Pumpkin Patch

Nic went out to dinner with my dad and Justin Saturday night while my mom and I were at the recital. Then Justin spent the night with Nic and stayed over at our house. On Sunday morning, my mom, dad, Justin, Nic and I all went to Lombardi Ranch. We quickly walked through scarecrow alley (Nic was still in his boot, so he waited by the pumpkins, while we walked around) and picked out our pumpkins.

DIA Recital

On Saturday, October 15th, I went to DIA's dance recital with my mom and Amy. The theme this year was American Icon. It was fun to watch so many friends and all my dance girls that I taught last year, dance in the show. The highlight, though, was running into Ruthie on the way in. She is such an amazing person who I absolutely love. Can you believe she is 92!?! She looks stunning, her mind is still sharp and she has the best heart!

Afterwards, we went to Don Cucos, just like always. We drank margaritas, ate food and chatted with everyone.

Foo Fighters Concert

Back in June or July, I spent a few days frantically trying to get tickets to this concert. I joined the Foo Fighters fan club, I "liked" the Foo Fighters facebook page, got special codes to get tickets before they went on sale, searched Ticketmaster to the point of getting completely blocked from the site because it thought I was a scalper, and finally after two very stressful days I got Nic and I tickets to the Oct. 14th show at the Forum.

We had been looking forward to the concert for months! Nic drove us down to the Forum, while I drank vodka orange juice out of a gatorade bottle (very classy, I know). Being at the Forum brought back so many wonderful childhood memories. It was so much smaller than I remembered it, but still so comforting and familiar.

We watched the opening band Cage the Elephant, with Dave Grohl filling in for their drummer, who was sick, and then grabbed some hotdogs and beer. The concert was SO good! Nic said it was the best concert he had ever been to! The Foo Fighters rocked so hard and played for so long. They even played 7 songs for their encore. We had such an amazing time and it was definitely worth all the trouble to get the tickets.

BUNCO

My mom is part of a Bunco group that meets monthly to eat dinner, play Bunco and mainly to chat. The last few months I have been going as a sub and it is really fun! On Thursday, October 13th I went to Nicki Mertz' house for Halloween Bunco. I probable rolled about 10 three of a kinds, but no Buncos and I kept coming through right at the last second each round to snag the win. I kept joking around that I was the Kobe of Bunco winning the game right at the end. Well on the last round of sixes I rolled my only Bunco of the game! Fortunately for me, my mom's Bunco group gives a prize for last Bunco!! So once again, I came through right at the end for the win. :) This is the second month in a row I have won a prize!! I used to think I got invited back because I always, ALWAYS lost, but with this new found luck, I guess we will see if I still get an invite. ;)

Mailer's Haven Auction

Nic's work has an auction every year where employees can bid on cool prizes using pretend money they have earned throughout the year. The prizes are always really impressive and the stress/excitement of the auction is really fun. This is what we won last year and I must say we have put both prizes to good use. This year Nic won a really awesome waterproof Nikon camera that will be perfect for Hawaii! (too bad we didn't get it before the GBR excursions). He also got a $200 gift card to Ruth's Chris, a pizza stone and cookbook and some battery operated candles. Pretty impressive, huh?!

Mint Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Stuffed cookies have become all the craze and I am totally on the bandwagon, so while I was making my triple chunk mint oreo cookies I decided to try a few stuffed cookies too. I have been obsessed with stuffed cookies ever since my first oreo stuffed chocolate chip cookie, and have since made s'more stuffed chocolate chip cookies, tim tam stuffed chocolate chip cookies, candy stuffed chocolate chip cookies to name a few. See, I'm obsessed! Picky Palate is where I get all my stuffed cookie inspiration from and I must admit, I'm surprised she hasn't attempted this one yet. It seems so obvious...mint and chocolate are such a perfect combination and this cookie did not disappoint. I will admit that since I was already making the other cookies I used the same chocolate dough, which was too mushy and fudgey for stuffed cookies. Next time I make these I will use the chocolate cookie dough recipe Picky Palate uses (and add chocolate chips to be extra indulgent). The extra bit of mess and challenge the dough provided didn't matter when Nic and I ate these delicious cookies though because they were AMAZING!

Mint Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Mint Oreo cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.

3. With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended.

4. Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until flour disappears. Using a cookie scoop take one scoop of cookie dough and place on top of an Oreo Cookie. Take another scoop of dough and place on bottom of Oreo Cookie. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo Cookie is enclosed with dough.

5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Triple Chocolate Mint Oreo Chunk Cookies

This is another result of my food blog obsessions. I saw this on two peas and their pod a while ago and instantly knew I wanted to make it using mint oreos. I have had the mint oreos sitting in the cupboard forever, which can I just say, was torture for Nic, and finally found made some time to make them. They were delicious!! Nic said they are one of his all time favorite cookies. If you love mint and chocolate you will love this cookie.

Triple Chocolate Oreo Chunk Cookies

adapted from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com

Yield: 3 1/2 dozen cookies

Cook Time: 8-10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dutch processed cocoa
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks
1 cup chopped Mint Oreo cookies

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone mat. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.

3. With a mixer, cream butter and sugars together until smooth. Add in eggs, one at a time. Next, add in vanilla extract. Mix until blended.

4. Slowly add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until flour disappears. Stir in chocolate chunks and Oreos. Drop cookie dough by rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.

5. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for 3-5 minutes. Move to a cooling rack and cool completely.

