What's on My Bookshelf

I love books.  L.O.V.E.  A perfect Fall or Winter evening would entail curling up in a comfy chair, a mug of coffee or hot chocolate or cider by my side, puppy curled up on my lap under a blanket draped over us and a nice juicy book in my hand.  Ah...
    I was in a cleaning and organizing mode last night until midnight.  I went through all of my books and made a pile of ones to sell, and organized the ones I wanted to keep.  Here's a glimpse of what's in my part of the book cases.

{A few of my favorite book series. (I still haven't managed to get my hand on all of the HP books my my collection, but between Mama, Sister and myself we have all of them.)}

{A few single books, including :Stephanie Meyers The Host, Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear, which is actually part of a series I have yet to get the rest of; Eva Ibbotson's books; anything Tamora Pierce; and yeah, yeah, some Nora Roberts. (My guilty pleasure.)}

{Of course, a big Star Wars fan, I am.  There's a few in these series that I'm missing, but I grew up on them.  My group of friends and I were fans of the books about Jacen and Jaina Solo.  (For those of you that don't know, those are two of Han and Leia's kids, along with their younger brother, Anakin.)  Such good books.  The later series, Legacy of  the Force by varied authors turns more serious as you find out what happened to Anakin, Han and Leia are on the run from the federation and Jacen and Jaina have both grown up.  One of the twins goes through the same struggle as his grandfather with the dark side, which breaks my heart!  He grew up from the animal loving, lame joke cracking teenager into a serious, family sacrificing Jedi soldier.}

{As if my Star Wars nerding out wasn't enough, I also like  the Twilight series, also by the aforementioned Stephanie Meyer.  Yeah, yeah, they're teenie bopper books, but I just want it to be clear that I liked them before the big craze hit!  Just so you know...}

What are on y'all's bookshelves?  What are some of your favorite books?

The Burgundy Pants

In one of my Pinterest cruisings I ran across a picture of a pair of beautiful maroon/burgundy pants.  It then became my mission to find comparable pants to add to my Fall wardrobe since they were sooo pretty.  These pants are so comfy and stylish at the same time.  I think they're almost like a stretchy polyester type of material but I love them.  I paired them with a cream top from Ann Taylor (that I got while on our honeymoon) and gray snakeskin shoes from Targe.  I think the shirt looks fine with it, a safe choice, but isn't as pop-y as I'd like.  That will be the next thing to find.  These aren't going to be the last you see of these pants!

Shirt: Ann Taylor; Pants: Sams Club (Who knew!  Sams has some great clothes!) Shoes: Target; Necklace: Sam Moon; Assorted bracelets: Forever 21, Sam Moon; Purse: Sam Moon.

Wrapped Asparagus

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I love Asparagus.  I can eat it cooked just about any way possible.  I've been wanting to try baked or sauteed Asparagus over a poached egg then drizzled with Hollandaise sauce (a sauce which I haven't quite yet been able to master,) or bacon wrapped Asparagus.  Bacon wrapped was the winner this weekend.  It was really simple.  The hardest part was actually waiting for the things to bake!  But it was so worth the wait.  We had them with hamburgers fresh off my hubby's grill.  Actually, I didn't start the prep soon enough and ended up having them as an after dinner appetizer.

1.  For prep, preheat over to 400 degrees F. For the Asparagus just rinse under cold water then snap off the ends.  There will be a natural snap off point, so don't worry about how far up to snap off the end.
2.  Next, lay the Asparagus out on a plate and drizzle it with Italian Dressing.  I like Kraft's salad dressings.
3. This next part will be a little messy, but who doesn't like to get your hands a little dirty?  I took and wrapped 5 stalks of Asparagus in each piece of bacon to form a little bundle.  Then sprinkled on a little ground black pepper.
4. Pop these babies in the oven for about 30 minutes and voila!
For those of you who aren't really Asparagus fans, you can't really taste the Asparagus flavor when you're done.  All I could taste was bacon and Italian dressing flavors along with a little char from the oven.  Delicious!

