Home » Blogs Page

{Katie’s Baby Blog} Painting Pumpkins!

Easily one of the messiest things we’ve ever done with Lily!

But she had fun…so that’s all that matters. We went to buy pumpkins at a local produce stand in New Market and she picked 2 so her and my husband, Tim got to paint the pumpkins while I sat by ready with napkins ready for paint to go flying!

Luckily, Lily was very calm while painting her little pumpkin all different colors. We haven’t done much painting yet; just because it’s so messy and now she’s old enough to know not to try to lick it 😉

She sat quietly and mixed all the colors and painted her entire pumpkin until she was happy with her colorful pumpkin!

Side note- there was paint everywhere….her hair, her face, her arms…but it was worth it, right?! haha.

<3 Katie Ryan

30 Voted Most Iconic Halloween Movies

 

2,000 people voted on the most iconic Halloween movies of all time and these were the results! I personally think Hocus Pocus got gypped….but for the SCARY movie category I guess these make sense!

1.  “Halloween”, 1978, 46%

2.  “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, 1984, 24%

3.  “Scream”, 1996, 22%

4.  “The Exorcist”, 1973, 21%

5.  “Beetlejuice”, 1988, 21%

6.  “Friday the 13th”, 1980, 15%

7.  “Carrie”, 1976, 13%

8.  “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, 1975, 10%

9.  “Child’s Play”, 1988, 9%

10.  “The Shining”, 1980, 7%

11.  “The Conjuring”, 2013, 6%

12.  “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, 1974, 5%

13.  “Psycho”, 1960, 5%

14.  “A Quiet Place”, 2018, 5%

15.  “Night of the Living Dead”, 1968, 5%

16.  “It”, 4%

17.  “The Blair Witch Project”, 1999, 4%

18.  “The Witch”, 2015, 4%

19.  “Saw”, 2004, 4%

20.  “Poltergeist”, 1982, 3%

21.  “Insidious”, 2010, 3%

22.  “Get Out”, 2017, 3%

23.  “Paranormal Activity”, 2007, 3%

24.  “Candyman”, 1992, 3%

25.  “The Sixth Sense”, 1999, 2%

26.  “The Last House on the Left”, 1972, 2%.

27.  “The Babadook”, 2014, 2%

28.  “The Ring”, 2002, 2%.

29.  “It Follows”, 2014, 1%

30.  “Midsommar”, 2019, 1%

MUNDANE MYSTERIES: What Makes A Breakfast “Continental”?

Let’s be honest: the best part about staying in a hotel isn’t the free toiletries or the crisp sheets on comfy beds…it’s the free breakfast. The best place to start your day is at an all-you-can-eat buffet, after all. But what makes a continental breakfast “continental”.

American-style waffles & bagels don’t have anything to do with it. “Continental” breakfasts were actually modeled after the light morning meals common throughout the European continent. Hence, the word “continental.”

As hotels popped up across the country, they began offering a lighter alternative to our usual, heavy American breakfasts, serving up things like coffee, juices, breads, pastries, and fruits. It was a 100% win-win situation for everyone involved: not only did the buffet please European tourists’ palates, but it was also cheap & easily provided by pretty much all hotels.

This wasn’t the kind of meal that we Americans were used to, though. In fact, when hotels first began serving light breakfasts in the late 1800s & early 1900s, American eaters were outraged. They wondered, “Where are the greasy, juicy sausages…along with the copious amounts of eggs?” Thanks to advice from the national publication Harper’s Weekly, though, those thoughts were ultimately banished from American minds (and stomachs). U.S. travelers eventually warmed to the idea, and thus “Continental” breakfasts became the hotel staple we’ve all come to know & love.

Got a Mundane Mystery you’d like solved? Send a message via social media (just search Andy Webb Radio Voice), or shoot an email to [email protected].

{Katie’s Baby Blog} Terrible Twos?!

Lily is getting increasingly rambunctious…lol.

Are the “terrible twos”, starting a month early!? Why can’t it wait to start until after she ACTUALLY turns two?! My sweet little baby that only sometimes got into stuff is now into EVERYTHING. I’m talking about double the amount she was. Have you seen the video of the toddler cooking with his grandma? Yes…that’s her. She would do the exact same thing….maybe I should re-make that video haha.

I’m having to hide and put everything up lately. Thing that she may have never noticed before, now she wants to get down and get into.

AND get this…this girl is SO SMART…she knows how to open all of the child safety locks. I swear she watches us one time and then she can do whatever we just did.

I made the mistake of putting the snack drawer down low. Now every time I turn around in the kitchen she either has the box of goldfish out or her little hand in a bag of M&M’s.

