Tis the season

for Cheese balls!

In a cheeseball, I want: not too salty, easy to make, and just a few ingredients including cheddar cheese! I will share with you the recipe I tried out last night. I added a little of this and a little of that and found it's pretty easy to mix it up and add what you like!

Cheddar Cheeseball - YUM!

1 8 oz cream cheese, slightly softened

1 green onion, finely chopped

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

5 strips bacon, crumbled

1/8 tsp garlic, minced or garlic powder

1/2 cup almonds, chopped (I used roasted, salted)

Add first 5 ingredients in a small bowl, mix well. Using your hands shape into a nice round ball then roll in chopped almonds to cover evenly. Refrigerate until ready to eat and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Suffle

Thanksgiving Menu

Growing up, I remember an uncle of mine would bring sweet potato souffle to the table, but honestly I could never get past the combination of sweet potatoes and marshmallows... Fast forwarding several years, I was re-introduced to a slight variation on the dish and really like it! The crunchy brown-sugary nut topping, really sealed the deal. The flavor is very fitting for fall and reminds me somewhat of a crustless pumpkin pie.  In other words, its like getting dessert served with dinner!

This recipe came from another sister-in-law and is the one we chose to use this year.  However, a friend shared her recipe with me and it was almost exactly the same other than the sugar and butter in the souffle itself, were cut by almost a 1/3 and plenty sweet, so it is easy to reduce both and still be tasty!

Sweet Potato Soufflé

3 cups cooked sweet potatoes (boil the same way you would mashed potatoes)

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/2 salt

1 tsp vanilla

1 sugar

-Blend together until creamy.

-Spread into a 9x13 for a thinner Souffle or a 8x8 for a thicker version

Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chopped pecans

4 tbsp butter (softened)

-Combine together to form a crumb-like mixture.  

-Sprinkle on top of souffle and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  

Fried Turkey

Thanksgiving Menu

Fried Turkey anyone?

What would Thanksgiving be like without the turkey? Well, in this case about 4 gallons less of peanut oil.  My brother, a skilled experimenter... (ha ha) decided to show us a thing or two about cooking a turkey in a huge pot of boiling oil.  Of course, to preface the event, he showed us several videos on youtube of what not to do, and since this was his first time frying a turkey AND at my house, I was a little nervous, mostly fearing burns or my house blowing up... BUT everything went well, the turkeys were injected with flavoring before frying and they were amazingly tender.  I have to admit, I think I am a fan.  Would I ever cook one myself? No, I am [chicken], but I will gladly eat the turkey!

Just wanted to show the before and after crispified pictures.

Cheese and Fruit Platter

Thanksgiving Menu

Like most folks out there, we tend to eat an early dinner/late lunch for Thanksgiving.  This year, instead of trying to prepare meals for the kid-os while trying to prepare dinner, I decided to just set out some foods that everyone could snack on while waiting.  Who could resist a tray full of cheese, some good-o-fashioned crackers, refreshing fruits and crunchy veggies?! That's what I thought.  Unfortunately, because of the simplicity of the items, I don't have any recipes to share, just an idea to keep the family/extended family sane and the cook sane while waiting to feast on the feast.

Parkerhouse Rolls

Thanksgiving Menu

I like the turkey, I like the sides, but I LOVE the rolls on Thanksgiving day and they are pretty much what I live off of the remainder of the weekend. YUM! Anyhow, I also admittedly get bored with too much routine and so I like to try a variety of variety of recipes. This year, I tried a variation of parker house rolls. A friend made some over Easter and they were melt-on-your-mouth to die for. However, because I have vouched to not post her family recipes on my website, I have posted the variation I made on Thanksgiving that were equally tasty and awesome the next day served heated up with a slice of cheddar and left over turkey. The original recipe and printable copy can be found here.

Parker House Rolls

Makes 16 rolls

3 cups flour

1 tbsp dry active yeast

3 tbsp sugar

1 1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes

3 tbsp butter

1 cup milk

1 large egg

4 tbsp melted butter (to brush on rolls before baking)

-Gently heat egg and milk together to speed up rising process. In a large mixing bowl, add the remaining ingredients to form a dough. The dough should remain slightly sticky to the touch to  create a moist and and soft dough, so its best to add flour last, incase the full 3 cups aren't necessary to reach desired texture.  

