Epicurean Style

Unique LA

I am so excited to be apart of this years....

Unique LA. 

It is December 11 and 12, 11-6PM at the California Market Center. 

They have vendors offering everything from clothing to housewares and edibles to bath and body.  It will be a great place to shop for unique Christmas gifts...so come!  Plus I would love to meet some of your bloggers out there.

But I felt I needed to explain why I had dropped off the face of the earth (a lack of blog posting) and hoped you would forgive me if I wasn't the best blogger over the next few weeks, what with Thanksgiving coming and sewing my little heart out to get ready for this show!   I will try to keep you updated and I do have a couple of very fun reveals coming.  So I will get some things up in the next few weeks, but just hang in there.   I will be back soon!

Shout Go Play Review

 Growing Tree Toys has teamed up with SC Johnson’s Shout and their new Go Play Initiative and Sweepstakes.  “Go Play is all about encouraging kids and parents to get outside and play.  Play is fundamental to positive cognitive development; it’s how kids solve problems; how they develop coping skills and master the art of conflict resolution.  It’s how they become happy, healthy adults.”

I was lucky enough to be selected to be selected to take part in the product review. One of the first things I pulled out of the box were the 52 Nature Activity Cards, By Lynn Gordon.  These are awesome!  I kid you not.

 

The first card off the top of the pile had to do with gathering leaves and the second with coloring leaves by laying them under a piece of paper and pulling the texture and shape of the leaf  onto the paper.  I know this is a simple idea and we all probably did this a grade school age children, but thats what I loved about it.  It was simple every day items and a fun craft that was out of our normal routine.  As I have looked through the rest of the cards they all seem this way.  Quick and easy, but the obvious things you might not think to do right away.  We have enjoyed them

As for the Shout products I was "lucky" to not have to use them right away. ha.  When does that ever happen.  I had to laugh when, Bennett spilled ketchup down the front of his shirt, and I got excited because I was going to get to use the shout products.  I cheered again later that week when Jackson took a friendly wrestling match into the ONLY muddy patch in the grass.  But my second reaction...?  Are you kidding me THE ONLY muddy patch and he ended up in it?!  Of course.  :)

I used the Spray Triple Acting Shout on Bennett's little stain.  And it came out great. The Shout Trigger allows you to quickly and easily lift stains with just a simple squirt directly on the stain before laundry. Treat fresh stains right before washing and the stain will be lifted right off.  Which was exactly the case with Bennett's little shirt.  I really did luck out since it was laundry day.

As for Jackson's more stubborn stains--when everything settled I found we had khaki pants with mud and grass stains all over them.  I seriously thought I didn't want to face them and since we were in our sunday clothes, I thought for sure these clothes would be new play clothes, but I tried the Shout Advanced Ultra Gel, and it worked wonders.  It is one of my favorite stain removers.  I felt like it really did the job without a lot of  arm work on my part.  

As for your new bestie.  You are going to love the Shout Color Catcher .  First let me say I am really lucky to have a husband who does our laundry 90% of the time.  Lucky, I know.  But we have quite a few accidents when a brand new dark color gets put in the wash with our lighter colors.  Oh I cringe, when it happens, but can't complain because of all the help I am getting.  However, we will no longer be having this problem, with these new color catcher  sheets.  They really work!  You have to use 2-3 in a load but they work and are awesome!

Visit Shout On Facebook...Here.

Get a Coupon for Shout Color Catcher...Here.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Seriously, people.  Make these now.  You won't regret it!

Pumpkin Cupcakes (or Brownies) with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 large can pumpkin

1 cup oil

1/2 tsp. cloves (I omitted these because I didn't have cloves)

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

Mix together and put into greased 13x9 for brownies, or muffin tin for cupcakes.  Bake 25 minutes in 350 degree oven.  (Since I made cupcakes, I changed to baking time to only 21 minutes).

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese

1/2 cup margarine

2 tsp. vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

Beat all together.  Frost brownies/cupcakes when cool.

Costume ideas

Woah.  My husband and I were working on our Halloween costumes, so for fun I went and looked through all of the costumes I had in college days.  Maybe these will help you come up with some ideas if you need one at the last minute...

My ultimate favorite, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head.....

Superheroes....

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.....

The Brady Bunch......

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride (we found 6 old wedding dresses in our new apartment.  Random!)....

Belly dancer and dancing ipod shadow (from the commercials).....

Yacht club members (we even had a yacht club party at the Springville Art Museum)......

Cowgirls (nothing new)......

