Has everything started getting all weird, or is it just me? Do things get strange & unusual in October naturally, or do we simply perceive them to be that way? Do you get all crazy for baking and making stuff? I do!! I love the scents from the kitchen in fall and winter… Baked goods and such…
All the fun spooky things start peeking out… And, the famed strange things start showing their faces also!
For example, I go to a thrift store, and being a girl obsessed with oval frames, I see this lovely Victorian oval brass frame. It has a poorly painted pine tree and stream painted on it… Now, most of you know by now, that I am curious. I pick at perfect paint, hoping to find fantastic wallpaper underneath. And I do, luck indeed.
However, what on earth possessed me to take a wire brush to this bad oil painting? It was a bit lumpier oil paint than normal, and I just started with no rhyme or reason. What ensued was the shriek only major treasure seekers would let out, when making a discovery. There were faces under this painting… Exciting? Yes, until I decided to hang it on a wall. It was like the twilight zone. The room started spinning, and the whole thing felt really uneasy. Am I hallucinating? You tell me??? Why would someone paint over an old oval photo? Creepy? I don’t know? Do you think it is safe to hang??? Will they get me in my sleep? For now, it is leaning on the wall, where I can’t see it…
The cooking is also on overload. I have to slow this down a bit though. Too much goodness equals, well, too much goodness (if you know what I mean). Anyhow, I made simple Potato Latkes… Mmm, the best ever….
Mr. Lovee was pleasantly surprised (being raised Jewish, he adores such treats). Some were served as a meal with gourmet ketchup and fresh Basil. Soo yummy, I can’t even tell you!!! I love cooking on Mr. Lovee’s gas stove. At home I have one of those electric flat high tech stoves (not so fun)… I have to say, there is nothing like real flames!!
Others were served with a bit of sour cream and a dollop of Bon Maman Raspberry jam right in the warm center… YUM!!! Light extra virgin olive oil makes them so crispy and wonderful. Not heavy and oily…
As if we had not been bad enough for one day… I had bought one of those Halloween candy packages full of mini heath bars for Mr. Lovee… As I was watching Little Women, I got this huge urge to bake… Soooo, I thought, there has to be a heath bar cookie right? Umm, HELLO? Yes, there is, and it is unreal. I simply put all the heath bars in the freezer for 10 minutes. Then took them out, smashed them to bits, and VOILA!
Here is the link to the recipe. However, I will say, I baked two batches without the parchment paper lining the cookie sheet and the only difference was a little less butter in the parchment lined cookies. Also, I used SALTED butter. Not unsalted. As I don’t like utterly sweet desserts. I have to say, I like them alot. I can’t imagine how sweet they would be with the unsalted butter…
So, Salted Butter and No parchemnt is A-O.K. They are unreal. You will be speechless. Of course, you should have seen me running around the yard at 6a.m. yesterday and today… Oh my aching lungs… Oh and, have you ever tried doing a jumping jack? Okay I don’t mean as a kid, I mean as an adult. Oh me, Oh my, I am up to 100. My liver feels like it will fall out and my, well, other things feel like they will fall off too… hahahaha!
As I was doing all the cooking and baking, Mr. Lovee had gone out for some dinner ingredients, and when he came back, as my back was turned to him, I caught him doing this… Boy is he racking up brownie points…
So, there have been some very busy days, with much needed goodness in between. I can live like this. Bliss is easy to find. It’s what we make of it. Now, if I can just hold on to that and let my road unfold without getting all nutty, things will be wonderous…
Roses, Cookies, Movies, Books… Ahhhh, life is good… Even just snippets of the goodness here and there in the evenings is so important. It refuels my heart and soul…
See you very soon!!! xxo
I *so* need to come visit you
OMG! I LOVE reading about your haunting photo… it is spooky for sure. Maybe if you “honor” them they won’t get ya in your sleep… I don’t know though, Grandma does look a little testy there.
Latkes with sour cream are the BEST!!! And those cookies look DIVINE!!! Yum!
