Friday Things
1. Duke is now three and a half months old, and we can’t believe that he’s only been in our lives for a mere month and a half. It seems way longer than that! He’s continuing to grow and is even playing some tug of war with Einstein now. He loves to take naps on the hearth of the fireplace and to run laps around the living room in the evening.
2. Confession: I am not into Halloween. By “not into Halloween”, I mean I greatly dislike the holiday. I don’t like costume parties, I hate scary movies, and I can’t even pretend to be excited about all things black and orange. Needless to say, you probably aren’t going to find creepy finger cookies and spider cupcakes here. BUT… I will provide you with tons of recipes for Halloween candy!
3. Speaking of Halloween candy, I used to be totally addicted to candy corn, however now I can’t seem to eat more than a handful before being overwhelmed by the sweetness. I have something up my sleeve that I think might help balance the sweetness… stay tuned!
4. I have always been a little fashion-challenged, so I really enjoyed this Favorite Wardrobe Basics for Fall and Winter post by She Wears Many Hats. Lots of great ideas for basic pieces that can be built upon for different outfits.
5. Earlier this week, I saw a Stanley Cup ring live, in person, mere inches from my face. It totally made my day! I’ve seen the Stanley Cup up close and personal, but never a ring.
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6. I got my first hot chocolate from Starbucks yesterday, which makes me feel completely ready for the cold, dreary weather. There’s nothing cozier than curling up on the couch with a fleece blanket and a warm drink in hand. I’m ready for some snowflakes!
7. Last week, I made mention of buying some Valrhona chocolate, and a reader, Cynthia, suggested that I check out the website Chocosphere. How had I never heard of this before?! There is a HUGE assortment of chocolate from tons of different brands, and at very competitive prices. It will definitely be my first stop when looking for chocolate from now on!
8. Have you seen these organized desktop wallpapers? Such a genius idea if you have icons floating all over your desktop. These backgrounds allow you to label different areas and drag the appropriate icons into those areas. I love this!
9. I’m approaching that time of year when I evaluate my magazine subscriptions. Right now, I receive Real Simple, Cook’s Illustrated, Cook’s Country, Delicious, and Donna Hay. What magazines do you love? Any recommendations?
10. TGIF! What do you have planned for the weekend? Maybe a game of Simon Says?
I don’t like Halloween either. I haven’t dressed up since second grade when I was forced to. I do love the candy but can’t really get into candy corn either, though I did just post candy corn puppy chow which is crazy good! I get mostly fashion magazines – In Style is my fave.
Love the picture of those 2 lying on the floor. Too cute!
Those organized desktop wallpapers are a great idea, downloading now :)
Isn’t it funny how many of us don’t care for Halloween? My kids were always princesses, fairies, zoo keepers, sheep – all of the cutest things! I love your Friday pics too! I subscribe to many: Bon Appetit, Taste of Home, Cooking Light, BHG, Midwest Living, Coastal Living, plus Travel & Leisure, Glamour and Teen Vogue. Gah – then add in Pinterest, epicurious, browneyed baker… it’s hard to keep up! :)
Subscribe to Taste of Home. That’s just, like, a must.
Oh my gosh, Duke is getting so big! He’s the cutest – he looks so fluffy I just want to snuggle with him every time you post a picture :) Oh, and I’m so glad I’m not the only Halloween hater! I don’t like dressing up or scary movies either, though I will gladly make treats for the occasion.
The “This Old House” magazine is awesome, especially if you are doing renovations. Totally worth the $10/year subscription I have.
Duke is just precious!! The picture of him and Einstein is just adorable!! We have three dogs (all girls and all three Shih tzu’s – and one came from a local no-kill shelter we work with). I love seeing your pics of Duke and Einstein! They make my day!! And I also agree about the halloween thing…dont like scary….i will decorate for fall, but no witches and such….our bunco does a dress up for halloween and I refuse to do the witch thing! When the hosted insisted we all be witches a couple of years ago, I came as a hawaiian witch…sarong and coconut bra!! I dont mind dress up but i wont do scary!
Thanks for your blog! I look forward to it!
My currant magazine subscriptions are Bon Appetit, Good Food, Delicious and Olive. The last three are UK based. I love getting them through the post each month.
My favorite cooking magazine is Cuisine at Home. Great recipes and no advertising. You can go on their website and request a free sample issue.
I’m with you on the candy corn……don’t care for it, doesn’t taste like anything more than overly sweet to me. I don’t like that this time of year, so many recipes on blogs and Pinterest are candy corn based, or the overwhelming amount of pumpkin pancakes, scones, brownies, breads, etc. (not a pumpkin fan.) I guess I’m grouchy about that, but I do love sweater weather and the fall colors and scents. Magazines: I just get Food Network and Taste of Home. Love them both, but don’t seem to cook recipes from them as often as I should. (Noted to the husband the other day that the first recipe I made from a new issue of FN was from an AD!)
