Week in Review

Wow! We had a great week this past week, but it sure blew by in a hurry!

On Friday, my husband, a friend, and a passel of kids headed to the Maker Faire in Atlanta. A Maker Faire, if you don’t know (and I’d never even heard of a Maker Faire at this time last year), is Fair . . .  for “Makers.”  So glad I could clear that up for you.

No, seriously, “Makers” are people who make things. It’s about that simple. It might be techy stuff or it might be crafty or artsy stuff (robot sculptures, anyone?), but it’s about all those folks coming together to share what they’re making and to help others learn along the way. It’s VERY hands on and the kids had a ball! Not that I was there with them . . .

Conversation with my husband earlier this year:

Him - "I'd like to take the kids to Atlanta for the Maker Faire in October."

Me - "You mean I'll be alone in the house for 24 hours or so?"

Him - "Yes"

Me - "Why have you not been taking them to the Maker Faire for years? And, by the way, what is a Maker Faire?"

. . . So, like I said, I wasn’t there with them, but my husband tells me that all the Makers that had booths set up were wonderful and more than willing to let the kids try and do stuff. They made LED badges, cool cars, launched rockets, rode hover crafts, and walked on water (well, cornstarch and water), and just generally had a blast! I’m actually not sure if I want them to go without me next year or not. We shall see which wins out – my desire to work on things at home uninterrupted or my desire to see and experience really cool things with my kids.  It’s a good thing for them to get to spend quality time with just one parent . . . right?? Right??

And now, on to other things! We tried out two new-to-us recipes this past week or two that were DELICIOUS and I wanted to pass them along to you as you are making plans for feeding your own families this next week.  These were great and are definitely going into the menu rotation. They were also perfect for fall!

1. Chicken Carbonara from Holistic Squid:  This might just be my favorite recipe ever for using Spaghetti Squash! It was delicious and not at all difficult to pull together, especially if you have leftover chicken from earlier in the week handy. We were out of bacon (WHAT? How does that happen? That should not be allowed.), so I substituted some ham that we had on hand and it was still delicious. I’m sure with bacon it would of been even better. Of course it would have been better. EVERYTHING is better with bacon. (This was on our Menu here.)
2. Slow Cooked Cider Pork Chops with Pumpkin and Apples from my Humble Kitchen: The recipe ingredients scream Fall. The recipe smell screams Fall. The recipe taste screams FAll. This is a perfect Fall recipe. Everyone in our house loved it and it made the house smell wonderful all day long! It’s not the fastest slow cooker recipe to throw together because of the browning of the pork chops and the slicing of the apple and the pumpkin (we used butternut squash), so it may not be the recipe you want to throw together when you’re leaving the house in a panic in the morning, but if you’ve got 30 minutes to do the prep, this recipe is WELL worth it. (This was on our Menu here.)
   

And with that, I bid you adieu! I hope you all have a wonderful upcoming week full of the people you love and the things you love to do!