Pumpkin Cookies- Hey, it's fall!

Hey friends!  I thought, since it's fall, that I would post a fallish recipe every so often.  So here is a great recipe for Pumpkin cookies from our Matheson cousins:

Glazed Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients 2 cups sugar (make sure this is all white sugar) 1 small can pumpkin (15 oz) 1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 eggs 3 cups oat flour (blend oatmeal in a blender) 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 3 cups crushed pecans (the original recipe called for 3c chocolate chips, but I thought it was too sweet with the glaze and I love pecans, so there you go.) Mix wet ingredients, then add the dry ingredients; mix well. Bake at 375 for 8-9 minutes.  While baking, make glaze: Glaze 2 c powdered sugar 4 oz cream cheese (room temperature) 1 Tbsp. milk Mix well and immediately frost warm cookies.  (If this seems thicker than a glaze, just add a little more milk- I can't attest to the consistency if you're somewhere drier than Dominica) Enjoy!!

Do NOT do this at home.

Soooo.. In Dominica the bread is ridiculously bad.  It's dry and flavorless.  Which means all of us student spouses get to make bread if we want our families to have yummy sandwiches.  I came up with a recipe that I love and I started to bake and sell it to other students and families.  It's called my Sweet Wheat Oat Top Bread.  Well, tonight I made a few loaves, turned the oven's gas on and lit it inside, then went in the other room to do something else while I waited for it to preheat. 
**side note: There aren't gas companies here like there are in the US.  If you want to cook you have to fill your propane tank and hook it up to your oven.  Sometimes when a shipment hasn't come in for a while we will have propane shortages.  It really stinks when your tank runs out in the middle of baking bread.  THE WORST. bleh.**
Well, when I came back in to put the bread in I opened the oven and it wasn't hot. Noooooooo! The propane ran out!  Ug.  It was too late at night to go use someone else's oven.  I thought MAYBE I could kind of coax a little propane out if I shook the tank a little.  I turned on and off the gas knob again (BTW there aren't temperature settings on the oven.  just numbers 1-4 and you have to guess about where 350° would be) and then got a match to tryyyy and light the stove.

SCREEEEEAM!  A HUGE fire ball exploded in my face!  I looked down and my cut off shorts were on fire and I patted them out.  I ran to the shower and stripped down in a matter of seconds.  As I stood there in the freezing cold heaven sent stream of water I just started to sob.  It hurt so bad and I knew I couldn't stay in the water forever.  My upper right arm killed, as did the inside of my right leg. When I finally got out I looked at my face.  My eyelashes and eyebrow on the right side were all curled up.  That was sure a horrible night to get through. ouch.
I guess the flame I lit in the oven to preheat it had somehow gone out- maybe when I shut the oven door.  The gas had been working all along and just filling up the oven.  When I opened it- and left it open while I jiggled the gas tank- the cloud of gas was slowly enveloping me.  Then like a dope, I lit my fate.  Well, Darwin, you haven't gotten me yet.  I'm still alive and kickin.

Red Rock

On the other side of the island there is a resort called Red Rock.  It's an absolutely beautiful place with bungalows interspersed with jungle and set against huge red cliffs that have been shaped and smoothed by the water and wind.  At the beach bar they have tables shaded by palm frond umbrellas that are underlit at night.  This place is absolutely magical.  We went with the Ashton/Green/Roses, Beares, and Ally LeClair when she visited.

Aaron and Charlie Beare- She looks so tiny!

The sand at this beach is very coarse.  You can find a lot of shells and miniature sea urchin skeletons washed up on the shore.

There I am in the background collecting for the sea urchin skeletons

 Here's an example of what they look like.  They are SUUUUPER thin and fragile.

Matthew and Taeyon heading in for dinner

 Zoned out.....

 I love how we are in this amazing place and the kids are playing games on their iphones...  lol  Except for Colin and Megan.  They're making googly eyes at eachother.

Makin smores!  

 yay fire

See the ocean in the background?  I love this place.

What a great day at Red Rock!  Can't wait to come again!

Almond Beach and De Champs

After the passing of tropical storm, Ernesto, we are back in the black sand of Almond Beach. Clear Skies :)   

The kids decided that before we went up to De Champs (the hotel/restaurant at the top of the "hill") for brunch they first wanted to play at the beach and dig a homemade tide pool.

At the top of the hill...

Some of the decor:

 

 We went to De Champs for a Saturday birthday brunch for my friend, Chris McGilvery.

Toasting the birthday boy

The kids had the best seats in the house... IMHO

 

My Calamari Frito salad (Fried calamari)

 Megan took the camera for a stroll around the grounds...

The view from the kids' table

Chocolate Chip pancakes!

She approves

 On our way back down the hill toward the school

 Part of our everyday walk home from the school...

