Event Planning
Fall is almost here!
Fall is my favorite time of year. I love everything about it — the smells, the cooler days, the crisper nights, the colors, the pies, Halloween, Thanksgiving, volleyball and football start up again — what’s not to love? Alright, I admit there is one thing I don’t like — cleaning up all those damn leaves on my property. I own about an acre of land with maybe 20 giant oak trees. So the leaves can pile up and pile up quickly. And unlike in some neighboring cities, I can’t just push my leaves into the road, so I either have to do it myself or hire someone else to do it. But that’s a whole other issue. . .

Anyhoo, I saw this the other day on Facebook and wanted to share. This appeared on my feed from the magazine Midwest Living. This sums up everything that is awesome about Fall and I wanted to share it with y’all. What do y’all like about Autumn? Just let me know — either here or on Facebook! I gots a recipe for some Gluten-Free Rocky Road Brownies coming up later this week, and hopefully some other fun stuff.
Stay tuned!
Watermelon Punch
It’s August and Summer is in full swing here in Michigan. Actually, with the weather we’ve been having here the past few weeks, it feels like Fall. Not that I mind the cooler temperatures; I’m just hope the mild summer is not going to translate into a brutal winter. But enough about that — nothing says summer quite like a nice boozy watermelon punch.

I did just have my summer shindig recently and made this again. I usually have 4 big get-togethers each year when I invite my close friends (actually I consider these guys to be family) and treat them to some free food and booze. Sure this explanation is a little simplistic, but y’all don’t need to get into my big bag of crazy when it comes to planning and prep. I actually don’t remember what else I made, other than stuff on the grill. But I did remember this! Making this concoction this time seemed a lot easier, but last time I was face down in my backyard all afternoon so who knows what my recollection can actually count for. And, of course, I could not find my old recipe no matter how much I looked around for it. So this is a whole new deal.

Now I really like this recipe. I didn’t think it was overly sweet and you could still pick up on all the ingredients. And if you are like me, you may just have a couple of portions of mint syrup just hanging out in the freezer for emergencies.

I did hollow out the watermelon and use it as a serving utensil, which is completely optional. I like the presentation. If you were interested in serving it this way but don’t know where to get a spigot like this, you could check out your local brewer’s supply shop. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 watermelon (medium-sized, I guess. Use the pictures as a reference)
- 1/2 – 1 c. vodka
- 1 c. cachaça
- 1 1/2 c. rum (I used a dark 8-year-old rum)
- 4 oz. Midori
- 6 limes, juiced
- 2 c. mint syrup
1. Take your watermelon and see if it’s able to stand on its end. If not, just cut off a small slice to level it off, making sure not to expose any of the inner flesh.
2. Cut off the top couple of inches of the watermelon to expose some of the red flesh inside (wow that sounds a little macabre). Using an ice cream scoop, start scooping out the fruit (berry?) and place it in a food processor. Pulse it in batches until smooth and run the purée through a fine sieve set over a large bowl.
3. In a large pitcher or jug, combine the vodka, cachaça, rum, Midori, lime juice, and mint syrup. Stir to blend.
4. Add the strained watermelon juice and stir to combine. You can refrigerate this overnight, just be sure to mix it before hand.
5. Pour yourself a little happy. Add some ice if you like!

Notes — you may want to run the watermelon through a very fine sieve. you could just line a sieve with some paper towel, but that sounds like a long process. . . if you cut off too much on the bottom to level the watermelon, it’s not the end of the world. just be sure not to hollow out the watermelon too much or you will have a boozy, leaky mess on your hands. . . also, be careful not to take out too much of the pulp (is that the right term?). if you are overzealous with your scraping, the hollowed out shell might crack and there’s another boozy, leaky mess. . .
March Foodie Holidays