I just love your friday things. You always make everything sound so cozy. :)
Can’t wait to check out that chocolate site. Thx for sharing
Btw. HATE scary movies too and orand and black is ridiculous. However, e purple and green that they show for Halloween are great colors. Looking forward to your candy treats.
I am so glad to know that someone hates Halloween as much as I do. I was going to put some sort of disclaimer on my site “don’t expect any Halloween themed sweets here” but I figured it out be best just to not mention it at all. I totally agree though, it’s dumb. However the candy (and more specifically, the chocolate) is something that I can endorse!
YOU’RE PUPPY IS SO CUTE!!
I totally agree with you about Halloween. I’m not a fan of scary movies…the only thing I’m really into is the candy (and the fact that candy is hard to find once Halloween is over).
You have my very favorite blog. It was a long day at work and your Friday Post made me smile more than once. I added your chocolate website to my favorites! Thanks for doing such a great job bringing us smiles and really great recipes. Have a great weekend.
Midwest Living magazine! Awesome! Always has delicious recipes to try!
Michelle,
Have I told you that I love the puppy pics? My hubby did too.
I’m not a fan of Halloween either. I do have cookies if anyone rings the bell but that’s about it. I guess it’s because I don’t have kids.
Annamaria
I like Food Network magazine. Every month they have two pages right at the beginning that show pictures of every recipe in that issue. Very handy!
Love the pictures of your puppy, but sometimes they are hard to look at. I lost my Ruby (the best golden ever!!) last year around this time. She was only 11. I had hoped she’d be with me a little longer.
We have a puppy Golden too! She is a little over 4 months. So sweet and at times crazy! They are the BEST dogs. We lost our 12 year old golden this summer. I’m a little obsessed with taking pictures of the new puppy, but they get big so fast and I want to have evidence of this sweet puppy stage.
I love Bon Appetit; my favorite chocolate cake recipe of all time is from a February edition. I also get Saveur; the recipes aren’t always as accessible but I can’t resist the combination of food and travel, my two favorite things!
Aw, Einstein and Duke are so cute together! I am not a fan of Halloween either. Ready to move on to Thanksgiving. Have a great weekend!
Einstine and Duke are so adorable. Michelle, you take the best pictures. They make me smile whenever I see them.
I’m not a fan of Halloween either. I’m just plain afraid of the dark. Add zombies, ghosts and skeletons, and I’m done in… :-)
I don’t get any kids trick or treating, not because I don’t like it, but because we’re in a remote area. So really, what’s the sense of decorating if I don’t care for the holiday? But candy? Yes, I’m always interested in recipes for that!
Funny, I just had a hot chocolate from Starbucks too. :-)
Your blog makes my day, it brings such a huge smile to my face! And I’m WITH YOU, I have hated Halloween since I was a kid, hated trick or treating, hated costumes, the candy was not worth all that! YECK. I don’t even like it now as an adult, I’m usually not even home to hand out candy.
Your boys are the most adorable things on the planet. I had a Golden years ago named Joe and he was just the love of my life. Your two are beyond precious.
Thank you, thank you for your honesty regarding Halloween!! I feel the same way, right down to the black and orange cupcakes, cookies and everything else. They do nothing for me. The “scary” movies aren’t scary, they are gross and not fun; the same with “haunted houses.” I also lost my taste for candy corn many years ago, due to the sweetness.
As for magazines, I have pared down to just Cook’s Country and Consumers’ Reports and Nutrition Newsletter.
My! Duke is growing!! The two of them stretched out in duplicate, are adorable! They must be such pleasure for each other and for you.
For this weekend, I will be making and freezing crock pot applesauce from the apples my daughter and grandkids picked for me. I will probably make an apple pie and put that in the freezer, too.
I very much enjoy your blog and love your recipes! Thank you.
Please never stop posting pictures of your adorable dogs. I love them!
Thank you for passing on the tip about Chocosphere. I live in Calgary and usually go to Phoenix twice a year. I wanted to look into purchasing some chocolate while there to bring home. Usually I am usually able to pick up some Valrhona at Trader Joes and Schrafenberger at Walmart with good pricing, but it is a very limited selection.
I love your blog and look forward to your postings!
OMG. More dog pictures! My husband is allergic to dogs so we have had cats for the last 40 years and it’s just not the same. I miss having a dog!
I feel the same way about candy corns. They are just not my favorite anymore.
I love the picture of Einstein and Duke playing Simon Sez. How cute is that! Michelle, I love the Cuisine magazine. I’ll have to share an issue with you. Not very long but they come in a notebook format that can easily be saved in a binder. Every recipe I have ever made from there is awesome and each issue has a theme.
Oooh yes, I’d love to check out a copy!