The Autumnal Equinox Tradition

Traditions are some of my favorite things to learn about. I love knowing what people do, and why. I love seeing the bits of heart put into things, and how these traditions bring people together. 

When we were first married traditions seemed hard. We hadn't been married long enough to have any traditions together. We borrowed traditions from growing up and from what we saw people doing, and tried them out. Some we loved. Some didn't work. 

But one tradition that has stuck around, and that may be one of our favorite traditions now, is our annual Autumnal Equinox Dinner. This dinner tradition started as a spin-off of a tradition Cameron's family had. 

On the Winter Solstice, the Mowers would all get dressed up in their Sunday best and come together for a traditional Christmas meal, as Christmas day they had the traditional New Mexican feast. For the solstice they'd have ham, potatoes, and the whole works. We wanted to carry this on, but as students we weren't likely to be home for the Solstice each year and we wanted this to be a tradition we could do at our house. So we chose the Autumnal Equinox, because it's smack in the middle of the semester and we knew we'd be home the new couple of years and could do this as something special for us. 

A few weeks ago we had our 6th Annual Autumnal Equinox Dinner. 

Last year it fell on Day 2 of the Keeping Up Appearances challenge and I definitely bit off more than I could chew. So this year we tried to keep it a little more simple with the food prep. No crazy melted cake this year! We ended up with some super yummy parts of the meal, some meh parts, but somehow thankfully no Pinstrosities other than me not starting food prep early enough and us starting about 40 minutes later than planned. But that's doable.

Instead of getting the whole meal from Pinterest this year, I decided to mix and match. I turned to our favorite cookbook for the chicken, because every single recipe we try out of the America's Test Kitchen cookbook (with every recipe they've tried from 2001-2014) turns out phenomenal. We've never had anything not turn out. Well, except the time I forgot to make the sauce. That time the meal was meh...but that was my fault. I trust that book over anything I find on Pinterest.

But, I can't throw a party without Pinterest being involved somehow of course! 

Pinterest successes #1 & #2: The Pumpkin Shaped Buffalo Ranch Cheeseball

This one is a double win! While looking for cheese ball ideas (because that in and of itself is becoming an Autumnal Equinox Dinner tradition), I came across a pin for a pumpkin shaped cheese ball. I was sold.

I made the cheese ball from this recipe and tasted it. Super salty and intense! So I added another block of cream cheese, and then threw in more grated cheese to get a better consistency. After that it was just right. I rolled it in finely grated cheddar cheese to get the orange color on the outside and because there were nut allergies in our guests.

Then it came time to shape it. I didn't have rubber bands on hand, but I did have yarn. So I cut three lengths of yarn, and then used each one to tie around the plastic wrapped cheese ball, tying it tight enough that it cut into the cheese to create the divot. When it came time to put the platter together I cut the yarn, took the cheese ball out of the plastic wrap, added in the stem from a bell pepper, and it was ready!

This one was fun because it looks fancy, but is super easy. Our friends thought at first that I'd molded it or spent a long time getting the shape right. So A+ for this pin!!

Pinterest success #3: Curried Carrot Soup

This was one we'd actually made before from a pin we'd found on Pinterest. It's simple to make, but so so so yummy! No pictures from that night, but here's a picture from when we made it before:

Pinterest Success #4: Prickly Pear Lemonade

And by the time this got put together and out to serve, the party was in full swing and my camera was safely stowed away from the kids. But, it looked just like the pictures in the original link. And we "dirtied" it up redneck style with Almond Joy creamer (our grocery store here didn't have plain coconut cream creamer, so we went with the Almond Joy, and that touch of chocolate flavor was yummy)!

And the Pinterest Meh: The Snickerdoodle Pie. 

I was pretty excited about this one. Super excited. Which maybe is why it ended up meh, because I had it built up so much in my head. I even did a series of pigs running around the outside for the crust (because naturally I have a pig cookie cutter, but nothing remotely fall-ish likes leaves or anything). 

First thing that went weird was the amount of filling. It didn't even fill the crust half way. I made a deep dish pie (as always), but normally even regular pie recipes come up higher than that on my deep dishes. I reread the recipe and the comments and it didn't say anything about it puffing up or anything, so I decided to make another batch of the filling to get it to the top of the pie. 

And in the oven it went. But of course because there was double the filling, it took much longer to bake. But the crust didn't burn (wrapped it in foil), and it smelled and looked delicious. Anticipation was high! 