OMG I want to come and eat at your house! LOL Both the latkes and the cookies look sooooooooo good compared to what I’m having tonight which is totally overdone roast in the crockpot which on low cooks a little too fast LOL And my husband who doesn’t cook at all didn’t really see that the roast was becoming krispy LOL That picture is kind of weird – wonder why someone would paint over something like that?
I’ve noticed the hyper-activity in the crafting community lately too…is it autumn/halloween or for the celebrations end of the year? The oval frame is stunning, except I have the say the picture behind the paint is a little spooky. Do you have a 6th sense? what made you scrape it with a wire brush?! Humm…more delicious food, did you save some for me? (you are living in a blissful wonderland girl)!
Oh the story of the photo.. weird and spooky in a cool way.
I have to comment on the first photo.. the chalk board… I have one very similar to it hanging in my house! I saw it and had to have it … although it freaks my kids out .. they say his eyes follow them hehehe I love freaking out my kids!!!
I just got a gas stove when we moved in July and LOVE cooking/baking with it!! I will never go back to electric!
The food looks yummy!!! and the roses .. how sweet!!
i have to say i find that photo a bit creepy. but my mom taught me that is there are ghosts in your life who come out and scare you at night, before you go to sleep you should nicely say, “please don’t bother me tonight ghost. please go somewhere else.” it works, i swear!
Hey! I think I see the image of the Lion King *Mufasa* in one of your latkes! Sell it on ebay!!!
I have a bag of those mini FUN SIZE (what a joke) Heath bars by my bed. I’ll have to crush ’em and do what you did. Maybe roses will come in the back door…Did you grab the camera and spin around to catch him?
everything *HAS* started getting all weird…
and aren’t you so glad!
🙂
you scrubbed at that old painting
because it
was ~~meant~~ to be uncovered!
now, that said…
don’t you want to cover over something yourself
for someone else to find someday?
At any time did you sit in the enchanted chair and think “I’d like to find a new(read old) oval frame?” I do believe there was a reason you found, scrubbed it and revealed it. Perhaps it was a heinous curse placed on those in the photo. A curse that could only be broken if the painting is some how removed…thus releasing their spirits to be happy and free. Their faces are not sinister or stern, in fact the boy looks quite at peace and sweet. Perhaps until then he looked rather weepy under there. They will not eat you, they will bless you for your good deed. She was probably a good cook and thus she got you fired up to bake such delights. And the boy, the boy whispered in Mr.Lovee’s ear that flowers are always nice. Maybe if you hang the portrait over the enchanted chair…well you just may have untold amounts of wondrous, magical and delightful surprises ahead.
Now would you please pass me a cookie and a latke? Thanks ever so! Shall we have some tea now and watch a movie?
XOXOXO
Love,
Lisa
Too much goodness goes to the hips! Not sure about your latest find that pair are a bit too creepy for me.
Your story about that picture totally gave me chills. I have to wonder too why someone would paint over it…so strange and deliciously weird.
I don’t know what would cause someone to paint over and old Photo. Insanity? But then I guess if they had not, you wouldn’t have a great treasure to find. Potato Latkes, I have never had them, but they look yummy. My BigGuy will love the Heath cookies! I think that this time of year is best. Cooler temps, great colors!
Those are Beautiful roses!
Love Erin~
I just made toffee shortbread. Mmmmm. I’m in a baking/ cooking/ yumminess mood, as well. Latkes are one of my most favorite things ever; I’m jealous!
The photo is wonderful. It’s beautiful in a strange and weird way. I think they won’t haunt you because you uncovered them and they’ll be so happy to see the sunshine again.
Also– Edward Scissorhands has been one of my very favorite movies since I first saw it. I think I was 12?
That is a strange photo! Very strange indeed!
We were watching Little Women here too (well, my daughter was, I was working)…wish we were eating those cookies. Mmmm, they look very very good.
And Mr. Lovee, what is he up to? I used to have that kind of treatment, but we have been a tad bit in the busy zone of late so I haven’t seen any roses for awhile. But he does open the car door for me every time we get in or out. You gotta love that.
