Halloween Haunt at The Krazy Kitchen

Hullo Boils and Ghouls and Velcome to Frrrightfull Fun here at The Krazy Kitchen's Halloween Haunt! I am so delighted to play along as we gather Tricks and Treats for this All Hallows Eve and Day of The Dead!

Before I share a most favorite recipe of the Fall season, I wanted to show you a couple of my Halloween traditions and decorations.

This includes my display of my collection of Villians and Super Hero Dolls.
I really get a kick out of my Jack Skellington dolls from Nightmare Before Christmas and the Halle Berry as Catwoman. (Yes, I need to Get Out More.)
My absolute favorites are the Disney Villains dolls including Ursula the Sea Witch and Cruella DeVil. I must have those puppies! (The original animated Cruella, not the Glenn Close live action yawn version.)The Michael Myers Action figure from the movie, Halloween is signed by the actor who plays him, Tyler Mane, a friend and neighbor. He is surrounded by all the women villains to keep him in line.

This is the Halloween Themed Bra for a Cause I won at a recent Breast Cancer Charity Luncheon and yes, it's my size. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, Happy Self Breast Exam and Mammography to you!

I hope you enjoy this recipe for an easy and elegant dessert, Apple Calvados Croustade that is perfect for the Fall Holidays. Thank you so much for visiting for The Halloween Haunt! Boo to You!

Apple Calvados Croustade
Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes

Servings: 8

Note: Adapted from a recipe for apple and Armagnac croustade in the "Café Boulud Cookbook" by Daniel Boulud and Dorie Greenspan. Boulud's recipe is traditional from Gascony, hence the Armagnac, but Calvados, the apple brandy from Normandy, is also wonderful. Feel free to use the traditional Armagnac, if you prefer. Be sure to use a large enough skillet (13 inches is perfect) so the apples caramelize properly.

1 stick plus 2 tablespoons butter, divided

6 Black Arkansas or Rome apples, peeled, cored and cut into 1/3 -inch slices

1 moist, plump vanilla bean

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup Calvados or other Apple Liqueur like Apple Jack

8 sheets filo dough

1/2 cup powdered sugar (or more, as needed)

1/3 cup sliced almonds, divided

1. Melt 4 tablespoons (one-half stick) of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place the apple slices in a bowl. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise in half and, using the tip of a small knife, scrape the seeds over the apples and drop the pod on top. When the butter is foamy, add the apples with the vanilla and the sugar and cook, stirring very gently but frequently, until the apples are lightly caramelized and soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add the Calvados liqueur and, using a long match and standing well back, set it aflame. When the flames subside, turn the apples over in the Calvados; when the flames have died out and the Calvados has reduced to a glaze, transfer the apples to a bowl and allow them to cool to room temperature.

2. Center a rack in the oven and heat it to 350 degrees. Place a 10-inch tart ring on a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment. Melt the remaining 6 tablespoons butter and set it aside. Unfold the filo dough on your work surface and cover it with a damp towel.

3. Remove the top sheet of filo (re-cover the remaining sheets), brush it lightly with butter, and dust it with powdered sugar shaken from a fine-mesh strainer. Gently and loosely crumple the dough into a circle and lay it into the pastry ring. Sprinkle it with about one-fifth of the almonds. Repeat this procedure three more times, until you have four buttered, sugared and almond-sprinkled sheets of filo layered in the ring. Do not press them together -- let them keep some height.

4. Spoon the apples into the center of the croustade, leaving a 1-inch border bare. Working as you did before, butter, sugar and crumple a sheet of filo, fitting it over the apples. Sprinkle this layer with the remaining almonds, and cover this with another crumpled sheet of buttered and sugared filo. Do a little styling and draping; arrange the filo so it looks good.

5. Slide the croustade into the oven and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes, watching the top of the tart carefully to make certain it doesn't brown too much. The top should be just lightly browned. Remove the croustade from the oven.

6. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Butter and sugar another sheet of filo, loosely crumple it and place it on the last layer to make a light, airy crown. Bake the tart for 5 to 10 minutes, or until lightly browned, then remove it from the oven again.