Weekend at a Glance

{Got me a new do.  It was time for a change, and since I am trying to keep my hair healthy and natural by not dying it, I decided to go for a fresh new cut!  It's the shortest I've had it since high school!}

{Went to the Vintage Market Days with Mama.  It was full of beautiful things!  Shabby chic, antiques, homemade, lots to see!}

{Cute little owl sign}

{Fall things are now being carried in stores, including a few of my favorite candy corn flavored things!  I hear Target is now stocking candy corn Oreos.  I must go and stock up before they run out of the limited edition!}

Husband's Birthday Week

Here in the Henderson/Forrester clan we like to celebrate week long birthdays.  I actually picked up the tradition from some of my wonderful roommates Shelly and Amelya, back in my college days.  Naturally, it spread throughout my family.  First Mama then Grandma were all graced with the week long birthdays.  This being the first year that the Lindes officially joined the Henderson/Forrester clan, it was time to introduce Hubby to the week long birthday celebrations.  It started off, not yesterday, but the Sunday before with a birthday dinner in his honor at Grandma's.  (It was really a birthday lunch, but there's usually so much food at lunchtime at Grandma's that there's hardly enough room by dinner time for more food!)  Round 2 came on Tuesday when parents, Hubby and I went out to eat at Cracker Barrel.  We love us some good ole country cookin'.
    Round 3 came on Thursday when I sent Hubby on a birthday scavenger hunt!  I left a clue for him at home that said someone would be picking him up shortly and taking him around.  I then had people waiting for him at the different locations with a clue and a little gift.  Our friends Shurayah at Rayah Sunshine and her husband were such a big help!  Couldn't have done it without them.  Her husband drove Hubby around to the different locations that each held a significance for us.  He stopped at the place where we first met years and years ago, our first date, our first kiss, and where he proposed.  The last stop was dinner at Genghis Grill!

{6 little Clues}                                                                                       {First stop, where we first met!}

{Drillers Stadium-first date!}                                             {Riverparks-where he proposed}

{Dinner at Genghis}      
                                                      {Rayah Sunshine and myself}
















At the end of the week, this past weekend he asked if we could just stay home and eat food there, if even that.  He said he'd had enough food for one week and couldn't imagine eating any more!  I smiled and gave him a big hug, said welcome to the family of week long birthdays, then said yes Honey, we can stay at home and eat very very little for a while.  A long while.

Labor Day Brush Fire

Like everyone else, I love burning things. Just me?  OK.  There's been this big brush pile sitting at Grandma's, doing nothing but growing bigger.  Like the good granddaughter I am, I decided we needed to burn it.  It needed to be done anyway, why not on Labor Day weekend?  We made sure we took every measure of precaution and had water and water hose at the ready.  Now, my idea of a brush bonfire was light up the pile and just watching it burn.  Apparently, my family had other ideas!  True, they were tasks that needed to be done anyway, but Hubby and I just weren't fully prepared for what all this fire entailed.  It started by clearing out an entire fence line and then some of brush that had been running wild for about 5 years.  As you can see in the second picture, the garden fence line was almost like its own little jungle, with all sorts of trees and vines growing out of it.  In the picture of my dad riding the lawnmower, you can see quite the difference!  All in all, it was a fun experience.  One I would gladly repeat, though maybe when the weather is a little cooler.  Monday was mild weather, but that fire just added too much heat!  It was a good time spent with family.  Good fun, good convo, and what would a bonfire be without good food?  We had grilled bratwurst, burgers, and refreshing watermelon and a delicious chocolate dessert!  It was a lot of work, but fun was had by all.  Especially when it was Grandma that recommended we light the fence line on fire to clear out the brush that our shears, chainsaws and electric saws didn't get.