Your life is sounding very blissful right now! Glad you decided to scamper off and find a happier world!
xo,
Melissa
Hun! Oy! Potato latkes…what with me having been Jewish in a previous life and all…YUM-O! Sigh….I do not bake so I’m afraid I can not differentiate the wisdom of using salted butter over unsalted butter, but if you would like to send a batch or two of cookies my way, I will be more than happy to give you my opinion! 😉
The picture….not going there….something spooky about the whole thing.
Mr. Lovee is indeed living up to his name, the flowers are tre’ beautiful!
And last, but certainly not least….Mr. Johnny Depp. If not for a series of unfortunate events I would be MRS. Johnny Depp! I KNOW! Tragic…I still rue the day. Edward Scissorhands is one of my all time favorite movies! I even have the little Edward doll on my desk to remind me of my lost love….
So. Do things/people get strange in Oct.? Hmmm….I don’t know, you tell me! 😉
You are the best treasure hunter I know! I cannot believe that gorgeous thing was under an ameteur painting. Now here is what I think happened. I was thinking about my grandpa, a child of the depression. You know, growing up in that generation you did not let anything go to waste. So I think there was this person who wanted to give painting a try but didn’t want to invest in expensive canvas. So being a thrifty, creative child of the depression this person found a picture in their attic and since they didn’t know these people figured, hey this is just going to waste, I might as well use this to try painting on. See? Not creepy at all! I love it on your wall! I have been in a real baking mood too and am having a similar problem with excess, only problem is as the weather cools I want to exercise even less! Not a pretty picture! Great post! Hugs!
i love that movie, Carnival
yummmmm…everything looks so divine!
ps,i am half jewish and those potato cakes look like of the best i have ever seen! we gobble them up over here! you must share your recipe!!!! i am always trying new ways to do these 🙂
That photo is amazing…and I wonder what the background story is? Your culinary efforts look wonderful…Oh, to be able to eat wheat…
sigh……
Wow – what a great post! I’m overloaded with eye candy, and the yumminess is making my stomach growl (especially those cookies!!).
I’ve been obsessed with baking and making, too! I definitely think it is the season. I’ve been in studio hibernation lately and haven’t come out for much air… I pretty much only leave for cookie breaks – ha!
I love that old oval framed picture. I collect creepy victorian portraits and have quite a few, but I’m scared to hang them up! I’ll have to take photos of my entourage sometime soon. I just got a fantastic new one with a strange silver wooden frame at an estate sale the other week. I think this one just might make it onto the wall…
Thanks for stopping by and saying “hi”! I’m having one of the best weeks I’ve had in a long time so far, since my health issues are (mostly) all gone, and I’ve been able to hit the studio full force (pretty much all the time!). Yay for being creative!
oh thank you thank you for the comments on my new look on my blog… your awsome… it is a huge honor to have you say that! ok so I’m gonna have to make some of those cookies… I have some of those movies… and your mr. lovee needs to teach some things to my mr. military man…. 🙂 and that whole thing with finding a picture underneath the painting is creepy and is one of the reasons i love to be scared but halloween is just getting to scary for me… especially here … they celebrate with witches everywhere…. aaack! 🙂
That photo is a little weird – everything else is scrumptious! (And this is one thing on which we differ – I don’t like oval frames; to me, they’re just too old-fashioned – and yes, me the antique lover thinks that). I love that you’re making the effort to create such beauty and goodness all around you. You’ve inspired me to bake something today. xoxox
Oh and the roses? Yet another example of Mr. Lovee’s charm. Why can’t more men be like him?
I would have to agree with Michelle on the painting…and I think pretty much with any artist…when it comes to painting, anything is fair game! But I think it is so cool you found a treasure underneath the painting! Yes there is a weirdness about in the Autumn…I get a crazed look in my eyes and want my house to smell like baked apples and cinnamon, cookies and yummy soups! Enticing comfort foods! Mr. Lovee’s a keeper! xo
no way!!! no way….REALLY!!!???
You really found those hidden darlings behind the painting!!??
