I'm Hooked!

Yep, hook~ed, line and sinker! Don't you just loved being {hooked} on something or the other? I do~bunches and bunches and then some. So many of us love it so much that our fearless {hooked} leader, Julia, the blogger extraordinaire of Hooked on Houses fame is having a Hooked on Fridays blog party ~ now that's what I'm talking about!


So here is Julia's question: "What are you hooked on?" Well, lots of things...especially this time of year...but this morning only one thing came to mind...Fog...yes sir~ree bob...fog. I love, love a good Northwest foggy fall morn...a lot. We just started having them over the last couple of weeks and I heart them a whole heap of a lot...especially when the fog burns off and we are left with a glorious sunny Autumn day...Bliss!

When I snapped this shot...I kid you not...geese were flying over head...

{HONK!} Love it!

That ol' sun did finally shine through...but don't you just love how misty and cozy it looks?

Fog...gotta love it...I do....I'm {Hooked}

For more Hooked On Fridays fun~ola check out Julia's site~o~fun and share what you are hooked on.

Smiles ~ Ramona

Recipe Sharing On A Tuesday Eve ~ Yum!

Okay....so here is a recipe that I have wanted to share for ever and ever and a day. I recently made five loaves of this recipe~o~rama and actually remembered to take photos along the way...olive oil~ie hands are good for the camera...right?


So here is my recipe for a yummy cheese stuffed bread that I have been making for 25 years! I tell folks all the time how to make it but now it is documented for all eternity...AMEN!

Cheese Bread

Allow frozen bread dough to thaw and rise a bit on a greased sheet pan...



Flatten out into a rectangle...

Spread with mayo...about 1/3 cup...

Sprinkle with chopped green onion or dried chives...

Sprinkle grated cheddar cheese over onion....

Over cheese, sprinkle garlic powder and basil...

This....

And that...

And drizzle with olive oil ~ yum!

Then fold the the whole sha~bang like a burrito...first do this...

Then that....

And pinch, pinch, pinch, two, three, four...

And flip...now let this bad boy rest a spell...15 minutes should do...

Then make an egg~wash by beating an egg with a bit of water and

wash the bread with the wash...cha, cha, cha...

Bake in a pre~heated 350 degree oven for about 23 minutes or so...

Don't fret if some of the cheese filling oozes out onto the pan....it is yummy too....

This is what they look like all done and roast~y, toast~y and your

home will smell scrump~ious and then some.

Let these loaves~o~love cool a tad and slice and enjoy.

Note: You can fill these loaves with any magical ingredients you choose....a cinnamon concoction comes to mind....oh good grief and golly....maybe a pumpkin, butternut something or other would do the trick....enjoy!

Smiles ~ Ramona

Sunday At The Patch ~ Cha, Cha, Cha

"To get the full value of a Joy,

You must have Somebody to divide it with. "

~Mark Twain~

It has been one of those wonderful Sunday afternoons. After a LOOOOOONG week spent gratefully volunteering my little heart out I have been pretty wiped out and spent. I did not blog a single drop all week!!! The horror! I missed it bunches and bunches and then some.

This past week I have been catering all of the meals for the accreditation team visit at our daughter's school. Early mornings ~ late nights and constant meal and decor {tweaking} in my ol' noodle. AND, I am here to tell ya that I talked the talk and walked the walk this past week. I served up yummy meals to very appreciative guests....it was an honor and a pleasure to serve this lovely group of women.

And so when the last meal was served and the last dish was finally washed...well let's just say that I am back in the saddle again baby....and I got my blogging cap on and I am ready to rumble. So bring on Halloween, Thanksgiving and merry, merry Christmas...I am ready for 'em sister!

So to finish off a beautiful and {much needed} restful weekend...we went to a pumpkin patch down the street! It was 60 beautiful degrees; clear skies, dry fields and the cider was freshly pressed and delicious....but more importantly...the the faces around me were smiling...those are the best kind, don't you agree?

My kinda patch...harvested and ready to go...

Ta~da!

My girls ~ 12 years apart and a couple of the 'apples' of my eye...

That one....oh my good golly...she just turned 24 on Monday!!!....she is my sweet girl

and what I want to be when I grow up...

