exit, pursued by bear

"spooky" greetings.

I'm in love with these vintage Halloween cards:

{via about.com}

{"Happy Halloween" via flickr user riptheskull}

{"A Jolly Halloween" via flickr user riptheskull}

Check out even more amazing vintage Halloween postcards here.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Hope you have a spooky night and a relaxing weekend! :o)

ghoulish.

{"Victorian Gothic" from Martha Stewart}

From the description:

"This sideboard tableau intersperses luminous pumpkins with a decanter of wine, a stand with fruit, and other objects evocative of Edgar Allan Poe and his tales of horror. To render the glowing silhouettes, we used two techniques: The bright candelabrum and goblet are cut through the pumpkins' walls, while the textured quill and skull are pared gently from the outer shells. Pumpkins of different hues, including white Lumina, a green-gray Jarrahdale, and burnt-orange cheese pumpkins, add tonal variety."

That "candelabrum" is fab!!

hedgehog's dilemma.

I mean seriously, how can you possibly resist the cuteness of this little costume? We don't even have children and yet I feel almost compelled to buy this:

{"Hedgehog Costume" from Pottery Barn Kids}

I love the "handmade" look of these costumes. Presumably this is to alleviate a mother's guilt for not devoting hours of her life to sewing something unique for her little darlings ;o)

Oh, and if you're looking for research on the real hedgehog's dilemma ... try here. This is fascinating to me.

happy halloween!

{via someecards}

Happy Halloween! Now go carve some pumpkins! Surely you can find some inspiration somewhere ;o)

a graphic display.

{"Black & White Halloween" by Michael Luppino for Country Living}

Great example of incorporating holiday-related "touches" into your existing home decor/style. While the pumpkins, gourds, and autumnal flowers are a nod to the season, they don't look jarring or seem out of place.

Love those plates, too!

black magic.

Tired of all that orange? Here's a simple, sophisticated (and functional!) fix:

{"A Little Black Magic" by James Baigrie for Good Housekeeping}

Directions from slideshow:

"Cut off the top of the pumpkin, and remove the innards. Spray-paint the rind a matte black and let dry. Use a spoon handle to scratch away paint to create stars, moons, and spirals. Add water and blooms."

chicken with mushroom cream sauce

I finally made this fabulous recipe last night - I think I've been meaning to make it for a good six months or so:

{Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce, photo + recipe from Simply Recipes}

I had planned on just doing something with leftovers last night -- but with the weather being chilly, this just sounded so good. The hubs was working late, too -- so I had more time than usual to prepare dinner -- this also gave me some extra time to run by the store after work.

The recipe itself is a little time-consuming, although not prohibitively so, but it's absolutely worth it. I've caught myself daydreaming about the leftover chicken several times today. There were, however, a few mishaps along the way:

1. I almost sliced the top of my left thumb completely off while dicing onions. I literally felt the knife cutting into my thumb - gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.
2. I completely burnt the heck out of the yellow rice I was making (since I wasn't paying attention to it on the stove), resulting in the hubs and I ending up with about a spoonful of rice each. (I will serve yellow saffron rice with just about anything, it's that good, so it was very disappointing to have such a sad amount of rice.)
3. The onions were slightly undercooked therefore kind of cold and chewy.
4. I don't have a small roasting pan, so I had to use my turkey roaster, which seemed like a bit of overkill, pan size-wise. Plus that thing is a beast to clean.

Anyway, four very enthusiastic thumbs up from us on this dish (or rather three + one somewhat poorly bandaged thumb). Looking forward to making this again - I may try it with some boneless pork chops next time.

pumpkin project, part 2.

{"Spell-binding" by James Baigrie for Good Housekeeping}

"For a no-fuss fall centerpiece, heap bewitching, beribboned sugar pumpkins in a rustic bowl. To make: Attach double-stick tape to lengths of black, orange, and white patterned ribbon, then wrap around each squash."

And, if you're looking to bring your love of all things pumpkin into the kitchen, here are a few suggestions:

"Iced Pumpkin Cookies" from all recipes via angry chicken. These look delish:

{photo via all recipes}

Even more pumpkin recipes here and here.

toothy grins.

We carved one of our 12 (!) pumpkins this weekend -- I used this pic of painted faces as inspiration for our first jack-o-lantern of the year:

{"Feature Creatures" by James Baigrie for Good Housekeeping}

In years past, we've used a number of pumpkin carving stencils from Zombie Pumpkins -- highly recommend! Oh, and Jammin' Pumpkins. We do not fear membership fees :o)

hearth-warming.

Seriously wish I could take credit for this post title ...

{"Hearth-warming" by James Baigrie for Good Housekeeping}

Would love to do this, as our (non-working) fireplace also has a black interior. Alas, it's also where Norm's living room bed currently resides (we think he feels very cozy tucked back in there) and I'm not sure how he'd feel about a relocation attempt. I must try to take a picture to show you ...

Anyway -- happy Friday, everyone! Hope you have a fabulous fall weekend ahead of you.