List of Philadelphia Region Halloween Activity Changes due to Sandy

Listed alphabetically:

Bates Motel at Arasapha Farm
1835 Middletown Road
Glen Mills, PA  19342
(610) 459-0647
http://www.thebatesmotel.com/
@TheBatesMotelPA

CLOSED Sunday 10/28


Eastern State Penitentiary
2027 Fairmount Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Phone: (215) 236-3300
http://easternstate.org

@easternstate

Daytime Prison Tours: CLOSED Monday 10/29 and Tuesday 10/30
Terror Behind the Walls: CLOSED Sunday 10/28 and Tuesday 10/30


Fright Factory
2200 S. Swanson Street 
Philadelphia, PA 19148
(215) 334-4678
http://www.frightfactory.tv/

CLOSED Sunday 10/28 -- will reopen Friday 11/2

Linvilla Orchards
137 W. Knowlton Road
Media, PA 19063

610-876-7116

http://www.linvilla.com/
@ilovethatplace

CLOSED Monday 10/29
Costume Parade: RESCHEDULED for Sunday 11/4


Morris Arboretum

100 East Northwestern Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19118 (215) 247-5777 @morrisarboretum

CLOSED Monday 10/29


Mütter Museum
19 South 22nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
(215) 563-3737
http://www.muttermuseum.org
@MutterMuseum

CLOSED Monday 10/29 and Tuesday 10/30
10/30 Sadoff Lecture: CANCELED


Shady Brook Farm
931 Stony Hill Road
Yardley, PA 19067
215.968.1670
http://shadybrookfarm.com/
@ShadyBrookFarm

PumpkinFest: CLOSED Sunday 10/28
HorrorFest: CLOSED Sunday 10/28
CLOSED Monday 10/29

Apple-Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup: A perfect dish for these brisk autumn nights!

During my hunt for healthy, yet hearty, foods that would also expand my taste palate, I came across a few tasty looking recipes for butternut squash soup. I narrowed it down to one on the sweeter side, provided by Pillsbury. I followed the recipe as closely as possible--since my two "medium" squashes produced a little more than 8 cups of flesh, I upped the apple quantity a little as well. It's delicious! And my boyfriend is already on his third helping. Yes, THIRD.

Apple-Cinnamon Butternut Squash Soup

source: Pillsbury.com

Ingredients 

8 cups cubed seeded peeled butternut squash (2 medium)*
1 large apple, peeled, chopped
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon pepper
3 cups (Fat Free & Low Sodium) chicken broth
3/4 (1%) cup milk
1 container (6 oz) Greek Fat Free plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1. In Dutch oven, mix squash, apple, onion, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and pepper. Add broth. Cover; heat to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat; simmer about 20 minutes or until squash is tender.

1. In blender or food processor, place one-third of mixture. Cover; blend until smooth. Repeat twice to use up remaining soup. Return to Dutch oven, stir in milk and yogurt. Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally, just until heated through. Ladle into bowls; sprinkle with chives.

Expert Tips: When selecting butternut squash, look for those that have hard, tough rinds and are heavy for their size. Peeling the squash will be easier if you first microwave it on High for 3 minutes.Purchase already peeled and cut-up squash if available at your grocery store. If you’re cutting it yourself, a good, swivel-headed vegetable peeler is the tool of choice to make quick work of peeling the squash.

My nutritional info is quite different from the website, perhaps because my batch was slightly larger.

Serving: 1 cup Calories per serving: 106 Total Fat: .03g Cholesterol: 2mg Sodium: 299mg Potassium: 495mg Total Carbs: 25g Fiber: 3.5g Sugars: 10.3g Protein: 3.7g

Vitamin A: 265% Vitamin C: 50% Calcium: 11% Iron: 5.5%

*If you live near a Trader Joe's, check it out for squash. It's the cheapest and best quality squash in the area! (Including a local orchard. I love supporting them, but the price was way too high in comparison this time.)

Single Serve Pumpkin Oatmeal

Listen, I'm not a big oatmeal girl. But I'm willing to get into it for the sake of my health. It gets hard, though, finding a recipe without loosing the healthy aspect of the meal.

This recipe, originally from About.com, fed a family of four. Which not only doesn't exist in this house, but I cook just for this girl. So I took this Pinterest find and adapted it for one.

Pumpkin Oatmeal
adapted from a recipe by Fiona Haynes, About.com 

Yields: 1 serving

Ingredients

1/2 c. Oats

3/4 c. Low fat or Nonfat Milk (I used 1%)

2 tbsp. Pumpkin Puree

10 g. Raisins Don't hate me because I weigh my food.

1 pinch Pumpkin Pie Spice

1 smidgeon Ground Cinnamon

Or do what I did: just sprinkle that shit on top until you're satisfied.

*Also, brown sugar OR sugar-free syrup if needed. I needed a little towards the end.

