Carving Pumpkins

Happy Anniversary

Every year my husband and I re-enact our official first date of carving pumpkins.  It has been 15 years about carving pumpkins.  This year might be the best pumpkin year yet. 

This is one of those traditions that makes me smile every year. I love picking out pumpkins, and the time Jon and I take to sit down and chat as we scoop out pumpkin guts.  The hardest part of carving pumpkins is trying to figure out what sort of face the pumpkin should sport.  To pick a face for a pumpkin, you have to review the shape of the pumpkin taking note of the natural dents and grooves.  This can make or break a design.  If all else fails, Pinterest is a great place to gather ideas and stencils normally come with any carving kit.   

Do you have any traditions that you forward to all year long?

A Little Bigfoot in My Life

I grew up watching X Files with my dad. I feel like this should explain a lot about my life and things I have done.   Lately I have been listening to a podcast called Strange Familiars. It is amazing.

The host of Strange Familiars is often referred to as "The Big Foot Guy" by those in the field. To me, he is the Bob Ross of the Paranormal world.  The way that he interviews guests is very soothing and sounds very logical.  With this in mind, I was completely inspired to spend part of my anniversary trip driving to Portland, Maine to visit the International Cryptozoology Museum based off recommends from some dear friends.  

The International Cryptozoology Museum is a quaint museum in Portland that has a major appreciation of the hairy hominid.  They touch on several other hidden/unconfirmed legendary animals, but you can tell the love of this museum is the Sasquatch.   I feel like the perfect day is to listen to Strange Familiars discuss the various species of hairy hominids and taking a tour of the museum.  I was not disappointed. 

The Albatwitch is Pennsylvania's little Bigfoot and seems to have a home in York County.  I spent majority of my teenage years and early twenties in York County.  The International Cryptozoology Museum has several foot print casts of the different Bigfoot species and hair samples.  The case of scat raised eyebrows, but not really surprising. The overall love for the subject can be felt with the care that the displays are put together.  I would highly recommend stopping by and taking a tour of the museum and if you are inclined to listen to podcasts, check out  Strange Familiars. You won't be disappointed. 

Goretacular 2019

One of my husbands favorite things to do this time of the year is to host the annual Goretacular horror movie marathon.  While I am not a huge fan on horror movies, it is always a fun time to have people over. The list of movies changes from year to year and as an added bonus there was a theme. There  theme was Double Feature!

Pairing movies together is a subtle art form. You have to figure out what would work well together and playoff of each other.  Below is the double line up.

Double Feature-Athon

• The Stuff   -   The Blob  (Remake)
• Motel Hell  -  Tourist Trap
• Dead Heat   -   Maniac Cop 2
• FinalGirls   -   Tucker and Dale vs. Evil
• Deep Red   -   The Editor
• Rocktober Blood  -  Black Roses
• Return of the Living Dead  -  Night of the Comet
• Night of the Demons    -   Demons

If you were to create a double feature marathon, what would you pick?

Nightmare Fuel

When I was a kid, I loved to go with my mother to garage sales. It is fascinating to see items that depart from peoples homes. Now that I am older, my love for weird finds at garage sales has transferred over to antique markets.  The wonderful thing about antique markets is the plethora of nightmare fuel a person can find. So much nightmare fuel that I have started to break it down into two categories of which is more terrifying.  Night now it is a toss up on which is more terrifying: Mannequin heads or old portraits. 

Which is the better nightmare fuel?  

                                                               

I think it all comes down to the eyes.  Do they follow you? Do they want to consume your soul? It is a toss up. 

Those Millennials

About a month ago I was having a conversation with a friend and she posed the question, “What do I think about working with Millennials?” 

There are not too many questions that throw me for a loop, but that one did, and here is why. I am a millennial. Or at least by the broad ranges the Internet has on the different generations, I am mostly a millennial.   

Somehow, I don’t think her question was about what my thoughts were with working with my own generation.  That would be silly.  I think the core of her question was, “What do you think about working with a younger generation, whatever it is called?”

