Happy Halloween!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Last night we carved our pumpkins. Last year we took a picture with Domino in the pumpkin so we thought we would try again, she had another idea. hehehe Anyways heres our pictures!

And a picture of Domino from last year... She looks so tiny!

WOW 4 posts in 1 day!

Don't think I am going to make a habit out of this!

Tunnel O Fudge Pumpkin Cake

This cake came highly recommended by a friend. I want to try and make it for Thanksgiving so I thought I would try it out a month early to make sure it "tastes" okay! It turned out really good, I cant wait to make it with the frosting!!

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 sticks (1/2 pound) soft unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, melted
Chocolate Glaze:
1 cup heavy cream
6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12-cup Bundt pan; dust with flour or cocoa.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream the butter, both sugars and the vanilla with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each. At low speed, mix in the dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with the pumpkin.
Transfer 1 cup of batter to a small bowl; stir in the chocolate. Spoon 3 cups of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan; smooth the top. Using a small spoon, make a shallow ditch in the center of the batter, forming a ring. Drop the chocolate batter into the ditch. Cover with the remaining pumpkin batter, smoothing the top.
Bake for 45–50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn out to cool completely. If desired, prepare Chocolate Glaze and drizzle over the cooled cake. Let stand until set.
Chocolate Glaze :
In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Let cool for 1 hour, until thickened but pourable.

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas

Saturday night Russ and I went to a California Merlot Wine Tasting Party. For appetizers we decided to bring Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas. They turned out very good!

Mini Bacon and Potato Frittatas

recipe from Cooking Light, December 2006

Ingredients
2 cups finely chopped peeled baking potato (about 12 ounces)
5 bacon slices (uncooked)
1/2 cup finely chopped sweet onion
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup chopped fresh chives, divided
2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
7 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
Cooking spray
6 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.
Place potato in a medium saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cook 4 minutes or until almost tender. Drain.
Cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan. Crumble bacon; set aside. Add potato, onion, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and thyme to drippings in pan; cook 8 minutes or until potato is lightly brown over medium-high heat. Remove from heat; cool.
Combine the potato mixture, bacon, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons chives, cheese, pepper, egg whites, and eggs, stirring well with a whisk. Coat 36 mini muffin cups with cooking spray. Spoon about 1 tablespoon egg mixture into each muffin cup. Bake at 375° for 16 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove frittatas from muffin cups. Top each with 1/2 teaspoon sour cream and 1/2 teaspoon chives.

Fall Decorations!

I did a major cleaning of the house on Saturday, so I took some time to take a few pictures of my fall decorations. I don't have much, hopefully next year I will have some more.

Baby Visits!

Last weekend our good friends Tav and Melissa came over to watch the Sharks game on Friday night. They brought their daughter Petra (aka Pee-wee) with them.

Here are a few pictures of her.

OH... and the Sharks won! Whohooo!

Update

I haven't had time to update lately, so here's a quick recap.



HOCKEY SEASON HAS STARTED!! :) You can see pictures from the Teal & White game (The team plays each other for Season Ticket holders) at www.RussandMichelle2007.com/tw08



Disneyland was a blast! We had a great time with Falynn, Frankie and the kids... Pictures at www.RussandMichelle2007.com/disneyland



Umm what else. Celebrated both my mom's and my birthday. We made some awesome dinners! For my mom's birthday we made a Korean BBQ, everything turned out delicious! For my birthday we made homemade calzones. YUM!! (pictures coming soon)



This weekend we are going to a California Merlot Wine tasting party that Russ's friends are holding.



We are excited to be going to Wisconsin for Christmas!



Our Alaskan cruise is now turning into a party!

So far the following are going with us:

• Dad & Shu-Jen


• Karen & Jerry


• Doug, Monica & Devin


• Vicky


• Monica's Mom