Smell My Feet

More holiday themed printables from A Pair of Pears in collaboration with The Sweetest Occasion.

And look at this...we did a little culinary experimenting and came up with a whole new variation of the candy corn and peanut taste treat sensation. Yes, we added M and Ms. Genius time!
How do we do it?

Sweet, Salty, and Spooky

Treat bag toppers generously shared by A Pair of Pears for you to download and use 

for your favorite Halloween munchies.

Here is an official recipe for this tasty seasonal combo. Gosh, we set the timer for the estimated 10 minute prep time and when we hit stop 9 minutes and 10 seconds remained. 

It would be interesting to see if in slow-mo one could actually drag out the process for 10 whole minutes. We'd like to see that.Well, hmmm, maybe not really.

Off-Color for a Creepy Cause

Halloween of course!

Over at the teacup incident you can learn how to make Halloween postcards from your own photos or,

save and print these clever ones that the creator has graciously shared.

 Talented and clever. The dream team of fine qualities to possess.

Thank you Sharon at the teacup incident!

Heading South

We will miss our fine-feathered friends.

  

Some more than others (like those who offer only an asthmatic wheeze instead of a song), 

but safe journey to all and come back soon.

Leave it to Betty

 To come up with a great idea. 

The weekend forecast is favorable. 

Grab a sweater and a friend and a fish, or a friend who is a fish, or a friendly fish, 

and enjoy some dining al fresco while you still can.

Power Pants

No messing around here. 

These are some serious slacks, Bermuda shorts and short shorts.

Just thought you would enjoy seeing them. Did you?

It's Alive!

These days customers can wander for hours in department stores that are more like ghost towns than the bustling bastions of luxury shopping they once were. We have been tempted to set a stopwatch to see how long it would take before any of the very few remaining staff positioned mostly at checkout centers might ask if we need any help. Our suspicion is that the clock would keep running forever. Remember when sales people were so persistently present that you had to beg just  to browse on your own? It was sometimes annoying, but we actually kind of miss the attention and do occasionally wish for some help.

Well, we are glad to report that in some small pockets of the retail industry service lives on.  Our recent experience with a young salesperson who stuck with us through the entire process of testing mattresses for a guest bedroom, making a selection, and arranging for delivery was quite satisfying. A few weeks later he followed through with a phone call to make sure we were getting a good night's sleep, and then sent a postcard which was not only thoughtful, but brought smiles to our faces.

Be Prepared

Should you come across a lovely ripe fig here is a wonderful thing to do with it.

ROASTED FIG AND GOAT CHEESE SALAD

From ChezM

6 plump black figs

Vinaigrette: 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar and

1/3 cup olive oil, seasoned to taste

6 slices of a firm goat cheese

6 cups arugula or frisee salad greens

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and oil a casserole.

Score the bottoms of the figs and roast them for 10 minutes until they are soft.

Assemble the vinaigrette in a small container and toss half of it

with the greens. Distribute the greens among 6 plates.

Lay a slice of goat cheese on each bed of greens.

Top with a warm fig and drizzle the remaining vinaigrette over the figs before serving.

Serves 6

The Dirty Dancing Cure

Recently, in an effort to clean-up an ongoing problem with poor etiquette at school dances, administrators at Sheboygan North High School took a page straight from Mrs. PiggleWiggle. 

When the homecoming dance started to resemble the sultriest scenes from Dirty Dancing rather than the mostly innocent, carefree choreography of Footloose administrators conferred in the hallway outside the dance and decided that Principal Jason Bull would read a pre-written statement. 

The statement outlined options for the evening that seemed inspired by Mrs. PW whose magical child-raising cures were probably not coincidentally very much like the parenting technique that promotes natural consequences for undesirable behaviors.

"When Bull took the stage, he said a group of students belonging to the original group of offenders began chanting obscenities, which riled up the students.

Bull told students that the dance was canceled in an effort to quell the chants and focus students’ attention.

Minutes later, Bull said students seemed to be in a better frame of mind to listen, at which point, he proceeded with the original message, which detailed that if inappropriate behavior were to continue, the lights would stay on, the chicken dance song would be played for the rest of the night, and/or the dance would be canceled.

After the announcement, some students chose to leave voluntarily, but the majority stayed, according to Bull, and the dance resumed as planned." - Green Bay Press Gazette.com     

Well done Principal Bull, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle would be proud! 

So proud in fact that maybe she would dance a little jig.

Figs in the Wild

Where we live, some things do not grow on trees. The first of these things is money. 

In the midwest we learn very early from our hardworking parents that even though we might think it does, 

"Money doesn't grow on trees". There  are no two ways about it. 

Those go-go boots are not gonna happen for you even though everybody else has them.

Other revelations take much longer for some of us to receive. When your life-long relationship with a fig has been exclusively with its twisted sister the Newton, it is hard to imagine that the raw source of the crunchy, weird, brown filling could be a wonderful and amazing food like the succulent, naturally ripe fig.

It seems like something out of a fairy tale too incredible to be true, but there are parts of the world (some even on our own continent, but in this case beautiful Provence, France) where you can walk up to a tree, pick a plump purple fig, and enjoy it on a splendid sunny day, while standing in an olive farm parking lot.

Hmmm...will they tell us next, that dates grow on trees and anchovies swim in the sea? 

Nectar of Life

Olive oil. 

In particular Castelas olive oil grown in the shadow of Les Baux de Provence.

 Drizzle it on soups, salads, and bread. Make a beautiful vinaigrette. What more does a person need?

 It is available to us without having to buy a plane ticket or suffer jet-lag,

But of course it is more fun to go get it yourself.