BOO! Did I scare you? Happy Halloween, everyone! Don’t you just love Halloween? I do – always have. Goes back to the whole I like being scared thing. But I gotta say, Halloween with a kid who finally is old enough to understand what’s going on is ten times better! Cate and I made 7 dozen Halloween cookies this week as part of our celebrations. It was a lot of fun. Cate’s favorite part by FAR was playing with the dough and making her ‘cookies.’ It was seriously the cutest thing ever.

We used a recipe from my mom, Sour Cream Sugar Cookies (click for recipe). They came out great! If you make this recipe, roll them out pretty thin as they rise when they cook. I think I could have gone even thinner than I did, but they still tasted good.

I also decided to go the homemade route with the frosting. I was tempted to buy frosting, but decided it was worth the extra effort to make it from scratch. I was right – SO GOOD.

Have a safe and happy Halloween!

The Red Sox won the World Series! WOO-HOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe tonight we should eat hot dogs to celebrate!

In case you weren’t aware, I AM the reason they swept the World Series yet again. 3 years ago when they performed that wonderful feat, I was pregnant with baby girl Cate. This time, pregnant with another baby girl. 2 for 2. Me and my prego belly are totally the Red Sox good luck charm.

Happy Halloween!! It’s not even Halloween yet and Cate has more Halloween candy than any 2-year-old has business possessing. She is VERY good at sharing however – it’s super cute. We’ve been reading Harriet’s Halloween Candyand Cate prides herself on the fact that, unlike Harriet, she knows how to share her candy. Lucky for me!

This week is surprisingly un-busy schedule-wise, so that means I have to plan a full menu for the week. I’m glad I had all your menus to peruse – it helped so much! Please keep your menus coming – let’s see if we can set a record this week! Remember – it doesn’t matter WHAT your eating, just tell us what it is. 🙂

MONDAY:
– Bistro Chicken
– Potatoes
– Veggie

TUESDAY:
– Chicken Masala (TJs) w/chickpeas
– Rice
– Veggie

WEDNESDAY:
– Margherita Pizza
– Salad
– Trick or Treating!

THURSDAY:
– Leftovers

FRIDAY:
– Quiche
– Baguette & cheese
– Fruit

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Chili
– Corn Cake Toppers

We have a Halloween party tonight…actually, it’s the only thing we had on the calendar this week that didn’t get canceled due to the fires. It sure will be nice to get out and do something fun. (Quick update – our part of San Diego is totally in the clear now, but the fires continue to rage. Keep those thoughts and prayers directed at Southern California!)

A Halloween party means Cate gets to dress up as a ballerina (and wear make-up, her FAVORITE part) and I get to make a dessert to share. I just couldn’t bring myself to do anything very complicated, so I made my easiest brownie recipe (i.e. Norma’s brownies, nice and gooey) and threw some butterscotch chips on top to make them look “halloweeny” – I think it worked… 🙂

Wow! What a giveaway – the biggest yet! Thank you all for entering and for all your positive comments! And the winner is…

Stella, who wrote: “Ooohh a new shopping cart cover would be EXCELLENT! My son DESTROYED our first cover, now our little peanut has nothing to use….” Congrats, Stella! Be sure to send an email to weeklydinners@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Don’t forget, everyone can use the special promotional code TWFD on the Just Peachy Baby website for a 10% discount + free shipping! Time to go shopping! And if you need a little more impetus, read this article at MSNBC, The 12 Germiest Places in Your Life. A very special thanks to Just Peachy Baby for such a great giveaway!

Today is the last day to enter the Just Peachy Baby grocery cart cover giveaway! Simply post a comment on the giveaway post (click to link) by Midnight, PT. Good Luck!

The fires are still going. What a week. Our neighborhood remains just outside the evacuation area, so we’re still home. But the 513,000 people who have been evacuated are still not home. Keep sending prayers to San Diego! (The Hostess with the Mostess, a fellow San Diego blogger, had to evacuate twice yesterday! She wrote a good post about the fires yesterday if you are interested in reading more.)

Today we discovered there are some “refugee” horses staying on a grassy area near our apartment. Nate picked up some delicious NY Honey Crisp apples yesterday at Trader Joe’s, so we decided to share the ‘deliciousness.’ Cate and I just came back from visiting and feeding the horses (nice to get out of the house for a minute, even if the air is disgusting). They were beautiful and gentle animals. Hopefully they can go home soon!

It’s been amazing to see this week how calm and supportive the community has been. The evacuation locations are organized, clean and literally flooded with donations from other San Diego citizens. It is refreshing to see people come together in such a positive way at such a difficult time.

Yesterday I mentioned how we visited a great farm in Ramona, CA to pick pumpkins. A matter of hours after we left the farm, two wildfires started in San Diego county, one of them in Ramona (the farm is in the fire’s perimeter). Since then, the entire city of Ramona has been evacuated as well as MANY other areas in the county, making it the largest evacuation area ever (the fire count is up to seven). The situation is very serious here in San Diego, they think the worst fires ever.

I feel I need to recognize what is happening in our city and send my thoughts and prayers to any of you who are being affected. The situation is not good – please keep all these people in your prayers. Right now my little family is safe – we are close to the evacuation area, but not the fires. My heart goes out to everyone affected by these fires.

Don’t you just LOVE autumn? It is, without a doubt, my favorite season. Which means it is the also the time of year I am most homesick for the Northeast. Oh, you beautiful leaves – how I miss you! (How’s that for dramatic?) There IS a great farm in Ramona, CA that we go to every year to “pick” pumpkins. We took Cate this weekend and she had a blast! It’s so fun as your children grow older and start to “get” things.

On to this week’s menu…hmmmm…again, feeling very lazy (pregnant). Thank goodness you guys have been AWESOME at posting menus so there’s some inspiration happening here. Please keep them coming – and remember, I love to see all kinds of menus! 🙂

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway if you haven’t already!

MONDAY:
– Roasted Chicken (from Costco!)
– Potatoes
– Veggie

TUESDAY:
– Kitchen Sink Quesadillas
– Chips & Guacamole

WEDNESDAY:
– Chicken Parmesan
– Pasta
– Salad

THURSDAY:
– Neighborhood party

FRIDAY:
– Halloween party

SATURDAY:
– Eat out

SUNDAY:
– Breakfast for dinner…probably waffles

Happy Friday – we have a Free Giveaway!!! Just Peachy Baby is giving away a beautiful shopping cart cover to one lucky TWFD reader! The winner can select their favorite cover from eight modern prints – from gender-neutral funky dots and stripes, hip girl florals or cool boy patterns!

To enter the giveaway, submit any comment on THIS POST before Midnight PT, Thursday, 10/25. The winner will be announced next Friday, 10/26! No anonymous comments…we need to know who the winner is! 🙂 Thank you, Just Peachy Baby!

This is perfect for you moms-of-babies out there. And if you don’t have a baby, it’s the perfect shower gift! Good luck!

Image courtesy of Just Peachy Baby