it ok.

It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

No one would call my husband sophisticated and that's why I love him.

He's complex in some areas and deceptively simple in others - he loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and this causes some angst from me as I am a housewife and one of my daily jobs is to make my man his lunch and while I aspire to fancy multi-layered sandwiches with exotic cheeses, hearty breads and spreads, he'd happily eat PB&J on white bread every day for the rest of his life.

Now, you may be thinking, big deal! Well, here is a confession - jelly makes me cringe. The stuff is otherworldy and the texture gives me the heebie jeebies. Truly.. it's a scary, quivering mass.

Now, I love me some jam (but never with peanut butter - both should stand alone except in this amazing recipe I found for PB & Jam bars! I'll post it below) but every day that I have to spread that jelly stuff over bread, I die a little inside.

so... because I love him, I make the sacrifice.

Here is the recipe:

Barefoot Contessa's Peanut Butter & Jam Bars

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (hey, get some Watkins Vanilla from me!)
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature (I use large and it works)
2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (Ina recommends Skippy, I use Jif)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam
2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.

Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven.

Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool and cut into squares.

Call Me An Addict!

I wrote about Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab already but as I've fallen deeper and deeper into the fragrance oil culture, I've been led to and discovered other companies that intrigue me and even tho I love BPAL, as it was my first love... I feel the need to 'date' before becoming monogamous with them. (My friend Marie is pretty faithful to BPAL)

A friend of mine calls fragrance oils, 'liquid crack' and I'm beginning to see why.

I followed links from friends and placed orders. I am waiting for the goodies to arrive but I thought that I might post links to the various places I've discovered. If you are into the fragrance oil scene and know of any great places to buy online, please let me know!

Also, I recommend signing up for newsletters from any site you may be interested in because newsletter members get notice of sales, special offers and coupons.

The Soap Box Company carries a variety of different brands so it's nice to find one place and one cart to dump your treasures into! In addition to oils, they carry soaps and other bath time pleasures. I placed an order for three Arcana Soap oils, one Possets oil and a Cobalt Blend oil there. They are an e-tailer based close by in Chicago so I'm hoping the turnaround time is pretty quick so my impatience can be rewarded and a quick fix is imminent.

Heaven & Earth Essentials - I'll be placing an order with her today, I'm sure. She has a few blends I want to try and she has a full array of bath goodies that can all be custom scented with any of her fragrance oils. Gotta love that! Also, I signed up for her newsletter and a few hours later I got an email back with a $5 discount code! So, sign up and then show her some love by placing an order.

Specialty Bottle - a fragrance addict needs a few tools of the trade to manage her addiction and I found those here. I ordered some mini amber bottles so I can share or sell partial bottles to friends. You can buy them by the piece.

Places I've visited or have been told about, but haven't yet ordered from.... yet. I'll add to the list as I discover more, I'm sure!

Cobalt Blends

Possets

Nocturne Alchemy

Good Judy

The Scent Addict is also one stop shopping. Oils, soaps, bath luxuries and more await you there.

Accessories for Fragrances - a friend of mine buys her decanting supplies here.

Happy Birthday, My Friend

Today, October 21st, would have been the 41st birthday of one of my dearest friends, Brenda.

Brenda passed away in 2005.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of her. I keep her photo on the bulletin board in my home office and because we shared an addiction to lip gloss, I think of her every time I apply it or when I discover the next big thing - I very often think, even now, that I need to call her and tell her about it.

She was vivacious and fun, demanding and moody. She was unique and smart. She was a good friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend and mother. I miss her. The world is a little less glossy without her.

Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab

Marie, my ‘too-cool-for-me’ friend gave me a bottle of fragrance oil for my birthday. She has no idea what a special gift that was to me (well, she does now) because no one else I know would do that. (edited to add that my friend Nat gave me a bottle too!)

She is big into oils and quite the expert. Last year she let me sniff a scent called 'Nosferatu'.

