Bookspiration

Bookspiration: Boo!

photo-oct-28-6-25-27-pmToday we had a lot of fun letting Lillian get her hands all slimy with pumpkin goop while daddy cleaned out a pumpkin for her to sit in. We wanted to carve the other side of the pumpkin when we were finished, so we decided to take inspiration from the wonderful board book Boo! by one of our favorite children’s authors, Leslie Patricelli.
This sweet book is about a baby enjoying all kinds of Halloween fun.  After picking out a pumpkin that is just the right size, the baby wonders what to carve:

Since Lillian loves our two cats, we decided to go with a kitty face on our pumpkin (you’ll have to check out the book to find out what the baby carves in Boo!). I’ve seen a few different kitty carvings online, but I especially liked to idea of using pumpkin pieces for ears! We attached the ears to our pumpkin with toothpicks. One of my favorite tips to try before lighting a candle for Jack-O-Lanterns is to add cinnamon powder to the top of the pumpkin. The aroma fills the air and really adds to the cozy fall feeling of pumpkin carving! I think our kitty pumpkin turned out pretty cute, but I’ve gotta be honest, Lillian inside the pumpkin is definitely cutest of all!
What are your favorite Halloween books? Did you carve pumpkins yet this year? I’d love to hear all about your Halloween!

xx Caitlyn

Save

Save

Uncategorized

Monte Cristo’s!

Well, I’ve had a bit of a rough couple of weeks. But I’m trying to get back into the swing of things, so here I am with my first post in a while. Will perhaps go into some of the not-so-fun parts of my last couple weeks eventually, but right now I’d like to focus on something fabulous: I finally got around to making homemade Monte Cristo’s! (Sorry in advance for the HORRIBLE photos, but sometimes you can’t be a perfect iPhone photographer when delicious sandwiches are in your near future.)

20131113-153821.jpg

I decided to use my panini press for the Monte Cristo’s, but I think grilling them would be a delicious option as well. To start, I set out my ingredients: homemade apple butter, homemade honey mustard dressing, an apple, homemade bread swirled with apple butter, turkey, and provolone cheese.

20131113-153828.jpg

I cut thin slices of the apple and put them on the bottom half of the sandwich…

20131113-153835.jpg

…added turkey slices on top of that…

20131113-153842.jpg…and provolone cheese on top of that.

20131113-153851.jpg

Then I added honey mustard dressing on top of the cheese, and apple butter on the top slice of bread. If I made these again, I think I would also add apple butter on the bottom slice before adding any toppings.

20131113-153858.jpg

Then, all I did was grill my delicious little sandwiches. I worried at first that the apple slices would be too crunchy, but they were perfect! I was really happy with how the sandwiches turned out, and have been having fun looking at other Monte Cristo variations online. Have you ever made any good ones, or are there any you’d like to try?

20131113-153908.jpgAlso, I know it’s a little late, but I can’t help but post a picture of our cute pumpkins and our front porch on Halloween. I was able to scratch off making pumpkin seeds from my bucket list using this recipe, too!

Hope you’re doing well as we make our way into the colder, darker months, and that you can stay positive with warmth and light.