Ryann with straight hair?

My baby girl has had curly hair from the day she was born.  I never gave it any thought how she would look with straight hair, until now.  Is that even the same kid?  She looks so grown up.

 

Well the other day Damon was at work, again.  He has been working a lot of hours.  Anyway, Hailee, Blake and Ryann were spending the night at Grandma Pack's house and I was bored.  Phoenix and I decided to go shopping.  Well I found a really cool curling iron, and it came with a second curling iron for free, and because I was spending $45 with all the other little stuff, I could get a free straightener.  How could I pass on a deal like that?

I didn't pass on the deal and now I have a new favorite hairdo...

 

Everyone decided that they wanted curly hair too.  That wasn't too hard for Phoenix and Ryann (their hair is naturally curly).  And Blake decided he wanted in on the picture taking action too.

Nailed It!

Salted Caramel Cheesecake recipe from Pinterest:

http://themodernapron.blogspot.com/2011/09/desserts-salted-caramel-cheesecake.html



Here's mine...

It was pretty delicious.  I don't know if we liked it as much as she said her family does.

Here's another picture I found, but this one I just used my own recipe.

You can't see the rolls very well in this picture,

but at least you can see the lovely veggie tray I put together.

Our Thanksgiving feast was just perfect. 

Everyone had a great time and the food was fantastic.

I didn't take pictures of the family because my sister-in-law did. 

I'll get the pics from her to post.

Random Stuff I Made

Awhile ago a friend told me that her mom was getting out of sewing.  She used to sew all the time and now that all her kids are grown, she wanted to just focus on quilting.  Because of this, she wanted to get rid of a bunch of old patterns and fabric.  Of course I said I'd take it.

Some of the patterns made me laugh, total 80's and 90's styles.  I sorted through all the boxes of patterns and kept what I wanted.  Then I went through the fabric, some were pretty small scraps or material that I couldn't use.  I sorted all that I was going to keep, then sent the rest to D.I.

I was so excited for some of the fabric, that I couldn't wait to get started.  I got some cream and black wool, perfect for a couple of pea coats. 

I went to the store spent $2 on a couple of patterns, $6 on buttons, and $5 on some lining fabric. 

2 cute warm wool coats for $13 and a few hours.  Here is the first one, the black one will have to wait until I finish the girls dresses and pj bottoms.

   

I really need to learn to take better pics.

I should have taken a picture of the lining, it's awesome.  I sewed some thin batting on the wrong side of the lining before putting it all together.  Should be quite warm to wear all winter.

Next thing I tried recently was a recipe for Orange Chicken.

Of course I can't do it like normal people.  I looked up a ton of different recipes and made my own.  And now that I have tried it once, I will probably even adjust it a little more.

Battered Orange Chicken:

Batter: Combine all ingredients until smooth.

2 eggs

1/2 C flour

1/2 C corn starch

1/4C water or 2tbsp water & 2tbsp OJ

salt & pepper

Add and stir until coated. 

Chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces.

Drop pieces of chicken individually into hot oil.  Cook until crispy.  The crispier the better.

Sauce: combine all ingredients, simmer over med. to thicken.

1/4C soy sauce

1/4 C orange juice and zest from 1 orange

1/4C vinegar

1/2 Brown Sugar

1C Water

Garlic, Ginger, Sesame Oil, Red pepper flakes

Once the sauce is to desired consistency, add cooked chicken.

Stir to coat all of the chicken, add green onions and red pepper flakes to garnish.

Serve over rice.

A pretty easy meal that had no leftovers for Damon to take to work the next day.

Partyin with the Power Rangers

Every year the Densley's have an awesome Halloween Party.

Here are all the guests for 2011.

Shrek, Fiona, Dragon, Gingy, Puss in Boots, and Donkey.

I made these costumes, plus the Power Rangers, in about 6 weeks, off and on.

(I sprayed my entire face green for this party, didn't like it so well.)

 

Power Rangers (Rob & Lacey)

Daphne and Fred from Scooby Doo (Nanny & Kevin)

Mr. Peanut and "I like salted nuts" (Nate & Shayla)

Ghost Buster Vankman, Stay Puff Marshmallow and Slimer (Franco & Jodi)

(Workerman Steve and Kristen dressed as Steve in the background)

Cowboy and Indian woman (Riley & Krista)

Retro Batman (Sheri)

Happy Tree and Bob Ross

Good times, great food, amd awesome company.

I totally should have taken pictures of our pumpkin bocce ball game.

I guess we were having too much fun.

Beef, Bean and Cheese Burritos

I am always trying to find new easy recipes, the my kids will actually eat.

Looking through my cupboards and freezer one night, here's what I came up with.

Warm corn tortillas

Ground beef, browned with onions, garlic and seasonings

Canned pinto beans, blended then heated through.  Add salt, pepper, and garlic.

Grated cheese.

Spread beans on tortilla, sprinkle meat and cheese, roll.

Add cheese on top.  Bake @ 350 for 15 minutes.

Serve with greens, tomatoes, onions, avocados, and sour cream.

I had to leave to go to a meeting while the family was still at the dinner table.  When I got home, there wasn't a single one left.  Poor Damon had to eat Raman for lunch the next day.

I Like Treats

For awhile there I was either sewing or looking for stuff on Pinterest.  I decided to take a break and actually make a couple more of the things I pinned. 

Here are the pins:

  

Here are my versions:

Brownies baked on a cookie sheet, cooled, then cut into circles.

Yellow cupcakes, baked, cut in half, frosted on one side, brownie on the other.

I should have made the sugar cookie fries to go along with these.

I had to "glue" the cookies together with the white chocolate.  At first I tried just dipping them, but the sticks made the cookies come apart in the chocolate.

Add a couple of mini chocolate chips.  Ta-Da!

String Cheese and Carving Pumpkins

Recently I saw another recipe on pinterest that I wanted to try.

Pepperoni Pizza Pull-apart.

Put pepperoni and mozzarella inside bits of dough.  Bake, then dip in marinara sauce.

 

I decided to try it with my Olive Garden Breadstick recipe, pepperoni and string cheese.  I set everything on the counter, then had to answer the phone.  When I came back a few minutes later, this is what I found.

Apparently Phoenix wanted a snack.  Don't worry, I didn't use this cheese in my rolls, but they did turn out awesome either way.  Plus the kids didn't mind eating them with teeth marks.

2011 Pumpkin Carving FHE

EWWW... cleaning out the pumpkins.

Ryann's really scary monster.

Blake's mean skull.

Damon's sad old man.

Phoenix and Jen's witch.

And we missed getting a picture of Hailee's bat pumpkin.