-Knead dough for about 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a moistened towel and place in a warm area to rise about 1 1/2 hours. It will almost double in size and be puffy.

-Punch down dough and divide in half.  Place half of the dough on a lightly greased working surface and flatten to a 4"x 24" rectangle.  Brush a light coat of butter over the surface of the dough.  

-Fold the dough over lengthwise, to about 1/2" of the bottom edge (the bottom will stick out 1/2" past the  folded edge.)

-Cut the dough crosswise into 8- 3"rectangular rolls.

-Repeat process with remaining dough.  

-Place rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Cover the pan and let rolls rise until puffy, but not doubled, about 1 hour.

-Bake at 350 degrees 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush with remaining butter.

Mashed Potatoes

Thanksgiving Menu

There are a handful movies on my own 'must-watch-during-the-Holidays' and While You Were Sleeping is one of them.  It is a sweet, Sandra Bullock classic.  One of my favorite lines from the movie, is when the grandma finds herself among awkward conversation and not quite following what everyone is saying, so instead she repeatedly comments on how, "these mashed potatoes are so creamy." Well, ever since the movie came out, it was a classic quote heard around our own Thanksgiving table and so I try my best to make my mashed potatoes as 'creamy' as possible, along the way I have found a few key ingredients (and a few more calories) really help with the texture.

Creamy Mashed Potatoes

8-10 large russet potatoes, washed, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup milk
4 ounces cream cheese
3/4 cube butter (not cup)
8 ounces sour cream

salt and pepper to taste

-Place potatoes in a large pot and add enough water to completely cover potatoes. Bring potatoes to a boil and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain potatoes and return to pot. Using a hand mixer, combine: milk, cream cheese, butter and sour cream with potatoes.  Beat until smooth, add pepper and salt to taste.  Serve warm.

NOTE: If potatoes seem a little dry or not creamy enough, add a few extra tablespoons of sour cream or cream cheese.

Green Bean Casserole

Thanksgiving Menu

I typically like to eat my vegetables plain, without adding salt, pepper, butter etc... however, there is something nostalgic about comfort foods served at our my Thanksgiving table, and here is one of my favorites, cream soup and all. I think like it because I didn't know such a thing existed until a roommate at college fixed it once, I thought it was an awesome vegetable casserole, only to find that half of the world serves this dish on a regular basis, so if your not impressed or already fix this, feel free to move on,  if not, here is the recipe:

Green Bean Casserole

1 can 10 3/4 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1/8 tsp. black pepper
16 oz frozen cut green beans
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce OR Soy Sauce
1- 1 1/2 cups French Fried Onions

-Mix soup, milk, pepper, and Worcestershire Sauce together. Stir in frozen green beans and half of French Fried Onions, mixing until well coated.  Transfer to a 9x9 inch baking dish and top with remaining French Fried Onions.  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot, removing foil after 20 minutes of baking time.

NOTE: If onions start to brown too much, cover with foil

THANKSGIVING - Turkey Bento Box Lunch

Tom the Turkey Bento

This was a much better Thanksgiving lunch creation than the last.  I used an orange yogurt container and permanent marker to create a pilgrim hat.


Fruit: I also had a 'harvest' of fruit and corn snacks. The fruit is strawberries and grapes. I have cornucopias and corn nuts mixed together also.


Maple leaves: I have fall leaves I made using a mini leave cookie cutter and a S'mores Pop Tart.


Turkey: The main meal was a cheese and meat wrapped tortilla.  I laid meat and cheese open-faced on a tortilla, then cut the tortilla into 4 triangles, rolled up and secured with a decorative pick. I used edible eyes and cut squiggles out of cheese.  The center/beak is a sauce container for dipping the wraps. The cheese body was free-handed (obvious from lack of symmetry.)

This lunch was 'gobbled' up fast!

THANKSGIVING - Bento Box Pilgrim Lunch

Grateful Pilgrims Bento

There are so many things to be grateful for, such as: being able to create a fun lunch for my kids! Okay, maybe some people wouldn't be adding a chore like packing lunches, to their thankful list, but I have fun with it and they are more excited about lunch when it comes in fun shapes, people and sizes.

