CAKE!

I've had some people inquire about my cakes so I'm posting some pics here. For those of you who have seen them over and over I apologize...

HALLOWEEN FUN!

My cousins and I threw a Halloween party for a few of our friends and families. For those of you who know me, know that I LOVE Halloween. We had great fun. There were some awesome costumes. My favorite was my friend Kathryn's husband who dressed up like Guy Fieri on Food Network. I am a Food Network junkie, so I took great pleasure in the similarity of Don and Guy. My next favorite was Jill's friend Dale. He came as Slash from Guns 'n Roses. FREAKIN HILARIOUS! He really did look like Slash. Too funny. We had great food...3 soups, mac-n-cheese, desserts, veggies and dip and 2 different kinds of bread. The kids decorated pumpkins and played bingo. We can't wait to do it again next year. HAPPY HAUNTING! I hope you enjoy the pics.

Mondays with the Madsens

Me, Danny and my cousin's family have fell into a fun pattern of dinner together on Monday nights. It started when we were canning at the end of the summer and just sort of continued. I love it. I love having her kids here and getting to spend some time with Amy and Kenley one-on-one. We've had roast and vegetables, tacos, fishsticks, butternut squash soup and crockpot chicken to name a few. Anyway, it's a great new tradition that I hope we can continue. Here are`some shots of the kids from last Monday.


P-ROSS


BAILEY BOO



COOP!

COMPUTER TIME

SWEET DAVIS!

...with a little pixie dust...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY, MICHELE and MOM!

I got the chance to make another birthday cake. Actually it was 3 cakes. the main one was for my cousin's little girl Bailey. She was turning 5 and wanted a Tinkerbell cake. So I did my best. it turned out pretty good for the most part. Until it started melting at the party and all of the frosting on the edge of the cake slowly slipped down the sides!! I could have cried. It took me about 4 hours to make that cake. I also made 2 cute mini cakes for my sister and Mom. They all have the same birthday. I forgot to take pictures of those though and then forgot to take my camera to the party. Hopefully my cousin will send me hers. So, here is Tinkerbell...

"GOURMET GIRLS"

So, I started a cooking club a year ago and it's called Gourmet Girls. I invited my sister and cousins and asked them to invite friends as well. I also asked my good friend Jen (she started our book club) and one of my neighbors. We started off with 8 members. Now we have 10! Each month we have a theme and we sign up to bring dishes accordingly. We meet at someone's house and share the recipes. We gossip, laugh, eat, laugh, learn and laugh some more! WE all look forward to it and really enjoy are group. I also think we've had some AMAZING food and learned along the way. (that was the original purpose HA!) This month was our last for the 2008 schedule. Our theme was PIZZA PIZZAZ and it was so dang good. We also got awards and prizes for the favorite recipes for the past year. I was lucky enough to win three 1st place ribbons and three 2nd places. Jill took home the most ribbons with a total of 7 and she was our oeverall winner! We start our 2009 schedule next month. The theme is GAME NIGHT (as in football). Our members are me, my sister Michele, my cousins Amy and Jill, Jill's best friend Christy, Christy's sister Brittany, Amy's friend Kathryn, mutual friends Heather and Vanessa (they are sisters) and my friend Jen. Whew, hope you can keep all of that straight. Our club has caught on with some, Kathryn has a relative that started her own based on how we run ours. That's kind of cool! Anyway, here are some pics from last weeks night...

1) Jill and Brittany 2) Heather and Vanessa

1) Jen, Christy and Kathryn 2) The Girls (minus Michele and Me)

1) The Girls and the Food 2) The Girls (minus Michele and Heather)

Snow before Halloween?

We had a snowstorm come through on Oct. 11th. That's pretty early for Utah. I was so shocked to wake up to about 3 to 4 inches of snow. I was pretty cold also. Of course Cabo didn't mind as he loves to run in the snow. I even had to wait to put my pumpkins out so they wouldn't get wet and moldy. Wow, I hope it's not a indication of what winter will be like...

TV SHOW TAG

I'M IT!!! and now I have to name my top 10 TV shows that I love to watch...in no particular order!

1. So You Think You Can Dance
2. Survivor
3. American Idol
4. Heroes
5. Grey's Anatomy
6. ER (die hard 'til the end)
7. The Hills
8. Ellen & Oprah (sorry I cheated)
9. Project Runway
10. CSI (Vegas & Miami)

YOU'RE IT! I tag Lisa H., Jen, Lisa T., Brenda, Melanie, Jill!

Looking for a good read?

As some of you know I am in a book club. This is our 4th year. All of our members LOVE our book club and wait impatiently for each month to meet and talk about our picks. Last month's book was "A Girl With A Pearl Earring," by Tracy Chavelier. It is a fictional story based on a real life painting by Vermeer. It was a great book. Quiet, easy to read, dramatic and sucks you in a bit. Something that I wouldn't have read if not for book club. Thank heaven for book club!!!Apparently there was a movie made based on the book starring Collin Firth and Scarlett Johanson. I'm definitely going to rent that now and compare the two. Anyway, just thought I'd share it so those of you who like to read could give it a try. I don't think you will be dissapointed. Our upcoming book is "The Icing On The Cake," by Elodia Strain. It is supposed to be a light and humorous read. I'm looking forward to some fun fluff. I'll let you know how it is...HAPPY READING!