HAVE A FUN AND SCARY HALLOWEEN !!!!!
PUMPKIN 10/31/07

More Fall "Eye Candy"...

HA! Gotcha!....have you all seen this halloween eye candy?
I got some in a Boo Bag and thought it was too cute not to share!...

I recently discovered that I had these photos for the Fall Open House and somehow didn't use these on that post!

I love looking out of this window and watching the leaves turn colors...










One of the many garage sale finds that have found a new life in my home. Hubby attached the top of my old sofa table to the old singer sewing machine base that I so happily brought home for a couple of dollars ... Just love it. Reminds me of my Mom's.



This light up pumpkin puts forth such a wonderful glow..


Oh my, I found this great pumpkin tea kettle this summer for $2 on one of my "sailin" expeditions... I couldn't help myself!








I know you've seen this one before, but you know , she thinks this blog is all about her, so, shhhh... let her have her day.



In my family room we have a huge built in , so I have enjoyed "having" to fill them up with whatever strikes my fancy!







The mosaic table and stool were another "steal".... $20 I think I payed for them at church bazaar! I love the old world look that it has... kinda makes me think of Portugal.



You can see the tile work better in this photo. See these birds (not sure what they are, but I like them) were bought for $1 at an auction... (I really wanted the $400. chair, but went home happy as a clam with my birds...well, kinda...















........ So there's some Fall eye candy for ya!

Come one come all for some great NO BRAINER DINNER IDEAS from fellow bloggers

I asked fellow bloggy friends for Nobrainer Dinner Ideas and the following ladies were glad to contribute! I can't wait to see their wonderful quick and simple dinner ideas:

Recipes should appear on Monday

Tardevil at Confessionsofa40somethingmamaqueen.blogspot.com

Diane at Fourpawsco.blogspot.com

Sally at Sallyssalmagundi.blogspot.com

Laurie at Bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com

Donna at Adventureswithtassie.blogspot.com

Judy at Gracioussouthernliving.blogspot.com

Robyn at Thereisalwaysthymefor.blogspot.com

Cheri at geergathering.blogspot.com



Dawnie at Dawnieslifeifbythesea.blogspot.com

Lynette at Lynetteslam.blogspot.com
Marianna at Cardinalacre.blogspot.com

Bo at Blinksnwinksfrombrown-eyes.blogspot.com Bo has promised a delicious no brainer dessert!

This one is from Justine: at justinesfroggybloggy



My no-brainer main dish is roasted chicken breasts. Just made them last night for me and the girls. I buy them with the bone, and skin-on, but I've made it without the skin too.I just pour olive oil over them, lots of garlic powder, salt and pepper, sometimes some lemon, and then for added flavor, Teriyaki. This will kind of burn on the pan, so near the end I pour more over. Baste ocassionally and YUM! Oh, I bake them at 350 for 45 minutes or so, until my thermometer says they're about 170 degrees. Oh, and use the drippings to dip!Justine :o )


Penny's at Alwayssomethingbypenny.blogspot.com No brainer idea:



An easy no brainer is to wrap a couple of pieces of chicken or pork in some foil with fave BBQ or fave Italian Dressing inside. Place foil wrapped product on pan and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. Serve with salad or side veggies.


One of Dawnie's at Dawnieslifeifbythesea.blogspot.com
Here is one of my favorite stand-bys that helped me many nights when our 5 kids were young!Fry up a lb or so of Ground BeefAdd onion, little garlic.Dump in a can tomato soup, can of green beans.Mix up a batch of boxed Garlic Mashed Potatos, place on top-cover with Cheddar Cheese and bake at 350 until cheese is nice and bubbly and brown. Adjust to how many your serving!


I hope I didn't miss anyone! Let me know.. I'm having to do this on my new laptop and it's so sensitive, it freaks out on me all the time, so I hope I did it right!

Okay, here are my 3 "go to "entrees from my previous post :

GRILLED CHICKEN PEAR AND PECAN SALAD







Grill chicken, cut in strips.
Place on top of salad greens, top with thinly sliced pears or granny smith apple, sprinkle gorgonzola or feta , add thinly sliced red onions and top with pecans and dried cranberries .
I serve it with raspberry vinagrette dressing.



