Not Everyone Celebrates Halloween

On October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn California, Europe, Halloween, Photo Challenge3 Comments

We love holidays, especially those where we can decorate the house, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we enjoy Halloween. It seems to have gotten a bad wrap over the past few years and there have even been calls to ban, which makes no sense to us. Perhaps because everyone has been trapped inside for the past seven months, but we’ve noticed many more people decorating for Halloween this year. We have no idea if anyone will allow their children to go door to door to get candy, but if nothing else at least it feels festive.

Someone Walking the Streets of Carlsbad on Halloween

Our Sole Halloween Decoration from Frankfurt

When we moved to Germany a few years ago, we were surprised to find that there were little to no Halloween decorations. In fact, the only one we found to put in our apartment in Frankfurt was a little orange pumpkin with some flowers in them. There was one restaurant that was pretty well decked out and had a special party for the occasion, but that was all that we saw. We know it isn’t as popular in Europe as it in the United States, but considering the traditions started there and were brought to the States, it was a little surprising.

Vineyard Shop Decorated For Halloween in Temecula

Because we usually take a big trip in November, we don’t often travel over Halloween, but a couple of years ago we went to Carlsbad, California. It was fun seeing how the town embraced decorating and there were plenty of Halloween items on display. Even when we took our wine tasting tour in Temecula, we found some of them had decorated for the season. Regardless of what you think of the holiday, we think it is a fun time to divert ourselves from the typical day to day chores.

Another Vineyard Going with the Fall Theme

Sunflowers and Pumpkins at the Farmer’s Market in Carlsbad

Sautéed Shrimp with a Pumpkin-Sage Butter

On October 30, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes3 Comments

During the autumn season, we are always looking for creative ways to use seasonal products such as pumpkin. Mixing butter with pumpkin and sage is a savory way to give flavor to seafood, especially shrimp or scallops. We decided to sauté shrimp with the infused butter and it made for a delicious meal. Not only was it tasty, but it turned the shrimp a nice orange color was perfect for this time of year. The shrimp could be served over rice or even buttered pasta to make it a wonderful meal.

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs Raw Shrimp – medium size, peeled and de-veined
1 stick (8 tbsp) Softened Unsalted Butter
1 1/2 tbsp Unsalted Butter
1/4 cup Canned Pure Pumpkin
1 tbsp Fresh Sage – chopped
1/4 tsp Salt
1 Lemon – cut in half

Instructions

In a bowl or food processor, combine the softened butter, pumpkin, sage, and salt. Whisk or pulse until smooth. Add a 1/2 tablespoon of butter to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/3 of the shrimp to the skillet, making sure that the shrimp aren’t crowded, and cook until pink, about 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin-sage butter and a squeeze of lemon juice. Remove the shrimp from skillet and repeat the steps until all of the shrimp has been cooked. Serve warm or at room temperature with picks.

Pumpkin Cookies – A Taste of Autumn

On September 26, 2018 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Recipes6 Comments

One of our favorite treats for this time of year is pumpkin cookies. They are incredibly delicious as well as easy to make. Unlike a lot of cookies that are dense or hard, these are almost cake-like in texture. We haven’t found anything similar during our travels, so we consider this to be very unique to our family. Because we are not big sweet eaters, we generally share these with all of our friends who are extremely appreciative. We typically double this batch in order to use the full can of pumpkin pie mix, but that makes about six dozen cookies instead the usual three dozen that the recipe makes. They are a traditional drop cookie, so the size of the cookie is completely up to you, but we find that about a heaping tablespoon works best.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups Pumpkin Pie Mix (canned or you can make your own)
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 cup Butterscotch Chips

INSTRUCTIONS

Mix all of the ingredients together ensuring that the flour is completely incorporated. Using a teaspoon or a small ice cream scoop, spoon out the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the cookies on a center rack for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let them cool for a couple of minutes before transferring them to a rack to completely cool. Depending upon the size of the cookies you make, the recipe makes about three dozen cookies.