Pumpkin Carving Madness!

The Robideau-Vlachs, held their first annual Pumpkin Carving Madness Party! First I was treated to a delicious dinner, prepared by kelly. She made a wonderful soup that was hearty and healthy! We then set to work on our pumpkins. The vlachs used a Chinese symbol for Peace. Kelly was a bit worried that maybe the symbol wasn't really a symbol for peace, and that maybe it said something bad about Hmong people. And considering her neighbors are Hmong, maybe it would be offensive. But I reassured her that, her Hmong neighbors probably don't read Chinese...
We were having a fun time carving and chatting but unfortunately, Kyle got a little crazy with his carving techniques... and he accidentally cut off his hand! Ooops!

I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I just did some weird swirly design, but all in all I think turned out pretty decent. Fun times.After the carving madness, we ate some amazingly wonderful apple pie that kelly made. Mmmmm... It was a very Spooktacular night! Check out the slideshow on the vlach's blog: http://vlachster.blogspot.com/

Dinner Party Delight

Yesterday, I had a beautifully fun and relaxing day of getting ready for my dinner party guests. I had been planning to have my friends, Shannon, Cindy & Jaime over for dinner for quite some time. So once the menu had been planned and the table scape had been decided upon, I set to work. But I was in no mood to rush myself or take any fun out of the day. Shannon came over around noon to relax with me and help me out with the cooking. (And yes Shannon, transferring meatballs from one plate to another, IS helping). I don't typically need much help in the kitchen, but I do like the company. Good conversation can only aid in the joy of cooking. When we weren't cooking we chilled and watched an America's Next Top Model Marathon on VH1. We also watched country music videos, but I won't go into it. It was fun. Eventually Jaime and Cindy made it over and we began to feast. On the menu was the following: Homemade Meatballs and Spaghetti, Broccoli with lemon bread crumbs, Herbed garlic bread, and for dessert:

Chocolate Pear Pastry.

We ate and ate and ate, and then when we couldn't fit one more meatball in our belly's; we ate more! Dinner was fun and we laughed a lot, including when I tried answering Shannon's question of "what meat did you use in the meatballs?" to which I answered: "Porf-en-berf-en" and couldn't quite spit the words pork and beef out. TO which Shannon and I started to die laughing, followed by Jaime and Cindy laughing at us... to when I almost choked on my meatball and had to cough the whole thing back out! mmmm.... Well done Sabrina!

After dinner we fell upon the couch in a "carb induced coma" as Kelly called it over a text message.
Awwww... a tummy full of meat and carbs... what could be better!

To top the night off, Cindy brought over the 1993 Watertown-Mayer's production of Grease! Both Cindy and I were in Grease our junior year of high school. We were both Pink Ladies; Cindy was Marty and I was Jan. We had a blast putting on Grease! So being able to watch it from 14 years ago was pretty amazing. How young and silly we were... Such a fun time in life. Why was I ever in such a hurry to grow up? (This is my actual Pink Ladies jacket, that I saved)After Grease, I don't know how it got started, but Shannon put on a pair of my pointy shoes, and declared that she looked like the wicked witch from Wizard of Oz, and the next thing I know...

A house fell on her... (or an ottoman, same thing!)

Then one fell on Jaime too...
WE stayed up talking, until we declared that we had somehow become too old to stay up really late, and then we all crashed. Bright and early we woke up, and I made Bloody Mary's for the girls (sans alcohol of course)... We chatted for awhile longer, and then we parted ways with memories of good food, good friends and high school musicals... (Zak and Vanessa, ain't got nothing on us!)

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Chocolate Pear Pastry Recipe:

1 Frozen Puff Pastry Sheet (thawed for 40 min. before using)

2 oz chopped hazelnuts

6 chocolate cookies (I used oreos)

2 ripe pears

1 egg, beaten

2 TBLS sugar

1\2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a cookie sheet with cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface roll out pastry sheet into an 18x10inch rectangle. Transfer to the cookie sheet. Fold over 1 1\2 inched on each side of the long sides to make a rim. Use a fork to pierce the center in 1-inch intervals. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to wire rack. Reduce oven temp to 375 degrees.