ROTEL CHICKEN



Place chicken breast in a 9/13 casserole dish.
Pour rotel tomatoes over the chicken. (if this is too spicy you can use mild salsa instead). Bake at 375* for about 30 mins or until done. Take it out, sprinkle with cheese put it back in for 5 min.
Dollop of sour cream, if desired.




TURKEY TACOS






(Of course you can make it with ground beef or chicken).... Brown turkey meat along with finely chopped onion, sprinkle Taco Bell taco seasoning on top and add a tiny bit of water.
Cook until done.
Spoon into taco shell that has been warmed (follow box direction), top with:
lettuce
cilantro
cheese
salsa. (sourcream and guacamole are great if your not dieting)

Please click on the above participants to find solutions to your "dinner dilemmas"... I hope you find a new favorite!

^^ Let's Share" No Brainer" Dinner Ideas ^^

Today, while watching Oprah, Christina Ferrari gave 3 different meals that you could make from a roasted chicken... Chicken Enchiladas, Chicken Pot Pie and .....I don't know the third one because I got a phone call and missed it. So that gave me an idea, (I'm sure this has been done to death)....

I want us to share some recipes that are our standbys... no measuring, no thinking and nothing that takes over 10 mins to prepare. Just quick and simple. This doesn't mean cooking time. I'm just concerned with the hands on work here.

So many of you have told me how creative I am, and I truly appreciate that, but when it comes to cooking.....it doesn't apply to me! I don't really like to cook, of course I LOVE to eat (who doesn't )... So if we pick each others brains, you never know, you might find a new favorite, no brainer!



So.... come on, if you have 3 NoBrainer Entrees that are easy and delicious, let's share them! You don't have to have three... you can do one or two...

Let me know if you would like to participate by Sunday 9PM and I'll post the list and links to your blog on Monday.

BON APPETIT....

A Mom's gotta brag.........

Didn't I tell you I had 2 beautiful and smart daughters? Well, here's my oldest, Kristin. I will introduce you to Kathryn in a later post.
Not only beautiful and smart but creative too. She is in her second year of Dental School in Charleston,
at the Medical University of South Carolina.



She has wanted to be a Dentist since she was in high school... and is well on her way.









This weekend she sent us a picture of pumpkins that she and her friend carved... well, being in dental school, her friend Lynn carved a pumpkin with perfect teeth (on the left), my Kristin, on the other hand carved the one on the right.... can you tell what it is ?!? I couldn't until she sent a picture of it lit up.... check this sculpture out! :













A big fan of Star Wars .... the evil Darth Vader! Unreal, isn't it?! mmmm... I wonder where she got her artistic flair from?!? She didn't use any patterns, just looked at a picture of him .





x I'm not sure how this happened, but if you click on this you can see the bagels that she made from scratch... Ummmm







This is Jack... Kristin's friend ,Katie's yorkie.... awww what a cutie!






Here's a painting she made for a friend last fall... I sure would like one of those too..... (hint hint)




We are so proud of our girls... it's great when they come home for the weekend and visit. Here's Kristin relaxing on the porch. Y'all save your dental work , two years from now she'll be opening her practice and would love to see you!

A Kreativ Blogger, moi?! Merci beaucoup...

Thank you Tardevil and Sqawmama for honoring me with this most prized Kreativ Blogger Award.
The rules are:
Acknowledge the person who sent it to you.
Pick 6 people who deserve this award to tag.
List 6 things you value and 6 that you don't:

Okay, here goes.... 6 Things I value (besides my health, family and friends)

1. A good strong cup of coffee in the morning...mmmmm my homemade starbucks

2. Jeans that strech.... (self explanatory, I believe)

3. Puppy kisses from my furbaby, Duchess

4. A good juicy garage sale, early Saturday morning

5. Girls' night out... Bunco, Cards or just going out to Dinner..being goofy.

6. A good loud belly laugh that makes you cry, almost pee your pants, can't stop, can't breathe!

Now for the 6 Things That I Don't Value: ( Besides Prejudice, Selfishness and Close minded people)