Also…do they ever stop and slow down and just snuggle with you on the couch anymore? She literally loves to just run circles around the room and chase Zoey until they’re both ready for bed. I just sit and watch at this point. I’m too exhausted to try and get her to sit still for a minute. Hey…at least she’s tired by bedtime!

 

<3 Katie Ryan

{Katie’s Kitchen} Honey, Apple, Bacon, Cheddar Grilled Cheese

Brought to you by Catoctin Mountain Orchard.

Looking for a new “fall” spin on your classic grilled cheese sandwich? Well here it is!

Start out by baking bacon in the oven until its crispy!

For this recipe I used sourdough bread and buttered the outsides of each slice. Then, (I did not have this) you can spread apple butter on the inside of half of the slices of bread.

On top of the apple butter, evenly layer the cheeses, apples, and bacon ( I used cheese slices instead of shredded, but shredded melts better). Drizzle honey over top of the apples and sprinkle with fresh thyme. Add the top piece of bread with the buttered side facing up.

If you have a panini press then use that! They will taste even more amazing. I used a pan on the stove with butter and cooked until melted; flipping the sandwich once.

YUM!!!

Ingredients:

  • 8 slices sourdough bread
  • 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  • 4 tablespoons apple butter
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 1 1/2 cups shredded havarti cheese
  • 1 honeycrisp apple, thinly sliced
  • 8 slices cooked bacon
  • honey, for drizzling
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

 

 

Get Paid to Review Fall Scented Candles!

Do you spend 3 hours in the candle aisle when fall rolls around? This is the job for you! Wishlisted.com is looking for someone to smell fall scented candles and review them. Not only do you get to keep the candles you’ve reviewed but you get paid $250 and receive a $50 Starbucks gift card and a cozy blanket. HELLO, A PUMPKIN SPICED DREAM!

The deadline for applications is October 14th, 2020 at 11:59pm EST. If you’ve been selected, They’ll let you know on October 15th or within 7 days of that date. Apply here.

Qualifications include:

  • Must LOVE candles and consider yourself a candle connoisseur!
  • Are fall PSL obsessed
  • Not afraid to share strong opinions (Lookin’ at you Karen!)
  • Can receive deliveries of multiple packages (UPS, Fedex, etc.)
  • Are over 18 years old and a U.S. resident

{Katie’s Baby Blog} Lily’s Favorite Things

Now that Lily is almost 2, she is into a lot of fun new things!

She still loves being outside, but now she loves to play “get me”…her little game like chase. She will say “Mommy, get me!” and then turn and run from me until I “get her” and pick her up and swing her around. So, we love to play that game when she’s not chasing her friends around outside at daycare.

She also loves to read her books herself now. She won’t always let me hold her and read to her, which makes me a little sad sometimes, but I love that she is so into her books. We have a new “potty” book that we started reading so she can start getting used to the idea of using the “big girl potty!”

She’s OBSESSED with Elmo and Abby Cadabby; so every night we watch Sesame Street and have to fast forward to Elmo’s World so she can watch that before she goes to bed. She has all of the characters as stuffed animals (a sweet gift from her Aunt) and she loves to snuggle and play with them. I even got her an Abby Cadabby costume for Halloween! It’s SO CUTE, so when it arrived, I tried to try it on her….nope. She wanted nothing to do with it. So we will see how that goes…

Jumping on and off of things is a new thing she likes to do, too. She tries to scare me and then laughs at me for making a shocked face when she leaps off of our ottoman onto the couch like superman. This girl wants to jump off of everything…I really have to watch her. She likes to jump off the bottom step, off the sidewalk onto the grass, off her climbing equipment in the playroom…pretty much anything. Luckily nothing that’s too high!

<3 Katie Ryan

{Katie’s Kitchen} Halloween Boozy Screamsicle Shake

Brought to you by Catoctin Mountain Orchard.

Getting in the spirit of Halloween? I am! So I decided to try this yummy “boozy” shake recipe as dessert!

Grab your blender and your favorite tall glass!

Start out by dipping the rim of the glass in chocolate sauce, then rolling the sides of the rim in crushed Oreos.

Then, add 1 qt of orange sherbet to the blender, 3/4 cup milk and 8oz of vanilla vodka. Blend on low.

Go back to your glass- drizzle the inside sides of the glass with more chocolate syrup. Then, pour in your shake!

Add whip cream and sprinkles to the top and you’re ready to sip away!!!

Ingredients: I got the recipe here! 

Chocolate sauce

Sprinkles, Orange & black

Whipped cream

6 Oreos
3/4 cup milk
1 qt. orange sherbet 
8oz vanilla vodka
Powered By SoCast