This weekend...

This weekend was pretty eventful. On Friday, we went with Nate, Sam and their roommate David to the straw maze over by Big Jud's. It had been raining that day and the temperatures had finally dropped into what is normal for October around here (I LOVE COOL WEATHER!!!). So we bundled up and went. On Fridays and Saturdays after dark, the maze is haunted. I would have had pictures to put up, but I was dumb and forgot to bring the camera. I would definitely recommend the haunted maze to anyone who wants the pants scared off them, but for those who don't like being scared, every other day of the week is just normal.
At first, it was no biggie. Just a few kids in masks jumping out from behind the walls and stuff. Then we all turn a corner and up walks this guy wearing a really freaky mask holding a chainsaw. Of course, being the girl (and a pretty tiny one at that!), he comes right up to me. I'm talking in my face, about to kiss me, creeper close. I'm trying to hold my ground, so I say (semi-bravely), "Wow dude, you're really close to my face and I'm married..." That must have hacked him off, cuz he pulls the chainsaw. Nate and Sam go running off one direction, and the chainsaw guy follows me and Josh. I'm terrified at this point because creepy-stalker-dude-with-the-chainsaw-who-wants-to-kiss-me won't leave me alone. So I'm running away and Josh is attempting to slide tackle the dude just to get him to leave me alone (my hero!!). Once we finally get away from him, we run into some people coming from the other way who said there was ANOTHER chainsaw guy back where they'd come from. Great. SO we go and I just want to get out of there by now. so we're near the end and we see a part of the maze with boards over the top, so we figure it's the way out. then out comes this other guy with a chainsaw, who pulls on it to scare us off. I've had enough, so I screamed and ran until I got to some other people who he could chase. But apparently that wasn't enough cause he circled back and got us while we were in the home stretch. At that point Nate came in to find us and when the chainsaw went off for the last time, I actually grabbed him and used him as a shield (Josh wasn't close enough or I'd've grabbed him... can you tell how scared I was?!?). Then some guy in a mask follows us out to the car and attempts to get in with me, by opening my door when I'm already in. Yeah, apparently I'm a monster magnet.
Saturday was our "mystery date." I'd bought tickets to Stargazing and Dessert a few weeks ago and told Josh to plan to do something at that time, but I didn't tell him what. It was really cool, they drove us out to the Henry's Fork property outside of town, set up some telescopes and cooked us Dutch-oven cobbler. We got to see Jupiter and four of its moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto...I'm such an astronomy nerd!) through the telescope. You could even see the Great Red Spot! Then we had 2 helpings each of cobbler. Our first helping was Chocolate Peach (extremely yummy!). Josh tried White Peach next and I got Apple-Raspberry (a little too much raspberry for me). Here are some pictures:




And I made pie again. I forgot to set the timer for the last 35 minutes of cooking, so it technically over-cooked, but it tastes great! Here's the recipe!
Apple Pie
Double Pie Pastry (see next recipe)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (I didn't have nutmeg, so I substituted for cinnamon)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp flour or cornstarch
4 cups (6-9) apples, peeled and sliced (Fuji or Granny Smith recommended, I used Granny)
Heat oven to 425. Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and flour. Add apples and mix. The longer you let the mixture sit, the more sauce you will have. Place in pie shell and top with crust. Cut slits in top. Bake for 25 minutes and reduce heat to 350. Bake for an additional 35 minutes.

Mom's No Fail Pie Crust
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shortening
5 tbsp COLD water
1 tbsp vinegar (yes, I know, vinegar)
1 egg-beaten
Cut shortening into flour and salt mixture. Add vinegar, egg and water. Knead together until well mixed. Roll on floured surface.
Makes a 9" double crust or a 10" single. If cooking only the crust, bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes.

Josh took the car in today to get an oil and lube. He almost didn't because it's cheaper on Fridays and Saturdays, but that still small voice told him to go in. Lucky he did! Our serpentine belt was about to snap. For those of you who are not auto-savvy (like me), if it had snapped, our power steering would have gone out and our engine would have over-heated. Thank heaven for little promptings in everyday life!!