The return of the devil pepper

If you do it more than twice, it's a tradition, right?

Halloween has become the time of year when we make special festive stuffed peppers, aka "devil peppers." They're relatively inexpensive to make, and even with my very limited jack-o'-lantern carving skills I can usually still carve some middlingly good devil pepper faces.

This time I bought some tall, skinny peppers, so I opted to fill them boat style instead of top-off style. I wasn't sure how the change of filling style would affect them, but I'm actually quite pleased with the way these turned out.

Y'r Obedient Servant, the Anxiety Devil Pepper

Happy Halloween!

The war on Halloween

Content warning: if you avoid discussions of Christianity, hypocrisy or any combination thereof, give this one a pass.

Right, you've been warned.

Buenas noches, señores

 Soy Doña Calavera.

Mucho gusto.

This year's Halloween costume was fairly haphazard and last-minute, but still pretty effective.

I wanted to take at least one good picture while holding Charlie, but as it turned out he was terrified of me. This was the only photo we got where he wasn't trying to squirm out of my hands and hide under the bed, poor guy.

V and a few friends had a Halloween party here, so they handled the trick-or-treaters. Which is just as well, because this year we had the most trick-or-treaters we've ever had at this house. I guess it pays to sign up for the Teal Pumpkin Project. (We got smart this time and offered not only non-food prizes, but allergy-safe treats as well.) I think we'll do it again next year!

Devil pepper!

I like making a few seasonally-appropriate dinners around Halloween. Usually it's pretty traditional fare -- Dinner in a Pumpkin or pumpkin soup served in a hollowed-out pumpkin shell or the like -- but this time I noticed a recipe for jack o' lantern stuffed peppers, presented by the inimitable Chef John himself. Everyone in our family likes stuffed peppers (yes, including Charlie, but he never gets any) and I knew orange peppers were on sale this week, so off to the store I went!

This time I pulled a mix-and-match recipe swap and filled the peppers with braaaains stuffed the peppers with another Chef John recipe (if you try it, be forewarned: this recipe creates enough stuffing to fill 8 peppers, not 4). Three of the four peppers were orange, and they made great jack o' lanterns, but I had a fourth pepper that was red.

It had to become THE DEVIL PEPPER.

Behold His Infernal Majesty!

The photo makes it kind of hard to see (yes, that's my glorious "Happy Halloween" bleach shirt in the background), but I created a couple of little devil horns from the pepper offcuts and stuck them on his head using toothpicks. They blackened up in the oven to create a nice, properly demonic effect.

Shortly after this picture was taken, Mr. Devil Pepper was doused in marinara "blood" sauce and scarfed with great glee.

So long, Devil Pepper. You were demonically delicious.

Oh yeah, and if you're stuck with more pepper filling than you need and wondering what you should do with it, may I suggest making Italian meatballs? (That's what we did. Super tasty!)

Halloween costume

Ordinarily this would be the time and place where I'd put a fotie of this year's goofy Halloween costume.

Well, this year I didn't have time to put together a costume. Because I was too busy sewing this.

Miss V as Bombshell Batwoman

I'm not a professional sewist, or even an experienced home sewist, and I don't enjoy sewing clothes for myself or anyone else, but this happened anyway. It's an experience I'm not eager to repeat, but it's done. And Miss V seems pleased with the results.

Now to relax, and maybe make a batch of World Domination Sugar Cookies in a day or two. (Baking, on the other hand... that I like.)

A trip to Seattle ReCreative

Those of you who know Miss V well are probably already aware that she is a big fan of Halloween, and that she loves costumes. But she is also a real stickler for precision and getting details right. Which is why we have visited countless fabric stores and other stores-that-sell-fabric in the Seattle area, trying to find fabric of just the right color, sheen, weight, etc. for this year's Halloween costume. It has become the Task of Eternity.

Something good has come out of this, however. In our quest to find Just The Right Fabric, we stumbled across a place in the Greenwood neighborhood called Seattle ReCreative. I've been muttering for years now that a city the size of Seattle really ought to have some sort of creative reuse center like the ones in the Bay Area or Portland, and lo! they do! *insert happy Sooz dance here*

"Uh... what's a creative reuse center?" I hear you mutter. Hold on, I'mma tell you.

Creative reuse centers are like thrift stores for creators. They're mini-Meccas for artists, crafters, and anyone else who enjoys messing about with creative supplies. People or businesses donate various goodies they no longer need to the creative reuse center, which then sells those goodies for a pittance. In addition to offering usable items for a fantastic price, creative reuse centers help keep perfectly good materials from being tossed in a landfill somewhere. Since stock is based on donations, the supplies for sale will vary from visit to visit -- so if you find something you can't live without, better snap it up, as it probably won't be there the next time you come in.