That’s like some kind of magic moment in a BBC mystery!! I can see it now….Vanessa circa 1930 in her smart tweed suit, stockings and spectator shoes wanders into the attic of the neighboring aristocrat’s towering and Gothic estate (for a chic diner party) only to discover a secret passageway behind the bookcase (I know you have…..I’ve seen it here!) Down the maze of corridors coated in cobwebs she goes…..she catches glimpse of an old painting and grabs it just in time to elude the butler who is come down to the wine cellar to fetch the night’s refreshments for the party of guests…….all this over a lovely soundtrack by Philip Glass!
Yes…..That’s right!! ; )
And those treats all look so lovely!! 🙂
Yes,indeed,why would someone paint over that old photo?The photo is certainly more valuable than this painting.
I like old photos,especially in their original frames.I have an beautiful old photo of my grandmother and it means very much for me and I had published it on my blog.
I just love you and reading of your fanciful adventures. Peeling off a bad bucolic painting and finding an odd couple underneath, making potato latkes for M. Lovee and cookies to. All in one day? Jumping jacks , movies and roses. The REAL kinda fun for sure.
Now I must weigh in on this one!!I’m in TOTAL agreement regarding your butter opinion!!!!! Salted butter is the ONLY way to go, if you are a serious cookie lover. Even adding salt to no salt butter does not work! It is an inferior cookie. No salt butter creates bland cookies. Salt actually brings out the sweetness in sugar, Here are more examples: oatmeal must have salt to taste the sugar, melon w/prosciutto, pears and gorgonzolla.
Ohmigosh. Your blog is like a favorite magazine to me. I am always leaving inspired and always entertanined by the way you think and write. I *heart* you! 🙂
That photo under the mirror is just spooky!! Wow!! I have “haunted” feelings about it just reading about your experience. Maybe some time in the future, it will be less creepy, but in October, it’s just too surreal.
Those latkes look scrumptious!!
I made the apple crisp with your recipe and it has been divine! Drool- I cannot wait to get home to eat some with vanilla ice cream at night. I just substituted Splenda white and brown sugar and tada- sweets for your oversweet friends, aka diabetics. 😀
Mr. Lovee is so smart right now- I’m impressed. 🙂
I’ve been in the baking mood, too so maybe I’ll give the Heath bar cookies a try. The old photo reminds me of one I have of my great-grandma. My daughter always hated it. She thought it was too spooky!
Um… yum. Have you watched Carnivale yet? It’s my favorite. I’m so bummed it was canceled. You should come and help me clean my house so I can make cookies to swoon over.
The photo- spectral, really, but in a good way. I am in a baking sort of mood myself. Banana bread and granola, at least I have the ingredients, let’s see if I follow through and make the stuff!
Maybe someones grandpa dis-inherited them and hence bad blood. Or, the guy in the photo stole the painters girlfriend. Or.. he could be a mass murderer. I love a mystery.
Those cookies look delish and I love the orange/black plates. Perfect!!! I’m baking tonight too. I hope my calzones turn out.. I’ll let you know. 🙂
1) Maybe it was a mother-in-law photo. =) 2) Yep, cooking over here too – not well, but we’re doing it. 3) Why haven’t you married that man?! Does he have a scary looking mom? Blessings… Polly
life is indeed good for you…you deserve every bit of it…now why on eaerth did you start digging at that photo??? who does that…you must have a 6th sense indeed…discoveries a plenty…now you have made me hungry…blessings, rebecca
That’s a little creepy- miraculous and magical yes- but I don’t know if I could live with those people in the photo!
Yummy! we would love to come over and have a yummy cookie to go with our diet cokes!!
blessings,
kari & kijsa
i just adore what you discovered under that painting – its awesome!!! you are so curious about life – peeling perfect paint haha…Miss V -love it!
your house looks fantastique!!
the potato Latkes look good and I too always use salted butter in my baking…unless I can find french butter and thats just so creamy and so good!!
but Im on a summer healthy eating plan so no butter for me at all! but then those cookies sure look good…tempting!
I love this post. Everything about it! AND I LOVE that framed picture you found!! It’s absolutely terrifying! But in the most wonderful way! 🙂
It’s not just you…things are getting weird. Wonderfully weird. I love your new photo and frame. Creepy in the most perfect way!! And, hallelujah for those snippets of goodness in the evenings!
xoxo
a) I love that old portrait! what an amazing find
b) I NEEEEDDDD to make those cookies and latkes
okay, okay…..you cannot….we mean you cannot post those fabulous jewels and not have a way to purchase them….it’s just not fair.
