On This Day...

On this day last year John Allen Muhammad, born John Allen Williams, was executed by lethal injection in a Virginia prison for killing at least 10 people in a string of shootings in the US in 2002.  The majority of the shootings took place in the Washington DC/Beltway area, dubbing Muhammad and his teenaged accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo the "DC snipers".

On this day in 2006, Zimbabwe's government launched a programme to issue 99-year leases to black farmers allocated land previously seized mostly from white farmers

On this day in 1999, The US Justice Department stripped a retired Ohio factory worker of his citizenship, charging he served as an armed guard at a Nazi slave labour camp. The Office of Special Investigations has stripped 63 Nazi persecutors of citizenship, blocked 150 people from entering the US, and is investigating over 250 people on similar charges.

On this day in 1989, Todor Zhivkov resigns after 35 years as Communist Party leader of Bulgaria.

On this day in 1977, actress Brittany Murphy was born.

On this day in 1969, Sesame Street made its debut on PBS television in the US.

On this day in 1959, actress Mackenzie Phillips was born.

On this day in 1949, my mother's parents were wed.

Since then, they've brought seven children into this world and said goodbye to two of them long before they should have. 

They've helped nurture and spoil 14 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren.

After 62 years together, some would think they'd get tired of being around each other.  Not these two.  After Grandpa's fall last week, one of the first things they talked about in the hospital was how they were going to celebrate their anniversary when he wasn't able to be on his feet like normal.

Grandpa's answer:  Very carefully.
 
That's love.

Corn Chowder

Oh dear.  Oh my.  This soup is lip-smacking, mouth-watering scrumptious.  With the weather being slightly cooler  down right chilly here recently, I felt like whipping up a nice warm chowder.  And this one, well simply put, it satisfies.

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb hot sausage
• EVOO
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 4 potatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic, diced
• A few dashes of Chipotle Tabasco Sauce
• 4 cups fresh corn
• 1 can diced green chilies (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• salt and pepper, to taste

What You Do:

Slice corn kernels off cob.  Or, if you're like me, open the freezer and pull out a bag of corn from the summer when you had way too much sweet corn on your hands and let thaw.

Brown sausage over medium heat and drain off grease.

In a large pot, over medium heat, drizzle a few tablespoons of EVOO.  Throw in diced onion, garlic and potatoes.  Add butter and melt.  Add chilies and corn

Pour in chicken broth and cream.  Add salt, pepper and sausage.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat.  Simmer for 30 minutes and serve.  

Thursday Thirteen

1. I'm glad the elections are finally over. I get so tired of all the negative ads out there. How's about telling me what YOU stand for and what YOU want to achieve for the government. Not the faults of your competitor.

2. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson was the first to use a smear campaign against his opponent? Geeze, if only he knew what he started!

3. My Grandpa had a little spill on Tuesday.  The doctors originally thought he broke his hip, but after surgery last night it turns out he broke his femur.  Still not a good thing, but better than having to have a hip replacement.  It shouldn't be as long of a recovery for him, but still going to be a painful and hard one.  Please keep him in your prayers!

4. I'm really missing my friend Annie right now.  The only thing that makes me happy summer is over is the fact that she'll be coming home for the holidays!

5. Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday.  I am not looking forward to losing an hour of sleep or getting off work as it's getting dark.  If I was President I would make it Daylight Savings Time YEAR ROUND.

6. And while I was at it, I would mandate a 4-day work week as well.

7. I taught my sister how to make pumpkin puree and roasted pumpkin seeds this week.  I don't think she was really paying attention... I think she just wanted me to do the work for her!  I have two more pumpkins to use, so be prepared for more pumpkin recipes on this here blog.

8. On that note, I've seen recipes for beef stew baked in a pumpkin.  Beef stew is not one of my favorite meals, but I like the idea of baking a meal inside a pumpkin.  I've got an idea I'm working on... I'll let you know how it turns out. 

9. I am STILL swamped at work planning events and working at getting two websites launched.  I could use a vacation.

10. It's volleyball night!  This might be the first time this season where we actually have the entire team there.  It seems like every week we have to have a sub for someone.

11. Monkey dressed up for Halloween this year.  Want to take a guess as to what she was?  A monkey of course!  Cutest little monkey I've ever seen, that's for sure.

12. 5 years ago today, I had Lasik surgery.  It was worth every single penny. 

13. I finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and am now reading Undone by Karin Slaughter. What are you reading?

Wordless Wednesday

No matter how bad of a day I have, this little ornery girl can bring a smile to my face.

And I love her for that.

For more Wordless Wednesdays, click here.

Pumpkin Creme Pies

What You'll Need:

FOR COOKIES:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

FOR FILLING:

• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 3 drops vanilla extract
• 2 dashed cinnamon

What You Do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat together brown sugar, sugar, oil and pumpkin until well combined.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing well, followed by vanilla.

In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt and nutmeg.  Slowly mix these into the batter until well combined.

Using a small ice-cream scoop or 1/8-cup measuring cup, scoop batter onto greased baking sheet.  You want each cookie to be about 2 inches in diameter.

Bake for 11 minutes and cool.

While cookies are baking, beat together cream cheese and butter.  Add powdered sugar, vanilla and cinnamon. 

After cookies have cooled, frost flat side of one cookie and top with another. 

Refridgerate until ready to serve.

Do It For Your Country

Today is November 1st.  The first day of November. 

You know what that means... only 24 days until Thanksgiving and less than two months 'til Christmas. 

But do you know what else it means? 

Tomorrow is November 2nd.  The second day of November.

And that means it's ELECTION DAY!

Get out there people and

I don't even care WHO you vote for... okay, maybe I do care, but everyone has the right to their own opinions... even if yours is wrong.  So just get out there and do it, let your voice be heard!

Pumpkin Spice Cake

And here is the second installement of sweet pumpkin treats.  I still have more pumpkin puree left, so I'll keep experimenting until we get tired of it! 

This cake is really good, but the best part of it is the icing.  I'm not kidding when I say it is the BEST icing I've ever had.  It's not sickeningly sweet like a lot of icings and it is only two ingredients!  It can't get any easier than that.

What You’ll Need:

For batter:

• 1 box spice cake
• 1 cup pumpkin
• ½ cup water

For icing:

• 1 packet of dry Jello Cheesecake Mix
• 1 Tub Cool Whip

What You Do:

Mix Jello cheesecake into a tub of cool whip and let sit over night.

Mix box of spice cake with pumpkin puree and ½ cup of water.

Pour into 9x13 cake pan and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

After cake has cooled, ice with cool whip mixture.