Karie Herring, Author at The Five Fish

October 16, 2011December 30, 2014

Pumpkin Decorating Ideas

Kids and parents want more flair with their pumpkins and why not? Halloween is but one day, once a year, and who doesn’t like to play dress up. Dress up your pumpkin, our pumpkins should be much the same as dress Â up.Â Fall is upon us, well if you live anywhere but Phoenix Arizona where we still crest into the high 90s and we are all begging for cool weather to wear some fashionable boots. Oh I digress. With Halloween not that far off, the kids are all anxious to start cutting into pumpkins and today’s pumpkin is not the pumpkin of yesteryear with the traditional triangle cut eyes and triangle cut scary mouth.

halloween, pumpkin decorating, pumpkins What I like to do is find out what the kids want for their pumpkin picture, whether the picture is of a witch on a broom, swirls, or any other picture of choice, print that picture and tape it to your pumpkin.

From there you can carve out the picture simply by stabbing the lines with a sharp paring knife or you can use a push pin and tap all along the lines so it dots out the picture on the outside of your pumpkin. After you have traced out the picture on the pumpkin the carving can begin. Cut off the top to create a lid like a standard pumpkin carving, scrape out the innards, saving the seeds if you so desire for a great fall snack and then begin cutting out your creation.

Place a small tea light candle inside and you are ready to showcase your creation and your pumpkin for all your trick or treater’s or as a party display. Don’t be afraid to dress up your pumpkin, choose something creative or out of the ordinary. Pumpkin decorating ideas can be found all over the internet and Pinterest.

October 16, 2011October 23, 2011

Cinema Twin – New Music

Are you up for some new sounds? Tired of the same old like Nickelback, The Fray, and sounds of the radio that all seem to blend together? Why not check out some new sounds from Cinema Twin. When I first heard this group the sound that came to mind was The Smith’s of the 80s and even The Cure, timeless, upbeat makes you want to move music. Needless to say they have a great beat and sound and my kids danced to the great sound of C’Mon Today.

So come on and take a listen and enjoy this great band.

C’mon Today by thecinematwin

October 10, 2011April 22, 2018

Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe

Fall is most definitely one of my favorite seasons of the year. The weather is fantastic. The mornings are rich with a cool bite of the season, the smell isÂ unmistakableÂ from summer into fall. You can almost compare the scent of fall to that first bite into an apple; crisp, juicy from the dew of the morning, bitter and then sweet with a smoothing you can feel all over your body. Continue reading “Pumpkin Pancakes Recipe”

October 9, 2011October 23, 2011

A Kids Point of View – Week 1

This will be a post every Monday to jump start the week. I was inspired to do this weekly post when I found that my kids had gotten hold of our Sony Cybershot Camera and needless to say there are some very incriminating, informative, and even down right hilarious and frightening photos that my children have captured. I hope you will enjoy these brief moments in time, captured by my children when they thought no one was looking.

In honor of Halloween this month these will be some spooky and even frightening photos. Enjoy!

Kid Shots — Frightening Photo of Neighbor Friend Dropping a Deuce in Our Bathroom

Your photographers are:

Grant – eight years old

Seth and Sara – three and a half years old.

September 29, 2011October 6, 2014

E-Readers

Comparing e-book readers is much like comparing Ford to Chevy, apples to pears, cake and pie. While they are of the same family one simply is not better than the other. Each will provide features unique and individual to the other which may be more appealing based on the level of marketing generated to that market sect.

Personally I had no concept of the total number of e-book readers available on the market. Furthermore I was not aware that the iPad was even considered in this category due to it’s high functionality, minus the Flash issues that I will not digress into. But currently on the market over half dozen e-book readers are available including the new Kindle and each has their own options and or up-sell for the consumer. As a consumer I may not always be looking for the up-sell so I am looking for a product that will be functional, sturdy, and has a level of quality.

Not all e-readers are made the same and requires a bit of investigation. For example battery life. My hard or paperback book has an unlimited battery life, so if I am to invest in an e-reader that will take the place of my bounded pleasure of textual enjoyment, please be sure not to die on me in the climax of the book. Another key product consideration is the back light, if any, and the screen coloration. If an e-reader carries a screen like a computer this may not be so conducive for nighttime reading and may be harsh for my eyes, additionally I would not want an e-reader that is so dim I can only read during the day light hours. Functionality, will the functioning of the e-reader be more of a tablet much like the iPad or will it operate in a way that I no longer have to dog ear the page I was once at when I dozed off.

Whatever the case may be considering the most reliable and or functional e-reader is one that requires weighing the pros and cons before running off to purchase based on brand name and or familiarity. Consider and determine the pros and cons of each product along with price, maybe reach out to friends and or family for feedback, then purchase based on your educated information rather than the marketable influence.

September 28, 2011December 30, 2014

Why is my Poo Green

Why is my poo green? Or tan? Or dark brown? And why in the name of everything that is holy and divine are we discussing the topic of shit. Seriously, poo, dookie, shit, turds, pellets, and the like are mentioned in my home more than I care to divulge. Maybe some weird prerequisite of being a parent to collectively talk shit as a family. Now I mean literally, talking shit. After all the talk I feel like I need to light a match.

