Harvest Festival

We went to a wonderful little Victorian Harvest Festival today with the boys. For about 2 hours the boys busied themselves with activities from apple bobbing...

to making candy apples...

to pumpkin painting...

to games...to treasure hunts...

and music!

It was a full afternoon of fun with friends and making great memories!

Orange Balsamic Glazed Chicken

This was a really good dinner and it was really easy to make. And just look at how beautiful it looks. I'm not always so pleased with my attempts at new recipes. Try it and let me know how you liked it!

Orange-Balsamic Glazed Chicken
Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray
Prep Time: 10 min
Inactive Prep Time: --
Cook Time: 15 min
Level: Easy
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts or any combination of light and dark meat
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 to 3 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves chopped
1/3 cup orange marmalade
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 scallions, whites and greens, finely chopped
4 cups baby arugula
Directions
In a large pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil over medium-high to high heat.
Season the chicken liberally with salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. When the oil is hot and ripples, add the chicken and brown for 5 minutes, then turn and sprinkle with rosemary. Cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 5 minutes more.
In a small bowl, stir together the marmalade, vinegar and stock and pour over the chicken. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and becomes a thin glaze. Add the scallions during the last minute of cooking time. Arrange on a serving platter and serve topped with arugula greens.

Pumpkins

We got to go to the Reedley pumpkin patch with the home school group this year. It was a little cold, but a lot of fun to be with friends.

Here are a few of the regulars in the group with younger children. The group seems to have grown this year.

Five dollars got us a story, a hayride and a pumpkin. Who says a dollar won't take you far these days?

And for some reason Christopher just couldn't smile right for the pictures. I may have clocked him in the mouth with a pumpkin so that he got a fat lip, but he should have just been able to shake that off...right?!