Halloween Festivities

What a great Halloween!
We decided to dress up as the Incredibles this year because we wanted our baby to be "Jack Jack" and I had the haircut for the mom right now. We used two red shirts we already owned- a black jacket under Eric's shirt- for the black collar- and a black nylon pinned around my neck for my collar. We bought two pairs of sweat pants at Savers for $8 total- and I borrowed my sisters black boots; Eric used some black socks and his black water shoes for the "boots". We bought the masks at Walgreens for 40 cents each- and cut them down a little, and wore black gloves. We printed the incredibles logo from our computer and duct taped them to our shirts. Jack wore a red onesie with red shorts, and black socks. It was really fun to create and make- and cost $9.20 total for the three of our costumes.

We carved pumpkins earlier this week with the Nichols in our ward. Here are the results- (although we couldn't find our tea lights later- so we never got them lit up besides that night with their candles.)

On the actual Halloween day we started at Eric's workplace where he won the Best Overall costume in his office! (O.k. so only 6 people dressed up and they gave out 4 awards- but still...)

Then we went to a neighborhood carnival that our neighbor Kristen put on- it was so cute and fun. I love people that go to the effort to do things that they weren't asked to do or had to do. They just want it- so they make it happen. Way to go Kristen!



Now for the funniest story of the whole day. I love Eric's cooking and he told me he wanted to concoct something for the chili cookoff, so I didn't make any chili before he got home from work. However on returning from work- he said he was too tired and didn't want to make the chili at that point. Because I have been a former activities chairman- and knew the stress that comes with worrying about running out of chili. I knew I couldn't go to the party without bringing chili. So I consulted google- took a random recipe that used ingredients we already had and made it in 20 minutes. However upon tasting my chili I thought this is not good- so added some brown sugar to it- and let it simmer for 30 more minutes. Tasting it after that I thought- well it's o.k. now- hopefully some people will be able to choke it down if they run out of chili. Well I was hoping for the costume prize (thanks for all of those that crossed their fingers for us.) and so when they announced the chili winners- I didn't even pay attention- and was helping Jonie Hakes eat at that moment- so I didn't hear them announce our name. Eric was across the room, and said Brooke- did you hear that- we won! I thought it was for costumes- so I thought that's great! And then more people started congratulating me- and one person asked what number were you? I said I didn't hear the announcement- did we win 1st 2nd or 3rd for the costumes- and they said- no what number was your chili? What???- we won the chili contest?!? (You have to understand this is a huge contest EVERY year- and I went for the costume contest, my chili was just there in case they ran out) And so there you go- folks- we won the best chili in the cookoff this year. Funny enough- they didn't even give awards for best costumes- so Eric thinks this is God's way of telling us we won the costume contest. Here's the recipe if you wanted to try it- some people said it had a smokey flavor to it- it's from the Bulls Eye I chose to add as my BBQ sauce.

Craigs 3 bean chili
www.recipezaar.com/267939

* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 2 tablespoons chili powder
* 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
* 28 ounces diced tomatoes
* 1/3 cup barbecue sauce (optional)
* 19 ounces kidney beans
* 19 ounces black beans
* 19 ounces chickpeas
* 12 ounces corn
* 1 dash salt
* 1 dash Tabasco sauce

Directions

1. Saute the onion and garlic in oil until the onion becomes translucent, or about 5 minutes.(I just added 1 lb of ground beef here and sauteed the onions with it.)
   
2. Add chili powder, cumin and cayenne and cook for about a minute, being careful not to let the spices burn.
3. Add diced tomatoes and barbeque sauce (if using) and bring to a boil.
4. Add the cans of beans and corn.
5. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, adding salt and tabasco sauce to taste. At this point I added about 1/4-1/2 cup brown sugar. I didn't add the tabasco sauce- because we didn't have any- and I don't like tabasco sauce. Oh- and I also didn't add the chickpeas- who usually has chickpeas on hand?

There you go, award winning chili :0 who would have thought?

And here's a fun family picture from a party we went to last week.