My diplomatic answer is that there are pros and cons with working with every generation. 

As with any generation, I think that the key to working with them is to be adaptable to the human factor.  I find that the older I get, there are a few things that hold true no matter the generation.

1. Respect - If you don’t respect others abilities, idea’s and time, you can’t expect them to do the same.
2. Motivation- People are motivated by different things, based off where they are in life. An age group does not define motivation. It defines likely common goals. Getting to know people will help you understand their motivation behind actions.  
3. Age is not a definition -An age group does not define a person. Grouping people into age groups and defining character traits is much like saying that everyone that is born under the Gemini zodiac has the same characteristics. While some of the aspects may be true, it does not hold true for all. 
4. Education- Successful people never quit learning.  There is always something to learn, that sparks interest. The method of learning may change with each generation, but the thirst to do better or learn something doesn’t change. 

What do you think?

The Chuck

A while back my dad asked me for ideas and what to make with cornmeal that was not cornbread.   I immediately suggested polenta, but somehow that failed to satisfy the hunger growling in his stomach.  Chatting with Gat, I was inspired to experiment with dinner.  I haven’t quite come up with a name for it, but it is basically an inside out enchilada or deconstructed enchilada.  I am still working on the name. Or perhaps I’ll just name it after my father.  

The Chuck

Ingredients

1 pound boneless skinless chicken chopped 

1 can of  red enchilada sauce

1 tablespoon minced Garlic

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 tablespoon cumin power

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1 can of corn nuggets drained or 1 cup of frozen corn

1 box jiffy Corn bread mix

1/2 cup diced fresh chilies or 1 small can of diced green chilies

1/2 cup diced onions

1 can of diced tomatoes (I like the ones with habaneros mixed in, but you can really use any of them.)

1 can of beans  drained and rinsed (I use black or small white, but others will work.  Dealers choice)

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1 egg

1 cup milk

Olive Oil

Tools

Large Skillet

Medium Bowl

Small bowl

9 x 13 baking dish (deep dish if possible)

Spoons

Spatula 

Tequila (just kidding, you don’t need this)

Instructions

Turn the oven on to 350 degrees

In a bowl mix chopped chicken, garlic, chili powder, cumin powder, salt, and oregano until chicken is evenly seasoned. Set aside.

In a large skillet, drizzle olive oil and heat. Once warm, add diced peppers and onions.  Cook until onions are translucent. Add  seasoned chicken mix and cook chicken until cooked all the way through.  Add diced tomatoes, corn and beans, enchilada sauce.  Cook until corn and beans are heated through.  Transfer contents of skillet mix into a 9x13 baking dish and set to the side. 

In a bowl open Jiffy corn bread mix, and mix according to the box. (This is where the egg and the milk come in from the ingredient list.) Once the mix is as smooth as corn bread mix can be, with a large spoon, ladle large dollops of  mix into the chicken mix. Think corn bread dumplings. Once all of the corn bread mix has joined the chicken mix, sprinkle the entire dish with the shredded cheese and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. The cheese should be nice and melty and the cornbread should be cooked all the way through. If the corn bread looks runny, put it in for another 10 minutes. 

The end product is a dish that makes me think of tamales, enchiladas and comfort food all wrapped into one.  Excellent for next day lunches.   While I haven’t tried it, I am sure the concept would work well with shredded beef, pork, or chorizo if you were looking for variety. 

Cat Career

Every now and then I make the cats do a photo session with me.  The have to sit pretty and I take pictures of their beautiful furry face.  In a recent photo session with Iggins (who really hates having his picture taken), the pictures reminded me of almost every mystery authors biography in book jacket. 

This line of thinking lead me to wondering about what sort of career my cat would hold if my cat could hold a career.  The more I think about it, the clearer it becomes is that Iggins would by a Mystery Writer.  He is reclusive, has a hunger in his soul, and hold murder in his eyes. Definitely a mystery writer.

The harder question, is what sort of career would Dib have?