I have to apologize to my fellow bloggers. I’m still trying to catch up with all of your lovely posts from when I was on vacation, but am enjoying reading them and replying as I get to them. Lots of great posts out there!

Halloween is fast upon us and this weekend I was feeling a bit zombie-like, since the moment I returned from vacation I put in about a 50-hour work week between Monday and Thursday to catch up. Whew.

Oh wait, maybe I meant those other kind of zombies…but I like these better! Ah, the life of the self-employed…but I’m truly fortunate to be busy!

Alas, work makes for less frequent blog posting sometimes.
Or looking at other people’s blog posts.
Or taking the time to reply to their blog posts.
Or being coherent.
Forgive me.

Scanned from a print, this is the only picture of me as the Statue of Liberty. It was very hot and much of my aqua patina was gone!

But on to more seasonal talk. I LOVE Halloween. I’ve gone through many phases with it, from being “into” elaborate handmade costumes, to being uninterested in costumes, to winning costume awards to not feeling like dressing up, period. My year as a very authentic Statue of Liberty including an aqua green patina from head to toe might have been my penultimate costume, so for now I’m resting on those laurels. For many years we attended a fabulous Halloween party and planned our carefully crafted costumes well in advance. Unfortunately, they had to stop as it got out of hand, growing from a core group of known guests to about 200 folks tromping through their house—most of whom they didn’t know (hard to identify folks in costume) and that had just come in from the street. Let’s say they weren’t good guests. The city life on Halloween night can be something else…really something else.

The jack-0-lanterns inspired by our kittens the first year we had them.

While I have no plans to dress up this year, I will at least don my witches’ hat and some choice witchy earrings, possibly a cape and maybe some ghoulish make-up to dole out goodies to trick-or-treaters on Monday. And of course, the pumpkins must be carved…my favorite thing to do.

Last year's jack-o-lanterns...a decidedly feline trend is going on here.

I don’t use the fancy tools, not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, I just do a quick sketch, then freehand carve with a kitchen knife and see what happens, just like we did when I was a kid. Each year, we usually have anywhere from 40-80 kids come through…a popular neighborhood it seems!

This year’s two rather smallish pumpkins are now jack-o-lanterns awaiting their big night. Our two kitties have served as inspiration for pumpkins the last three years. You can judge how well I captured their likeness from my photos of them on the fall post.

The grrrls as jack-o-lanterns!

In honor of the weekend and mostly because our weather has taken a decidedly chilly turn (I remember far many more sweltering Halloweens than chilly ones), I made a large batch of chili for last night and Monday night’s dinner before trick-or-treaters. Chili is my Halloween night dinner tradition, and you’ve already seen the post about my chili here and the recipe for it here.

I’ve had a hankering for apples lately, and had two lovely gala apples in the fridge. This inspired me to come up with a new cookie recipe to have for dessert tonight, as apples are so seasonal. The result: Fresh Apple and Walnut Oatmeal Cookies with Sweet Cider Glaze. This is a recipe I cobbled together from several recipes, using my own favorite ingredients, then added a little glaze on top because I had some mulled cider and thought it might make an interesting touch. They were such a hit that I’ve decided to keep them in the repertoire for fall and the holidays. Give these a try and see what you think.

Mmmm. These Glazed Apple, Walnut and Oatmeal cookies are to DIE for! Mmmmuuuuaaaaha ha ha ha ha!

Have a very Happy Halloween y’all!