You are so talented….we love them and wish we had them!
smiles, kari and kijsa
Oh, great… so now I’m craving cookies.
You’re hard on my diet. 😀
(and I have a photo of BW with a Fairy Godmother on my site and it reminds me of you, for some reason. 😀 )
spooky picture…yummy latkes…red roses from the lovee man. Wow…and cookies too!
WoW! What a find with the mirror and picture! I could savor a glass of wine and pontificate as to its origin and subjects…
oohhh…! The phood photos are tempting and teasing! And ahhh…Mr. Lovey has SUCH good taste! Enjoy your bliss, dear girl!!
Missed you….glad to be back and can`t wait to catch up with all the posts and lovely stuff
Gypsy
that photo is wonderful, like the start to a book….maybe you should write a book, tell their story…I bet they died of a “fever” but were really poisoned.
(I know, totally morbid but I am a sucker for Victorian melancholy)
Yummy,this is the time of year I really start eating more self-imposed “forbidden fruit”.Can I start with your Heathbar cookies?
I would soooooo be right there with you about the questions as to why those creepy folks were covered up,it should be a ghost story!
SPOOKY!!! But the food sure does look good, I’d keep their faces turned to the wall.
Polly’s funny!
I was just thinking of you Curiosa and wanted to come tell you. Thats all~now get back to creating 🙂
I am commentor #51!!! Why don’t you get a little following? Pleeese don’t tell us to drink grape juice….
We were only talking about an old Joanna Lumley show yesterday called Sapphire and Steel in one of the episodes the photographs became ghosts , now I don’t want to upset you but they weren’t very pleasant ghosts not at all like Caspar. Darn it, now I’ve gone and done it, you’ll never invite us to eat if we spook you!
Oh…October is just the end of the year and we don’t know it because we’re on the Roman calendar…Ohhh…weird people…methinks they painted over them because they are so odd?
OK…the cookies? Made me just want to go out and get ingredients to do my own!!!
i start baking at this time ’cause i makes the house warm! and it smells good too! i have a thing for the oval shape too, but in plates! when we did the floors, i had all these oval plates everywhere! that frame was beautiful! love the red roses…lucky, lucky girl! (when i get flowers, something bad had to happen first!) :O
That frame, that photo! An unbelievable find!
You’re so inspiring Missie! I just adore potato pancakes with sour cream…you just helped me decide on tomorrows dinner…three cheers for Miss V!!! And Mr. Lovee sounds like a real romantic guy!!
Love the antique ‘Spooky’ mirror!!!!
Yikes a ROONie! THat is scaring me all the way down here in the South! Aiiii! ..Yeah haunted is the word! ..and..Why is it that every time I read your blog I get hungry…hmmm..
October has always been a rather odd month for me, too.
see you, g xo
Plenty of crazy fall baking at my home too! Must the colder weather and all the yummy harvest smells 🙂
What a spooky photograph! There’s a story there, to be sure! What a strange feeling it must have been to see those faces emerge out from behind the paint. Have to let us know if you suddenly start having ghostly activity 🙂
I’ve never had latkes, but your dinnerware is beautiful! Love the bistro look and gold and black scheme.
Ohhhh Potatoe Latkes, I haven’t made those in ages, good idea. I think there is something about this season that just grabs me, I have all of these childhood memories rushing back from past October’s! I hope the moon is as full this month as last!!
I need some bliss in my life. But not that picture on the wall. That would make me uneasy, like that boy’s eyes can steal my soul if I look long enough.
Anything potato. I am a potato whore. Bad word, I know. Sorry.
Just catching up on blogs. Love these pots with basil!
Mr.Lovee is good. Getting roses. Keep him. Hang on for dear life!!!!!
xoxoxo
Blue
If you ask me, I think those two people you” released ” from behind that imprisoned paint look SO happy to be out in the REAL world again! They are now your GOOD luck charms and will guard over you and grant your every wish!
Sandra Evertson