Mandatory “It’s Spooky Season” Post

I will be the first in my house to take out all of the Halloween and Fall decorations because I simply love this season! The cooler weather, the different colored leaves, and the perfect excuse to wear a long black hooded cape for no particular reason all make me so happy!

This October, I am most looking forward to bonfires in my backyard, as well as baking all the Halloween-themed cookies I can! I’ve signed myself and my fiancé up for a local ghost tour next weekend. It’s a fact that people rarely explore the area they live in, so I thought I would start getting to know mine.

I’ve also joined a local book club that happens to be spooky-themed. I figured it would be good for me to get out of the house sometimes, and books and fellow book-lovers seemed like a valid reason. The book this month is Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. We shall see how I enjoy it.

I’ve decided to take a break from fostering this month because I am dog-sitting for both friends and family, so I won’t have much extra time to dedicate to taking care of other dogs. I will spend a portion of my free time in October cleaning up my yard and organizing the inside of our house because it’s getting a little chaotic. I will also try to spend a little more time doing outdoor activities since the weather will be more agreeable.

Next post, maybe there will be photos of some fun cookies to share!

An Overdue Update

I will try to make this as short and sweet as possible. I will use the help of photos to tell the story:

The month of May was a whirlwind of a month because not only did we move out of our apartment before the lease was up, we bought a house, I graduated college, and I bought a car from a friend.

Charlotte was thebomb.com!

BBA from GSU

2011 Toyota Rav4

Fast forward to September 14, 2021 and the following has occurred: We got a new roof, my fiancé is a US citizen (finally!!), and we’re fostering the most adorable dogs.

A huge expense, but definitely needed.

August 18, 2021

Buddy Franklin- Golden Retriever Mix

Leyla- Purebred Golden Retriever

Between today and May, we’ve

• watched our friends get married and then move to California
• gone camping in Acworth, GA
• attended a Fernbank After Dark event in Atlanta
• attempted to vacation in Florida, but then got caught in Hurricane Irma
• babysat our neighbor’s children (2 young boys)
• built some benches
• lit some fires
• cooked and baked a lot of new foods
• supported delicious local Filipino vendors (https://kamayanatl.com/)

Fernbank After Dark events are awesome! 21+!

Camping at Lake Altoona

Bench Phase One

Bench is done with a fire!

We love Filipino food!!

Vegan banana cream pie- yum!

Those are all the updates I have for you all for right now. Here is to a fun-filled last half of 2021!

-Megan 😀

Stove Drip Pans

There is a lot of cooking that goes on in my apartment and that results in filthy drip pans. Over the past year they have gotten even more disgusting and sticky, despite me doing my best to clean them with baking soda, vinegar, and vigorous scrubbing.

I have heard that ammonia, which is apparently perfectly safe for the environment (but should not be inhaled), does a great job in tidying up the grime that settles in drip pans, so I have acquired some.

I went outside and placed each of the 4 drip pans into a gallon zip lock bag and poured about 1/4 cup of ammonia into the base and then I sealed the bags. I will visit my drip pans again in the morning after they have soaked for 24 hours.

I will update on this matter tomorrow.

UPDATE: So, the ammonia did not do what I thought it would; however, I believe that our drip pans might have been beyond repair. They were already rusting and we forgot food in them forty too many times. I have discovered that drip pans are rather inexpensive, so I think we will just replace these when our lease ends next year.

Pepper Jelly- YUM!

I made pepper jelly for the first time with my stepdad several years ago. We used peppers from his garden and it was slightly spicy, but so good!! In recent weeks, I have gotten a craving for pepper jelly again and I also received some requests from my best friend because she loves it as well!

I picked this recipe and it made about seven 8oz jars of jelly. I don’t have a tall pot or a canning pot, so I improvise, but it always comes out delicious!

Pepper jelly is best eaten on a cracker with cream cheese. If your pepper jelly is too spicy, the cream cheese will help to dull the burn!

They can take up to 48 hours to set, so don’t be discouraged if they are still liquidly.

It’s Halloween Time, ya’ll!

Yesterday I made Halloween cookies inspired by this recipe! They turned out really cute! It was my first time making royal icing and I would say that I prefer the taste of buttercream; however, decorating the cookies was easier with royal.

I didn’t realize how hilarious putting eyes on pumpkins would be, but I love it! I ran out of black gel food coloring, so I used brown and blue and I think it came out just fine. I put purple sprinkles on top of that to give them a little more sparkle! I have to be careful about when I choose to eat some of these, because they will stain your teeth! Luckily, with most stores requiring masks, no one actually sees my mouth!

I am actually quite proud of my Frankenstein cookie. He is one of a kind and I don’t think that I will be making any more of him. I am not the best free-hander when it comes to cookie shapes, so next time I will make sure to have a Frankenstein shaped cookie cutter.

So, my owl friend was created because I am participating in a bake-off at work and one of the categories was “Spooky in the woods/Forest creatures”, so I thought an owl would be a good options. Unfortunately for me, owls are a little more difficult to make and I am not too proud of what happened with the icing colors. All in all, for my first time making an owl, I guess it wasn’t too bad.