Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
This probably would have been more useful before Halloween, but I was busy. I threw a party, had to get my costume together, and I was sick for a week leading up to Halloween (hence, lots of reading). I’m sure you guys can use this next year, but I’ll forget to post it by then, so here you go. How did I carve my pumpkin? I’m glad you asked! I love Batman so much, I was hoping to lure him to my house with this Bat-signal pumpkin, but, sadly, it didn’t work. Next year I’ll get a bigger pumpkin.
This is two pumpkins worth of seeds. Spread them out on a cookie sheet, sprinkle them (liberally) with garlic salt, and then drizzle them with olive oil. This helps them soak up the garlic salt flavor and get crispy without drying out. Mix it all around with your hand, and put the pan in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Check them fairly frequently to make sure they get to your desired level of crispness. You can add some salt when they’re done cooking if you need to.
These are a great snack to eat while watching old horror movies, which is of course required on Halloween!
Button Necklaces
I found these amazing buttons at the fabric store the other day, and once I saw they were only 2 bucks, I had to have them.
I am making these bad boys into jewelry, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me!
You can see most of the backs have those little loop things to sew them onto stuff. I don’t need that on a necklace…
…so I used my wire cutters to chop them off.
All that’s needed now is some kind of necklace holder. Follow my tutorial on this post, and almost anything can become jewelry.
Look at that! One little jump ring and I have a whole new necklace! Because I was running dangerously low.
Halloween Recap
We had a hugely fun, spectacular Halloween party again this year, and our friends really brought it with their costumes! I wish I had gotten pictures of everyone, but once the box wine starts flowing I get a little less than reliable.
Here we have me as Elvira and Sarah as the Bee Girl from the Blind Melon “No Rain” music video.
Left to right we have The Crow, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, me, my sister the fortune teller, and the super hot amazing badass pirate that I married.
Here we have Inmate #38258 and an awesome monster!
This one is super clever, which I always appreciate: Schrodinger’s Cat! He came with a very friendly zombie, and you know I love zombies!
Death’s Lesser known cousin Gerald stopped by for a while…
…but Death stayed kind of aloof.
She gets mean if you try to take her vodka away.
A pimp/rapper, Jan Brady, and a tiny raccoon stopped by also.
Beans and I had a great time, as always!
Giganto Book Review
So far this year I have read and blogged 35 books. This post will bring me to 39, which makes an average of almost one per week. The following book is the one book that has continually hampered my progress the whole year. Let’s start this off with a “blah…..”
Pagan Christ
I thought this was going to be a book discussing the cons of a literal translation of the Bible (i.e. the Earth is only 6000 years old), versus a metaphorical understanding where science and religion can coexist easily. Nope, not even close. The author, Tom Harpur, is constantly referencing other books and authors as though you have read and are equally familiar with their texts. He gives no context, and often makes statements such as “I read Carlson’s take on this, and I agree with him”. How is that helpful or illuminating?
I cannot believe someone got paid to write a book saying he read other books. I persevered as much as humanly possible, but I cannot BEAR to waste another instant with this irritatingly vague book. And the cover art is terrible. I said it! On the Clever Chick Scale this gets a “Huge over-dramatic groan and eye-roll anytime this book is mentioned in my presence”.
Penny Pinchers Club
This book was kind of disappointing. Yes, it’s about someone who spends ridiculous amounts of money and then has to go on a budget, which is cool, but it’s one of those books that could go either way up until the end. Then it ends. Poof! Deadline reached! Uck, and I don’t know what else I can tell you about the book that won’t ruin the plot. Regardless, I felt the ending was anti-climactic, and too abrupt to be believable. On the Clever Chick Scale this gets a “I’ll sell it and probably forget it immediately”.
The Goddess of Yesterday
This book is straight up fantastic. It’s historical fiction set during the time of the Trojan War. The main character is a young girl from an isolated island. She gets abducted by pirates, and then again leading to joining Helen of Troy’s household. The war breaks out soon after. The young girl is an awesome character, and the whole story is entertaining and compelling the whole way through. On the Clever Chick Scale this gets a “I will recommend it to all my friends and minions, and it has earned a place on my sacred shelves”.
The Further Adventures of Batman
By now, it’s pretty obvious that I love Batman, so it should be no surprise that this book found its way to my house. It was published immediately after the release of the original Batman movie. It’s a series of 14 short stories, one of which is by Isaac Asimov, all about Batman. A few of the stories were great, but several including the Asimov one, were terrible. They were boring and cheesy, and much more like the Adam West Batman series than the dark world Tim Burton created. On the Clever Chick Scale it gets a “I may keep it just because it’s Batman”.
Restaurant Review: Triumph Cafe
As you all know by now, I really love Asian food. Any time we go out to eat, that’s all I want. Awhile ago, me and the girls from work went to Triumph Cafe to test their pho. I love pho, plus this place is cheap and close to work.
Pros: It’s cheap, close to where I work, and the place has a great atmosphere. It’s small, but bright and clean. The grilled meat dishes I sampled were very good, pretty much as good as anywhere else I’ve had them.
Cons: The pho was good, but heavy on the nutmeg and/or cinnamon. Personally, I prefer a more savory broth, with only a hint of sweetness. These guys kind of over-did it. The place is small, and very popular (at least at lunch time), so it was hard to get a table all together.
On the Clever Chick Scale Triumph Cafe gets a “I would definitely eat there again for the good food at good prices, but my quest for the ultimate pho continues”.