This was Thanksgiving theme number 1.


Pilgrims: It is made up up cheese and crackers (not pictured because they were boring.) To cut the pilgrims, I use mini gingerbread man/woman cookie cutters and then free-handed the hats.  I colored them in with black edible marker and made skirts using cheese-it crackers with the top corners cut off.


Veggies: I attempted to make corn on the cob with the baby carrots, but hard to tell in the picture. I also have bugles for cornucopias and fruit snacks and coins for 'harvest treasure' treat.


Turkey:The strawberry and lettuce are supposed to resemble a turkey, so if you see it, great if not, no worries that required more creative thinking than it was worth.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

Here is a super simple muffin recipe. So simple, I actually got it from my daughter's preschool teacher who cooked with the kids a few times a month. If 4-year-olds can make them, so can you! I love to make a variety of foods with cranberries when I start seeing them at the grocery store in the fall. I think they are excellent in muffins because I love sweet and tart in combination and cranberries are awesome at fulfilling that request.   It even uses 1/2 whole wheat for a healthier snack or breakfast.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1/4 cup halved, raw cranberries

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup oil

1 cup whole wheat flour (I prefer whole wheat pastry flour, it isn't as dense)

1 cup flour

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup sugar

-Mix cranberries and powdered sugar well and set aside.

-Beat egg, milk, orange juice and oil together. Add whole wheat flour, then sift together and add remaining ingredients. Stir just until blended. Fold in cranberries with as few strokes as possible. Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full. 

-Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Makes 18 muffins

NOTE: There are several variations for this recipe. For example, instead of using orange juice, increase milk from a 1/2 cup to 1 cup and add 1 tsp almond extract. Or top orange cranberry muffins with a sprinkle of semi-sweet chocolate chips before baking.

THANKSGIVING - Cranberry Salad

Everyone has their traditional foods that show up on the Thanksgiving table every year, there will be additional recipes to follow, but one of my all time favorites is Cranberry salad.  It is a creamy, sweet and tart, slightly crunchy fruit salad that puts cranberry sauce and regular fruit salads to shame.  I PROMISE it is worth making/trying at least once and who knows maybe it will become your family favorite too!  

Cranberry Salad

2 packages cranberries (rinsed and sorted)

1 large can crushed pineapple (drained)

1 1/2 cup sugar 

1/2 cup almonds 

2 cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups mini marshmallows

Use blender or food processor to coarsely chop almonds.  Place almonds in a medium-sized salad bowl with a lid. Once cranberries have been cleaned and sorted, place 1/4 of cranberries and  into a blender or food processor until coarsely chopped, then add to almonds.  Repeat with remaining berries (when berries are placed in food processor in smaller batches, they blend more evenly.)

-Add pineapple and sugar to cranberries and almonds, mix well and let set.  

-Meanwhile, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form, add vanilla. Add whipped cream to salad bowl and mix gently.  Stir in marshmallows.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Best chilled overnight. 

-YUM!

THANKSGIVING - Pilgrim Hat

After Halloween, it seems like the next couple of weeks become a 'Dead Zone' where the enthusiasm of dressing up is over, but it is still a little too soon in on too much Christmas excitement.  All too often, I feel like Thanksgiving gets overlooked and is mostly an after thought (except for those hosting the Thanksgiving Feast.) And so, I created a fun treat to bring on the Thanksgiving cheer!

Pilgrim Hats

chocolate cookies or fudge striped cookies
orange frosting
Rolos candy OR Reese's mini peanut butter cups
Mini yellow or orange candy (square Chixlet or round m&m)

To assemble: Flip cookie upside down for a flat top surface.  Attach unwrapped candy with a small amount of frosting in center of cookie.  Pipe frosting around the candy and attach one small yellow or orange candy in the middle front of the hat shape to form a 'buckle.'

THANKSGIVING-Turkey Treats

'Tis the season for turkey, family, darker days and cold weather.  Here was a fast, simple thanksgiving creation that the my girls made together for a neighbor who needed some cheering up.  I actually was on a limited schedule so I cheated and bought Fruity Pebble cereal snack bars, however these can also made at home with fruity pebbles following the same Rice Krispie Treat recipe.  