 

Ketchup Time

Hey guys- sorry I've been AWOL. A lot has happened since I last posted. 

NY was a blast!!! 

Up close and personal to Käthe on the plane :)
RED EYE FLIGHT=LAME
even though I'm acting happy here.

Times Square, baby. I'm such a tourist.

About to board the ship for the harbor tour!  Here are all the girls: 

and I look like a doofus. ah well.

And the guys- this looks like a clothing catalog picture:

I liked this pic.  Waiting for the harbor tour to board.

Brigham, Shanti, and Michelle

I'm on a boat.

oh what's that in the background?  We didn't even mean to do that! ;)

All of us tired and cold after the red eye and our harbor tour... we couldn't check into the Hilton until 3pm. ummm bad idea.

ha ha we're funny.  This is like a foreground photo-bomb. ha!  I believe this is Marc checking to see if we can check in yet.. we were exhausted but we kept on going.... energizer bunny had nothing on us.
Käthe, me, Marc, Evan, AnnaMarie

Central Park Fun

Käthe kept taking pictures of the male joggers and getting all googly-eyed at the men every where. ha ha but right above my head in this picture there was a guy working out on a towel in nothing but loose short shorts... He was a little peacock if I ever saw one.  We were all laughing at Käthe's reaction to him.  Jared's face in this picture is hilarious, too. 

Greg, me, Jared, Evan, Matt

 The tunnel we sang in.... that was fun :) And sounded rad. yes I did.
Evan, Greg

AnnaMarie, me, Kassandra, Calli

All 17 of us on the same elevator. It was comfdy.

I just thought this guy looked so quirky that I had to pose in a picture with him without him knowing :) You see all types in the subway.  He's just so sharp and riddled with OCD.  I love him.

lurv. Käthe hates it when I say that :)
Calli, Käthe, AnnaMarie, Me

 Waiting for my train :) I LOVED the subway.

outside the subway station

me, Shawna, Calli

Ground Zero

We got hot dogs at Gray's Papaya a few times- Jimmy Kimmel says it's the best weiner in the state.

Ha ha Greg's trying to be a dork in my Gray's Papaya picture..

Evan and the Gang- he HAD to get a picture.

I wasn't impressed, but it was alright (Evan if you read this, just forget you read it.  It was wonderful). The dogs were tiny and the juice was "eh" (I take that back, too)

 Me and Ethan being dumb.  We only have subway maps for blankets..... so we're sad.  Really I was just mocking how huge they were and how dumb people look when they open them up all the way.  Which is why i carried one that was ripped down to my section of town.  Which, I found out later, is actually not the greatest idea if you don't know the area .... better off lost than looking like an idiot, right? Don't answer that.

HALAL GUYS GYROS PLATTERS!

YUMMMMMMMM  The best ones are right across the street from the Hilton (where we were staying) on 53rd and 6th. There are a lot of imposters, but these is the guys. Amazuhzing. It's chopped Gyros or Chicken or both with this crazy bright orange long grain rice that looks like shredded cheese, pita wedges, lettuce, and a tangy tzatziki sauce (a greek yogurt cucumber garlic sauce. - IMHO this makes the dish.) and BBQ sauce served by guys in bright yellow cooking over steaming grills and shouting in uhhh?? arabic? and moving super fast.  I had this a few times. I kept craving it.

Note:  Every time I ate this I felt sick later from the greasiness.  I didn't care.

Note #2: If you are done eating and there is still food left in your platter, either seal it up TIGHT or throw it away far far away. It will stink up your hotel room.
Note #3:  I spent way too much money on food on this trip.  Halal guys gave me the most food for my money. $6 for possibly two meals, if you count breakfast the morning after.

All day long the lines look like this. (minus the dark)

Käthe, me, and Calli with our gyros (pronouced yerohs)

Greasy, delicious, and definitely from a cart.  A true NY experience!

 

Empire State Building..... ok, I navigated the subway system- I think we had to take 4 trains to get there... We were pretty proud of ourselves for navigating our way there and doing it super quick (but for future reference, DONT take the E train if you can help it. or was it the R?  Oh well, just avoid them both. LOL. It's scary. I'm still waiting on my Hep test results to come back ;)  We got to the building and the wait was...... 4 HOURS? dun dun dun.... no freaking way. We took a picture in the lobby and went back to the hotel. and then lied to everyone that we had gone to the top. ha ha ha.  We eventually told them the truth. I swear it.

Käthe, me, AnnaMarie, and Calli

We spent a lot of time in Times Square and got caught up in a crowd that was around Nikki Menage who was there to perform. I could've reached out an touched her.  Not that I'm a fan, but everyone else thought that was pretty cool.  Here is the Times Square police department.  ha ha It's ridiulous how gawdy everything is.

