Happy Halloween!

Because of the rain, we had a small turn out for Trick-or-Treaters Saturday night. However, Game Boy invited some friends over for pizza, movies, and games. They opted to not go out in the rain and seemed to have a lot of fun.

A highlight of the evening was the home made ice cream.

We also carved the pumpkins before the party.

They turned out great!

The last of the chili

Well, we made it through all of the chili, finally. Here is a picture of the last bowl.

Now on to the Pumpkin Soup.

I love the color and texture of this soup.

All I have to say is...

...I love ice! Especially from a fridge where I don't have to fill trays and wait four hours for it to freeze.

*sigh*

So happy to have the fridge back in place. We had resorted a few times (having a party/making ice cream) to buying a bag of ice and dumping it in the ice thing in the freezer. Those days are GONE!

The fridge is back in place!

I just had to post this. We are so excited. And the yellow looks much better in person than in the pictures. Though I think it looks pretty dang good in the pictures, too.
Mr. Perfect is a home improvement genius.

Here's another of what we still have to finish and what the corner looked like before.

As soon as the kitchen walls are finished, we get to start on the bathroom.

Making the chili

Almost every October, my mom makes a huge batch of chili. From scratch. Dried beans, chopping onions, the whole nine years (which is a reference to Scottish kilts, just in case you care to know or even if you didn't). This year, I knew she and Dad were going to be out of town for Halloween, so there might not be any chili. I asked if I could come over to make it with her. I had a couple of days off from work, so I hauled out the 25-lbs bag of pinto beans that Pyscho Exercise Sis and Mr. Doctor Man gave us for Christmas last year and headed over.

Day #1

After a couple of hours of fun shopping for meat and peppers, we headed back to the parents' abode. Mom and I picked through the beans, selecting only those that would make the best chili. Actually, it's not that scientific. You look them over a little at a time in your hand, pick out the obviously bad ones, don't include any dirt or rocks, and that's about it. Then we put them in two pots, added water, and left them to soak overnight.

Day #2

You have to cook the beans for 3 hours after they've soaked, so I told Mom to call me once they'd been cooking for an hour so that I could get there in time to help chop the veggies and cook the meat. Mr. Perfect had requested green peppers in the chili, something we hadn't tried before. With all the peppers, onions, and tomatoes chopped, I started cooking the meat. Next, we added the onions to the meat. Then everything goes into the beans, and that cooks for another hour. I took the opportunity to vote early.

I can't begin to tell you how happy I am with the chili. The green peppers add a little freshness. It might be the best batch EVER!

Finished!