Happy Halloween

My family loves Halloween. Every year we all get together, we all dress in costumes and take the little ones trick or treating. It is always such a fun time. I usually make a kettle of homemade soup and we make sandwiches before we head out into the almost always cool Minnesota night. My family's favorite soup is Chicken Wild rice. (recipe below) Here are some of my costumes I have come up with in the past few years. I have been old man winter, a Christmas present and just a crusty old man. The best was last year when my grandson spent two hours putting fake tattoos on the baby, (he slept threw half of it) he was adorable. He won best costume.



Chicken Wild Rice Soup

32 oz chicken broth

2c water

4 carrots sliced

green onion tops

2 chicken bouillon cubes

simmer in a large soup pot until carrots are tender
add 2 to 3 c. cooked chicken
(if I am in a hurry I buy a precooked rotisserie)

In another pan

1 stick of butter

1/3 c flour

 poultry seasoning to taste seasoned salt and pepper

stir until mixed and bubbly

with a wire whisk add a carton of half and half

Add slowly to the broth mixture

add in 2 to 3 cups of cooked wild rice

Enjoy

Minnesota Grown

 My little Grandson was visiting this weekend from Nebraska and my daughter and I wanted to do something fun with him. We had a beautiful fall day so we headed off to Stillwater to visit the apple orchard. Aamodts Orchard is one of many in our state. It was amazing and I couldn't believe the crowds. You could pick your own apples or head to the store where you could taste all the different apples they grow, Honeycrisp, Fireside, Regent, Jonathan and Haraldson. They had a bakery and you could smell the apple donuts frying or sample a piece of apple pie,apple crisp, turnovers, and muffins all made on site. Outside they were making kettlecorn and it was delicious. There were so many fun things for the kids to do. Eric's favorite was the maze made of haybales, feeding the animals and climbing the apple trees.You could take home all kinds of fun pumpkins but the best part for me was spending a day with family.
 Don't forget to submit your e mail for the upcoming contest starting in November. I will be giving away 10 prizes of charm packs and layer cakes of past Holly Taylor groups.