"Yarrrrn" image by J!nx

On the day we visited, Seattle ReCreative had yarn, fabric, all kinds of thread and notions, paper and other ephemera, paints, jars, pens and pencils, wood, metal, tile, fine art supplies, and random donations from local businesses. Prices ranged from reasonable to crazy cheap. We picked up an invisible zipper for V's costume at a price that hasn't been seen since the late '60s, and a metal belt buckle for 10 cents.

Things for sale are displayed in buckets and on bookshelves, stacked in filing drawers, squirreled away in cubbyholes and chests, and overflowing from wire baskets. (It's like the whole store was designed and merchandised by a very organized hoarder.) If you're looking for a specific item, you may be frustrated; it's better to go with the flow and see what kind of serendipitous discoveries you can make.

Only one thing about our visit frustrated me: as with a lot of city businesses, Seattle ReCreative has no designated parking anywhere nearby. You'll need to take the bus, ride your bike, park out in BFE somewhere and hike in... or take a chance and park in some other local business's designated parking, hoping your car will not be noticed and towed. (Not that I have any firsthand experience with such rash and dangerous behavior. Ehem.)

[ETA: Since writing this blog post, I have discovered there's a Diamond pay parking lot just around the corner from Seattle ReCreative. In my defense, I did not see it AT. ALL. on the day we visited, but I intend to use it in future. Please don't come after me, other businesses!]

Note: Seattle ReCreative did not pay me to write this blog post (though I would happily accept a discount from them. Or a designated parking space. I'm easy like that). It was simply a source of happy squeeing for me, and perhaps it will be for you too. Even if you're engaged in a Task of Eternity.

Happy blogiversary! Plus an awesome Halloween giveaway!

N this day 10 years ago, I opened a Blogger account, chose a goofy blog name, doodled a Cheshire cat avatar on the back of a tithing donation slip, and immediately began to ponder, "Great. What to write, what to write... I know! I'll answer the question I've handily put into everyone's mind: what the heck's a laundry faerie?"

Over the last decade, Confessions of a Laundry Faerie has become my de facto home online; while I've been blogging in some form or other since the late '90s, this seems to be the place I've stuck to for the long haul. And as long as Blogger chooses not to turn out the lights on me, I'll probably go on another 10 years.

So, what gift do you give a blogger for a 10-year blogiversary? Tin? Aluminum? Diamonds? BZZZT WRONG. Answer: you don't! Instead I give something away to you, because that's the way we roll around here.

Halloween is coming, and I'm in the mood to make some handmade origami cards with a Halloween theme. If you'd like a chance to be gifted a set of faerie-made Halloween cards, send me a comment with your mailing address (fear not, comment moderation is on, so your address won't be published) and if I pick your info by random drawing, all manner of origami goodness shall be bestowed upon you!

Aren't blogiversaries nifty? I think so.

Another Halloween...

...another terrifying costume.

Don't you even TRY starting something with me, young man!

It's that festive time of year again...

...time to whip up a batch of WORLD DOMINATION SUGAR COOKIES! Yes!

And then decorate 'em up so they look like this:

Cute, delicious, AND world-dominating! Who could ask for more?!

Well, I'll give you more. Proof positive that sugar cookies will put even fiends in helpless thrall!

Family Home Evening activity: pumpkin lanterns!

(Mom is here visiting! Fun!)

Halloween approaches apace. And our very own cut-rate Martha Stewart, aka Miss V, has been preparing for her favorite holiday since mid-July or so. She was at the dollar store with me the other day when she saw these little orange glass lanterns -- the kind that hold tealights -- with fluted sides. Instantly V saw them as crafting gems in the rough, and she knew what we were going to do on Monday night.

So today, after a quick trip to Dollar Tree to pick them up and another quick trip to Ben Franklin to score some sticky-backed black vinyl, we had a Family Home Evening crafting activity.

Here are the results:

Pumpkin lanterns!

We already had a big bag of IKEA tealights in the pantry, so we added a light to each one and then lit them with a long noodle (it's easier and less finger-burning to set fire to lengthy pasta than to try to reach down into one of these things with a short kitchen match).

L to R: Mom's lantern, Captain Midnight's lantern

L to R: my lantern, Miss V's lantern

Don't you like the way they shed sunburst rays in every direction? I'm thinking about stringing them on thin wires and hanging them outside for Halloween, assuming it isn't too windy on Halloween night.

Happy Dorkoween!

Yep, I'm a geek. But I'm a geek with a flying broom! HEE hee hee hee hee!

ETA: BEHOLD the World Domination Sugar Cookies!

They may not look like much, but grown men have wrested each other in mortal combat just to take these home. Really.

Kitchen fairy... la la la!

Today there are two things I must do.

No, scratch that. Make it three.

1. Wake up. (For a night owl like me who's often up until 2 a.m., this might prove to be the most challenging part of the day.)

2. Fill this pot with chili for the ward chili cook-off tomorrow.

3. Make a big ol' batch of World Domination Sugar Cookies (not pictured, because hello, they're not made yet) in jack-o-lantern shapes, and send a few to my lovely sister.

