Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!

Halloween celebrations around here these days are not much to write home about.  Being out of town and a quarter mile back in the woods, little ghosts and goblins don't usually find our house.  We used to get the little girls closest to us on the west side coming for trick or treats but now two (no longer little) of them are in college and one is married and living far away.

However, as I was preparing lunch in my kitchen today, out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement by the window box outside the window over the sink.


Slowly a pair of brown fuzzy paws and two ears came up, up, up into view.  I grabbed my camera because this bear turns up at our house every Halloween and I wanted to get a picture this year.

Unfortunately, you can't see how cute the bear was because my picture taken through the window screen leaves a lot to be desired.  (Someday we've gotta find out who that bear really is!  Hee-hee.)

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Perhaps it was because we have no Halloween candy in our house and I'm a little big (and old) to go out trick or treating, but I had a wild craving for cherry turnovers today.  I finally got around to making them right before dinner tonight.


First off, I cut the pastry rounds way too small.  The turnovers measure only about 3-1/2" lengthwise and I was envisioning something more like 6" long.   (About 100 years ago, when we were first married, Pepperridge Farm made frozen fruit turnovers that were to die for.  It was when commercially prepared items contained real ingredients.  Like real butter and very few preservatives.  And they actually  tasted good!  The pastry was unbelievably flaky and the fruit tasted fresh and not overly gloppy sweet.  Anybody but me remember them?)  Anyway, for these of mine, I'd better find an improved way of crimping the edges as much of the filling tried making an escape.  (Oiy, you should see the cookie sheet they were baked on.)  I pictured eating the turnovers out of hand, but the ooey-gooey-ness of them requires a plate and fork.  Oh well, I'm betting they'll get eaten anyway.

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One more picture in honor of Halloween.


This is what happens when you walk into the end of a 2" x 12" sticking out of the back of a truck.

Dear daughter, Chicken Mama, loaded her truck with some things to bring in to her new little cabin abode from Swamp River Ridge last Sunday.  Then after dark, she went out to do night time close up chores.  She was rushing through the crisp, cold air shining her flashlight in front of her so she could see where she was going.  Unfortunately, she didn't remember the large wooden structure sticking out of the back of her truck right at her head height.

She was very, very lucky contact wasn't made with her nose or directly into her eyeball which could have caused a much more serious injury.  She hit it hard enough that she saw stars (actually one big flash of white light, as she describes it) and the whole side of her face was swollen for a couple of days.  I'm surprised she doesn't have more of a shiner than she does.  Moral of story:  Ya gotta watch out for large pieces of lumber on a dark night.

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Boo to you all, and Happy Halloween! 

25 comments:

Lisa B said...

Those turnovers look so good. Send me one please! I have a recipie for homemade Pop-Tarts that I wanna try to. Real ones are so not healthy. Hope the homemade ones are better. Glad Chicken Mama's didn't put her eye out. It must have hurt like haties. Hmmm that bear sure looks tame.

DFW said...

I too, think the turnovers look good, even if they can't be eat by hand. My Grandmothers's were never flaky but always delicious.

Hope Chicken Mama feels better tomorrow!

Leigh said...

Poor Chicken Mama, ouch! Very fortunate it wasn't worse. The turnovers look scrumptious!

Tombstone Livestock said...

That bear is adorable even thru the screen. I'll bet those turnovers taste just as good with a fork, and yes I remember the Pepperridge Farms Turnovers, I think they put in less fruit now, I haven't bought any in maybe 20 years or more. That's some shiner CM has there, glad it is not any worse. I found a baseball cap that has 2 led lights in the bill to see where I am going in the dark, think she needs one. Also protects head from running into things in the dark.

2 Tramps said...

If we didn't think all those beautiful turnovers would be eaten by the time we got there, we would be headed to your house all the way from Oregon for a bite of those gorgeous things!!!

LindaCO said...

I remember those Pepperidge Farm turnovers! My mom would buy one for each of us, and we'd eat them while we watched Bob Newhart and the Carol Burnett show on Saturday night. Thanks for reminding me :-)

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - CM kept talking about how much it would have hurt if she had broken her nose, but her mama (moi) kept thinking about the damage she could have done to her eye! (Darn kids.)

Mama Pea said...

Thanks, DFW. CM has felt much better since the swelling in the side of her face went down. I was kinda afraid of a fractured cheekbone at first, but it's not that sore anymore.

Mama Pea said...

Tombstone Livestock - I didn't even know Pepperridge Farm turnovers were still on the market!

CM needs a hardhat with a face guard if you ask me!