Turkey Treats

Hershey Kiss

Mini M&M's

frosting (I just picked up a mini orange frosting gel tube)

Rice Krispie Treats

Fruity Pebble Cereal Bars (which come already drizzled with white frosting)

2 sizes heart shaped cookie cutters

Using the small heart cookie cutter, cut out three mini hearts (you might have to use multiple bars.) Using the larger cookie cutter, cut out heart from Rice Krispie Treats.  Use three mini heart cut-outs to form a semi-circle.  Take a larger heart, turn upside down and attach with a small amount of frosting to the smaller hearts to form the look of a feather tail.  Attach an unwrapped Hershey Kiss to the main 'body' of the turkey to form a head. Make two small frosting dots for eyes on the kiss and attach one red mini M&M with frosting near the top of the kiss.

Rice Krispie Treat {Generic} Recipe

1/4 cup butter 

1 package mini marshmallows

1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)

6 cups Rice Krispie Cereal

Over medium low heat, melt butter in a large sauce pan.  Then, add marshmallows.  Stir occasionally until marshmallows melt, then add vanilla and stir well.  Add cereal and mix until mixture is evenly coated.  Press into a buttered cookie sheet to cool.

Pumpkin Bars

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #31

Well, the fun fall food festivities have reached an end, there will be many more comfort foods and favorite to follow, but this marks the 31st post of the fun fall ideas, and the night of Halloween!  Since we had guests over for pizza and trick-or-treating, I decided to make this tasty pumpkin delight.  This is a treat my mom made every fall growing up, or at least it felt that way, and so I have carried out the tradition.  These bars are light and fluffy and topped with a cream cheese, thick glaze-like frosting that pairs well with the pumpkin flavor.

Pumpkin Bars

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1+ cups pumpkin

Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese
2 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp cream
1 tsp vanilla

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together dry ingredients. Add oil, eggs, pumpkin and stir until well blended.  Pour into a jelly roll sheet or 9x13 pan.  Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Mix together frosting by softening cream cheese.  Add butter and and mix until smooth.  Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Spread on top of bars and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Best served chilled. Happy Halloween!

Spider Cupcakes

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #30

I made these to send into my daughter's class for the halloween party. A few other mom's wanted something fun and scary and black, so this is what I came up with.  The little spiders took some time, but they were fun to make.

Spider Cupcakes

1 box cake mix, I used red velvet again, since not all kids like chocolate cake

1 tub black frosting

1/3 cup white frosting

Black licorice sticks

mini oreos

jimmies, sprinkles

Bake cake according to package, making 24 cupcakes.  While baking, cut 1/2 inch pieces of licorice, then cut each piece into 8 strips.  As pictured below.

Next, assemble spiders by separating top and bottom mini Oreo cookies.  I only 1/2 of the cookie because the full cookie was too thick.
-Frost the bottom side of the cookie and attach four licorice strip to each side of cookie to create legs.  Once Oreos all have legs, frost the top and place two colored circles close to the top of the cookie for eyes.
-Cover body with jimmies, I could only find brown, but I think brown added a little color contrast and made the spider stand out a little more.  Once all spiders are assembled and cupcakes are cooled, frost each cupcake with black frosting.
-Heat white frosting in microwave for 15-20 seconds or until lightly melted.  Place frosting in a ziplock bag and snip the end.  Squeeze white frosting into three circles on cupcake as pictured below.

Using a toothpick, start at center of cupcake and pull out toward edge going around cupcake 5-7 times to create a spiderweb look.

Place an assembled spider in the center of each cupcake and have napkins ready, these cupcakes are fun,  but might turn tongues black!

Candy Corn Cake Pops

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- #29

These were a little time consuming, but very cute and they were devoured quickly by my children and our guests.

