Category: Shopping

Yer darn right ARRRR!!!

It should be made known, I am a SUCKER for sauces. So, when a sauce uses a halloween flavor in it’s advertising, you know I have to give it a try.

A little while back I spoke of a commercial that brought a smile to my face.

Well, I’ve been seeking this stuff since first seeing that commercial. In fact, the stuff has brought on a bit of a mythic status here at the house with both the boys regularly asking if I had found it yet.

Well, today I did.

Perusing the grocery store shelves in the BBQ sauce section, as become habit, there it was. 4 different flavors of Buccaneer Blends BBQ sauce. I don’t recall them all, because I figured, if you’re buying a BBQ sauce based on a pirate motiff, you really don’t need to look much further than the RUM.

Opening the bottle greeted us with a very sweet aroma, and a spicy/sweet taste. I knew almost immediately, this was a BBQ sauce meant to be used as a marinade/baste rather than one meant to be used as a dip.

So, I pulled out some chicken breasts and set them to marinading. But, I couldn’t call myself a proper Utahn sauce lover if I didn’t at least TRY the stuff in some fry sauce as well.

The Fry sauce…not so great. As I said earlier, this is for cooking, not dipping.

The Chicken, however….

Man this stuff carmalized GREAT, and the sweetness is replaced by a nice, rich, deep flavor as the sauce thickens. YER DARN RIGHT ARRRRRRR!!!!

I’ld wager this stuff would be at it’s best in a slow cook situation. I look forward to meatballs slathered in this stuff placed in the crock pot. ARRRRR!!!!!

No rest for the weary.

After the fun movie night late into Saturday, I was struggling to fall back to sleep after my initial waking at 5AM, and forego the swap meet trip. See, I’ve woken at 4-5 most/all my life, and I don’t even need an alarm clock anymore. I was just getting back down into that state on the verge of sleep when Indy decided it would be most fun to use my toes as a chewtoy.

My cats are used to me being up by 5 as well (after showering), and he wanted to play. So, after dragging me out of bed, and playing fetch with the cat for an hour, I figured I may as well head off to the swap meet as long as I was awake.

It was fortunate I did.

It’s 5 ft ‘wide’. I got no idea how much is left on this roll, other than to say “a lot”.

One can never have enough black cloth laying around, anyway.

Alec also bought a remote control car. This has some history here. Santa brought both the kids remote control cars. However, Alec’s never worked. I think it’s our direct TV receiver jamming the actual remote, because it works sometimes in some places. Anyway, it’s always been a problem that Kyle’s works, and is faster, and etc.

Most kids might think of a remote car and relate it to toy story, or maybe stewart little. Something like that…

Alec? Riding home, he exclaims “Now it will be just like Gizmo!”

“Huh?”

“You remember on Gremlins, when he gets in that car and goes grrrrrr! Rrrrrrrrrr!” driving with is air steering wheel.

I didn’t even know Alec had ever paid attention to Gremlins. But certainly a proud moment.

In other news, we’ve put some work into the banner.

I was considering keeping this under wraps as it will be going to part of a project I’m working on to enter a contest. But, may as well get many enteries into the contest and show them us house decorators deserve more attention. But, more on that later.

The symbol was agreed on by the entire house. I had a small ‘monster handprint’. I always have said, I CAN’T DRAW. But, I copied it to be as large as my own hand. Then, covered my hand in ketchup (hey, it’s what I had, and cleans easier than paint), and slapped it right over top. This gave me a ‘real’ handprint over the monster one.

I then TOTALLY FREEHANDED the result into this larger print on a piece of paper. Taking plenty of measurements to ensure relative scale. Cut out the shapes from the paper, and use it as a template onto what the kids have dubbed “The Bloodcloth”.

The result being this massive print that measures more than 2 ft tall, over 18″ wide.

Then, we had to get it up and flying.

The upright is actually 2 bamboo poles, the top section removable so that I can fiddle with things and throw it back up. It is quite tall…

Adding a skull and some firelight.

I actually left this up today. Just to mess with neighbors a bit.

It’s that time again.

It’s that time again.

Michaels has all their halloween stuff out. Back are the witches bottles, which are rather cute. And the assorted hand crafted signs. And, of course, all that spooky town stuff.

But, Michaels doesn’t stop there, they bring in some decent Gemmy props as well. If those are your thing. Plus all the lighted lawn ornaments and things.

*sigh*

JoAnn’s seems to be focusing on the cutesy market this year. Nicely ornate pumpkins and cute little smiling “scarecrows”.

Meanwhile, Hobby Lobby has a full Christmas section up and running already.

On one hand, I love to see all the Halloween stuff start flowing into the stores. On the other, I can’t recall when the last time I saw something I actually wanted to purchase was. It all is either too silly, costs way too much, or I can build better on my own.

Ah well.

In some site info, I’ve split the links between shopping and other stuff, and added some good descriptions of what you can expect on the other side of the links.

Halloween is in the air.

Summer has only officially begun, and yet, already Halloween is in the air.

Sure, we can look forward to fireworks and rootbeer floats. Lazy days by the pool, kids running through sprinklers, and an explosion of the insect population. Corn on the cobb, tomatoes, homemade salsa…Ah…summer.

However, look carefully, and everywhere is signs of the coming of Halloween.

Stores placing their spring garden statuary on sale. Yes, to some this might actually look like spring…

Cute little cherubs and statues for that nice green garden. Happy wings, faces inviting you to contemplate this miracle as being brought forth through that flower bed…

And yet, when looked at through the darkened glasses of halloween, we see weeping angels, watching, waiting for some passing person to comfort, waiting to be placed atop a proper tombstone, and even spring decorations begin to echo Halloween…

Now, tombstones are really not my ‘thing’ when it comes to halloween. But, a couple with some of these bargain bin angels made to look a part of that stone would simply be both gorgeous and creepy. Almost enough to make me want to make a few ‘halloween stones’ as Alec called them last year. But, I wouldn’t want people thinking I was going all normal on them, now, would I.

I am especially fond of this little angel. A sadness in the expression is only matched by the weathered bronzed finish, giving it an especially melancholy feel perfect for a tombstone.

Then you move on to the summer section. Just in time for the 4th of July, the glow in the dark bracelets are coming out of the woodwork, on sale. Yes…kids love the things to play with on the 4th while waiting for the fireworks. Heck, sometimes they even prefer them TO the fireworks.

Yet, these things disappear from the shelves closer to the time of Trick or Treat. They are perfect for the younger ones, especially when told it’s a ‘magic’ bracelet to ward away anything that might scare them. More than one child has gone through the yard proudly displaying such a ‘magic’ charm, no longer afraid. These are becoming rather more common for treats, though. I may need to begin thinking about another ‘magic’ charm.

If these were not enough, the stores have down right started the Halloween campaign.

Now all that is missing is that special smell in the air that fake pumpkins just cannot replace.

And, even the ads are getting into the act. Another of the ‘not my thing’ decorations. The Halloween version of the Christmas town doodad things.