Happy Halloween!

DH realized that we have an unintentional theme to our Halloween costumes this year, Australia. I am supposed to be Miss Fisher, an Australian detective from the 1920s, and Blaze is supposed to be Scrooloose from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, an kid from post-apocolyptic Australia.

We went out to Railroad Square to take some pictures and very short movies of Blaze in his costume yesterday afternoon.









Last night, we went to Wakulla Springs for The Black Lagoon Ball.





It was a free event and ended up being very overcrowded. There was standing room only for the movie. Blaze and I stood in the back of the room for the movie trailers, a cartoon, and the beginning of the movie. DH was standing back by the door and couldn't hear anything because the live music in the lobby was far too loud and didn't stop during the movie. He finally gave up and sat out in the lobby reading. Blaze and I stayed for the whole movie and our perseverance paid off, first when a nice older couple offered Blaze a seat, and then about halfway through the movie some people left and we were able to get seats together.

In the lobby:











The unveiling of the creature head made by Jim Henson studios (not the original, which has been lost, but cast from the original):

Homeschool Halloween

Yesterday was the local homeschool group's Halloween party at the park.  Every year it seems to be a little bigger.



There were so many wonderful costumes:

















Blaze went as the character Scrooloose, one of the children from Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.



There were also three tables full of Halloween snacks and several games for the kids to play.

Blaze volunteered to run a beanbag toss game that was built by the family of one of his friends.










The parade of costumes:




Back at home, I made a jailed pirate carved pumpkin:

Splendid Teapot Racing Florida's First Event

We had a great time at Renninger's Industrial Show over the weekend and the teapot race was a success and very funny to watch.



I really enjoy seeing all the creative ways that people went with the concept of using a remote control chassis and a teapot to build their racers.

Renninger's Antiques and Flea Market were very generous! They had two large tents set up for us and a table. They also donated a trophy for the grand champion.

The grass course was difficult for some of the racers, but really those were the most entertaining to watch.

Another fun, surprise addition to our race was live musical accompaniment. Daniel O'Ryan from the band Clockwork Knotwork played his steampunk electro-bagpipes for us. His large repertoire of songs added a lot to the races. I now think all teapot races need a bagpipe player.

The Ramp of Doom

This is the "Ramp of Doom" as designed by the members of Splendid Teapot Racing New Zealand. It is also the piece of the teapot racing course that I have been most intimidated by. I put off building it as long as I possibly could, in hopes that someone else would take pity on me and build it for me, but race day is quickly approaching. I couldn't procrastinate any longer and it turned out being something I could do. Curves are not easy to create and it's not perfect, but it's a lot better than I imagined it would be a couple weeks ago, when I was suffering from complete lack of confidence.




For the edge of the ramp, I used plastic canvas, held in place with upholstery tacks.

The non-skid surface is sand sprinkled on wet paint and then painted over again.



Being able to fit the ramp in the car is important, so I made it in two parts. The wedge-shaped support piece in the middle has two bolts that run through it, holding the two halves together.



The kids testing the new ramp and having fun with the teapot racer:

Asian Festival

Yesterday was the Asian Festival in downtown Tallahassee. It was our first time going and we didn't get a very early start, but there were still plenty of things to see. The festival covered two city blocks and had two stages and several food vendors.

Splendid Teapot Racing Florida

After building our teapot racer, we needed a place to race it and people to race against, so I started a local chapter of Splendid Teapot Racing USA.

Splendid Teapot Racing Florida took off faster than I ever imagined. We had more than 40 members in less than a week and some were asking where our first race would be. Luckily, I knew of a steampunk event coming up in the not too distant future, Renninger's Steampunk Industrial Show in Mount Dora, Florida on October 17 and 18.  I contacted Renninger's and they were very happy to host our first race.

As a matter of fact, everyone I have spoken to about this race has been very enthusiastic. Renninger's has even offered a prize to the person who has the best race day hat.

So far, we have a venue, two celebrity judges, a couple obstacles, a starting and finish line, judges badges and winners' medals, and a pair of ramps.

Our judges will be Niki Philips, better known as Lady Hawk, from the Game Show Network's show Steampunk'd



and Renate Goodwin, the drummer from the band The Cog is Dead.




















One part of the obstacle course is a series of three to five, tall, brass candle sticks with precariously balanced teacups and saucers on top. The RC teapot racer must weave in and out of the row of candle sticks, preferably without sending any teacups to their doom. So far, I have 4 candle sticks and enough cups and saucers to get us started and have a few back-ups, for the inevitable crashes. I discovered this is a great way to get rid of cups with tiny chips that I had been hesitant to throw away in the past. I knew they'd come in handy someday.



The most recent addition to the obstacle course I'm putting together is "The Chasm of Death".





DH just made this event advertisement for me:

The Enchanted Chocolate Pot

It's #Teapot Tuesday.

The featured teapot today is an unusual thrift store find. The sugar bowl and creamer stack neatly on top of pot, as does a bell. I chose this pot to go with the book Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, because the wooden handle sticking out to the side is often a feature of chocolate pots.



      " 'To be sure,' I said. I took two cucumber sandwiches and one of the macaroons, then  made a show of studying the chocolate pot."
                                  -Cecy


French Macaroons

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1 cup almond flour
3 large egg whites, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup superfine sugar
2 to 3 drops gel food coloring
1/2 teaspoon vanilla, almond or mint extract

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. 
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Sift the powdered sugar and almond flour into a bowl. Discard any almond flour that will not pass through the sifter. 
In a large mixing bowl, at medium speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar, and salt. Increase speed to high and gradually add the superfine sugar. Beat for about 5 minutes. Gently fold the egg mixture into the almond mixture. Add food coloring, if desired. Fold coloring into the batter until an even color is achieved. 1 1/4 inch circle can be drawn onto the parchment paper to assure all the cookies are the same size. Use a 1/4 inch round tip on a pastry bag to pipe the batter onto the circles. Tap the bottom of the baking sheet firmly against the counter a couple times to release any air bubbles. 

Let the cookies sit at room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour, depending  on humidity.


Bake 20 minutes on double baking sheets (one baking sheet on top of another helps protect the cookies from heat).

When cookies are cool, fill with jam, lemon curd, or buttercream frosting. 





Cucumber sandwiches:

1/2 Cup of softened butter (one stick)

3 Tablespoons of finely cut chives

1 English cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced

1 Loaf of thin sliced, white bread

Mix butter and chives in a small bowl. Remove crust from two slices of bread. Spread the butter mixture on one side of one slice of bread and place cucumber slices on the other slice of bread. Place the butter bread, butter side down, on top of the cucumbers and press down lightly. Sandwiches can be cut in two triangles or 4, depending on how dainty you would like them. 



     "For the life of me all I could do was nod and smile  inanely and hold out my cup. 
   She took this for acceptance, and poured me a cup of chocolate from the most beautiful             
   chocolate pot I have ever seen."
                         -Kate



Nutella  Hot Chocolate:

1/2 Cup of Nutella

4 Cups of milk

Place Nutella and one cup of milk in a sauce pan over medium heat. Whisk until Nutella has melted and become completely incorporated into the milk. Add the other three cups of milk and continue stirring until desired heat is reached.