1. Weighing in at the doctors' office

2. Paying full price for anything

3. Perfection.... soooooooooo over rated...

4. People that put other people down to make themselves look better

5. Snobs

6. When the clothes you just bought shrink 2 sizes in the wash... (mmm.. should have bought more strechy jeans...DUH)

So now I would like to bestow this award to :

Tricia at Tricia-Triciastreasures.blogspot.com
Mishebe at The crownedcasa.blospot.com
Laurie at BargainhutingwithLaurie.blogspot.com
Sarah at Abeachcottage.typepad.com
Chari at Happytodesign.blogspot.com
Bella at Bella1104.blogspot.com

Have fun , ladies!

+++ DoG Gone-It...Just TOO cute+++

Look at these adorable furbabies, all ready for trick or treatin'
I No candy for me, I'm watching my figure................ I have a splitting headache!
They better have some bacon at this house!
Oh my goodness, too too cute!
Yoda never looked so good.........
This one is my all time favorite... so good , it's scary!
Three heads are better than one?!?
It's a bird , it's a plane, nooooooooooo, it's a poor dog dressed up as SuperMan...LOL
HOPE YOU HAD A CHUCKLE !

For the Love of French Country

Here's a little vintage victorian rocker that I bought through Craig's List... It had seen better days!A little paint, fabric, staples and gimp .... and Voila! I used my favorite French country fabrics and gave it a little , "Je ne sais quoi. (thanks, Bridget for the correct spelling).

Hubby thinks I should sell it (WAAAAAAAAAAAA), but you know how good it looks right here at Rooster Manor! I'll think about it.........

A Little Spanish Girl and a Tall Tree

...So, I was contently watching my favorite show, Project Runway, when I found myself in tears...

What brought me to tears was when one of the designers, Korto, said that she was forced to leave Africa when she was a young girl. She stated what I have felt in the core of my being since I was 6 years old...but never had voiced.. "something dies in you when you're taken away from your homeland".




I have felt this void and death in my soul all my life. You see, I was born in Southern Spain, the youngest of three children. Due to the death of my Mother, all three of us were put in an orphanage when I was four. After 2 years, I was adopted by an American couple... but my brother and sister were not. They were taken out soon after I left, to live with my Father and Stepmother. I was taken to Portugal to live for a year until the paperwork was completed for my adoption. A new country, new language, new home with unfamiliar faces. I felt like my whole family had died... like a fish out of water.

Soon I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean hundreds of miles from my homeland to live in Florida and meet my new parents, live in a new country, learn a new language, once again ... and no familiar faces. I don't mean to sound ungrateful... I was very lucky to be "the chosen one", but at the same time I felt like the biggest loser. Being ripped from my roots was such a painful experience. My new parents were very good to me, and I grew to love them, but nothing could take away that aching that I had for my Father and siblings and my very humble home , so far away. I remember when I first came to the U.S. I would try to find the tallest tree and wish that I could climb to the top of it , so I could try to "see" my home town in Spain.

Well, the years went by and I became entrenched in being the only child and living the American Dream. Am I sorry that this happened to me? Yes... No... I don't know. Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if my Mother had not ignored the cut on her leg that ended her life. The grown up part of me realizes that life is unpredictable and at any moment can take a wicked turn. The child in me still mourns the life that I never got to experience as a Spaniard, full of family and rich in culture. What would I be doing right now? Oh, if only we could live in a parallel universe.....
Would I trade my life for the one I never got to experience?....OH, HECK NO !! I have the perfect life right now. I couldn't ask for more. My knight in shining armor to love me and protect me, my two beautiful, loving and intelligent daughters, a home that I would never have dared to dream of... truly blessed beyond belief.... and let's not forget Duchess!

....But there's still that melancholy little girl inside, looking for a tall tree to climb... trying to see my homeland...