Raw, wet earth, the coolness of the cement mausoleum, the crispness of the trees and the frigid breeze of the fall. It was crazy and it captured me. It's amazing how scent artists can blend oils to smell like specific things!

I’m what they call a ‘foodie and fruit’ girl, meaning I can’t handle floral scents so she went on the hunt for a scent that would work for me and she ended up getting me a delightful scent called ‘Sticky Pillowcase’ from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab (BPAL).

Sticky Pillowcase is described as “Terminal sugar rush. A little goblin's candy bag, upended. Smushed candy corn, rock candy dust, marshmallow gunk, strawberry goo, spun blue sugar, globs of salt water taffy, and lint.” And it’s fabulous!

I’m now just getting into the fragrance oil arena and I have a few other friends besides Marie to help me on my journey. Mindy and SuE have been more than generous by sending me little goodie packets with sample vials for me to try. They have all been so great at choosing scents I’d really like.

Fragrance is such an important and personal thing. It can elevate (or even change) your mood and bring you out of a funk. It can evoke good and bad memories and can take you places you've been or wish you could go. Scent can remind you of people you love and people you lost.

There is nothing greater than having someone say 'you smell good!'.

It’s a huge learning curve but it’s fun. It’s also kinda pricey so I’m only going to be able to indulge once in awhile. Marie and I recently went in on a BPAL order to save on shipping and I decided to treat myself to a bottle of what I was pretty sure I’d love, it’s called ‘Butter Rum Cookie’, described as, “a boozy addition to the devil's bake sale! Rum-soaked butter cookies, crusted with sugar, soaked in almond and garnished with orange rind.”

Next month, Marie and I are going to split a bottle of ‘Hellcat’, which is described as “a soft, sensual, luxuriant blend with a wicked bite: hazelnut, butter cream, honey mead, rum and sweet almond.”

I invited Marie to post here about fragrance oils since I don’t know that much.. so here she is:

"To me the difference between BPAL and Commercial perfumes is that Commercial perfumes are designed to evoke a particular sort of person. Really they are playing towards the eventual advertising. You are supposed to desire to be that other person and they can sell you just the expensive bottle of scent to help you on your way.

BPAL's oils are very different in intent. Beth is an artist who paints with scent. Each fragrance is an image, idea, character, archetype, situation, piece of literature, etc. fully realized. The variety is so amazing that there is something for everyone.

Besides just smelling good, and seriously I have never smelled a commercial scent that made my eyelids flutter the way some of my favorite BPAL's do, they educate and explore ideas. That allows the wearer to express who they really are...their loves...their passions...their mild interests...their sense of humor..."

I recommend stopping by BPAL when you have some time to kill and browsing through their site. It's like going to another world!

October is National Chili Month

I love chili and I make it about once a week in my crockpot - yes, it's vegetarian! Most people consider chili a fall/winter dish but it's really a delicious meal any time. I like mine topped with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and a small dollop of sour cream and served with cornbread or a side of Fritos.

I buy diced tomatoes and sauce from the warehouse club in cases of 8 and 12 cans so I always have the stuff on hand to make chili. I like to make it on days when I have alot to do around the house or if my hubby is gone and I don't have to make dinner because I can toss it in my small crockpot and just eat it all day long as I get hungry. It's diet friendly and good for you!

Here is my base recipe: (this can be doubled or tripled for larger groups)

1 can tomato sauce

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can any beans (I like kidney or chili beans the best, but black beans work too. Pinto beans seem too soft to me.)

Then I add in chopped onions and garlic and my Watkins Chili Seasoning and a couple splashes of the Watkins Calypso Sauce (like Tobasco) and 1/4 bag of the Morningstar Farms Crumbles (fake burger) and I'm good to go!

You can also get creative and add corn or peppers, mushrooms, whatever you like. You meat eaters can add in hamburger or chunked up beef. Make it hot or not. It's your call.

Then.. the leftovers can be used to make nachos, chili dogs or chili fries! MMMMM