For some odd reason though ~~my husband~~ parents are concerned about the health and nature of their children’s deuce. Honestly, I don’t give a shit about shit, if it comes out without issue, SCORE! However, my household in particular, and this spans many generations I have found after a lenghty commentary with my now senior mother and her more than senior parents about the discussion of the “number two.” I digress, so yes the parental concern about the movement.

Bowel movements are a way to excrete the waste but for parents its all about the science I suppose, dissecting the shape, apparent texture as it floats in the porcelain, and of course like any good gem; cut, color, and clarity. But let’s focus on the color since green poo seems to be the odd misnomer of shit in my house. Green poo in my house would mean calling our poor neighbor who is a PA and asking him his professional opinion, at which time I crack open a beer for him out of the pity to listening to concerns regarding a young child’s fecal matter that resembles the off color of seaweed.

You see as a mom we look stupid on the outside. Oddly we are fucking cerebral ninjas, fully aware of the happenings and goings on, zen with our home and child. We know that the green poo was generated by the injestion of some fruity colored pebble breakfast meal, fruity colored O’s meal, Jello of the odd color,Â PopsicleÂ maybe, and or an entire bag of gummie bears or combination of all the above.

Shit you not. Pun totally intended.

Green poo has been proven to be the result of the god damn marketing of rainbow colored, sugary goodness. If you don’t believe me….try it yourself. $10 says you will be checking out your next dump.

September 19, 2011April 25, 2018

Breakfast Pizza Recipe

Sunday mornings are my time to give the man of the house a break and I whip up some of my culinary favorites in the morning for the family. Albeit egg nog french toast or pumpkin pancakes for the coming of fall, but lately we have tickled our taste buds for a bit more of the boring meets eccentric type of cuisine.

A little cafe by my office serves up a WICKED breakfast pizza, it is all sorts of unhealthy with garlic, olive oil, bacon, you name it and this breakfast pizza is topped with the heart stopping additives. While I wanted to copy this recipe of sorts I did not want to steal their thunder nor the replica of the food, I wanted to put a Herring organic spin. Of which I did!

Half dozen organic flour tortillas (super easy to make with organic flour too!)

Morning Star Vegan Sausage

Diced/cubed ham

(yes this is available in organic, you have to hunt for it)

Six Eggs, scrambled

(I add a touch of water while scrambling to make these babies extra fluffy)

Shredded Cheese (to taste)

On a large baking sheet or baking stone, place tortillas flat, topping with the above and add cheese to taste. You can mix up the ingredients and add bacon and or pork sausage, we went for a lower calorie and I love Morning Star sausage due to the vegan component for my kids. Place in oven at 350 degrees until the cheese melts to be sure not to overcook the eggs and meat and serve. My kids loved this new spin on pizza and breakfast.

September 17, 2011October 6, 2014

Broken Crayons Recycled

What to do with broken crayons? Our family is a waste not, want not type. More so the waste not because why throw out something that can be repaired or recycled. In our case we have about a gazillion broken crayons due to toddlers and children’s hands and who knows the reason why crayons break, but it happens. Unfortunately though these broken crayons became intertwined with those that are whole creating a crayon nightmare for my OCD. My project became how to reuse or what to do with broken crayons.

So one day I decided to embark on the great crayon rescue and clean up project. My kids have the Crayola crayon maker and to be honest I think it sucks, we used it and I was not impressed. I am glad I did not spend a great deal on it for Christmas one year, so that will be a yard sale item, and I suggest you do the same by not investing in this purchase. I digress. Any how, we sifted and sorted through the thousands of colors and crayons we have, removed the paper wrapping, and tossed into a bowl to break into smaller chunks.

When I saw that the Crayola contraption was lacking in effectiveness I resorted to creativity and ease. Here is how you can make your own cool shaped crayons at home here is all your need:

Non-stick or silicone muffin tin

I have these great silicone muffin tins from Wilton’s that I used for this project and created some really rad looking crayons for my three and a half year old twins and eight year old son that are great for them to grab onto with their little paws, are sturdy, and they are funky shaped and fun.

So I tossed in similar color family colors of crayons into each deposit spot and placed in the oven at about 250 degrees for roughly 20 minutes and watched them melt into the molds. I checked on them to ensure the wax did not bubble or boil as not to break down the way and mix the colors into an oblivion or brown and pure ugliness. Here is the end result and the kids love their new crayons and they are some fun, funky, sturdy crayons that are wonders for their imaginative coloring creations. broken crayons, recycled crayons, make new crayons

September 12, 2011October 27, 2019

Chicken Herbs de Provence Recipe

How do you make wicked good chicken without over salting, over seasoning, and or losing flavor? Our favorite seasoning for chicken is an Herbs de Provence recipe that is sure to be a favorite, on or off the grill. Some times the best seasoning is the least amount of seasoning. Let me tell you that the barbecue grill is not only the key to fabulous chicken, but it is an energy saver where you are not slaving over a hot stove. Continue reading “Chicken Herbs de Provence Recipe”

September 11, 2011October 6, 2014

How to avoid food poisoning

So this last week I was sent to Atlanta, Georgia for work.

You can see the details and ME here.

But what I can tell you is how you can avoid food poisoning which is by avoiding the famed Taco Mac restaurant. Curse you Taco Mac and your 130 beers on tap and your buffalo wings. But those cursed wings are what made me ill. Next time I am in Atlanta, I will be avoiding Taco Mac, sad….they were so good going down.