So sad

1.  I wanted to post pictures of adorable Jubal, but I can't find my camera.  I had it last night at a friend's house and I was taking pictures of Jubal while the kids were swimming.  But I can't find it for the life of me.  I called my friend, but she hasn't seen it.  Leo and Ana both said they saw it last night after swimming on the counter, but it's disappeared.  Sigh.

2.  As proof of just how cute Jubal is, FOUR people came up to me at the emergency preparedness fair I was at and asked to take pictures of him, because he was just so cute!!!  (I actually thought that was a little weird, but whatever.)

3. I was at an emergency fair at the ward in Waller, Texas because they called me on Monday, desperate to have someone man a booth about hurricane preparedness.  I told them I know nothing about hurricanes, and that I've never experienced any (well,  Hurricane Wilma in Florida, but that was a slight breeze by the time it hit us). But they begged and pleaded till I said okay.  The person who was supposed to do it but had something else come up and he gave them my name.  Anyway, I asked him for his presentation (he's a weatherman for Fox news) that he had just given in our 5th Sunday lesson, and just used some of the slides for the booth.   It went okay, although I felt dumb because most the people  I talked to had lived here a long time and had experienced lots of hurricanes.

4. Waller is quite a ways from Houston, and there was a lot cowboy boots, wranglers, and belt buckles in the crowd.  I actually felt like I live in Texas.

5. Isabel came home the other day from school and exclaimed, "School is ruining my life!!!!" When I asked her what was wrong with school, she said they made her sit "criss-cross applesauce" (cross-legged) and her legs were going to be stuck there forever and she couldn't stand it!

6.  I finally started sewing the kids' Halloween costumes.  I'm so excited. And I finished 8 blocks of my scrap quilt.

7.  I really wish I knew where my camera is.

8. Leo might go to Saudi Arabia for 2-3 weeks sometime before Christmas.  Nothing definite yet.

9.  Is it weird that I stress-shop on Craigslist?  In a way it's better than Amazon because you have to wait for the people to reply and you can try to barter down the price, and then find a time to go pick up the stuff.  It's gives a lot of time to come to my senses and decide not to buy whatever random thing it was that happened to catch my attention (art, this time).  Oh here, I'll post a picture of the piece I was going to buy, since I have no other pictures to post.

I thought it was cool anyway.  It's by  Charles B. Gruel, a white Canadian, who first made Northwest Native American fine art popular way back in the early 1930s and 40s.  But his prints have fallen out of favor because he's not Native American, and thus his artwork is considered not "authentic."  I think that's stupid, because why should his ethnicity be considered at all in relation to artwork he's producing?

10.  I was stressing/procrastinating about that silly emergency preparedness fair, just fyi.

11.  Elena, Ana and Isabel started piano lessons on Thursday.  It feels like life is back to the grind of school now for real.

12.  I made this absolutely delicious dinner a little while ago.  Everyone loved it and it was so easy.  Here's the recipe:

Pasta Carbonara Casarecce (from this link)

1 lb. Casarecce pasta 
(Casarecce is part of the Garofalo Pasta variety pack sold at Costco—or you can use a small shell-type pasta. The shape of the pasta collects the sauce inside.)
1 lb. Bacon
1 Medium onion diced
5 cloves of garlic (mince)
4 eggs
½ cup cream
1 c grated Romano cheese (or substitute Parmesan)
½ tsp cracked pepper
1/2 c chopped parsley
2 TBLS chopped Basil


Cut bacon in 1 inch pieces and cook till brown. Remove from pan and drain bacon grease and then cook garlic and onions together in the pan till soft and the remove from heat and add to bacon.  
Meanwhile cook casarecce pasta per instructions.  In the bowl you plan to serve the meal in, whisk together the eggs, cream, pepper. herbs and cheese.  Add the pasta as soon as it is finished cooking and drained. Stir together.  The heat from the pasta will cook the eggs.  Then add the bacon, onions and garlic and stir some more.
Serve immediately.

13. And to go with it, I made this cake for dessert. It's the perfect fall cake.  I had a picture, but it's on my missing camera. ....I just googled it and found a picture and the recipe on Better Homes and Gardens (it's in a magazine I have of Better Homes and Gardens Ultimate Desserts).  My cake didn't look quite as pretty but it tasted excellent anyway.  I loved that it was a really rich chocolate flavor but spicy as well.  Try it!  Oh, and I didn't add the caramel sauce although I did use the fruit, I might have to make it again this week, just to test it, you know I would hate to recommend it without trying it out first......

Chocolately Harvest Fruit-topped Cake

2 eggs, lightly beaten

2 cups sugar

1 c water

1 8 oz carton sour cream

⅔ c canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 c flour

¾ c cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

¾ tsp black pepper

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

½ tsp nutmeg

⅛ tsp ground cloves

⅔ c caramel ice cream topping

1 c whipping cream

8 oz semisweet chocolate (I, of course, used dark chocolate)

1 pear

1 apple

2 c apple juice

1 cup sugar

⅓ c craisans

1.

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour two 9 x 1-1/2-inch round baking pans.

2.

In an extra-large bowl combine sour cream, water, oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With a large wire whisk, whisk until well combined. Add flour, cocoa powder, black pepper, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, and cloves; whisk vigorously until smooth. Divide batter between prepared pans.

3.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes until top springs back when lightly touched in center. Cool in pans on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and cool completely.

4.

Finely chop chocolate. In saucepan over medium-high heat bring whipping cream to boiling. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until smooth. Cool to room temperature; chill until a spreadable, about 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare Harvest Fruit.

5.

To assemble, place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread with 1/2 of chocolate cream mixture. Top with the second layer. Arrange fruit in a single layer on top of cake. Pour caramel over top of fruit. Serve immediately. (Cake does not store well after fruit is added.) Makes 12 servings.

Harvest Fruit

1.

Thinly slice pear lengthwise and apple horizontally. In medium saucepan combine apple juice and sugar; bring to boiling over medium-high heat. Add sliced fruit and dried cranberries; return to boiling. Reduce heat. Simmer, covered, 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand 5 minutes. Strain and discard liquid. Cool to room temperature.