HIdden Mickey...In the Woods of Indiana?

Do you recognize the shape above? If Mickey Mouse first popped into your mind, then you know how to identify a Hidden Mickey!

Originally used as an inside joke among Disney Designers and Imagineers, common folk can search the Disney property while on vacation for these hidden symbols too. Click here for a more detailed description about them: What are Hidden Mickey's?

I found this HM on a tree base near my house. It looks like some sort of a fungus on the tree to me, but I immediately thought Hidden Mickey! before I thought fungus.

Fall! Happy October!

Yesterday morning, as the sun was coming up, I captured Fall!

The cicada stopped singing a month ago. The frogs are silent and harder to find. The butterflies are less noticeable and must be transforming into their winter states or migrating south. I saw the last of my hummingbirds on Sept. 30th for this year too.

Tomorrow I am hosting my neighborhood's 52 annual potluck. This get-together is our human way of connecting with one another before retreating, then hibernate for the cold of winter. You can count on me not to hibernate though. Winston will keep my DH and me out doors all Fall and Winter long! :)

Payday!

Did you know...

...that candy corn and nuts taste just like a Payday candy bar?

It's true! What a fun fall snack too! :)

Pirate!

My months of handy work were ready for our big night, Sept. 10. Save the boots, head wear, jewelry and belt for "Jack", I made it!

With the rented Shipwreck.

*****

Background for the evening: The event was a gala to benefit our local children's science museum and was called: Science Night Out: Sail the High Seas.

As one of the event co-chairs, I thought it was important that I help set the mood for the other guests...my husband went along. I think there may be a little bit of "Disney" pirate in both of us! My DH truly got into his role. He enjoyed going up to friends that he knows well and baffling them as they puzzled over who he was really. At the end of the night I went to one friend and asked if he knew where my DH was, sure that he had figured it out. Our friend said, no and ask me if my DH even came to the event. When I said my DH was dressed as "Jack" our friend was stunned. "Yes!" he said. He came to his table, stood right behind this friend and spoke to him. With his best Jack Sparrow accent he said, "You don't know who I am, do you?" When our friend responded no, my DH smiled (if you could see it under his mustache) and walked away.

I will be back working on a Christmas stocking (in progress) for my February born niece. While I was making my pirate costumes I had Halloween requests from my teens: Jeannie, from I Dream of Jeannie and Tyler Druden, from Fight Club. Guess I need to cracking on these costumes next! :)

He's Still Got It!

Oh, how I wish I was the one to have taken this photo!

A bragging wife would tell you that this is her husband out front, the eventual winner of the race in 200 meters. And she'd tell you this was for the State Road Racing Championship for the age classification of Masters 45+ and that the Masters 35-44 were in this race too, that her husband had sold all his cycling gear including his bike a mere two years ago, stayed off a bike for 18 months and just got back in the saddle in January.

Come on, you all know I am a brag! :) Just sorry I wasn't the one who took this photo! I was home this early, steamy summer morning walking Winston. But man, my DH still has it!

photo taken by: I'm working on this info.

Sweet 16!

Last Monday, my baby turned Sweet 16! It was her golden birthday too! To celebrate her day she and several friends got dressed up...teen girls, they LOVE dressing up...and went to lunch. After paying for lunch, I took the girls back to our place where they changed into hiking/kayaking clothes. We hiked to the nearby lake where I had reserved kayaks for them. Winston actually led us to the lake and he and I stayed close while the girls were out. I took Winston to a cove where he could swim and I could watch, and photograph, the girls. After an hour on the water we made the return trip to our house. Dessert time!

Here's how the cupcakes I made and my daughter helped decorate turned out. Many thanks to Sweetcakes for her advice! Details below...

Store bought, ready-to-go, fondant was used for the flowers. I wasn't ready to experiment completely with this task, plus I left this part up to my creative daughter!
The cupcakes were a recipe from the FamilyFun cookbook. I got out of the habit of using store bought cake mixes about 10 years ago. I would certainly re-use this recipe and will gladly send it to anyone who requests is (as well as any other recipe I ever mention!). The only thing I did differently was to add food coloring. The cupcakes would have been more of a pale yellow than what we were wanting. I added 16 drops to the mix! :)

Sweetcakes advised me to bake and cool the cupcakes then cut out a cone part from the top. I wanted to added ganache to the middle of the cupcakes. After cutting the cone shape, I trimmed it so it would become a cap. Sweetcakes and I talked flavors and if you read back to my original thoughts you'd see I probably had too much going on...flavor-wise. White chocolate ganache was changed to chocolate ganache. Buttercreme frosting was almost cream cheese frosting until Sweetcakes reminded me it should be refrigerated. Not really a problem except that would make the ganache harder than what we were looking for. Cold ganache firms up, room temperature ganache is creamy! In the end I decided upon vanilla frosting that I colored pink. Both the ganache and the frosting were homemade.
Here's the ganache, made the day before. This was my first time making ganache and I didn't think it was going to work out. It seemed too runny after the recommended two hours of cooling. I let it sit longer though and it was perfect!

Putting it all together!

Well? What do you think?

Here's how they looked on the inside!

*****

And here's my Sweet 16 year old!

So Many Spoons in the Pot!

OMG! Right now I am feeling a bit pulled in many directions but I'm not totally knowing where to begin. My baby turns Sweet 16 on Monday (her Golden B-day too). She and I have decided I should make cupcakes for her celebration. Here's the plan: Yellow Cake with White Chocolate Ganache filling, topped with pink colored butter cream frosting and fondant yellow and green flowers.

As I have never made this combination yet, nor filled cupcakes, I am feeling a bit over whelmed and excited at the same time. I am scouring my cookbooks and the web for recipes. Anyone have a favorite I should try or other recommendations?

Add to that, I committed myself to making two pirate costumes (one for me, one for my DH) for Sept 10th...tick, tock. I am not the fastest seamstress, have school starting soon and a dog that needs walked several times a day, not to mention general household stuff to do! Oh, and I didn't mention that I am helping to plan an event happening on the 10th of Sept...that I need the costumes for! Fun, fun, fun, but busy, busy, busy! :)

I'll post pics as time and results warrant. :)