Rob's "Daddy's" Birthday!

So all Rob wanted for his birthday was a quiet day with the "mini-fam" with some local fun....the day didn't start out so fun though. When he went for his car inspection, they found that he needed the two front ball joints replaced and we ended up with a fat bill of $650.

I told him last week, already, I felt like we were on candid camera and this was just the icing on the cake!

Anyway, Monk and I made sure that he had a great day nonetheless and he really did.

We started by catching up on Mad Men (one of our new faves) and then we headed out to Apple Acres...our very own orchard in Windham...since it was rainy, we didn't pick our own apples but picked up a bag of cortlands so Rob could make his famous apple pie. We let Diana play with the pumpkins and she had a ball. I also found one of my favorite Yankee Candles in the store "Trick or Treat" which smells just like candy corn!

Then we took a nice ride and looked at houses as we are planning our next move and decide where we really want to be.

Last night, our parents came over to celebrate and I whipped up some new fall/halloween apps that were really fun. The first thing I made was "Spicy Bat Wings with Spooky Chips and Goblin Dip"...a fun recipe I found on Semi-Homemade Cooking by Sandra Lee"...the dip is made from chicken soup, pepper jack cheese and sour cream and it is served warm. The bat wings are essentially buffalo wings sprinkled with black sesame seeds and the spooky chips were the most fun part! They were made from spinach and tomato wraps and cut from Halloween cookie cutters that I purchased. The shapes are then sprayed with cooking spray and sprinkled with salt and pepper and then baked until they get crispy- it was such a funky treat and definitely made it into my recipe box!

I also whipped up some roll up appetizers with the leftover wraps AND some individual white chicken chili cups with puff pastry by using our leftovers from our Friday night supper- another new recipe that I tried and became another quick fave!

We then had fun playing our favorite card game "screw your neighbor" and ended the night with birthday cake of course. Mimi brought a batch of her trademark "Applesauce Jumbles" one of my FAVES and very sentimental as that is the first thing I ever made Rob! Grammy brought over an apple sour cream cake....I think we get our love of food, cooking and baking from our moms...yah think? ha ha!!

Monk was showing off her new walking skills and making her grandparents even more crazy about her!

Happy Birthday My Love! You deserve the best...that is what you are...and we hope you enjoy your Bruins tix :) WOOHOOO!!!!