7. Butter the last sheet of filo and, once again, crumple it to make a crown. Place it on top of the croustade and dust it heavily with the remaining powdered sugar. Return the tart to the oven and bake until the top layer caramelizes evenly, about 5 to 10 minutes. Check the progress of the sugar frequently because it can go from brown to burned in a flash. Pull the croustade from the oven as soon as the top is a golden caramel color and allow it to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.

8. To serve, lift off the tart ring and, using two large, wide metal spatulas, transfer the croustade to a serving plate. Serve the tart warm or at room temperature the day it is made, with crème fraîche, whipped cream (or even better, crème fraîche lightened with whipped cream) or vanilla ice cream.

Each serving: 363 calories; 3 grams protein; 46 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams fiber; 18 grams fat; 10 grams saturated fat; 38 mg. cholesterol; 95 mg. sodium.

from The Los Angeles Times Magazine

MoJo for Motivation

Today my MoJo is over at The Motivation Station. Come on over and pull up a goal or two. (Can you believe this online support has helped me clean out my refrigerator/freezer, deep freezer, pantry, and junk drawers galore in essentially a month? No, me neither, until I open these former disaster areas up.)

We are also looking for another host for The Motivation Station. Please leave a comment if you are motivated to join us! Thank you so much.

Poetry Runs in the Family, Run Faster, Poetry

The thing with haikus

Is that they don't always make

Refrigerator


This haiku is brought to you by my 14 y/o son who wrote it and wanted me to share it with my "blog friends".

Acrobats at The Street Fair for Pink Saturday

A Street Chalk Art Festival was held near my home recently and these fearless, flexible, and fuschia clad acrobats were a highlight!
Thank you to Beverly, our blushing host of Pink Saturday who herds all of us Pinkaholics like cats.

Zoltar The Fortune Teller at The Santa Monica Pier

Zoltar The Fortune Teller will see you now and know.



Welcome to The Color Carnival and Weekend Reflections.
Thank you to my hosts, Martha (Color Carnival), and James (Weekend Reflections), and to you for your visit.

Trivia Question ala Weebles Wobblog - What movie featured Zoltar The Fortune Teller as a crucial plot device?

Protect your Skin for Drabby to Fabby

Welcome to The Drabby to Fabby Party hosted by dear Cheapskate Mom and Chicken Nuggets of Wisdom where you show a picture of your plain unadorned self, and then after spackling, hairspray, and mascara, a photo of the evidence that "You Clean Up Pretty Good". Simple enough, right? Except for the Fact that I am so Rarely Fabby, and Mostly Drabby, that a Fabby picture of me is akin to authenticated video of Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster.

Drabby: No makeup, nothing, just me and my pets enjoying the attention. (Sorry for my dog's immodest pose btw, he didn't know I was going to post this.)

Fabby: All dressed up for a luncheon with my dear friend. I've always loved boots and argyle sweaters.
I am thankful that I had skin cancer at the tender age of 28 y/o because it taught me to take care of my skin. I have worn high SPF sunblock for the last twenty years and I never leave the house, even to walk the dog, without it. I have sensitive, oily skin and have tried EVERY Sunblock made and I swear by Hawaiian Tropic Oil Free Faces SPF 30 and Mary Kay Day Solution SPF 25. (The Mary Kay product is so gentle it doesn't sting or burn even if you apply it right after showering, I kid you not!). Both sunblocks can be applied both under and over make up and Do Not Cause Break Outs. (It is less than attractive to be closing in on 50 y/o with Acne!) Most skin damage and aging occurs from accumulated UV exposure, even overcast sunlight. I apply sunblock two to three times per day during a regular day and about every 90 minutes if I am outdoors hiking or at the beach. I use Aveeno SPF 70 for the rest of my body and it also works great.

Thank you for stopping by and sharing in this rare transformation. Please let me know if you have any skin secrets you use to beautify and protect your skin, the biggest organ of the human body.

Arlington West at Santa Monica Beach for Almost Wordless Wednesday

Arlington West is held each Sunday at Santa Monica Beach, California and is a project of Veterans for Peace.
We will never forget the sacrifice of our brothers and sisters in uniform and their families who miss them so.

