A Time to Be Thankful

Here are some cute ideas of daily activities for the month of November to make it an especially grateful month!  If you want to see the original post, go to:  http://www.somewhatsimple.com/2011/11/thanksgiving-countdown

Another fun Halloween "Trick"

I saw a picture of these fun finger foods online and figured out my way of doing it:

6 boiled eggs
approx 1 tbsp honey mustard (to taste really)
approx 2 tbsp Miracle Whip (again to taste but enough to bind)
sliced black olives (cheaper to buy whole and slice yourself)
paprika
blue food coloring
red food coloring

After slicing eggs in half and removing yokes to a small bowl, take a fine tipped paint brush and use red food coloring to paint veins onto the whites of the eggs. Combine yokes with approx 5 drops of blue food coloring with honey mustard and Miracle Whip.  Mix until desired consistency.  Spoon into sturdy plastic storage bag and cut tip to pipe into eggs.  Pipe into eggs then sprinkle with paprika and top with a slice of black olive.

It doesn't take much more effort than just making deviled eggs but adds some fun to the Halloween spread.

Halloween--"Tricky Halloween Treats"

One of my favorite Halloween memories was the dinner my mom would make for us before we'd go out trick-or-treating.  As you know, kids are so excited to get their candy-gathering on that they sometimes don't really want to stop to eat dinner.  But my mom found a way around that.  She would make what she called "Tricky Halloween Treats".  I apologize for poor photo quality, but my camera's dead so all I had was my cell phone. 

The recipe is below and couldn't be easier. *If you want to sneak in some extra nutrition, finely chop up fresh spinach.  They'll never know!* 

1 pkg Pillsburry Grand biscuits  (I use the flaky ones)
1 lb ground beef (lean is good!)
1 small onion finely diced
1 cup shredded cheese
ketchup (enough to moisten meat mixture slightly)
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
Green, red and orange food coloring (optional)

Preheat oven according to biscuit package directions.    Take 4 biscuits and put them on cookie sheet.  Brown ground beef with onion.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Drain and add to mixing bowl.  Add cheese (spinach if desired) and ketchup.  *you don't want the mixture soggy, just enough ketchup to lightly coat meat. 

Roll or kneed out the biscuits to make them flat and somewhat pumpkin-shaped.  Scoop about 1/8 to 1/4 cup mixture in the center of the 4 biscuits. 

Top with the remaining biscuits and seal edges with a fork. 

Cut small triangle eyes, nose and a mouth to make it look like a jack-o-lantern.  Add a small amount of water to egg to make an egg wash.  Add a drop of red and yellow food coloring if you want to make it look more orange-like.  Brush the pockets with egg wash and bake according to directions.

It's a fun treat that my husband and I have done every year, even before we had our son.  It's fun for kids and adults who still enjoy a kid-palette!

Christmas is Around the Corner

So here's a fun tradition that was started in my days in Placentia and I have decided to continue on wherever I live.  A few of my lady-friends that I had worked with on different church projects.  It was a FUN group of women but I find this activity is also a great way to get to know ladies in your area.  Basically all I do is organize a potluck that is an Ugly Ornament Exchange.  Everyone hunts for an ornament they deem ugliest and wrap it and we do a white elephant/stealing exchange.  It's fun and most of the ornaments make a good conversation piece on your Christmas tree.  The photo is of the first ornament I ever got and I LOVE it.  She's missing bells and completely quirky but most of all, I have great memories of the night I acquired her.  And isn't that really what holiday traditions are all about?

It's Been a While

I've decided to recommit myself to blogging a little bit.  Who knows if anyone out there is going to read it, but I had started this blog over a year ago because I love traditions!  Daily, monthly, seasonal...it doesn't matter to me.  I like to hear other's traditions and I love adding to my own family's.  A friend suggested I "start" a blog but since this one's already started and it's a topic I love, I just thought I'd recommit.

So this is me, recommitting!

January Tradition

When I lived in Placentia, some of my "sisters" and I would get together for dinner each month as a "supper club".  For January's get together, in addition to dinner, we would do an ugly ornament exchange.  So much fun!  One of my ornaments that I brought one year was so ugly that my dog had tried to steal it and bury it!

This year (2011) I started the Ugly Ornament Exchange here.  The first one was a lot of fun.  Instead of a supper club, we had a potluck brunch and exchanged ornaments.  It was a fun morning and hopefully everyone had fun searching for their ugly ornament!

Valentine's Day & President's Day

Here's where suggestions would be great! 


Valentine's Day was not a big deal for me growing up.  My parent's did, however, make sure that we had a Valentine's card propped up outside our bedroom doors to find in the morning.


Anyone have any ideas?


President's Day is one we never really celebrated, but might be fun for kids.  Any suggestions to making it a fun day where the kids can learn something about former presidents?