Matt Dad Stuff, Family, Halloween, Holidays, Making Stuff, Toddler

COSTUMES, NO CANDY

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This time of year, especially Halloween makes me ache for my childhood. I can remember so vividly how excited I was going to school on Halloween for the costume parade and the classroom Halloween party. But I also couldn’t get home quick enough to prepare for the evening. Halloween was a big deal at our house and all I wanted to do was get home from school and help my dad to be a part of it. So it’s no surprise that my expectations for providing a fun-filled Halloween were high as Ellie was getting older. And with these high expectations, I sometimes forget that Ellie is only three and Chloe’s only one.

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Matt Birthdays, Dad Stuff, Fall, Family, Food

CHLOE, YEAR ONE: THE BIRTHDAY

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Wow, Chloe is a year old! Where has the year gone? I can’t believe it’s been a whole year already. When Ellie’s first birthday came around, I was ready. I ready for her to be one. I was ready for the next step. Her first year did not go by fast and her birthday was as much of a celebration for us surviving it as it was for her becoming one. But for Chloe, just as this post is late, I’ve felt behind this whole year.

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Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Japanese Pumpkin Cake

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I love all of the fall pumpkin treats. Cakes, cupcakes, pies, cookies, pancakes, donuts, and breads. But they are all mostly flavored with the blend of pumpkin pie spices (which I love). But what I like about Japanese pumpkin flavored things is that there are no spices. It’s straight up pumpkin. Actually, a Japanese pumpkin (kabocha) is similar to a buttercup squash. So you really taste the natural sweetness of the squash in this bread.

I doubled the recipe and filled two small loaf pans. I did measure all of the ingredients exactly as the recipe said. This bread is light, moist, and mildly sweet. Not the typical fall pumpkin spice flavors you might be used to, but a delicious sweet bread.

RECIPES:

Recipe from is Elinluv’s Sweet Delights Blog at the following link:

Japanese Pumpkin Bread

Matt At Home, Cooking, Fall, Food, Making Stuff

I Believe I CAN

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One great thing about the end of summer is the garden harvest. We have tons and tons of tomatoes, zucchinis, eggplants, and green peppers. And every year we plan on making salsas, stews, and sauces and preserving them. And every year, we never do. So we scramble to eat everything or give them away before they go bad. But this year, we canned 22 pint size jars of diced homegrown tomatoes!

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Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Salmon with Lentils

2013_09_17I kind of stumbled upon this recipe. I was looking for a simple salmon recipe that didn’t require a cedar plank, mustard sauce, or soy sauce. This one seemed easy enough and I had all the ingredients. So easy too that I’ve made it three times already! Ellie loves this one, and now Chloe gobbled this one up too! This is definitely in the rotation.

RECIPES:

Salmon with Lentils

It calls for two cups of leeks, which I never have and always forget to buy. I always leave them out and it tastes great. One of these days I’ll give it a try with them.