Do YOU have any fun/creative costume ideas?  If so, please do share!!  Happy costume-making!

Mini Carmel Apples

Mini carmel apples are great because you can try so many different kinds instead of only being able to make one.  Just use a mellon baller to scoop out the apple, making sure that each piece has part of the skin on it so you can stick a toothpick in it.  Then dip in carmel and whatever toppings you want!  Our favorite: cinnamon and sugar... it tasted like an apple pie!

You can eat them right away (we served them as one of the appetizers at a football party on Saturday and they were a hit), or you can save them for later.  Just make sure to put them in mini cupcake liners because the carmel doesn't stick as well to the actual fruit part (the non-skin part).

Halloween Wreath

I love this wreath!  Not only is it inexpensive and would make a fun craft, but it will be the best vampire deterrent you have ever had!  I guess if vampires are anything like Edward it wouldn't be toooo bad if they decided to stop by.  ha.  The wreath also has a classy feel to it., not as cheesy as many of my own Halloween decorations.  You can read about garlic and vampires in these links. 

Ozzi Booster Car Seat

Clek Ozzi Booster Seat

• Classic Blacktop fabric
• Simpler version of the olli from Clek
• Parent and kid-friendly backless booster car seat style
•  Energy-absorbing Comfort Cube construction includes additional layer of padding 

LOVE IT!!!!!!!

 

 

 

5out of 5

Pros: Comfortable, Easy to Clean, Easy to Adjust, Stylish, Sturdy, Safe, Easy to install

Best Uses: Toddlers

Describe Yourself: Parent of Two or More Children

We love this carseat! Seriously who wouldn't!? It has the latch system (no flying carseats if you child isn't sitting in the seat) and snaps it in and out in a breeze. It is comfortable for our 4 year old, we haven't had any complaints on the softness/hardness of the seat. I actually sat on it and it felt similar to a normal carseat. We have only taken it on one long car trip (5 hours), but we brought along a pillow and he seemed to sleep in it fine. He can easily buckle his own carset strap (i like that, since i have to help our other little guy in and out of his seat all the time).

The only thing that I might do is get the Clek Oober, if it is in your price range. I really wanted to try that seat, but it was just too much for us right now.

I chose the Ozzi vs Olli, it seemed from oter reviews I read that people complained of the Olli having some armrest foam that kids tend to pick at and make a mess. Also the Ozzi was cheaper and as far as I can tell fabric slips and the armrest foam stuff are the only difference. I would go for the Ozzi vs the Olli. It just makes more sense...if you are trying to save a little money.

I was worried about the Ozzi color, said it came in licorice, but it seems black black to me and isn't and eye sore in the car.

(legalese)

Fall Cleaning

With each changing season, I get a "cleaning itch" where I want to clean, organize, de-junk, rearrange, decorate, etc. ... and it's hitting me hard today.  I have been making a list of where I'm going to start.  Here's my list of some of the things that have been, shall we say, overlooked for a while that might help me get started:

**Dust.  Everything.  I've been awful at this but when I noticed my father-in-law wiping some dust off of our t.v. last night, I knew it was time.

**Wipe window sills.  Why do these always get so dirty and dusty without me knowing?! :)

**Clean walls and cupboard doors.  Especially in the kitchen, over time you will notice that little spots of spaghetti sauce on the stove wall and food fingerprints on the refrigerator and cupboards.

**De-clutter closets!  I have so many old clothes that I just need to buckle down and get rid of.  Besides, don't you just love walking into (or opening) a nice, organized closet to start your day?  I do!

These are just a few things on my long list, but I can't wait to get them done.  What kinds of things are on your list?

Pumpkin Tip

I LOVE Martha Stewart's pumpkin carvings.  I'll show you some later, but for now, here is a quick little tip that I just learned:

To keep exposed areas from turning brown, just apply a film of Vaseline.  

Good to know!

Chocolate Trifle

My sister requested some sort of chocolate trifle instead of cake for her birthday, so I just layered a few things and it was delish.  The thing I love about trifle is that you don't really need a recipe to make something good!  But here's what I layered... 

 Layer:

Chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, cool whip.  Repeat.

To top it off, I put Heath bar pieces on top, which added a nice crunchiness.  You can use anything though and it would be yummy (raspberries, butterfinger, twix, oreos, mint oreos, sprinkles, shredded chocolate, etc.).

Other variations could include a layer of vanilla pudding and a layer of chocolate, a layer of carmel or butterscotch sauce in the middle, raspberry jam, brownies instead of cake.... the possibilities are endless! Enjoy!!