Happy March everybody! It’s another big month for foodie holidays — including my 1st blogiversary (can’t believe that it’s been a year already, not that that’s a foodie holiday). I was thinking about having an anniversary giveaway but I’m not sure yet. Maybe I’ll post something on Facebook (11 likes so far! check out the bottom of the side menu)! More on that later, but check me out on Facebook anyway. Anyhoo, here’s what we have in store for this month (check out some of these links): Celery Month, Flour Month, Frozen Food Month, Noodle Month, Nutrition Month, Peanut Month, and Sauce Month. Now here are some of the special days that we can celebrate in March:
1 Peanut Butter Lover’s Day, Fruit Compote Day
2 Banana Cream Pie Day
3 Cold Cuts Day, Mulled Wine Day
6 Frozen Food Day, White Chocolate Cheesecake Day
7 Crown Roast of Pork Day, Cereal Day
8 Peanut Cluster Day, Agriculture Day
10 Blueberry Popover Day
12 Baked Scallops Day
13 Coconut Torte Day
15 Peanut Lovers’ Day, Pears Helene Day
16 Artichoke Heart Day
19 Poultry Day, Chocolate Caramel Day
20 Ravioli Day
21 French Bread Day
23 Chip and Dip Day, Melba Toast Day
24 Chocolate Covered Raisins Day
25 Lobster Newburg Day
26 Waffle Day (in Sweden), Nougat Day
27 Spanish Paella Day
28 Black Forest Cake Day, 1st Blogiversary!
29 Lemon Chiffon Cake Day
31 Clams-on-the-Half-Shell Day

February Foodie Holidays

So this is a little late, and I apologize. As I said in my last post, I’ve been having issues with the editing software on here. I did a little adjusting of the settings here and there and I think I’m set.
No pictures of Daisy or Cooper this time. But since Groundhog Day is February 2, I did include some pics from Punxsutawney, PA. We made a stop there on the way moving from Maine back to Michigan. It was a little bit out of the way (well a lot out of the way, and it was especially difficult driving a moving truck on those twisty mountain roads), but I couldn’t resist meeting the famous groundhog!
In addition to Groundhog Day, we celebrate National Cherry Month, National Grapefruit Month, National Hot Breakfast Month, National Macadamia Nut Month, and National Snack Food Month. Plus we get National Pancake Week during the last week of the month! Here are some of the fun holidays (along with some links, as always) we have this month:

1 – Baked Alaska Day
3 – Carrot Cake Day
4 – Stuffed Mushroom Day
8 – Molasses Bar Day
9 – Bagels and Lox Day
11 – Peppermint Patty Day
12 – Plum Pudding Day
13 – Tortellini Day
14 – Cream-filled Chocolates Day, Valentine’s Day
15 – Gumdrop Day
16 – Almond Day

17 – Indian Pudding Day
19 – Chocolate Mint Day
20 – Cherry Pie Day
21 – Sticky Bun Day
22 – Cook a Sweet Potato Day, Margarita Day
23 – Banana Bread Day
24 – Tortilla Chip Day
25 – Chocolate-Covered Peanuts Day, Clam Chowder Day
26 – World Pistachio Day
27 – Strawberry Day, Kahlua Day!
January Foodie Holidays

It’s good to be back after taking a little bit of time off for the holidays. So I do apologize that this is a day late. Hopefully all the hangovers and “bad-decision juice” has been worked out of everyone’s systems. But with all the focus on physical recovery and recuperation, let’s not forget all those National Holidays that are taking place this month (there is another “National Pie Day” this month on the 23rd; the other one was last month). I know when we think of January, New Year’s Day is always on everyone’s mind. It is also National Hot Tea Month, National Oatmeal Month, National Slow Cooking Month, and National Soup Month. Here are some of the National Holidays that we should be celebrating this month:
2 Buffet Day, Cream Puff Day
3 Chocolate Covered Cherry Day
5 Whipped Cream Day
8 English Toffee Day

10 Bittersweet Chocolate Day
12 Marzipan Day
14 Hot Pastrami Sandwich Day
15 Strawberry Ice Cream Day
18 Peking Duck Day (yum!)
20 Buttercrunch Day, Cheese Lover’s Day
26 Peanut Brittle Day
27 Chocolate Cake Day!
29 Cornchip Day
30 Croissant Day
31 Popcorn Day