My best ever soup

Here is the best chicken soup I have ever made, if I might say so myself. :))

What looks like "Honeycomb" cereal is Fiori. I'm sure some of you know that, but I have never bought it until now.

If you'd like to know what's in the soup, or if you'd like to tell me your "best soup ever" recipe, please leave a comment.

xo Danna

Fall, really?

Is it really almost November and soon to be December?! It snuck up on me for sure. The weather here has certainly felt like Fall. Today was blustery, grey and misty. That always reminds me of "Winnie the Pooh".

The leaves have been beautiful, but they are already starting to turn from red, gold and yellow to brown.

We have a large Tulip tree in the front yard. In the Spring it has beautiful blooms than the bees love. In Summer it the best kind of shade tree, with it's broad leaves.

The other day I went outside and the beautiful green leaves of the Tulip tree were bright gold, over night it seems.

Maybe I just didn't notice. My mind been very preoccupied with life lately.

We just don't have the time or money to do a lot of extra things right now and it stresses me out so I tend not to notice the little things.

A few weeks ago we did spend the extra gas money to drive to a lovely nature center. The kids loved looking at the bee hive they had and we quickly found the queen. I was chasing my daughter around so I missed getting a picture of it. :( They looked a taxidermy birds, skunks, raccoons, deer, and snakes. They were fascinating, but they gross me out. I didn't let on though. I don't want the kids to pick up on my neuroses. :)

Next we walked on the paved wilderness paths. We all enjoyed it very much. The weather was perfect. Sunny, but with a cool breeze.

My poor Hubby enjoyed it as much as he could...he has had two knee replacements and it's hard for him to hike much, especially on a hilly trail. This trail was VERY steep. He also didn't let on....he even carried his tired little girl up some of the slopes.

I was on the hunt for mushrooms to photograph, but I didn't get really any. They just weren't there....well, at least not by the trail. I did get one picture of a dinner plate size fungus, but it was really high up on a tree. I thought they would be lower....shows what I know.

Can you see it?

We also saw a Buck, which was so amazing.....and a bit frightening. I thought for sure we'd get too close and it would attack us. It didn't...... :)

This is the only descent picture I got of the deer. There were too many people and he got scared away.

All in all we had a fun, relaxing and tiring day. It's good to let go sometimes. Now, back to reality..........

Halloween Fun!

My big Brother and I at Halloween 1980something.

When I was little my big brother and I decided one Halloween to have a costume party. We planned for weeks how to decorate, what food to have and especially what costumes we would wear.

I believe I decided to be an Egyptian princess. ( I'm not wearing the mask in the picture) Jason was a vampire. Very scary.

My Mother and Father encouraged us to plan the party, but they came up with a recipe for a drink that was the perfect addition to our party must haves; home made Root Beer.

Here's the recipe for party size amount..... :)

5 lbs sugar

5 gallons water

5 lbs food grade dry ice

2oz Root Beer flavor (extract)

Combine the water, sugar, and extract. Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Add the dry ice in medium size pieces just before guests arrive.

The liquid will bubble and fog will form for the best Halloween party effect.

You must be very careful handling the dry ice! Wear work gloves and use an ice pick to chop it into manageable amounts. Make sure when you serve the Root Beer that you do not put the ice into the cups. Dry ice can cause frost bite very quickly so please be careful!

This sounds difficult, but with knowledge about the ice it is easy and is a great effect for a party also it's so yummy to drink.

BTW this is not a carbonated drink, just very tasty.

Enjoy!!