Candy Corn Cake Pops

1 box cake mix, I used chocolate
1 tub frosting, I also used chocolate
white melting chocolate, or colored melting chips
food gel (if not using colored melting chips)
lollipop sticks

Bake the cake as directed on package.  Once cool, crumble cake mix into a medium mixing bowl.  Add 2/3 of the tub of frosting and mix until well blended.
-Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper. Divide the dough into small circles and roll into a ball, lay the ball onto the cookie sheet and mold to resemble a triangle/ candy corn.  Place cake pops in freezer for at least 1 hour.
-After cake pops have chilled for awhile, prepare melting chocolate.  Most melting chips or coating chocolate comes with directions on package, follow melting directions, starting with orange (or white chocolate that will be dyed orange once fully melted.)  Once chips are melted, add desired amount of food coloring gel.
-Remove cake pops from freezer and holding the top of the triangle, dip the bottom 1/3 of cake pop into orange chocolate.  Quickly dip a small portion of lollipop stick into chocolate also and insert into the bottom of the cake pop.  This will help with stability.  Place back on wax paper to cool.  I tilted mine up against the pan's edge so there wouldn't be a 'flat' look on the back of the cake pop.  Return to freezer as you prepare next melting chips.
-Repeat same melting directions as with the orange layer.  Again remove pops from freeze and holding the stick end of the cake pop, dip the remaining 2/3 in yellow chocolate.  Let set.
-Repeat same process with white, but only covering the last 1/3 (or 1/2 of yellow layer) with white.  Let fully set before serving.

NOTE: It is important to use food coloring gel and not dye because the dye has a high water content and will harden the chocolate instead of keeping it smooth for dipping.

Popcorn Ball Spiders

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- #28

DISCLAIMER:  These are not technically spiders as my 9 1/2 year old informed me because they only have six legs.  Well, A.) I didn't think about that. B.) I had limited pipecleaner and it was late C.) I don't really like to stare at bugs/ insects whatever they might be and D.) I obviously forgot even if my daughter has- and I quote, "known that since kindergarten." I will continue to call these little creatures spiders in this posting, but if it bothers you, you can refer to them as 'bugs' or add 2 more legs.

Popcorn Ball Spiders

1/4 cup butter
1 10.5 oz bag mini marshmallows
1 package orange jell-o mix
3+ quarts popped popcorn (approx. 1/2 cup unpopped kernels)
candy corn
pipe cleaners
google eyes


Sort popped popcorn to remove any unpopped kernels. Place popcorn in a large bowl. Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and lightly spray with oil spray or rub with butter. Set popcorn bowl and cookie sheet aside. In a sauce pan over medium low heat, melt butter, add marshmallows and continue to heat until melted.  Then add dry Jell-o mix and pour over popcorn, stirring until well coated.  Wait a few minutes, then, use water to wet hands or butter to lightly butter hands to keep popcorn mixture from sticking. Then, shape a handful of popcorn into a ball and place on wax paper.  Gently press one candy corn into the center of each popcorn ball, this will become the 'nose' of the spider. Let set at least 1 hour, then wrap in cellophane bag or plastic wrap and tie off end by wrapping 3 (or 4) pieces of pipe cleaner together around the top. Glue on eyes close to candy nose.

NOTE: I used a hot glue gun, but let the glue cool before pressing them onto plastic to prevent melting through the plastic wrap.

ANOTHER NOTE: The kids (and their friends) liked the orange flavoring added to the popcorn, but if you are not interested in flavoring the popcorn, just omit the jell-o.  The recipe is the same as Rice Krispies, only using popcorn instead of cereal.

Eyeball Bento Box Lunch

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- #27

I've Got My Eye on You...Bento Box Lunch. I couldn't resist posting one more fun Halloween bento box lunch. Here I have a ghost (banana, with mini chocolate chip eyes), a strawberry cream cheese bagel with half of a marshmallow on top and finished with a gobstopper center. I used edible markers for the squiggles.  I again, cut a cheese stick into small candy corn shapes, and included a fall trail mix.  And some green monster-like pickles.

Halloween BonBons

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #26

These are a fun SUPER quick treat that can be made right before serving or placed back in freezer until ready to eat.

Halloween BonBons

Vanilla ice cream
Smucker's Orange Creme Magic Shell (ice cream topping)
Sprinkles
Mini cookie scoop or small spoon

Scoop up small round balls of ice cream using the mini cookie scoop.  Place several scoops onto wax paper.  Return to freezer until all other supplies are gathered.  Shake orange creme crackle well and then gently coat each ice cream ball.  Then top with desired sprinkles.  Serve on a polka dot platter, Enjoy!