Dinner got over and it was time to cut into the pie (and just now as I am sitting here typing this I realize that I completely spaced getting the whipped cream out for it!). I cut the first slice, pulled it out and it was a pake! For anyone who's not a Drop Dead Diva fan, that's a pie and a cake combined. The filling was cake basically. It didn't taste bad, but it was just kinda meh, and a bit of an odd consistency. I think I was expecting more of a baked custard pie for some reason. No one disliked it, but it looked yummier than it ended up being sadly. 

So I might try tweaking it a little and seeing if I can't come up with my own snickerdoodle pie that's more what we were expecting. We'll see.

But altogether it was a fabulous meal!

Menu:

• Peruvian Garlic Lime Chicken (for a subscription fee you can find the recipe here, or in the cook book, which is totally worth buying!)
• Buffalo Ranch Cheeseball shaped like a pumpkin, served with Smoked Gouda Triscuits, Ritz crackers, and blue corn tortilla chips
• Curried Carrot Soup, served with blue corn tortilla chips to crush over the top
• Oatmeal Rolls (these are Cameron's favorite rolls! I burned the bottoms slightly on accident, but they still weren't bad)
• Fresh corn on the cob from the neighbors fields (a kind neighbor with a field full of corn opened up his fields to all of us, and our friends brought down a basket of steaming fresh corn! It was super yummy!)
• Red Cabbage Slaw (I need to get the recipe for this one from our friends who brought it! It was super yummy!)
• Prickly Pear Lemonade
• Snickerdoodle Pie

The "rule" (or tradition might be a less harsh way to put it), is that the fall decor doesn't come out until the day of the Equinox dinner. It was fun to pull out my wreath, garlands, and table runner again! But then I got an idea and before everyone came Cameron and I ran around the yard and the empty lot across the wash from us and gathered bits of nature for a tablescape. We cut down some of the sunflower stalks to make a table garland for the center. Cameron also found an Osage Orange tree (also known as a hedge apple) and we picked a few to go into the decor (because I think they look so funky and cool! Topping it all off was the gorgeous autumn bouquet my friend Wendy brought. The colors were perfect! It's still on my kitchen table and other than a few flowers we've had to pull out, it's doing beautifully! 

Overall, each portion of the meal and the evening was simple, but when combined all together it was such a nice evening and a yummy meal! We loved the time we had to visit with our friends and celebrate the goodness of life. I can't wait for next year's dinner already!

What is your favorite tradition? How'd it come about?

Dirty Dr. Peppers

I have a yummy and easy drink to share with you all! We learned this over Thanksgiving and LOVED it! 

As non-drinkers, we're always on the lookout for fun and tasty "fancy" drinks. We like looking at the cocktails and mixed drinks menus at restaurants and trying to get ideas on how to make those at home without the "kick". Having a special drink at a fancy dinner, on a date, or at a party can really help take things up a notch.

This recipe is super simple. Super super simple. Really. 

All you need is Coconut Creme coffee creamer, and Dr. Pepper (or we even love this with Root Beer and think it would taste phenomenal with red cream soda or orange soda as well). Add ice if that's your preference. 

Yea hard water stains. Oh well. 

The steps are super hard here. Fill your cup 1/2-2/3 of the way full with ice. 

Pour in your soda.  

Pour in the creamer. Stat with a little, and add more if you want more coconut flavor or more of a creamy texture. 

Serve with the layers separated for a fun visual effect, but stir it up before you drink it! 

There. Told you it was simple. 

I've seen other versions online that take the Torani Coconut syrup and lime juice. That sounds super yummy too, but we really love the creaminess that the coffee creamer adds in. 

Marshmallow Cups

Are you ready to have your mind blown? Here you go. You can make a miniature glass from a toasted marshmallow. Well...maybe. There is a pin with a video showing how to make them, but as you can imagine it's a little finicky. How finicky? Well, Jane tried this one out and sent it our way.

First, I'm sure your asking what you could drink out of marshmallow cups. Chocolate milk, warmish cocoa, or the original pin even suggests liqueur (but as I don't drink I can't attest to how that would taste...however chocolate milk out of marshmallow cups sounds phenomenal).

Now, what would these concoctions even look like?

This.

image from The Watering Mouth

Yum. Triple yum. If I had marshmallows in my house I'd totally blow off this health challenge I'm doing and go try this. Alas, there are no marshmallows to be found. Health challenge intact.

I may not have marshmallows on hand to show you how this turns out, but Jane took a stab at this. Here is what she sent over to us:

Toasted marshmallow cups for drinking Baileys out of?  We had to have a go at this one!  I specifically bought an American brand, “Rocky Mountain mega marshmallows” as we really wanted this to work. 

We used a gas hob instead of an electric element, but the video says use electric or gas.  Here is the result of our first few tries – we also tested a New Zealand brand but that just melted into goo almost immediately (it’s the pink blob in the middle of the plate).

