Hello and good Monday morning to you!

I think I've admitted here before that I'm a bit of grinch about Halloween. I have never gone into decorating my house too much with skeletons or witches, rarely dress up, and really can't think of much I like about Halloween except the candy, especially if it's chocolate. I do have a few Halloween decorations but mostly rely on darling little pumpkins for my decorations. I'm sure as Carter gets older he'll think I'm a real dud, but I save up all my holiday excitement for the worthier Thanksgiving and Christmas that is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!

We had the kids over for dinner this weekend. Lately I've been stuck on what to make for a two year old. He was a good eater at one time, opening his mouth while I would spoon in whatever we were having for dinner. He would gobble it up and open his little mouth for more. So dang precious, but all that has changed. Now he alternately loves then hates, then loves and hates again such kid-friendly mainstays as chicken, salmon, peas--potatoes even! Two year olds!

I decided to make tomato and wild rice soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, and green salad. Bless his heart, he loved my soup! Of course he also loved the sandwiches too but would not touch the kale salad. The week before we had him over for dinner and I had put a minuscule amount of salad on his plate: a postage stamp sized piece of lettuce, one pea, one skinny shred of carrot, and a razor-thin slice of radish. He poked at it and announced, "This is salad. Mommy and Daddy like this stuff but I don't." He did eat the main offering of spaghetti. Thanksgiving will be interesting. Last year he loved it all, turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and kept asking for more. If he eats half of what he ate last year I'll be thrilled!

As for Thanksgiving, I'm already thinking about it. I loved the simple table I created above for our family dinner and think I'll reproduce it for the big day. We will be small again this year, just six plus the baby. I'll still make a huge turkey because we love all the leftovers, especially turkey soup and plain old turkey sandwiches. Can you tell I'm ready?

I have three posts planned for the next few weeks; such an abundance of photos and blogging is a rarity for me these days. They are all knitting posts and one is about my recent yarn purchases in Copenhagen and Helsinki. I haven't started knitting with any of my new yarn yet as I've still got a few things on the needles I'd like to have done before the holidays.

For the last half dozen years, and now that our children are long gone, 8 of us have been getting together on Halloween night to share a dinner. I decided when my turn came around, since we may or may not get trick-or-treaters on Halloween night, but just in case we did, to have the party the night before. I have very few Halloween decorations to set out so mostly I rely on pumpkins and black napkins to set my Halloween theme. Add a gigantic web and a few spiders and I was spooky enough for any goblin. Dinner was gluten free, which it almost always is at my house. One of the other guests was gluten free as well so she was very happy to be able to enjoy the entire menu. This is a very rare thing for those who are gf and she was delighted. We gathered at the fireplace where I served cheese toasts and wine (I use Udi's frozen French Baguettes and no one ever guesses they are gluten free. See the recipe for cheese toasts below.) We then sat at the table for tomato soup with pesto sprinkled with pine nuts. The entree was individual chicken pot pie that I topped with this most amazing pie crust, The Easiest Pie Crust, Ever from the Apt. 2B cooking blog. The writer uses regular all purpose flour but had tried it also with gf flour and it turned out great, so that was enough recommendation for me. It was entirely easy and was perfectly flakey, tender, and delicious and is now my new go-to pastry. I do have one tip when working with gf flours as I find there is little, if any, elasticity in a gf dough: I added 1 Tbsp. of water during processing and worked the dough well with my hands to get the crumbles worked into balls. I did not refrigerate, but instead rolled the dough out immediately. The reason for letting the dough rest in the fridge is to strengthen the gluten, a step gf flour doesn't need. Also a cold dough is easier to roll, which is true for a wheat flours, however with gf flours I have often have difficulty with cold doughs. Anyone out there bake with gf flours and have any tips? Also, what brand gf flour do you like? I find some taste too beany and some are too gritty. I've landed on King Arthur's Measure for Measure All-Purpose Blend as my favorite, and I've tried many. I've also tried a few of King Arthur's gluten free mixes and think they have done a great job with gf. In a future post I'll share some of my favorite gf mixes--you'll be surprised how much gluten free products have improved.

Cheese Toasts

Slice a baguette into 1/3" slices. Make topping: Mix 1/4 C grated parmesan, 1 C gruyere, and 1/2 C sharp cheddar.  Add 1/2 tsp black pepper and 1/4 tsp dry mustard and a dash or two of paprika. Mix with enough mayonnaise to moisten and make a spreadable mixture. Spread one heaping tablespoon mixture on each bread slice, sprinkle with more pepper and paprika. Bake in a hot oven (400 F) until bubbly and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Serve hot. You can substitute almost any cheese you have on hand, but I always try to use some parmesan.

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Hi!  Just a quick post to share a fun party I attended last night.  My friend Renee celebrates Halloween like no other person I know.  Every year for the last ten years she has given a huge Witchy Feast.  She rents our her club dining room for the evening, spends the entire day decorating it to the hilt, and invites what seems to be close to 100 girlfriends.  She said it first started as a little party just to do something different and fun, but over the years has grown into a way to celebrate the power of female friendships and honor another year of life and good health.  I am always 100% down for celebrating that.

During the cocktail hour Renee had a few passed hors-d’œuvres with seasonal salsas and chips on the cocktail tables.  Because we were so many, she did have a full bar with several bartenders.  I think the key to making this party special is to go all out on the decorating.  Renee used thousands of tiny orange lights to decorate the dining room and hung witches hats from the ceiling.  She said she bought most of her decorations at the "day after" sale, when decorations go half off.  The tables had gorgeous crushed velvet tablecloths with black napkins folded into bats plus a menu card at each setting.  One absolute requirement was every guest must wear witches garb.  Most of us went as glam as we could, but some did go the warty route, funny!  This is the time to wear your retired miniskirt and fishnet stockings or drag out that swanky 20 year old New Year's Eve dress from the back of the closet.  I really had to laugh at some of the costumes!  I think it would be easy to recreate your own Witch Feast and it certainly doesn't have to be a sit down dinner at the club like Renee's.  A paired down version of evening cocktails and appetizers in your home would be perfect. So, are you thinking of throwing a Witch Feast of your own next year?  You should.  It was fun!

Thanks for popping by.  

I have knitting posts scheduled for the next few weeks, plus another party or two!

xo

Knitionary

to honor yet another year of friendship and health. - See more at: http://knitionary.blogspot.com/2012/10/oktoberfestive.html#sthash.oxkzpruL.dpuf

I think I'm a little late to the fall decorating party as I'm just now thinking of adding a rustic dash here and there.  There are so many beautiful ideas out there, but maybe you don't want too too much, just a wee bit.  And maybe you don't want to go to Pottery Barn and plunk out the big bucks for turkey plates or Halloween decor.  And while you can certainly find some beautiful things, they often seem limiting, and anyway, you have to store it somehow off-season. Rather than decorate specifically for Halloween or Thanksgiving, I'd rather decorate for fall in general.  Here are some beautiful and fairly inexpensive ideas that can carry you through the fall months, and most would even be pretty during Christmastime.  I've included the source in each caption when I could.

And while I'm not too much into decorating for Halloween, here's one sophisticated trick for Halloween decor!

And don't forget that sometimes the best costumes are often the easiest ones.  All you need here is a black eyebrow pencil.  I once captured my neighbor's white lab and penciled in some thick eyebrows and sent him home.  I didn't get a picture of him but somehow he looked French, like this little fella.  How does this make a dog look French?  But it does, right?  

Knitionary