This list is in addition to the usual suspects -- dishes, laundry, avoiding housecleaning, running various and sundry errands, having a chocolate break, that sorta thing -- to be accomplished on a Tuesday. Ngh. Plus I really should be writing at some point.

Listen, whaddya say I just forget the whole thing and crawl back into bed?

The Halloween party

NOTE: As I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the greater part of the evening and rarely thought to pull out the camera, most of the party photos featured here were taken by Miss V's friend Olivia C., who graciously allowed me to use them for this blog entry. Thanks, Olivia!

So I've made reference to the fact that Miss V had a giant shindig here the weekend before Halloween. And now that I've had about a fortnight to recuperate from the event...

See, for quite some time now Miss V has wanted to have a really big Halloween party. This year, instead of having a birthday party with friends, she decided she'd like to put all her efforts toward having a Halloween party instead. And when I say "all her efforts," I mean ALL her efforts. Plus a pretty good chunk of change. And lo, many and varied were the preparations.

Decorations going up before the party.

The spectacular rise of the Leaning Tower of Cupcakes.

Even the bathroom had a special guest:

Dead Dora! Looking especially dead (and finally complete)!

As guests arrived, they were invited to play with the many boffer weapons that Captain Midnight had crafted for the occasion.

One of V's guests was dressed as the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Spiffiest costume of the evening.

After the guests had arrived, Miss V swiftly took charge and guided them to the first activity of the night:

traditional bobbing for apples. It went pretty well.

Lots of running around in the dark ensued. Party music got played. Someone broke out the lightsticks and pretty soon the front yard looked like a rave party.

Brave souls lined up to be hit in the face with cream pies. (Face hole artwork by Miss V.)

Get your pies for the Great Pie Fight! *squish*

Several partygoers then tried to eat donuts off a string, with marginal success.

Miss V had an idea about creating a huge pumpkin shape from orange balloons, filling the balloons with paint, then inviting the guests to play darts. This went pretty well, and though I have no actual footage of the event...

...we have several new panels of modern art to commemorate the occasion.

Jackson Pollock would be proud. Or envious. Not really sure which.

Another adventure of the evening was Dress the Scarecrow, where teams had to race back and forth dressing "scarecrow" volunteers with bits and pieces of our old clothes.

About this time it was getting dark and cold enough that the party moved indoors...

...where a ghoulish feast had been set up.

Mmm, eyeballs!

Random body parts!

And what Halloween party would be complete without a bubbling witches' brew? Not this one. We also had spiced apple juice and Mexican hot chocolate for those who needed warming up.

The party games continued indoors...

...including the Jello-slurping contest.

I only wish I had taped a video clip of this so you could all hear my favorite sound of the night: the mighty chorus of multiple vials of lime Jello being slurped through straws.

Then it was time for the mummy roll!

Several people were transformed into Egyptian pharaohs in mere moments.

They were all pretty good sports about it.

Then, to vent any remaining frustrations, they waled the tar out of a poor harmless piñata and ate its innards. A truly heartwarming and horrific ending to a Halloween party, right?

Anyone who was still bored (really?) was free to join us in watching the evening's movie: the 1945 adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. But about that time, parents began to show up, and guests departed, one by one... until there were none.

Thanks to all those who helped make this party awesome!

As for me, I think I'm gonna go lie down now.

DONE! zzzzzz.

It's a quarter after 4, and I just put the finishing touches on Miss V's Halloween costume.

By the way, there's a very good reason why I'm not known for my sewing skills. It's because I don't have any. Not really sure how I got myself into this misadventure in the first place, but there you are.

Miss V had better hope this fits, because I'm not getting up an hour and a half from now to make any last-minute adjustments. Cross your fingers for her!

(Yes, photos of said costume will probably be posted here later. But not now. I am perilously close to becoming one of the undead... hitting the sack before I start looking for braaaaains.)

ETA:

Bey-hold!

I guess Toto wet the basket.

She is off to see the wizard.

And now for tonight's dinner... braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaains.

Miss V's first fake corpse... *sniff*... they grow up so fast!

Those of you who spend some quality time around Miss V might already be aware of her innate fondness for creating stuff. She has recently discovered the Indy Mogul channel on YouTube and become more or less obsessed with all the prop goodies they make on the cheap.

Just recently, she decided to make her own fake dead body.

And here she is working on the skeleton, made of handy-dandy PVC pipe.

Today she's calling her creation "Dead Dora," but the name keeps changing.

Looks like Dora is going to make a pretty good dance partner.

Dora, getting more filled out and now with a ribcage and some preliminary skin, gets a coating of smelly liquid latex. I keep getting interesting comments from V, such as "Hey, come and see the flesh!"

And here IS the flesh. Or at least one of the subcutaneous layers thereof. Um, ew.

By the way, Dora is currently lying on the floor in our front hall. It's just as well that we haven't had any visitors today.

No doubt we'll have more pictures here when the gruesome labor is complete.