NOTE: Be quick with the sprinkles as the orange coating will set fast.

Beef Stew and Cornbread Donuts

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #25

This was a fun dinner to share with the kids on a chilly fall evening.  I served up some hearty beef stew and cornbread mini donuts topped with honey butter and sprinkles.

Hearty Beef Stew

1 1/2 lbs stew beef
5-6 large potatoes, unpeeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion, largely diced
4 large carrots, cut into bite-size circles
1 can progresso beef stew (for liquid)
1 can Campbell's condensed tomato soup
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 beef bullion cube, crushed

Mixed together and place into a slow cooker on high, cooking 4-6 hours.

Cornbread Mini Donuts

1 box jiffy muffin mix
1/3 cup milk
2 eggs

Mix together and cook in a mini donut cooker, mini donut pan OR an 8x8 pan. I cooked donuts in a mini donut maker for 4 minutes.  Then, while still slightly warm, top with honey butter and sprinkles.

Honey Butter

1/2 stick butter, softened
1/8 cup honey
1/8 cup marshmallow fluff


Softened butter and whisk until smooth, stir in honey and gently whisk in marshmallow fluff, just until mixed.


Note:  This is the my favorite recipe for honey butter, it comes from Melskitchencafe.com and I like better than adding powdered sugar and it holds together better than butter/honey alone. 

Haunted Houses

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #24

This is a tradition we have been doing for several years now, it seems to extend the fun spreading out the holiday goodies, since there are so many other tasty Christmas delights to make and since Halloween candy is everywhere, it seemed like a good combo.
It is hard to take an appetizing picture of house created with 'love' by my children, but hey, it's not bad and we all had fun.  This was actually a kit for a gingerbread house, but we used halloween themed candy instead.  If you look closely to the right, you can also see a 'headless' horseman (monster-style) my kids were reading The Legend of Sleepy Hallow with me, and they seem to find this 'headless' creature everywhere or create him, whenever possible.  If there is not a gingerbread kit available, try graham crackers and frosting, which is what we usually use.

Halloween Bento Box Lunch

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #23

This year I finally invested in some fun lunch containers and creative forks, picks, cookie cutters etc...to make lunches more fun.  I will eventually post several other bentos ideas, but since this was a fun fall lunch, I wanted to share.

There really is no recipe here, but this is what I used:
-I cut a full tortilla shell with a witch hat cookie cutter, and layered every other layer with either cheese or meat, also cut out with witch hat cutter.  Then, I placed a pick, a twisted one in this case, in the center to hold it together.  I included dipping sauce for the sandwich, my kids are fans of mustard, which I put inside the green container.
-I used a twisted cheese stick to make the bottom of the broom and a twisted pretzel for the broom top.  I used the remaining cheese stick to cut into small circles, then I cut the circles into triangles leaving the orange on the bottom to resemble a candy corn.
-The pumpkin is a hostess sno-ball (curious to see if my kids even it) but it looked cute right?!  Black frosting for the face.
-The monster is just a 1/4 apple, and the top and mouth were carved out with sprinkle eyes.  There are also banana slices underneath.
-The bone picks were put into cherry tomatoes and I diced up an orange bell pepper as well.

ENJOY!

Pumpkin Shortcake

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #22

Ok, lately I haven't been able to branch out much when it comes to fall desserts.  I seem to be stuck on apples and pumpkins, but since this is the only time of year we seem to indulge on desserts containing one or the other, I am sure this is not the last pumpkin recipe to come...so stock up on canned pumpkin and start cooking! I am not ready to break down and make a pumpkin pie yet--I'm saving that for Thanksgiving day! However, something similar sounded good, hence this little creation came about! It sounded easier and still pie-like, but served up as a shortcake dessert.  I topped it with a praline macadamia sauce and whipping cream.

Pumpkin Shortcake

1 box Pepperidge Farms Pastry Puffs

Let frozen pastry puff sheets set at room temperature for 40 minutes.  Then, cut into squares or use a pumpkin cookie cutter and cut out shapes.  Place on stoneware or a parchment covered pan and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.  Cool.

