Peppered Thought – The Spice of Life

I don’t remember how I found this Bunny Manual link, but with the Playboy Club TV show premiering last Monday (I didn’t watch it because I was too busy watching 2 Broke Girls), I thought I’d give you some more background bunny stuff I had floating around.

This manual has all the rules, gold star, and demerit info a young bunny would want or need to know about when starting out at a Playboy Club.

To read the whole manual, check out the ex playboy bunny site here.

the Bunny Dip is a back-breaking workout.

I decided for the sake of this article, I’d give the show a chance and watch it on the nbc site. I was not disappointed, and David Krumholtz is in it, so it can’t be bad. I’m not going to say I like it yet, since I’ve only seen one episode, but I am going to say I will definitely be watching the next episode. Plus, can I just pause and talk about how ridiculously perfect everyone’s hair is? I would kill to be coiffed like that everyday.

The harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox. For most, it signals the beginning of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, so who wouldn’t want to celebrate it?!

Here is my idea sketch board for a Harvest Moon-themed fall party.

• A photo (or drawing) of a Harvest Moon made into a postcard as an invitation. I used this one as my invitation inspiration.

• chalkboard placemats with menu written on it

• fall flower/vegetable centerpiece of sunflower and artichoke with stem intact in vase with autumn ribbon

• apple fondue (yogurt, caramel, chocolate)

• burlap or kraft paper bunting

• bone colored linen napkins with bamboo plates

• individual pies or pies on sticks or pie smoothies from A Beautiful Mess

• hard or non-alcoholic cider and hot toddies

• PUMPKIN BEERS. Thank goodness for seasonal beers. Pumpkin beers are surprisingly tasty.

• I topped off my picture with my orange striped canvas tablecloth (DIY later!)

• Use pumpkins as candle holders. Either carve them out like jack-o-lanterns, or just enough to make space for a taper candle!

I have been staring at Google images of avocados off and on all summer. I just have to share some avocado-love or I might eat my laptop.

Raise your hand if you love avocado! (Both of my hands are raised … I love it that much.)

I only very recently found out I am a DIE-hard avocado fan. I don’t know what was wrong with me the first 24 years of my life. But the last 3, with avocados in it, have been much richer indeed.

Beautiful, healthy, creamy avocado is a fabulous food that is delicious when made into guacamole and just as tasty when served sliced on salad or chopped in a wrap. It’s also a great offset for spiciness in chili. It’s a great alternative to mayo on a sandwich. But even alone it is divine, and perfectly filling.

So many choices it seems almost overwhelming…let’s start simple.

Avocado salad. I’m not talking about avocado in a salad but rather a salad served inside an avocado … so you scoop up a bit of avocado and a bit of salad in every bite. For an easy “Stuffed” avocado salad, cut your avocado in half and remove the pit. Then, toss a simple salad of hardboiled egg, red pepper, cucumber, olives and parmesan cheese. You can add a tiny taste of Caesar dressing, but really, it’s not necessary. Then it’s all stuffed into the avocado, used as a bowl, and eaten directly out of the shell.

Pretty darn good. Really. The Caesar dressing adds just enough acid to the dish while the creamy avocado and egg complement each other nicely. The olives lend a touch of saltiness and the cucumber and red pepper bring the crunch.

You can also try this amazing recipe for avocado pops from A Cup of Jo.

But one of my favorite things I have found for avocado is even easier than that: adding it to scrambled eggs and cheese. Makes it taste creamier AND helps make you feel fuller faster!

There might be too much cheese in there. Maybe.

There are a few other uses for avocado, if you’re not as keen on eating it as me.

It makes a great hair conditioner, you can use it instead of mayo but the rich fats help smooth hair.

You can use it as an anti-wrinkle smoothing mask: Grab an avocado + 5 drops of almond oil. Mix them into a a nice paste and apply it all over face and neck. Leave it for 20 minutes, then wash it off with water.

You can find a lot more recipes and ideas on the official avocado website.

And, if people are questioning your new love, show them avocado’s wikipedia page and how super this super food really is.

Let’s see, this week:

I had what started as a girls night dinner with family ladies, then my brother came and we got to take cute pics of him and the baby. Matching stank faces!

Got two letters in the mail this week, one including stationery from the 70s! I say that’s a postal win.

Chilled with my sis and niece.

Celebrated National Smores Day with a trifle concoction.

Not pictured:

• Made a date to have lunch with one of my favorite people in the world

• Dyed my hair. NBD just black. As The Beau said “that’s a good summer color.” *shrug*

I also tried unsuccessfully to convince The Beau to make a stout cake – maybe next week. But he did make me this Strawberry Experiment – strawberry frozen yogurt, strawberry Pop Tarts and strawberry syrup. With whipped cream. I was in heaven.