PAX PAIX SHALOM PEACE

Hometown Girls Weekend - Recipe for Perfect Moments

Take three girlfriends visiting from my hometown.

Add two nights away, first to Santa Barbara, and then to Santa Monica.

Sprinkle liberal doses of laughter, good conversation, delicious food and wine, more doses of good wine, spectacular scenery and weather, and leisurely shopping.

Let chill for approxmately fifty hours resulting in one happy, contented, appreciative woman.

For more perfect moments recipes, please visit the chief cook and bottlewasher of this enterprise, Lori of Weebles Wobblog. Thank you very much.

Decision Making Rules for Almost Wordless Wednesday

Thank you for your visit and I wish you a Wondrous Wednesday.

If you want to get your MoVo On, I am the host today over at The Motivation Station! Thank you again.

Dear Loser Letters - Because Life is Too Short to Hold it All Inside

Dear Large Chain Art store employee,

Another lady and I waited for fifteen minutes in the framing department to pick up our completed artwork. Please believe me when I walk all the way back to the front of store to ask you to please page the framing department guy that HE's Not There. Or maybe, he's invisible and I'm a liar?

Signed, I Retrieved My Own Picture, Thank you very much.


Dear Furniture Sales Guy,

You might not remember us but we ordered our new couch and chair 12 weeks ago!!! I understand the fabric is backordered and hopefully is due in this week, and pray tell, how do I know? I've called the store, numerous, countless times. I guess your phones don't make Outgoing calls! Or maybe your other customers just don't care about their stuff like we do?

Signed, Never Giving you my Business Again


Dear Man who called about Buying the Used Minivan,

Thank you so much for your interest in buying our used car. You, however, are too Stupid to buy our car, as you did not LEAVE a return phone number.

Signed, A NonPyschic without Caller ID


Dear House,

A self cleaning oven is a step in the right direction, but what I am really looking for is a Self Cleaning House! C'mon, we have the technology to make babies sound like investment advisors and land an ATV on Mars, this is NOT TOO Much to Ask! Especially since my hometown girlfriends from Ohio are visiting us this weekend before I spend a girl's weekend away with them in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica. C'mon, pretty please? I'll get your carpets cleaned professionally...

Signed, Not to Be Confused with the Other Martha


Dear Kid Who Stole My son's bike,

I bet you were suprised and significantly humilated, (oh, sorry for using such big words), to have a petite, middle aged woman get all up in your face and take her son's bike BACK. That's right, yessirree, I thought so, darn right. Learn anything?
I just wanted to leave you with this parting thought courtesy of the boy whose bike you stole and is now returned to him, "It Must Suck to Be you."

Signed, It Sure Doesn't Suck to be Us!

Jewerly Giveaway Winner

Hello, I didn't forget my responsiblity of the Country Fair Jewelry Giveaway and our winner today is Wenn with comment#11.

I used a random number generator to be neutral like Switzerland because I really wanted all of you to win!

11

Random numbers generated Oct 12 2009 at 13:27:10 by www.psychicscience.org

Thank you so much for playing along, Martha

An Award Post in Which I share 7 Things about Moi

I blow at memes and awards and I am having a blog button made with a tornado symbol that reflects this. However, I do appreciate and I am always kindly touched by my dear fellow bloggers who think enough of the blog version of me to give me this Kreativ Award. (What's up w/the spelling btw? It's the one Grammar skill I am good at!)
I am so pleased to receive this Award from 2 bloggers, the Adorable and Correctly Spelled Creative Dawn of Lydia and Pugs and the Original Prep, Beth at Social Climbers.

The next task at hand is to share 7 things about me that won't bore you to death. Okay, this is the part that always tricks me up with this whole meme/award stuff, so much pressure!!! Okay, here you go and I hope you just drank a caffeinated beverage.

1.I am an upbeat, easygoing, and optimistic person despite my Ripley from Alien moment four days ago.

2.I have lived longer in Los Angeles than anywhere else including Ohio, N.J., and Florida.

3.I dislike shopping. Please, do not confuse this with not appreciating or enjoying nice, new things. I just rarely want to be involved in the Procurement process. I have to be in the mood to shop. Whether in groceries or clothing, I like to buy in bulk.