Combine hazelnuts and cookies in a food processor and pulse until they resemble sand. Peel the pears and cut each lengthwise in half. Discard the cores and stems. Return the pastry to the cookie sheet. Distribute the nut crumbs along the center of each pastry. Arrange the pears, cut-side down, on the crumbs, alternating stem and round ends. Brush the rim of each pastry with some egg. Sprinkle with the sugar.

Return the pastries to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes more or until pears are tender when tested with a fork. Remove and cool on a wire rack. Place the chocolate chips in a small cup and microwave 1-1 1\2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over the pastries.

My Last Supper

There is a book out right now by photographer Melanie Dunea, called My Last Supper. She interviews top chefs and asks them, What would be your last meal? Most of the chef's surprisingly went with comfort food, regardless of the fact that they make gourmet meals at their upscale restaurants. Pasta, hamburgers, pizza, doughnuts, and friend chicken were among the top pics. Those also seem to be the top picks of convicts on death row. The theory is that you go to the foods that are associated with good memories and/or childhood. I however, have a different spin on what my comfort foods would be. And it's not because my palate is more experienced or defined. I just find comfort in something more than mac & cheese, albeit I do really like mac & cheese. I would have to say that my last meal would be, Chicken Pad Thai, extra spicy with lots of crushed peanuts and limes, a bowl full of jiaozi (or as they are called here, dumplings\potstickers). Some form of duck breast... love the duck with crispy skin and fatty meat! A couple glasses of a good Riesling or Gewuztraminer wine, and for dessert a handful of gummy bears, a slice of wedding cake and a Cadbury Egg. Pretty simple, very spicy and totally delicious!
What would be your last meal? I'm dying to know. (no pun inteded!)

Who is Susan?

Apparently there is another superfluous out there in blogger land... And we are like night and day! Funnily enough my cousins read her blog last night thinking it was my blog! They even had their theories about who "Susan" was code for, and of course the man must be my ex bf... I can just imagine the dialog between K & K! I am pukevsmeow.blogspot, not http://www.superflous.blogspot.com/ and if you are ever reading my blog and thinking, gee sabrina's a little debbie downer today, then you are reading the wrong blog!
Halloween is next week? I have not decided on a costume! Last year I was Tattoo from Fantasy Island... I was so hot as a little man in a tuxedo!the year before I was in Alaska pretending to be a moose watcher and woodsman. The year before that i was my mom circa 1985! I can't remember past that... although I've been going to the same parties for the past few years, but not this year. New faces, new places. That kinda sounds like the south dakota jingle, "great places, great faces, south dakota".
I have a weird rash on my arm... I was out in the woods the other day, and i was touching weird plants and fungi. I've had poison ivy, oak and sumac... but this is not it. I also get heat rash, but that is not it either. I am perplexed. Who is going home on ANTM? I say Ambreal or possibly Ebony. I have earned 3 strait bonus points with guessing who goes home and yet, Kelly still stays in the lead! This system=puke!
I'm thinking about starting a webzine called "The Libertarian Librarian".... like Ann Coulter, but less conservative and much quieter. SHHHHH....

The 12 Days of Absence

I have not been at my home, alone since October 10th! The one night I was at home I had people over. So tonight I am going to shut myself in, do some dishes and laundry and make a killer dinner of:

Garlic & Butter Talapia

Spicy Eggplant and Cauliflower with Basil

Apple-Cucumber Slaw

AND

Pumpkin Caramels!!

Les Miserables Lives On...

