Caramel Apples

I wanted to make caramel apples to take to DH's family Halloween Dinner. Yes, we have a family celebration- we have been for as long as I have known my husband. After everyone is done trick or treating we head to his aunts house in Marengo and have soup and lots of junk food. I usually bring my fall mix - candy corn, M&Ms, raisins, and salted peanuts. But, I have not made caramel apples in years, like since before I had the boys. So, thought I would try them out again.These were the first round from last night. Thought everything was going great - the caramel tasted and looked good. So I dipped all of them, then dipped them in mini chocolate chips. Look ok, right? Not so much! I must have cooked the caramel toooooo long because it turned hard - toffee hard!! So, I hated to do it but I threw them out! I hate when baking or cooking goes bad and you have to do that. What a waste! So, for my second round I went back to the store and bought more apples. This time I bought the BIG braeburn (on request from DH) and the BIG granny smith (my all time fave) and started all over again...

I am not sure how the extended family will react to the twigs for the 'skewers' but I completely forgot to pick up real skewers or popsicle sticks at Walmart/Hobby Lobby when I was in Iowa City on Wednesday night. I am pretty sure that I have seen Martha used twigs, so surely it is completely acceptable. :-)

Again, I dipped the bottoms in mini chocolate ships and I tried to drizzle the white chocolate...but has anyone really drizzled chocolate? I feel like I am throwing it! Maybe I buy the wrong chocolate and it is too thick because I certainly cannot DRIZZLE it. It ends up allover my kitchen because I end up throwing it! I use Hershey white chocolate chips. I could used almond bark, but I LOVE the Hershey white chips. I have been known to eat an entire bag by myself!

SUCCESS -- the caramel was not as hard this time.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Odds & Ends

Maybe many of you have already seen this on the Junk Revolution blog, but thought I would put it on here, too. Yes, those are MY LEGS on the first day of Junk Bonanza. Heather Bullard approached me and asked if she could get a picture of me from the waist down. Of course, I could not say no, it was Heather Bullard! :-) I really was not sure where the picture would end up but then found it on Ki's blog. Anyway, a great memory for my first Bonanza! I have been doing some cleaning, reorganizing, etc. Found this box of jewels and decided that I will need to make them part of my winter projects come January. I think there is lots of potential in there...maybe I will finally try to make some of that great altered junk jewelry that I see everywhere.

Here is my shed as it starts to fill up for winter storage. Hate this part of being a junker - never enough space for all this good stuff. OR, even if I have enough space it is still too crammed together to even try to find anything later on. Makes it hard when you think of something that you want to work on in the dead of winter and you have to start digging when it is 40 below outside!

This is a sign that I took to Bonanza that did not sell -- too bad!! Looks pretty nice on my patio.

Another shot of my patio....

I know this looks like the side of some really cool shabby old building... sorry to disappoint, but its my garage!! I wont even show you the rest because it is depressing! But...this week we are getting a garage makeover!

And, in the next few weeks we are finally going to get rural water! No more rust! AND I can buy and wear white clothes! Just need a few more makeovers around here...maybe some that will make my house look like this one...

A girl can dream... ;-)

Another Birthday

We have another birthday in our family this week! Sam will be six tomorrow. We made monster cupcakes for him to take to school for treats. These do not look at great as the ones I found on the web...how does everything always look better when some professional has made them? Not to mention the fabulous studio those cupcakes on the web were probably photographed in! Oh, well...Sam ans his classmates will enjoy them!

Sam (right) and Ben (left) with the cupckaes

Quiet Weekend & Etsy

It was my birthday on Saturday and I celebrated it by cleaning my house and making freezer casseroles! Doesn't sound like an ideal birthday, but it wasn't bad because my kids were away for the day...so I got a lot done! Then, my DH and I had a movie night and watched '21' and 'Gran Torino.' Loved them both! Also love netflix!!

Now, I am home with a sick boy who isn't really that sick anymore. Crazy how quickly the little ones bounce back! So, I have been listing a few things on etsy. You SHOULD be able to get to my etsy chop by clicking on the link to the left. If not go to www.etsy.com and search me.

Open Again...Harvest of Junk, part 2

Who knew there would be a river running through my front yard for Harvest of Junk???? The rain and cold drove everyone away....so, I will be open again this Friday (Oct 9) from 4:30 until dark. I will not be around at all on Saturday, but if anyone wants to stop on Sunday (Oct 11) I will be around as well - just call ahead first!

Discounts still apply this weekend!!!