4.Having grown up in the Art and Antiques business, it still amazes me how much I learned and assimilated from being surrounded by it my whole life. Same thing with music, and for these gifts, I am eternally grateful to my dear Parents who I am blessed to still have with me and well.

5.Aging doesn't bother me. (My creaky knees bother me on cold mornings hiking, but aging, no.) I learned very young when my brother died at 24 y/o, aging is a gift. I take care of myself and I feel beautiful at 48 y/o. I made a decision not to worry too much about stuff outside my control, and this is waaaay outside my control. Stuff I can control, like a healthy diet, exercise, sunblock, well, that's what I put my energy into and it's paying off for me. Plus, living in Los Angeles, the land of the plastic fantastic faces, I appreciate Real faces of all ages, including my own.

6.For the first time, I met a blog friend IRL! My family met Jason of The Jason Show and his beautiful family at our local Church Festival a few weeks ago, and we had a great time. He is as delightful in person as he is online and it was so sweet to see our boys together. Thank You, Jason and Giancarlo.

7.I am also looking forward to meeting another dear blog friend, Mrs.Spit and her husband, Mr.Spit when our families will meet up in Las Vegas in a couple of months.

Whew, 7 hopefully not too boring facts about me.
Now to pass on the award to some other bloggers and I am just pulling alphabetical names for some more victims, I mean Awardees!

An Eagles View - Tell the Head Eagle, Martha says Hello! She will insist on it actually.

A Suburban Stay At Home Mom - Ruth is a scrapbooker and mini book maker par excellence!

Beauty Be Good - Randi is good, actually She's Great, funny, warm, and wise about all things beautiful, just like her.

It Must Be A Full Moon - A Howl to Michele Renee, no matter what phase of the moon.

Life At the Gables- Liz is Ruth's sister and also wonderful needle artisan and sweet like her sis.

Mrs.Spock who is a Wife, Mom, Nurse, and kind.

Momma Val is funny and kind, but not a nurse. She's a LEOW, in other words, a cop's wife.

(FYI, for everyone, this is a DIY Award Zone, bask in the love and appreciation of this Award, and then do with it what you will, post it, pass it on, or just please enjoy it!)

Thank you so much for sharing in this blog Award Fest and regardless of whether I tagged you or not, please let me know something cool about you And/Or a favorite blogger we should all visit! My best to you, Martha

Pink Bras for A Cause

Last Sunday, I went to a Soroptimist Bras for a Cause Breast Cancer charity luncheon. A friend and I went to support another dear friend who is active in this organization and a 7 year survivor of the disease. (Disclaimer: This is my one and only annual charity luncheon, I am not a lady who "lunches" but this particular charity is near and dear to my heart. Actually, breasts are near all of our hearts!) This is a fun affair with a delightful silent auction, delicious food, spectacular scenery, and enjoyable company. Plus, it does give me the rare opportunity to dress up which I often think I have forgotten how to do!

The signature silent auction items are the Bras decorated to reflect the Overall theme for the event which this year was "Sisterhood of the Traveling Bra", featuring bras from around the globe.

Here is the Geisha Bra from Japan.
This feather embellished bra represents Venice, Italy.
This bra is Gay Paree, the City of Love.
And here is France herself, complete with The Eiffel Tower on her shoulder.
A much more local entry, let's give a shout out to my favorite park, Placerita Canyon in North Los Angeles.
And to finish our tour of the pink bras at this luncheon, what would be more perfect than a slice of Pink Bra Cake?
Please check your breasts or have your partner do it! You fellas too! (Men can get breast cancer.)

Thank you to the gracious host of Pink Saturday, Beverly who requests that we bloggers mingle and link up to a newly found blogger each week and I would like to introduce the mouth watering inducing blogger, Mimi from Our Family Attic. Her food photographs cause an immediate Pavlovian response, amazing.

As a special thank you to my bloggy friends, I am having a Giveaway of your choice of a handcrafted pair of earrings or bracelet made by yours truly. Please enter if you would like a chance to win.

