CuteKittyPunk

First snow this Fall, Jarvis Peak west of St. George, about 10 miles. Nice photo eh?! Photo courtesy Mark Today it was cold outside, burrrr... very cold. We had planned on having a mommy meet up at Firehouse Park but it was much too cold for that. We went inside to the Story Time hour over at St. George Library. Every week the St. George Library has several offerings for Story Time participation. I have only ever attended the Wednesday Story Time with Mrs. Mann. It is held at 10:00, 11:00 and 2:00 for ages 3-5, but I am usually there with my 2 year old and there are a lot of little ones with older siblings as well. Mrs. Mann plays fun music, reads longer stories for those ready to listen, there is usually a theme craft or coloring sheet at the end. It's fun. Mrs. Mann is awesome. She has a special gift interacting with the youngsters. She's a pro! There is also a Monday Story Time with Grandpa Steve 10:00-11:00 for ages 12 and younger. Again, Wednesday Evening Stor...

This is going to have to be an ongoing post... what I mean, is I might have to update it again next year. This is going to be a very big deal this year. My kids have never experienced real American Trick or Treating. I have talked about it, and they have seen it on tv shows over the years and they are very excited. As am I! This is why I wanted to pick a neighborhood that would be awesome for their first experience. Originally, I had planned to spend the weekend with my brother and his family in Spanish Fork, Utah. They live in a neighborhood with about a million kids so it was going to be perfect... but since the flu has affected everyone lately, and since my whole family was sick to death of road trips since we moved back here, we decided to stay in St. George. This posed a problem for me. I didn't know where the best street was. After a quick google search, I found nothing! No one has blogged about this, at least, not in the first three or four pages of a google search. ...

I use a variation of a recipe from vegweb which is one of my most favorite online vegan/vegetarian recipe sites. Check it out. Anyway, the recipe I use goes something like this: Preheat oven to 350-F (175-C) degrees. Prepare baking sheets with baking parchment paper (makes for real easy clean-up!) In the bowl of a food processor or one of those expensive standing mixers (sure wish I had one) blend together 2 cups brown sugar, 2 cups canned or roasted pumpkin, 1 cup vegetable oil, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Now the original says to sift together the dry ingredients then to add to the wet mixture... but I'm a lazy cook and I've never had a problem with just adding each ingredient and mixing a little with my mixer/food processor. So, add in 4 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon nutmeg, and 1/2 teaspoon ginger . Mix well. Last add in chopped up dark chocolate or milk chocolate candy bar. Or use choco...