In 1992 when I was 15 years old, I worked\camped at a little ol' camp called Camp Shamineau (Whoop Whoop EV Free!!!) Anyway, it was the first summer that I was old enough to be a CIT (Counselor in Training) after years of idolizing the counselors as a camper. That summer I befriended a girl, Erin Van Vonderen. We had crazy fun and lots of little adventures all summer long. Erin would always be signing these pretty little songs that would just stick in your head. And so one day I asked her what she was always singing and she said, "It's Les Mis of course!" Thus began my love affair. I went home that fall and promptly purchased the Les Miserables cassette tape! and began to memorize every song. I knew that there was a book, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, but had not read it. So I also bought a copy and read the abridged version. As soon as I got my driver's licence i purchased tickets to Les Mis at the Ordway and Erin and I went to see a real live Les Mis production. I felt so grown up and proud to be doing this all on my own. I thought the music on my little tape was spectacular, but when I saw the production live, I was blown away, I think I cried! Then the obsession really began. I named a cat Marius after one of the main characters, and i vowed if I ever had a daughter I would name her Cosette. My dream was to perform as either Fantine or Eponine on Broadway, although the Ordway would be just fine too! I have since seen Les Miserables over a dozen times. I have also read the Unabridged version of the book.. chunk by chunk, but I did it... I am constantly struck by the beauty of the themes of Les Miserables, Love and Redemption, Forgiveness and the Triumph of the Human Spirit.

So this Sunday night, I went with Cindy, Shannon and Ellen to see Les Miserables at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre. It was a very well done production, and I must admit i was a little hesitant about seeing it there, since I have always seen it at the Ordway, but I was very impressed. And of course, it never ever, fails to move me... Someday I hope to see it in Paris, all done in French. And I'm still haven't given up my dream of being either Fantine or Eponine. And while I'm at it, I'm still naming my daughter Cosette!

P.S. If you're wondering about my cat Marius, he's still keeping it real on the farm at age 15!

Snakes and Fire, Oh My!

Well I did it! They say that everyday you should do something you're afraid of, or do something you fear. Whatever the saying is, not only did I do one monumental thing i am afraid of, but two!!!

I didn't plan for either of these things to happen. I didn't wake up this week thinking, "Hey God, please let me tackle my 2 biggest fears." But when you least expect it, life hands you the opportunity to face what you're afraid of, and you can either run away or face it head on.

So when i needed to use my stove top, I found that both pilot lights were out. I knew that one was out, pretty much since I've lived here. But i was very content working with 2 burners, even if it was a hassle and i really need 3 to cook on. Nonetheless, I needed to use a burner and to my shock the last pilot light was out. Now I have never lit a pilot light. What I really fear is being started on fire, and pilot lights have the makings of a big explosion. I stood there in my kitchen for about 10 minutes... agonizing over what to do. I kept lifting up the stove top and peeking in, secretly hoping that it would magically light. No luck. So I just bit the bullet, lit a match, held my breath and lowered the flame to the pilot light and and and... a small tinsy flicker of flame appeared! No big explosion, nothing that singed my eyelashes, nor did I catch on fire. And then... I repeated the same actions to the second pilot. And... I lived!

and if that wasn't earth shattering enough...

I went out to my parents house to help them paint some rooms. And when I was done, and walked outside to get some fresh air... low and behold there was a snake! Now I hate snakes, not just dislike, but i am passionately and crazily afraid of them. I have been that way since i was a little girl. Having fears that they are going to chase me down and eat me! So here I am standing out side and there is a snake, just lazily lying in the sun. And it hit me, there is nothing this snake can do to hurt me. And in one bold move, I bent down, and I touched it! And guess what? Nothing happened to me! The snake just slithered away... and i watched it go... no longer afraid.

Now don't get me wrong, I still don't want to burn up, nor be covered in snakes. But I am one step closer to putting some fears aside and being free! What an amazing feeling!

After the snake incident i took a walk down by the lake in the woods, wearing my most favorite pink rubber boots!! I was mostly on a mission to find some black walnuts to harvest. But it was also so beautiful and the woods seemed so inviting. I did find some walnuts, but unfortunately they were starting to rot. I also found some interesting mushrooms, I mean I have never seen an Orange mushroom! Strange. I wonder if they are edible? I love the woods... so much beauty and life. How amazing God's creations are! How blessed I am to witness it all.

Last night I had a wonderfully fun time with Ellen. She treated me to dinner at Bar Abilene, for helping her move. We had yummy margaritas and holy moly guacamole, made fresh at our table! We also saw the movie\documentary, My Kid Could Paint That. Very interesting...

Um, and Ellen saved me when I didn't have enough cash to pay for parking. She's a nice girl.