Some of the best Thai food you will never have the pleasure of experiencing is at  Pan Thai on 7th and umm 52nd? Anyway, it was amazing.  All 6 of us were reaching across the table eating out of each other's dishes and oohing and mmming. Good Stuff.  nothing was bad.

Especially Calli's (this is her "get away from my food, woman" face)

The hat of shame.  We played a lot of Egyptian war and decided to make it more fun by adding the hat of shame stipulation. I believe this picture was taken at 3am in the deli across the street from the Hilton.  Calli and I accidentally walked in on a guy using the urinal in the bathroom there and were so punch drunk that we jumped up and down silent screaming and ran all the way out of the store tripping over eachother and I think it took us a full minute to start laughing out loud.......

And then we discovered I have a laughing problem....

 This is where we sang on Easter Sunday....

and this was posted on the door that week:

I'm on the left end.  I got to sing a solo at the concert which was rad.

  The after-party. Chodang, the food was awesomesauce. We are a pretty strange bunch.....

Evan, AnnaMarie, Calli, Rachel

Greg, Käthe, me

At one point we started clapping to see if we could get the 100 other singers to clap for no reason.  They did.  There were even a few hoots.  Poor little lambs... I mean sheep. It was pretty funny when I told them all that we just clapped to see if they would. tee hee.

Tired packing face

The next day we had a few hours to do whatever it was we for sure wanted to do before flying out.  For us it was China town (and the surrounding sultural hotspots).  Oh man, Kassandra spent a TON.  Everyone kept getting me to bargain with the shop keepers for them.  It was fun.  It reminded me of learning how to bargain from my dad growing up when we'd go through Nogales on our way to Rocky Point every year.

Here we are in Little Italy, baby!  I saw that beautiful fire hydrant and told everyone that we had to get a picture around it :)  Glad I did! It turned out great! We look like we're on Sesame Street. All we're missing is an impromptu musical number. And this is a group that could actually pulled it off! DANG! Life is full of missed opportunities.  Remember that, kids.

Shawna, AnnaMarie, Calli, Kassandra, Käthe, me

And then pizzzzzza.......

Matt, me, Käthe, Shawna, Calli, Kassandra

 This is my favorite picture I took the whole trip- sweet.

Greg, Jared, Evan

Regrets:

I didn't get any pictures of me out of that hat!  I brought some sassy outfits and looked all cute (like, for reals, yo) most of the time, but did we get that on film?  No.  In fact, we didn't get anything on film because everything is digital, doy.  Proof?  I got asked out by a guy at the banquet ceremonyish thing. so there.  Yes, there's a story there, but I's not tellin it. but it's funny and awkward, just like every story I ever tell.

One of my favorite things about NYC is navigating the subways.  When we were heading to practice on Friday morning(?) I had forgotten my subway week pass and so everyone had to go ahead without me while I went back to the hotel to find it.  I loved figuring out how to get to the convention center alone.  I plugged in my headphones and got my new yorker on.  I got there ok after a couple exchanges. After that all the girls would make me figure out how to get wherever it was we were going. ha ha. Love. While I was waiting for one of my trains I noticed a dude in Mexican boots. i had to pull out my phone and take a picture.  I snapped it two feet away from his actual feet. ha ha

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Next up, we got family pictures on the windiest day in April with Aaron's family.  Aaron wanted to cut his hair before these pictures but I said "not on your life!"  I want him to grow his hair out while he's in Dom. He'll be so hairy after 2 years!! This is the already-long before picture :)__________________________________________

Favorite!

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 I've been singing about town- 

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Here at Dos Gringos in conjuction with David and the Guitar (yes, that's a uke in the picture.  It's a thing.) These were taken while I sang Radiohead's "Creep." Overdone...but still magnificent :)

yes, yes, it's a boring reel, but I didn't take the pictures.  And it's actually true to life, so whatcha gonna do?

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Here's my Reverb Nation Cover Picture. (which was how David of David and the Guitar found me) Took it with Aaron's ipad while I was waiting in the car for him after church.  Click it to link to the Reverb Nation page (by the way, NONE of the songs on there are true to my performing genres as of yet)

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I also sang with my favorite punk band, Geek Empire.

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My HHS friends came to see me the first time I sang with GE. awwwwww

(funny fact....  I put on my orange shirt that night and felt like it needed more.... so I cut off the legs of Megan's too-small striped leggings and wore them on my arms. tee hee) 

Here are some pics from a couple different nights...

They're playing again the weekend I'm packing up my house at Crabby Dons- go support them June 23

WAY too much to post in one sitting.  Stay tuned for the kids' and my graduation, Aaron's arrival in Dominica, and first two months of med school! The kids and I leave in less than two weeks to join him!! Kuh-razy.