{Got my boots; got my hat; got my gloves.  This girl is ready for a fire!}

{Can you believe it, I got to be the fire starter!!}

 {When the fire gets too low, don't waste your breath or a paper plate when trying to start it back up.  Grab a leaf blower instead.  It's much more efficient!}

Fall Brew Review

Autumn.  Where can I begin?  I love everything about it.  Cool crisp mornings, sometimes misty, crunchy colorful leaves in every hue of red, orange and yellow, pumpkin, spice, coffee, hot apple cider...I could go on and on.  One thing that I look forward to every year is all of the pumpkin beers and ales that come out.  I have compiled a list of some of my favorites and a couple that caught my eye but were lacking in my palate's preference.  I will be the first to admit that I am a judger of labels.  A label is the first thing that catches my eye, then the description.  I don't like a brew that's too bitter, yeasty, or dark. An intriguing and flavorful smell is also desirable.  It is with these qualifications that I begin my list.

1. First up is Schlafly's Pumpkin Ale, from St. Louis, MO. At first glance, one can definitely tell that it is a harvest ale, with a prominent pumpkin on the front.  It's dark bottle and orange colors are very indicative of Fall. It is the best pumpkin ale I have had in a while.  It's a full bodied ale and complimentary to many different meals.   It's the embodiment of a pumpkin ale.  Containing pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove; all the ingredients of a pumpkin pie!  It has a slightly sweet pumpkin smell, hints of pumpkin spice and fall.  It's an 8.0% ABV, so usually one or two small glasses is sufficient with a meal.  Unfortunately, this ale is not distributed in Oklahoma.

2. A close second if Southampton's Pumpkin Ale from Southampton, NY. The dark bottle and orange label reflect the colors of Fall.  It's picture of a small country store or brew house with people gathered at the front, and the people waving from the window is a cheerful, cozy picture. It's brewed with pumpkin, spices, and vanilla extract.  It also smells slightly of pumpkin.  I have come to learn that the ones that have the sweet pumpkin smell are usually the best ones!  And it doesn't have a bitter aftertaste.  The beginning to end flavors and tastes are all pleasant.  It would go very well with a traditional Thanksgiving meal.  It's 5.0% ABV, and most definitely available in Oklahoma.

3. Coming in at number three is Samuel Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale, from none other than Boston, MA. This label is of course the same as many other Samuel Adams beers.  The only difference is the wheat colored background color.   This Harvest Pumpkin Ale is brewed with pumpkin and spices as well.  According to the bottle, they use over 17 lbs. of real pumpkin in each brewing barrel!  It's not as sweet as the aforementioned Southampton, but still has subtle pumpkin flavors and an underlying spiciness.  It's smell is more that of a fresh squash without all the pumpkin pie spices.  It is 5.7% ABV.  

4. Now we reach the part of the list that contains my least favorites.  Abita's Pecan Harvest Ale is from Abita Springs, LA.  It's label is also very indicative of autumn and the harvest, with wheat, pecan branches and a palette of fall colors.  It's flavor tastes very subtly of pecan but is still sweet.  No bitter aftertaste with this one either.  It wasn't what I was expecting.  I was hoping it would be sweeter and more flavorful than it was.  Hubby liked it though.  This one is 5.7% ABV.

5.  Lastly is Bridgeport's Witch Hunt Spiced Harvest Ale from Portland, OR.  It's label is at first pleasing.  It looks very interesting, like a vintage Halloween label.  It's description on the back is also eye catching in its themed wording.  It contains flavorings of caramel, cinnamon and nutmeg.  I found it overall unpleasing.  It had a sharp initial taste and a bitter aftertaste that clung to one's lips and taste buds.  It was not as aromatic as others of it's kind.  It was darker than I cared for.  I will admit I was sucked in by it's attractive labeling.  But don't take my word for its flavor!  For those of you that like darker, more bitter than sweet beer, this could be the harvest one for you!  This one was 5.8% ABV.