Thank you so much for your visit, Martha

Don't Mess with A Jersey Girl

This is incredible and it boggles my mind even though I experienced it just 4 hours ago, so here goes. We got our son a new bike about 5 months ago to replace a bike that was stolen from our yard. It was upsetting needless to say, but you move on. This new bike was very nice and our son rode it to his new high school last month. It also got stolen when he forgot to lock it up on the bike rack. We were all upset and filed a police report with the school and our son was told to "keep an eye out for it". We were all pretty down about it (especially my son who felt anger, loss, upset with his actions, guilt, and what really stung my heart, the complete sense of the injustice and unfairness keenly felt by him.) I came to view it as an expensive lesson learned for all of us. Again! It really weighed on me for a few weeks and then finally, a couple weeks ago, I had to let it go. I never really stopped looking for my son's bikes and everytime someone would ride past I would look at the bike hoping to find one of ours. I was, however, resigned to the fact that both bikes were gone.

This afternoon, I had planned on making my son, D.walk to his soccer practice near our home. I changed my mind and decided to drive him since I had to run an errand. I dropped him off in front of the gate and then instead of making a U Turn on the street to return home, I decided to be a good citizen and stop at the stop sign and make a turn at a dead end street there. I made the stop and the left turn, and what Beholds My Eyes, but 4 teen boys about D.'s age of 14 and 15 y/o and One Of Them Is Sitting On My Son's Bike! (It is a very distinctive Neon Blue color and type bike.) I pulled over to the curb, jumped out of the car and said, "I'll give you a $50 reward, that's My Son's Bike Stolen from the High School over a month ago." The kid put up a lame protest saying that the bike was his. I told him I had the receipt with the serial number and a Police report had been filed. Another of his group started to mouth off to me, asking my name and threatening to call the cops. I told him, "Please do, and my name is Martha". I then, literally grabbed the bike out from under this kid and threw it in the back of the minivan. A couple of the kids started to mouth off with weak noises about Me Stealing the bike. After I started to pull away, I rolled down my window and looked the kid in the eye who relinquished the bike and told him, "You did the right thing. Go home and Thank your Mother."

I can't believe I literally grabbed the bike out from under this kid. I was that Pumped Up, it was GAME ON. I was like the Incredible Hulk crossed with a Momma Bear and those kids were like, Whoa, a Mom outta control. It's good to be from Jersey where you don't take crap. I thanked my Mom today when I recounted this story, she's from Brooklyn and you don't Ever Want to Mess with Her, Ever! Trust me on this.

I came home and my heart started to race, I thought, "What if it isn't D.'s bike?" Luckily I had the bike shop receipt with the serial number which matched. The bike is in good condition, even has a new wheel. I can't believe the stroke of luck, of timing, how incredible and infinitesimal the chance of ever seeing the bike again. Wow, just wow. Also, I am incredibly lucky that no physical harm came to me and I did not lay one hand on that child, just my son's bike.

My family is thrilled, especially D. He had thanked me profusely, hugged, high fived, and fist bumped me. He said tonight at dinner, he wants to be just like Us. (Me and his Dad.) Just doesn't get any better than this. Pretty cool. Wow. Thank you for allowing me to share in this.

Street Chalk Art Fair for Almost Wordless Wednesday & The Color Carnival

Time
Becomes Meaningless
In The Face Of
Creativity









Thank you to Martha of The Menagerie, our host for The Color Carnival.
Shameless Self Promotion#1- I am the host today at the new, interactive blog, The Motivation Station where you can get your MoVo On!

Shameless Self Promotion numero dos- Please visit my bloggy booth at The Country Fair and you can enter for a chance to win your choice of a custom made bracelet or pair of earrings.

Thank you so much and That's All, Folks!

Country Fair Blog Festival with Jewelry Giveaway

Welcome to A Country Fair hosted by Art's Chili Pepper. In this Bloggy Country Fair, you can share your creativity and talents, whether they be sewing, canning, painting, drawing, photography, baking, scrapbooking, needle arts, etc. I love a Country Fair, so here please are my entries for your perusal.

I enjoy photography and consider my strength to be composition and sheer luck like in this beautiful pink sunset next to the Lombardy pines.

This sillouette of a guard dog in training also was a lucky stroke of the shutter. (No, my dog will not be playing with you today!)