You can see our main problem here – the marshmallows kept catching fire.  This is because we held them too close to the flame.  So we had more patience and finally got some actual toasted and not-on-fire marshmallows! 

But the top didn't collapse, as in the video, so it wasn't a cup shape.  We kind of cut a hole in the top and poured in some Baileys liqueur anyway.

And it promptly ran out the bottom!

But we enjoyed them anyway – here’s my daughter, Poy Ling, trying to eat one elegantly:

On the GCT fail scale, this really went through every stage – from white to literally in flames!  As we drank quite a bit of liqueur in the end, one way or another, we happily rate this Two-toned.

(Flaming marshmallows and alcomahol – I think it’s a win that we didn’t have to call the Fire Brigade!)

Thank you for reading,

Jane, Ruth and Poy Ling

So, maybe this isn't so easy. The original instructions even say so. She says, "Well, it does work, turns out. Half the time. It is a really finicky thing to make, but when you get it right, it is so so super cool. [...] So when I went to go make this, I had to try about 12 different marshmallows to figure out the best way. Make sure the marshmallow is really perfect looking, the less oblong the marshmallow, the better luck you will have." If you want to try this out, go read her entire post, watch the tutorial video, give it a shot, and let us know how it went! 

-Marquette

Pinstrosity Party Magnetism

Parties seem to be Pinstrosity magnets. We try to make our parties awesome, so we turn to Pinterest for new ideas to try out. Most of us don't want to take the time and energy to test something out before the party, so we cross our fingers that the Pinterest Gods will smile upon our offering. Sometimes that works, and other times the Pinterest Gods smite us. Emma sent in two Pinstrosities from their 4th of July festivities. Two Pinstrosities in one party, that's rough. 

Original Pin #1

http://www.sheckys.com/2012/06/28/fab-festive-fourth-of-july-party-planning-tips3/

"Originally I found one using the Sobe Pina Colada drink, and my family was not really excited about that. I looked at Pinterest to find an alternative. This [the pin above] was the one that sounded most appealing. I did replace Diet 7up with diet sprite, but I figured that was okay since it was just a lemon lime soda switch. So after pouring the gatorade in, I was so excited that it was *actually* working! Then I poured the sprite in and stood back to admire my work. It looked beautiful, so I ran to grab my phone. When I came back it looked like this…"

Pinstrosity #1

"I was very disappointed…Until I tasted it. It was oddly delicious! So despite the fact that I was the only one who saw it in the colors that it was intended, It was enjoyed by everyone. So kind of Pinstrosity? But then I attempted one more thing."

This one ends up being a bit of a Flashback Friday to our Layered Drink Doozy post. Different "recipe" but the same idea. Check out that link for tips in the post as well as awesome tips in the comments from readers. 

Original Pin #2

http://www.theshoppingmom.com/4th-of-july-bunt-cake-a-sparkling-fun-red-white-and-blue-snack/comment-page-1/#comment-45875

"A July fourth bundt cake! This looked SO easy that I figured I might as well try it. Well my white cake looked yellow and thus all my other colors looked blah."

Pisntrosity #2

"I don’t really know what went wrong with this one. A messed up cake mix? Ah well. Another one that tasted good. At least I got the rest of July fourth and store-bought cupcakes to make things look good!"

I'm not sure how the middle turned out, but as for the icing it looks like the red and white got warmed up, but the blue didn't get as warm and pourable. To get the striped drizzle look seen in the original pin the icing needs to be pretty warm and liquidy. Next, I would use a spoon to drizzle it onto the cake, rather than pouring from the bowl or jar. This would help give a smaller stream of icing and give more of the look of the original cake. You also definitely need the back and fourth motion across the cake if you want multi-colored stripes. 

At least they both tasted fantastic. That is the point of food, right?! Right.

Well That's Just Ducky

I have so many friends and family members due with babies in the next 6-7 months, it's crazy. I can't wait for the baby showers to start. I love the food, the socializing, seeing the fun gifts, and some of the games (not the clothespin game, or the guess the melted candybar in the diaper game!). I like baby showers even more now that I have Darrow. Parties are just fun!

One thing that really tickles me with baby showers is seeing how the themed baby showers are put together, and how they incorporate the theme into food, decorations and games. There are some really creative ideas out there!

One theme that is gaining popularity, especially if the sex of the baby is unknown, is a Rubber Ducky party. It's such a cute baby theme while still being fun and versatile. One creative lady found a way to carry the Rubber Ducky theme all the way to the punch she served.

