More North Carolina

This should do it for our North Carolina trip.
We are so thankful to have this great cabin in the mountains to go to. It is absolutely beautiful and it allows us to spend time with our neice and nephew who live up that way. I can't wait to go back.

Here husband is playing some checkers on a chess board with Parker.


Tiny and I went on a hike down our mountain and she enjoyed picking up all of the prettiest rocks for her Aunt Cheryl to carry back up ;)

We did lots of baking while we were there. Lillian is always up to help bake.

Aunt B and Tiny hang out by one of the many fires we had.

Mom and Husband on the porch.


B and Nicole lookin pretty by the fire.


The leaves up there were looking gorgeous.

We saw some pretty pumpkins.


We hiked up the back of our mountain.


Teresa found some giant leaves :)

We did lots of hikes. This one was a 3 mile hike on the Caldwell Fork Trail.

Then we did another - Brittany, Husband and I on Sterling Mountain. It was about 5 miles and uphill the whole way. At the end you reach a fire tower which you can climb for a magnificent view.

Right before we started we came across this guy...


Then we saw a whole group of Elk cross the road in front of us. Very cool. Also they make a sound like a dinosaur...very neat.

Husband and I at the beginning of the hike.

Husband and Brittany.

A log.

Brittany on the way back. This hike was strenuous. It even said so in our book.


Here is the Fire Tower at the end. Brittany and Husband were brave enough to climb it and get these great pictures. Me...I made it to the 2nd story and had to go back down. Pretty good for someone who has a hard time even driving over tall bridges.


The view from the top.


That's all for North Carolina. What a beautiful place though. It's like another world up there.

We are having some great weather in Tampa this weekend. I think I will go enjoy it. Happy weekend everyone.

Cooking with Pumpkin

We have been cooking up a good amount of pumpkin here at the Elmore household.

On Halloween we picked up a couple of pumpkins and we were told about a neat little recipe.
You clean out a pumpkin and fill it with some good stuff. Then you bake the whole thing for an hour or so...and viola...Dinner in a Pumpkin!

The recipe called for ground beef, cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, onion and rice. I changed it up a bit and did half sausage, half ground beef. I used fresh mushrooms and some orzo pasta that I had instead of the rice. I also added some oregano that was gonna go bad if I didn't use it soon and I added some celery for crunch.

You just cook all that up and pour it into a cleaned out pumpkin.


Put the top on and bake for 1-2 hours, I think at 350. Poke it with a knife before you take it out to make sure it is tender.

And serve!
I have to say, If I were to do this again, I would make if for guests in their own smaller pumpkins and I would serve it with a salad of some sort. This recipe was very good and would be especially delicious on a chilly night.



Soooooo I then decided to clean out the inside of that pumpkin real well and use the rest of the pumpkin for other treats. First up - Pumpkin Waffles.

I made these for breakfast and they were very very tasty. Also our house smelled so good for a long time afterward ;)
I got this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Thank you!
One thing I did different was I used heavy cream instead of buttermilk because that's what I had. It worked out just fine.


First mix the dry ingredients.

Then the wet.
Then add the dry to the wet.

Mix it until smooth and then add your fluffy egg whites.
Fold them in.
Pour the mixture into your awesome waffle maker that you got for $4 at a thrift store...
and there you have it. A super tasty breakfast.

And a happy husband :)


Lots more pumpkin left so lots more treats to come!

October in North Carolina

Wow where have I been?

Well, first I was in North Carolina visiting my cute niece and nephew and then it took me another whole week to go through all 800 pictures I took while I was there!
So here is my first post on our trip. I will have to do at least one other ;)


Parker and Lillian decorate the windows of the cabin for Halloween. Thanks Mother-in-law for the decals!



Tiny and I gathered acorns.


The kids had lots of activities to do...including painting their own bird house. (The paint was not washable, thus the garbage bags)




Husband helped Parker with the BB gun.



We carved pumpkins.



I love Lillian's pumpkin face.


Husband's pumpkin won the prize for scariest.


We built lots of fires.



We watched the sunset...

And the moon rise.

Goodnight.

Causeway Ride

Last night Husband and I went for a bike ride on the causeway - Courtney Campbell that is.
It was a nice ride with a beautiful sunset.



This is the bridge I go over to get to work.


Tampa in the background.






Happy Tuesday :)