The season of Excessive Consumption is upon us, preceded by the month of Meaningful Worries and followed up with the weeks of Staggering Stuff. Usually my anxiety about winter holidays holds off until mid November but this year, Halloween candy is haunting me. Off the bat (Halloween pun?), let me be clear that I believe a day or two of sugary indulgence is not the end of the world for my girl Lil. We serve [...]

I realized when seaming Lil’s Halloween costume (she is Super Kitten, a hero of her own creation) that the way I approach sewing is much like I cook. Here’s how: 1) I eschew patterns and recipes. Patterns are expensive, I don’t like to be told what to do, and I rarely follow the rules precisely. 2) I rely on prior experience and existing garments to guide my designs. I spend a lot of time staring [...]

When I saw this idea combining three of my favorite things (canning jars, pumpkins, and Halloween), I knew we had to make jar jack-o-lanterns. I dug out a stash of not-acceptable-for-canning jars (ones without a brand name) and our acrylic paints. Lil, her friend, and I each painted three jars in shades of orange. The girls played while I painted the top black and let them dry. About an hour later, we painted black faces [...]

Don’t throw away (or compost) the innards of your pie or jack-o-lantern pumpkins!  Amongst the tricky pith are treats, delicious seeds! By the way, a serrated grapefruit spoon is my favorite tool for scooping pumpkin flesh. Soak the pumpkin innards in water for a bit and then separate seeds from stringy pulp by hand.  Rinse the seeds in clear water again until they are completely free of orange goop. Strain through a sieve to remove [...]

We carved pumpkins on Tuesday night.  Lil’s tiny pumpkin was a huge pain because the walls are so thin.  But look how cute it is! Lil wanted to be a ghost this year.  I didn’t see any reason to be fancier than the cut up thrift store sheet. When we adopted Hawise from the Capital Area Humane Society, her name was Hot Dog.  I saw a hot dog costume and knew she had to have [...]