Quick and Delicious Guacamole

On Sunday I made steak tacos for dinner. Nic was really craving some guacamole (we both have ever since we scarffed my dad's most amazing guac at Lake Mead) so I whipped some up. I didn't have his secret ingredient, Tomi's pico de gallo, and I couldn't remember the salsa my dad used, so I improvised and whipped up a similar, but not quiet as delicious guacamole. This is so simple and a really quick way to create a slightly more exciting guac. I took a packet of wholly guacamole and added some Mexican cheese and some salsa. That is it. In 5 minutes we had a delicious guacamole. Yum!

Keith Urban Concert

On Saturday, October 8th, I went to the Keith Urban concert with my mom, Tomi, and Tomi's friend. We went to Katsuya for dinner first, which was delicious as always. Then we went over to Staples for the concert. Jake Owen opened and he was really good. Keith Urban was really good too and I actually knew a lot more of his songs than I expected. I kind of went because I didn't have any other plans that night and my mom had an extra ticket, but I had a really great time! At pne point John Foggerty came out and sang Rolling on the River, but the highlight of the night was when Jack Black made a surprise appearance and performed a number with Keith. He was hilarious and such an amazing performer.

Pumpkin Nutella Bread

I'm completely obsessed with food blogs. I have about 9 or 10 that I check almost daily. I enjoy reading the blogs, but it is also bad because they all make the most delicious things that I become obsessed with making. All week I had been thinking about a recipe I saw on Two Peas and their Pod and finally made the pumpkin nutella bread after dance on Friday night. I wasn't paying attention when I made it and accidently poured the entire can of pumpkin in instead of 1 cup. I decided the easiest fix was to just double the recipe. Good thing we both ended up loving this bread because we ended up with a ton of it. If you like nutella and pumpkin you have to try this. It was absolutely delicious and the perfect fall treat.

Pumpkin Nutella Bread

adapted from www.twopeasandtheirpod.com

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup water
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 package vanilla pudding
8 tablespoons Nutella (2 tablespoons per mini loaf)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 4 mini loaf pans with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, water, pumpkin, eggs, and extract. Whisk until smooth and combined.

4. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Add the pudding mixture. Mix until ingredients are combined.

5. Pour the batter into the mini loaf pans, making sure batter is evenly divided. Drop 2 heaping tablespoons of Nutella onto each loaf pan. Swirl the Nutella into the pumpkin batter with a knife. Place the loaf pans onto a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. Place the loaf pans on a wire rack. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan and then carefully remove the loaves. Cool completely before slicing.

*Note-You can make regular size loaves. This recipe should make 2 8x4 loaves. Adjust baking time to about 60 minutes.

Demolition Day

On Tuesday night, the tripod (me and my parents), went to CPK for dinner. My parents came by the house first to check out all the new furniture and then we grabbed dinner together. Even though I crack jokes about being the third wheel it is really nice to spend time by myslef with my parents.

On Wednesday, October 5th, we started construction. Javier and his guy's repaired the whole in our ceiling from the air conditioner leak, they patched up the other missing drywall, and began painting. Darrel and Shelby came around 9 and we went over a few things. They knocked out the entrance wall and started working on the door betweent the two rooms. It was pretty exciting!!

Furniture Delivery

On Monday we had our furniture delivered and met with our contractor to go over the construction one last time before we being this week! It was pretty exciting to finally see all the furniture and put some of it in the rooms. I think for the most part I will wait to show "after" pictures when we finish, but here is a little sneak peek!

Dinner at Bell Bungalow

On Sunday, October 2nd, Nic and I went over to Rachelle and Brandon's palce for dinner. Rachelle, little miss hostess that she is, had a ton of delicious food prepared including fresh salsa, her corn salad and the most delicious pumpkin bread pudding from the blog smitten kitchen. She also had gorgeous fall decor flanking the table. Brandon was equally impressive with his bbqing of chicken, burgers stuffed with cheese, peppers and corn on the cob. We had a great time sitting in their backyard, drinking beer and wine and chatting away.

Vivian's Baby Shower

On Saturday, October 1st, I went down to Fountain Valley for Vivian's Baby Shower. The last time I saw Vivian she was in the very early stage of her pregnancy and it was still a secret, so this was the first time I had seen her pregnant. Just as I suspected, she was one of the cutest pregnant girls ever! Even with her adorable belly you could hardly even tell she was pregnant.

The shower was so fun! I got to catch up with Jeri-Faye, another friend from Laker Girls, and a few of Vivan's other friends. We ate delicious food, played some games (one of which I won!), decorated baby clothes (Jeri-Faye and I won that contest!), watched Vivian and Matt open presents and ate cake. I am so excited for Vivian and Matt and had a blast celebrating the upcoming arrival of their baby girl!!

After the shower, since I was in the area, I stopped by Ashley's house. It was great to see her and Andre and chat for a bit. I miss my frequent coffee dates with Ashley, so it was nice to spend some time chatting with her.

AFL Grand Final

On Friday, September 30th, I raced to the grocery store after dance to buy the ingredients for meat pies. Nic told me earlier that day that it was one of the days he most missed being in Australia so I really wanted to make it feel as much like home as possible. I decided to attempt something a little different so I grabbed some mashed potatoes to make a varaition of Shepards pies. I made Susan's meat pie filling again, piled the filling into my pie maker, piled some mash on top, put a top crust on (I'm still not brave enough to leave off a top), and closed the lid. I also whipped up some Anzac biscuits for dessert. By the time Nic got home from basketball dinner was almost ready. I finished up while he sat down on the couch with a beer to watch the game. He loved the dinner! I think he was also pretty happy that I watched the entire game with him this year instead of falling asleep like I normally do. ;) Not to mention it was a great game and Geelong won! I know it wasn't the same as being back in Australia, but I hope Nic had as good a Grand Final day as he could here in Valencia.