Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Do you remember this scene from Macbeth? Happy Halloween!!!

FIRST WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.

SECOND WITCH. Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined.

THIRD WITCH. Harpier cries, "'Tis time, 'tis time."

FIRST WITCH. Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison'd entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot.

ALL. Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

ALL. Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

THIRD WITCH. Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witch's mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark,
Root of hemlock digg'd i' the dark,
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat and slips of yew
Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse,
Nose of Turk and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab.
Add thereto a tiger's chawdron,
For the ingredients of our cawdron.

ALL. Double, double, toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

SECOND WITCH. Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

Halloween in the hollow often meant homemade treats and apples. One neighbor even made fudge! That was always my favorite stop. In the tradition of homemade Halloween treats, here's a receipe to try this year.

Halloween ‘Boo’ Bags
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Ingredients for the bars
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10 oz bag of large marshmallows
3 Tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
3 cups Trix cereal
1 cup Cheerios
1 cup pecans, chopped
1 cup dried cranberries
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Butter an 8x8 pan and set aside. Combine Trix, Cheerios, pecans and cranberries in bowl and set aside. In a heavy sauce pan, over low heat, melt butter. Add marshmallows and stir until melted and blended with butter. Add cinnamon and vanilla. Stir well. Add cereal mixture. Pour into 8x8 pan. Smooth down top with the back of a buttered spoon on spatula. Allow to cool at room temperature.

When mixture is cooled, cut into 9 equal size bars. The bars will still be a little soft, so you can mold them, if needed, so they will stand up right. Place bars in the freezer for ten minutes.
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Ingredients for decorating the bars
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16 oz almond bark
Writing icing
Candy corn for decorating
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While bars are chilling, melt almond bark according to package directions. Remove bars from freezer. Dip each bar in the chocolate, leaving about half an inch uncovered, and stand upright on wax paper. Once chocolate is hardened, apply the handles. Coat the inside first inch of each licorice stick with the melted chocolate. Apply each end to the side of a bag and hold in place until the chocolate hardens, about 20 to 30 seconds. You can reinforce the handle by adding a little melted chocolate around the seams.
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To make signs for your bags, put wax paper on a cutting board. Spread a thin layer of melted chocolate on wax paper. Make the area large enough to write all of the words you want on your bag. With writing icing, spell out the words you want, like RIP or Boo. You can even use names if you want. Leave enough room between each word to cut out signs. With a sharp knife, cut around your words. Lift the wax paper and remove each sign. Put a little melted chocolate on the back of the sign and place it on the front of the treat bag. The chocolate will harden and hold the sign in place.
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Store in air tight container overnight. If you are not serving the bags the next day, refrigerate them until ready to serve.

Top Chef Just Desserts

Have you ever noticed how easy it is to lose time? I'll start out searching for recipes and end up looking over a website for San Francisco wedding caterers. The funny part is that I usually find something useful and always something interesting.

Have you been watching Top Chef Just Desserts on Bravo this season? I love this show! There's a yummy pastry chef (Yigit Pura) on the show that works for a wedding caterer. I've often thought about what fun it would be to cook professionally. I have to admit, these guys are under a lot of pressure, but they sure do make it look easy! Competing on the show must be stressful, but I don't think it could compare to a wedding. It's that once in a lifetime event for the bride and groom and you definitely want the right wedding caterers. It has to be more than just making a living, there has to be a true 'calling' to that line of work. At the end of the day they must take a great deal of pride in a job wedding well done.

The Mothman Prophicies???

I found some unusual looking moths waiting for dusk one evening.  While most are small, these were quite large.  Hope you enjoy the pictures.  Have a blessed day!

Efficient Lawn Care

 

They’ve finished the apples and moved on to grass.  If these little guys keep munching, I won’t need to mow grass for quite a while!  Have a blessed day. 

Last Days of Summer

 

The last days of Summer are upon us.  School has started again and Fall is just around the corner.  It’s been a hot one here in Tennessee.  So, these last few days of cooler weather are a blessing.  I don’t think I could have picked better weather for this Labor Day weekend. 

Still, the signs of Fall are slowly creeping in.  This morning there was just a hint of smoke in the air from a nearby tobacco barn.  And, this afternoon a friend and I listened to the breeze rustling through a field of dried corn stalks while enjoying ice cream in the shade of a nearby tree.  It won’t be too many more weeks before the mornings start with that crisp air and the first hints of frost.  I have to say that while this summer has been hot, it sure beats the gloomy days of the past Winter.  But, Fall is still my favorite time of year and will welcome it this year.

Have a blessed day!

FRIED CORN

2 cups fresh corn (cut from cob)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon bacon drippings

1/2 cup water

Take a small bowl and place it upside down in a larger bowl.  Hold the corn cob on the smaller bowl.  Slice 1/2 off top of the kernels.  Then scrape off the rest, scraping down to the cob.  The bowl will catch all the corn bits.  In large skillet heat bacon drippings over medium high heat.  Add corn and water and reduce heat to low.  Cook until thick and then season with salt and pepper.

Toss in the Trash or Cool Glasses?

 

How many glass jars do you throw away each week?  Ok, so maybe you rinse them and throw them in the recycling bin.  But, what if you could reuse them instead?

If you grew up poor, you know all about ‘jelly’ glasses.  Jelly used to come in jars that could be used for glasses when empty.  You had small glasses suitable for breakfast juice or tall glasses perfect for iced tea.  It was a great marketing idea that swayed you toward a product with double duty.  Of course, this was before plastic.

Still, today there are lots of ‘glass’ jars and ‘plastic’ jars that can be reused.  The above picture may look like a normal mason jar holding pink lemonade.  In reality, it’s a reused pasta sauce jar.  I was very excited to purchase this particular product because the jar itself was labeled Atlas Mason and I thought it could be reused in canning.  However, when I tried a regular canning ring on it, I discovered the mouth of the jar is just a little smaller than a normal mason jar.  But, it still makes for a perfect drinking glass. 

Even plastic jars can be reused to store small parts, seasonings, or anything you imagine.  Check out one of my earlier posts for more ways to reuse jars.

The next time you’re looking over products to purchase, consider the packaging.  Where will it end up?  In the trash or can you reuse it?  Some jars are decorative and make pretty vases for flowers or gifts.  I’ve got a couple of instant coffee jars that I use to store popcorn.  And, yes, we ate popcorn long before the invention of the microwave.  But, that’s a post for another day!