The Original Pin

http://tidymom.net/2011/ducky-baby-shower-punch/

If you've been with us for about 2 years, or if you've gone back through our old posts at all, you may be thinking that this looks familiar. 2 years ago Diana sent in how her punch turned out when she tried to make this:

http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com/2012/07/rubber-ducky-youre-not-one.html

Today, for Throwback Thursday, I have two more submissions of punches inspired by this same pin. 

Stephanie made this punch for her cousin's baby shower. "Unfortunately, I failed to read the directions carefully. It calls for white grape juice....I bought regular grape juice.  It calls for lemon sherbet....I couldn't find any, so figured orange sherbet would do just the same........"

Pinstrosity #1

She said, "my family affectionately nicknamed it the "pondscum punch".  Woops." It makes me think of some of the "Where's My Water" levels (anyone else play that game? I'll admit to it!). 

Stefane (it crack's me up that our two submitters today have the same name, what a funny coincidence!) told us this story: "I found your page through a link at Epbot (Jen is awesome!) and have been looking through your blog.  When I found the rubber ducky punch pinstrosity (http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com/2012/07/rubber-ducky-youre-not-one.html), I had to share my own tale."

"My sister absolutely loves rubber duckies, so it was easy for me to start planning her baby shower even before she found out the sex of the baby (it was a boy, born in July!), I found this punch and deemed it perfect for the shower.  In the days before the shower we tested out all (and I mean dozens!) of her rubber duckies to find the ones that would properly float and I washed the ones we selected.  I did my shopping, had all of the ingredients in a cooler at the shower site, and the last thing I did before people started arriving was to mix the punch up.  I had bought a blue packet of kool-aid, but apparently kool-aid in a blue packet is still red (tropical punch)...and there was nothing we could do at that point, so we plopped the duckies in anyways!  Luckily my sister found it funny- she started calling it a ducky blood bath!"

Pinstrosity #2

"I have since done some research and found that blue packets of kool-aid are difficult to fine nowadays...but I did find that tropical punch kool-aid (the flavor I used) is actually blue in the juice boxes, just not in the mix!  Everyone still said that it tasted great, but I mourned the loss of my beautiful ducky bathtub punch for awhile, lol!"

Finding the right ingredients for this is key. You definitely need the white grape juice, the blue kool aid (or any blue beverage mix...just as long as it's blue), and either pineapple or lemon sherbet. When it comes to making your punch blue, the original post the author added in this note: "Blue Kool Aid – Look for Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade or Berry Blue flavors. Many people are having a problem finding blue Kool-Aid.  A reader used berry blue typhoon Hawaiian Punch, ginger ale white grape juice and sherbert… and NO SUGAR! (the Hawaiian Punch is sweetened so no more sugar is needed)". 

Some people also have had trouble getting their ducks to float. The author suggests buying bathtime rubber duck toys from the baby department. 

These may not have fit the baby shower themes just like they wanted them too, but I'm sure they put smiles on faces, and that they tasted great. Not a total loss! 

Sunday Surprise: Cinco de Mayo Beverages!

Hi there Peeps,

Happy Sunday to you! Did any of you celebrate Cinco de Drinko... I mean.... Cinco de Mayo this weekend? I know its a big party weekend for a lot of people (and while I don't participate on a grand scheme, I come from a family of mean margarita makers, so I'm always up to a challenge). Pinterest sure has some delicious adult beverage recipes. I toyed with the idea of posting the ones that sounded good to me, but since we're a family friendly blog, I thought I'd keep it non-alcoholic (especially since Pinterest has so many good recipes for those kind of drinks too!).

1. Copycat Dole Pineapple Whips

http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2011/03/dole-pineapple-whips-from-magic-kingdom.html

Can we call this a beverage? It looks a bit like a soquid (solid liquid). No matter- talk about delish! Apparently, these beverages are originally brought to us by Disneyworld (I've never been, so I didn't realize)-- but oh my gosh! These look delicious! It's heating up here in Phoenix, AZ-- so this would be a welcome, welcome treat. According to Prudence Pennywise's blog, all you need to make these babies is canned pineapple, lime juice, sugar (of course), and heavy whipping cream. Count me in!

2. The Orange Pushup Smoothie

Moving right along, only another creamy delicious drink: The Orange Pushup Smoothie. Averie Cook's description reads "if you like Orange PushUps, Orange Creamsicles, or Orange Julius this is the smoothie for you." I do! I love all of those things! And! Bonus-- there's a list of adult beverages that can be added to this recipe, so it speaks to the whole family. I'm going to be taking Averie up on this recipe STAT.

3. Spinach Shots

The only shots that I'm going to be posting about today are spinach shots! Yum! I love when the recipe for something accompanies the image. Thanks to The Little Red House for this one!

