pumpkin sighting

We sure are enjoying a lovely Fall. It's no wonder it's our favorite season with pie baking, comfort food, hearty beers, and pumpkin carving.
Last weekend, Mike's dad and I made an apple & cheddar pie (I hate making pie crust):



It was a group effort for Saturday night's dinner- Squash Ravioli with a sage brown butta sauce. It was heavenly. We made enough to put in our new (used) deep freezer which we managed to get in the basement on Sunday after great effort. I'm happy to report that both Mikey and John survived the task uninjured which is quite the accomplishment for the both of them:) Love you guys!
Then on Sunday, it was time for the Vikings game. Mikey has been swooning over making Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese for literally months. We've been holding out until we had some company to share the glut with. So, here's the result:

It paired well with a couple Brewhouse growlers of Starfire Pale Ale & Devils Pumpkin Track.
For dessert, Dianne & I had this lovely creation:

Holy yum!!

Then, on Sunday night Bruce & Nellie came over to carve pumpkins! Some of you may not know this, but Mikey is quite the artist when it comes to carving pumpkins. It's usually a 4 hour activity. I on the other hand prefer a classic jack-o-lantern. This year, I just started cutting out random shapes and it turned out pretty ugly. Definitely the black sheep of the pumpkin family this year.

Here's the final result. The order goes: Nellie, Manda, Nellie, Mikey, Bruce:

All lit up (I really need to learn how to use Mikey's DSLR) :

The little helper who loved to lick the pumpkins:

Bruce's scary pumpkin:

Mikey's T-wolf (look at the detail!):

Love this shot:
Nellie's winking pumpkin:

Nellie's classic jack-o-lantern:

Happy Halloween!!

autumn

Tis the season for Oktoberfest beer

and using up all of our seasonal produce.

The first weekend in October we headed down to the cities. We saw Wilco at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium with Mike's 'rents. It was fanfrickintastic! Such an awesome show. Wilco & Gomez are my two favorite bands to see live. Wilco played for 2 1/2 hours!
The next day we ran some errands in the cities and stopped at Surdyks for their wine sale but came home with some beer and cheese instead:

That evening we went out for Mike and Jake's birthdays to Meritage restaurant in St. Paul. The food was excellent. The fellas tried pistachio crusted Foie Gras and Oysters on the half shell for apps. Mike said the Foie Gras at Meritage (St. Paul) kicked Blackbird's (Chicago) butt.

On our last day in the cities, we got to hang out with this cutie pie:

Sienna is now 2 years old. She and I made banana bread for a snack. She had a blast getting full of flour and cracking eggs and she loved licking the spoons:)

We don't have much planned between now and Thanksgiving. Enjoy autumn!