Check out that awesome stem...

Stem love...

Now there is a stem with 'tude!

And back home....how, you ask....why just follow the yellow brick road, of course...

Yes...it was a great Sunday at the patch...one of those days that will stay in my heart for a while...precious moments....hopefully next time our sons will join in the fun...just like the good 'ol days guys....the Hubs was a tad out numbered today....just the way he likes it I s'pose...but the more muscles to carry large squash to the car, the better.

Hope you all have had your own {Sunday at the patch} and were grateful for every moment of it and then some.

Smiles ~ Ramona

One Saturday Afternoon In October...

Listen!

The wind is rising,

and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings,

now for October eves!

~ Humbert Wolfe

Our daughter's school will be going through the accreditation process next week and I am doing the catering for the three day visit. Some breakfast and a bit of lunch, a couple of dinners and a Parent Association Social...sooooo I am a busy gal~ola, to say the least...and loving every minute of it.

I spend a lot of time sorting all of the details of this upcoming event in my head and then I go into high gear. I am also trying to not exhaust myself....I tend to get pretty {hyper} and am filled with creativity in the final hours of large projects and then when it is over...I just collapse....a zombie mom...appropriate for Halloween...but not for the Fam. No way, no how.

So I am trying to pace myself...steady as she goes...goes BOZO...but steadily. So in a rare hour alone in the house today....I did some more Halloween putzing....it calms me and I love it!

I put these little sugar pumpkins on my ivy pots every year...

...then I hang bundles of corn across the windows...

It is my FAVORITE harvest decorating thing~y....

Husk love...

...then I put large pumpkins on the ivy pots that are on the steps...yep, there are pots under there...and note: if you fertilize it...it will grow....

Oh but wait...more pumpkins in the backyard...

I do believe that if I hung this sign out front...folks would stop

and form a line for the hay ride...hey...what the hay?!?

I heart black crows....

I am going to deck out the sun room for Halloween...so here is my start...his name is Poe....don't ya just love it?

I will try to post this week...maybe a bit of the coo~coo~ness will over flow~ith my cup and I let it spill out here for all to see....if not...you know where to find me...I'm the one with my head in the pumpkin bin in front of the stores.

Smiles ~ Ramona

October, Sweet October

Spring shall plant

and Autumn garner

until the end of time.

~ Robert Browning

I absolutely love October...ahhh yes, I love everything about it. This month is usually when the weather changes {for good and finally} til Spring....from 90 degree days to cool and foggy and frosty and orange~y and golden~y and wood smoke~y and yummy and of course a tad bit rain~y...yep, it is the Northwest after all, and you gotta love rain. And I do. {Remind me of this post 4 months into the season}.

So yesterday it was in the 80s and tomorrow...the mid~60s AND, yep, rain~y! Cha, cha,cha! But that is okay because I am in the middle of my own personal holiday. I love fall and with fall comes Halloween and my favorite holiday of all Thanksgiving. Now don't get me wrong...I love the quiet respectful side of Christmas and all of the child~like sweetness of the holiday but the hoop~la {even though I accept full responsibility for creating most of it} can sometimes get a tad overwhelming...but not Thanksgiving...it is one of those holidays that is perfect...and is just what it is supposed to be...Thankful. It is pretty dear to my ol' heart~ola.

Halloween is another treat for my soul. I have such fond memories from my childhood and I find it curious that such a quaint and neighborly festival still lives on. There is just something about knocking on stranger's doors and those kind strangers giving our wee ones candy....charming!

I started to put out the Halloween goodies....and I actually picked up some pumpkins for the porch and corn for the windows...I will share what I have been doing later....but for tonight...just a peek~a~loo.

Such a happy little pumpkin momma...you would

be a glad gal too if you were prancing about town with

a puffy collar...

Pumpkin tassel love...yes, love...

So tomorrow I am gonna be deep in it....pumpkins, corn, jack~o~lantern stylings of this and that and the other thing. October is here and I am going to enjoy every last living second of it or until someone steals the pumpkins from the porch...happens every year...everybody has their own way of celebrating I guess... little stinkers.

Smiles ~ Ramona