4.  Virgin Sangria

This sangria sounds totally delicious! And, even better, look how pretty it is! Sangria is one of my favorite year round drinks, but it sounds especially good to me right now. Maybe this is what we'll do tomorrow and/or for Mother's Day??

And last but not least, a little life hack for you: 
5.  Making large ice cubes (with lemon) for pitchers! Genius!

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--etvkub-r--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/18ixdvcqxhsc9jpg.jpg

Seriously, how has it taken me so long to realize what a great idea this is!? The possibilities are endless! What if you cut something like this before freezing them?

http://workmanfamily.typepad.com/our_life/2009/02/valentines-day.html

Cucumber, orange, raspberry, mint! Ahhhhh!!!! All of the beverage options. I'm getting excited just typing this. I am seriously on beverage overload right now.

What kind of beverages are you drinking these days? Have you found anything good on Pinterest?! Though I certainly hope not, have you had any drink recipe Pinstrosities? Let us know!
Hope you all are well!
Cheers,
Rachel

Show and Tell Saturday: Harry Potter Party Stuff

I've mentioned before that I work with the teenage girls at church. This past Wednesday was our start of the year activity where we welcome in the girls turning 12 (the program is for girls 12-18) and talk about what we're going to do for the year. This year we decided to go along the route of Harry Potter. 

About 2 weeks before the event we handed out invitations to the girls based on this idea (for any non-Harry Potter people, in the books the mail is delivered by owls deliver):

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/71283606575087223/  

We worded our invitations to be like the Hogwarts acceptance letter, printed it out on off white paper, rolled it up and secured it with a clear hair tie. For the owls we blew up the balloons, drew on the owls with permanent marker, and then just stuck the end of the balloon in the hair tie to attach it to the invitation. They were all pretty excited to get their owl invitations! 

For the front display table we used things we found around our houses...and it pulled together famously! We'd been so focused on the treats and what we were going to say in the program that we forgot about decorations until that day. We were so tickled to be able to just go around our house and grab things on our way out the door, and then to have it pull together so perfectly. We had old books (some 100+ years old), "owl" cages, a graduation tassel, a nice pen set in a wood case, a feather quill pen, candles (we can't light candles in our church building due to insurance reasons, so they remained unlit), pressed flowers, an old kaleidoscope (because it looked awesome!), a sword (for the sword of Gryffindor) pictures, and other odds and ends. Since it was a church event we added in pictures of Jesus and religious books as well (if you want more on the scoop of the whole program and how we tied it into church-we worked hard to keep it church appropriate and leave out the wizardry part-you can check that out here). 

After the program we had refreshments off the Honeydukes Cart (the treat cart on the train that takes the students to Hogwarts). We got that idea from this pin we found on Pinterest:

http://catchmyparty.com/photos/1429138

Here's our Honeydukes cart/table:

Here's what we had on the table:

Magic Wands:

Pretzel sticks dipped in melted chocolate and rolled in sprinkles (from this site). These were SO yummy. I loved the salty against the sweet along with the crunchiness.  

Chocolate Frogs:

Here's a size reference for you. 

I ordered a frog mold from Amazon to make these. I figure with a little boy in our lives now, a frog mold will be fun (chocolates, jello, ice, etc.), so I just got it for me to have at home (and it really was a decent price). I got the 2lb bag of melting chocolates made for those chocolate fountains and that made 32 frogs. These disappeared fast! 

 Anti-Dementor Chocolates:

Hehe...I just made a connection...a dementor's "kiss" sucks out a person's soul...a chocolate kiss protects it apparently. Bahahaha, love it.  

Jelly Slugs:

Gotta love gummy worms. Those have been a favorite since I was a kid!

Levitating Lemon Drops:

Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans:

Jelly Belly sells actual every flavor beans, but at $2.25 for a small box we couldn't afford enough for everyone. So we just got the regular assortment of Jelly Bellies and used those. 

Fizzing Whizbees (aka caramels): 

 The recipe for these can be found here. Super easy and yummy!!

Butterbeer:

I didn't get an actual picture of the butter beer. But it pretty much looks like cream soda with whipped cream on top...because that's just about what it is. We used this recipe for our butterbeer. We thought the flavor of the extracts was way too strong. Most of the adults didn't like it, but the kids thought it was alright. If we were to make it again I'd just use butterscotch flavoring and not add as much as the recipe calls for. 

So there's the basics of our Harry Potter Pin Win! It was so much fun, we all went away happy and excited. Can't wait for October/November when we get to try pumpkin juice and the pumpkin pasties at the end of the year activity. Mmmmm!!!