Decoupage is very rewarding and I have been doing it since I was a little girl with my Mom. I bought this adorable small trunk for storage for my powder room. However, it had a hideous Sunflower design on it which I covered and applied vintage postcards, gold leaf, and accented the trim with paint and fleur de lis. Tres facile!


I love to garden and I am so lucky to live in Southern California with its Mediterrean climate in which so much grows so easily! We are in a long term drought and I was happy to exchange my water thirsty strip of grass for this rock and periennial flower garden I designed and installed myself.


Baking is another love of mine and I think it has to do with the fact I LOVE TO EAT The END Results!!! This strawberry whipped cream cake was made for a friend's son's graduation party.

I have recently discovered the joys of jewelry making and here are a couple pieces I made for some dear friends.
I call this a Goddess style necklace and it has the anniversary month and birthstones of my friend, her spouse, and their children.

Here is a birthstone and anniversary month bracelet with a charm that reads, "You Are My Special Angel".

I love embellishing, reusing, and repurposing jewelry including these three single earrings in a bag of beads from the thrift store.

Before:
After:

Chain belts are a personal favorite and I embellished both this silver chain belt from the thrift store and an old pearl belt of mine. I used ribbon and old and new beads and charms for the chain belt and jade beads and a vintage button to dress up the pearl belt.

Before:
After:

I am blessed with a very artistic and musical family, both the one I was raised in and now my own family with my husband and our two sons who both inspire and support my creativity. My sincere thanks to them and to you for stopping by my little booth at The Country Fair. As a special Thank you to all my dear Bloggy friends, I would like to Giveaway Your Choice of Either a bracelet or a Pair of Earrings Custom Made Just For You! To enter, please just leave a comment telling me you would like a chance to win. That's all and please leave an email or link to get in touch with you. This giveaway will end at 12 MN Pacific Time October 12, 2009. Tax, tag, title not included. (Kidding, just wanted to see if you're paying attention.) Thank you again, my best for a wonderful day and week too.

A Plethora of Pink at The Church Festival

Welcome to Pink Saturday a virtual "Ring around the Rosy" in blogland. Today, Pink Saturday is brought to you by my local Church Festival where there was a plethora of pink delights.

What's a Festival without a Giant Slide?

I just love, love, love this neon, glowing pink sign advertising the Face Painting Booth.

My most favorite thing about this annual Church Festival besides the fun times with family and friends is the Silent Auction. These two little girl dresses complete with bouquet basket and parasol where part of the auction items.

Thank you to the Beverly for hosting Pink Saturday and to you for sharing in this Pinkalosity! Also, I visited a new blogger, Tami and invite you to visit her delicious blog, Pink Butter Cream. Thank you again, my best for a view through Rose Colored Glasses.

Fashion Don'ts for The Color Carnival

Welcome to The Color Carnival and buckle your seatbelts, there is a whole lotta questionable style choices going on in LA!

This bright tie dyed skirt and orange tank top are almost as colorful as the rides at the local Church Festival where I spotted this woman. The straw hat really gives this outfit a certain panache and Screams, "TAKE ME TO AN ISLAND RESORT", (where people drink alcohol all day and won't notice this fright.)
A close up view because it's kind of like a train wreck, you can't look away.
I happen to know as a verified fact that they sell jeans for all body types that actually fit and flatter. I guess this lady did not get the memo or mistakenly wore someone else's jeans, because clearly THESE DO NOT FIT. Also, you might want to stay away from bringing attention to the widest part of your anatomy with embroidered rear pockets.
I kept waiting for a small rodent to crawl out of this woman's hair. How long do you think it takes to tease this literal rat's nest? Hey, Lady, The Eighties called and they want their Aqua Net and teasing comb back. Whoa, time to invest in another mirror so you can see back there.
Okay, Okay, I know, Bad Blogger Martha, Bad, bad blogger for combining the joyful meme of The Color Carnival hosted by dear Martha of The Menagerie with some misguided Fashion Choices of women who had the unfortunate luck of crossing my path while I had my camera. I hope you enjoy as much as I did seeing these Fashion Don'ts. My best to you and yours for lots of Fashion Dos and a wonderful weekend too. Thanks for stopping by, let the public flogging begin...