Mama Pea said...

2 Tramps - You are too kind. (Silly, too!) When CM stopped in tonight to pick up Tucker after work, she ate one and took three home with her. Next time you get a hankering to drive here from Oregon (hardy-har!), I'll wait until I see the whites of your eyes before making another batch!

Mama Pea said...

LindaCO - Ha! Funny how we remember certain foods with certain TV shows, isn't it? I remember watching "Bonanza" every Sunday night while eating an orange!!

Carolyn said...

Ok, you must now post your recipe for turnovers. We're going camping this weekend and it looks like a GREAT treat to take and maybe even warm up over the fire.

As for that bear? I'm sorry, but that just looks creepy to me. If I saw that slowly moving towards the window, I would have S#!% myself.

Happy Halloween!

Sparkless said...

I don't think we had more than 8 trick or treaters and we live in town! Your turnovers look way better than any old Halloween candy.
Poor Chicken Mama. Glad she didn't do herself any permanent damage.

Susan said...

Those turnovers look so good I could cry! We, too, live too far in the boonies for trick or treaters. Besides, my sweet doggies turn into blood-thirsty lunatics whenever anyone walks on their road! Yeesh! CM was sure a lucky duck, not walking her eye into that board! Hard hat and face guard sounds like a good idea... Happy Day After Halloween to you!

Anonymous said...

I remember those turnovers, my mom loved them and bought them all the time! Yours look yum :) But I understand what you are saying about the crimping....are you actually going to try and use a scraper on the pan, or just chuck it lol.

Poor Chicken Mama :( I can't even imagine how much that must hurt. Hoping she feels better soon!

judy said...

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear,
Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair,
Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he? and fuzzy wuzzy needs a cherry turnover!=you hang around toddlers long enough ,you start to sound like them,Happy belated Halloween

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

You could have called those turnovers 'skin flaps' or something for halloween :)
And the thing about a black eye is that no one ever believes how you got it. They always assume someone did it to you. You can say it was a 2x4, but they always give you that raised eyebrow. The only black eyes I have had came from horses and I know my poor Husband always got the blame ;)

Mama Pea said...

CR - The cherry turnovers were a fast throw-together . . . I just used my pie crust recipe and then totally cheated with a can of cherry pie filling. Baked at 425 for 20 minutes. Drizzle frosting is powdered sugar, almond extract and enough milk to make proper consistency.

Believe you me, the first Halloween that bear visited, I DID almost lose control!!

Mama Pea said...

Sparkless - Unfortunately, trick or treating has really changed for kids . . . I suppose because of all the whackos out there. I think kids are going to organized parties in private homes or churches these days. Maybe all for the better, but I sure have fond memories of going trick or treating when I was growing up.

Thanks for the good wishes for CM.

Mama Pea said...

Susan - I'm imagining what your sweet doggies who turn into blood-thirsty lunatics would do if you opened your door to some of the more grotesquely dressed trick or treaters! (Poor doggies.)

Ya know how some posts contain the warning that pictures of blood and guts (or some such) appear farther on down in the post? I'm going to start posting a warning just for you if pictures will appear of food you can't eat!! (Sorry, the turnovers really didn't taste good at all. Nuh-uh. Yuck. Really bad.)

Mama Pea said...

Stephanie - I left the cookie sheet soaking over night. I may have to use a sand blaster on it. ;o}

For as much as CM said her owie hurt when it happened and then for a couple of days after, I'm so surprised her whole eye didn't turn an ugly black/blue/purple/green. But then neither she nor I bruise easily. Tough skin!

Mama Pea said...

judy - Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear . . . oh gosh, I can remember my mom sing-songing that little rhyme to my baby brother! Shades of childhood!

Mama Pea said...

Jane - SKIN FLAPS!! Oh, Jane, that is AWFUL!

Unfortunately, that is the truth about black eyes. CM works in retail and after her first day of work with the wound, I asked what everyone said. She said no one made comment of it . . . probably for the very reason you said. Sad, isn't it?

Mama Pea said...

Leigh - Just found your comment in the Spam folder. What was with that??

Yes, CM was VERY fortunate it wasn't worse. Those "little" accidents are what have made this mama worry about her living way the heck out beyond civilization by herself. Last winter she fell in her woodshed and cracked a couple of her ribs and sprained her wrist. Why mothers grow gray!

There is actually one turnover left yet tonight . . . wonder who will get it?

Erin said...

Chicken Mama has a thing for taking Halloween a bit too far with the realistic getups... LOL last years chicken blood took the cake!