Rachael Eliker's Blog, page 86

Favorite Season

Curious about  my leaf.Autumn is currently my favorite season. Here's why:  Halloween (of course).  There's still the occasional warm day to wash the dog outdoors. Despite the many hours of long, hard work sampling and harvesting corn when I worked, I still love watching a field being harvested. Bounty of the earth right in my backyard.
The changing leaves in Indiana are gorgeous. It's finally time to snuggle up in blankets (and keep warm by fire, which I can now produce!). When we h...

Bookworm for Kids: Review of Headed for the Win

Headed for the Win has been out for a few months now and though it hasn't hit the New York Times Bestseller list (YET), it's been doing really well for a debut, self-published YA book about horses (I measure success by how much hay or how many gallons of paint I could buy with royalties--I'll just say several rooms could be painted and all of Stoney and Dancer's hay have be taken care of with the proceeds. Awesome, in my opinion!).

It's been a thrill reading people's reviews of the book a...

Painting Addict

At least the color I chose doesn't look any worse than the color that was there...Hi. I'm Rachael and I'm a painting addict. Could you live with a pine colored walls and mustard countertops? Well, one of the problems is solved...There. I finally admitted it to myself. Once I get started on a project, it's terribly difficult for me to stop. This week, it's been the kitchen. Though for now, the countertops are still their retro mustard yellow, something had to be done about the oppressive green...

Croissants: First Attempt

They were actually pretty good! I think I could make them better though.One of the goals I've had on my list, more for fun than personal improvement, was to make authentic croissants. It was all going well until I discovered I'd misread the recipe and added seven cups of milk instead of seven tablespoons. Oops. I corrected it as best as I could and mercifully, they turned out pretty well despite my mistake. I think I'll give it another try before I share a recipe...

Amy Silva Photography

Les Soeurs.I am trying to be better about documenting our growing family by having photographs taken professionally at least once a year. We had a quick session with a friend of Jack's sister when we were home for the Fourth of July but I was hoping to get a few more in-depth photos that really captured our family's personality.
We were fortunate to have Amy Silva, a new friend from church who recently moved to the area, take family portraits for us. She's got an eye for lighting, background a...

This Is Halloween

October seemed to fly by and culminated with a fantastic Halloween. Sure, it was cold, windy and sleeting but thankfully, I have enough midwest Halloweens under my belt that I know that chances are, costumes are paired with coats.
The finished product!Now that our girls are getting old enough to really enjoy Halloween, we've begun some traditions of our own. Of course, we always carve pumpkins, this year enjoying warm enough weather to carve them out on the deck (although we miss going to the...

Easy Felt Halloween Shirts

I told them I'd give them candy if they smiled for the camera. It worked! ;)Here's a quick, adorable Halloween (or really, any day, any holiday) craft that is simple enough kids can help. Individualize basic silhouettes with puff paint, ribbon, contrasting thread, etc. And when Halloween's over, you can rip out the seam, save the decorations and re-sew them onto a larger shirt next year! Kate's girly ghost.You'll Need:
1 plain t-shirtFeltSharpieScissorsThreadHot glue, puff paint, craft crystals...

Cheddar and Pepper Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Built in veggies!Long name, but it's delicious and deceptively easy to make!Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts1/4 cup Italian dressing1 red bell pepper, cut into strips1/2 cup cheddar cheeseAbout 6 strips baconSalt and pepper to taste
Marinate the chicken in the Italian dressing overnight (or at least two hours). Preheat the oven to 350F. Butterfly cut the chicken (cut in half but not all the way through). Season the inside of the chicken with salt and pepper. Lay pepper strips flat on chicken then...

White Chicken Chili

Yesterday was our church's annual Chili Cook Off. While I love my mom's chili recipe (with a side of pay-the-dentist cinnamon rolls, of course), I decided to try something different this year. A friend shared a white chicken chili recipe and I used it and ended up with the 2nd best chili (first place was also a white chicken chili--I'll have to ask what her secret is!)! While I won't claim this as a particularly healthy soup, it's delicious and perfect for crisp autumn evenings.

Ingredien...

DIY Sparkly Witch Broom

It's no secret that the girls and I love Halloween and since we outnumber Jack four to one, every decoration we make has to have a little flare. My sister sent some cute signs which I proudly displayed outside. That night, we made our very own witch broom to park in between. They're really simple to make and with a few beads or crystals glued on to add a little sparkle, any witch would love to be seen riding one. Kids can help if you're cautious and most of the materials are easy to find (it...