Directions

Place oatmeal in a microwave safe bowl and stir in milk. Microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE BOWL! I'm not kidding. My oats erupted all over my microwave plate. Which reminds me... I forgot to clean that up. Oops!

After you scrape your oats and milk back into your bowl, stir in the pumpkin puree and spices. Nuke it again for another 40 seconds. (It's totally safe this time.) Once done, stir in the raisons. Add sweetener if you'd like, and EAT THAT SHIT UP. Or struggle through the foreign texture that is oatmeal as I did.

About halfway thru, I added a tiny bit of sugar-free syrup. Made it better without adding nearly any calories, but it's really the mush part that gets me. Perhaps next time I'll add a little bit of chopped pecans on top. Mmm...

My nutrition calculations:

Per recipe/serving : Calories: 275.8, Total Fat: 5g (Sat: 1.6g, Trans: 0g), Cholesterol: 7.5mg, Sodium: 101.3mg, Potassium: 379mg, Total Carbs: 47g (Fiber: 6g, Sugars: 18.3g), Protein: 11.8g

Vitamin A: 82.5%, Vitamin C: 3.6%, Calcium: 24%, Iron: 12.1%

Have any good, healthy oatmeal recipes? Let me know!

How I spent September 1st: the unofficial start to autumn!

September 1st is normally an exciting day, but this year I did it right! I binged on pumpkin.

I started off my morning the only way a proper Halloween gal should: with a batch of tasty & delicious Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes. Addicting, they're so good.

Filled with energy and excitement, I took a trip to my local Wegmans to check out their stock of pumpkin ales. (If you don't know this, Wegmans has one of the best beer gardens. EVER.) And I wasn't disappointed this time, either!


I took notes of all the pumpkin brews they had available then selected my custom 6-pick to take home to taste. Look for blog posts covering each one!

Next stop? A quick coffee date with the boyfriend. While Sept. 4th is the official release date for the Pumpkin Spice Latte at Starbucks, many will serve them starting the first of the month.

I was THRILLED to snag one yesterday--my first of the season! Since I'm livin' life a bit healthier these days, I opted for a Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino Light. If you want the hot version of the beverage, ask for non-fat, no whip. There is no "skinny" version of the drink.

Very little of this was actually planned yesterday; it all revolved around a day full of errands.  I happened to have left over pumpkin pancake batter. I happened to have needed to make a trip to King of Prussia mall yesterday, which just happens to be near the new Wegmans. We made a coffee run prior to getting me some new running shoes, and that particular Starbucks happened to be serving PSLs already.

To complete my day of errand-running, I had to visit our local supermarket, a GIANT Food Store. As we pulled up in the lot to park, a bright patch of orange caught my eye. Rows and rows of pumpkins for sale! SWEET. Any size, just $5. Obviously I had to buy one.

It's such a gorgeous one, isn't it? I'm so excited to dig into it tomorrow and roast up a batch of seeds. My favorite snack! 

Oh, yeah. The reason I went to GIANT in the first place? To stock up on pumpkin puree, of course ;)

Deck Out Your Fridays! Autumn Garland

Autumn garland is always so warm and inviting with its rich reds and oranges and completely natural feel  Purchase some now at great discount from your local craft store or make your own!

Here's a great article on eHow to make nature-centered garland:

A fall garland can be made entirely of the beautiful and natural 

things that you find outdoors like crabapples and colorful leaves.

Instructions:

Things You'll Need:

• Crab apples
• Cranberries
• Waluts
• Silk leaves in fall colors
• Knitting needle
• Large bowl
• Twine
• Fall-colored ribbon

1. 
   
   
   
   
   Step1
   Soak the crab apples and cranberries in a bowl of water for 10 minutes. This will make them easier to thread onto the twine.
2. 
   
   
   
   Step2
   Use the knitting needle to poke holes in all of your garland components. The needle should be large enough that you will be able to string the crab apples, cranberries, nuts and leaves onto the twine. If this proves difficult, then tie the twine to the knitting needle and string everything like you would beads. As the fruits dry, they will tighten around the twine and will not slide around.
3. 
   
   
   
   Step3
   String the garland in any order that you like. Some people like to create patterns, while others simple string randomly. Do not put too many leaves too close together as they will bunch up and it will be hard to tell what they are.
4. 
   
   
   
   Step4
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Fall colors like gold, red and orange make great ribbon accents.
   Tie a large bow on each end of the garland. This will hold everything in place and also will provide a handy way to hang your garland. If you wish, you can also tie smaller bows across the length of the garland.
   
5. 
   
   
   
   Step5
   Use an autumn garland as a sweet, natural decoration for your porch or as a centerpiece for a rustic table. You can also run it along the top of a mantle.
   
   
   

Tips & Warnings

• 
  
  
  
  If you wish to use the garland for more than one season, spray it with a preservative to prevent invading winter guests like mice and squirrels from nibbling on your home decor.
• 
  
  
  
  
  You can go all natural or supplement your garland with other items as you wish.