Pumpkin Filling


1 15 ounce can pumpkin
1 Junket tablet-crushed slightly in package (found in pudding/jell-o section at store)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. cloves
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs, beaten slightly

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add all ingredients, except pumpkin.  Cook until mixture starts to bubble and thicken, about 10 minutes, remove from heat, and add pumpkin.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Note:  This is best to make while frozen pastry dough is thawing or 1-2 hours before serving.

Macadamia Nut Praline Sauce

1/2 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup coarsely chopped macadamia nuts

Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally and cook until slightly thickened and cooked down by about 1/3.  Remove from heat, stir in nuts.  If not serving right away, place praline sauce in the refrigerator.  When ready to serve, warm in microwave.

TO SERVE:


Gently pull cooked pastry puffs in half.  Place about 1/4-1/3 cup of filling in each puff, top with caramel sauce and a little whipping cream.  Top with other half of pasty puff and a dollop of whipping cream.  Best served chilled.

Velvet Vampire Bites

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas: Idea #21

I needed to prepare a treat to take to a youth group fall activity so I was looking for something bloody, gory and Halloween-ish yet, tasty... and since kids of all ages seem to have fun with these fake vampire fangs, this is what I came up with...and since I'm sure by this point you are claiming, "I 'vant' to eat this cupcake," here is how I made them!  The cupcake is dense and I added, white chocolate chips to the batter for an extra fun 'bite'!

Velvet Vampire Cupcakes

1box red velvet cake mix
1 box cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix
1/3 cup oil
1 cup water
3 eggs
1 cup white chocolate chips.
1 container cream cheese frosting
1 small red tube of decorating gel

Mix ingredients together.  Fill cupcake liners in pan and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.  Cool then frost (I used a large round tip to form drops, but any style preference will work.)  Then, lightly drizzle red frosting gel on top.  Gently press teeth part way into cupcake.

Spiderweb Cheesecake Brownies

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #20

Chewy, chocolatey brownies with melt-in-your mouth cheesecake on top! Perfect combination. I combined 2 recipes and added a SCARY touch. 


Brownies  (adapted from Melskitchencafe.com) 6 ounces (half bag) semi-sweet chocolate chips


1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs at room temperature
3/4 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt  


Cheesecake topping (from blogchef.com)  


1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9" springform pan (could use any 9 inch pan here) and set aside. 
In a medium saucepan over low heat melt butter and chocolate chips. Stir until chips are completely melted and remove from heat. In the same pot blend in the sugar and vanilla. Add eggs blending fully one at a time. Add the flour and salt and beat for about 2-3 minutes. Spoon 1/2-3/4 cup batter into a small ziploc baggie and set aside. Pour remaining mixture into greased pan.
In a separate bowl beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth. Gently spoon mixture onto brownie batter and spread evenly. 
Now get creative. Cut a slit on the bottom corner of the ziploc bag and pipe one small circle in the very middle of the batter. Continue piping larger circles to the outer edge. Mine looked like this:

Then using a butter knife, start in the middle and pull to the outer edge of the pan. Looking something like this:

Bake for 35-45 minutes, until cheesecake is slightly golden and brownies are set. Cool on rack for 10 minutes and remove spring-form. Let cool on wire rack. Enjoy!

Dunkin' Pumpkin Dippers

31 Fun Food Ideas for Fall- Idea #19

I think that these little pumpkin buckets are SO cute I have been racking my brain trying to find an excuse to use them, and today I found it!  I decided to make a tasty pumpkin dip.  It is light and creamy and super easy.

Pumpkin Dip

1 15 oz can pumpkin
1 package vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice + 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 16 oz carton cool whip

Mix pumpkin, dry pudding powder and spices.  Mix in cool whip.  To prevent a messy situation trying to fit the dip into the pumpkins, I piped them in with a large tip.

Serve with cinnamon graham cracker sticks or apple.

NOTE: If your young {or old} 'Pumpkins' don't like pumpkin, replace pumpkin dip with the following:


ANOTHER NOTE: These pumpkins can be found just about anywhere, but if you have a hard time, check out a drug store like CVS or Walgreens.

Fruit Dip

1 8 oz package softened cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
3-5 tbsp brown sugar (to your liking)
1 7 oz container marshmallow creme
1 16 oz carton cool whip

Blend vanilla and brown sugar with cream cheese, then add marshmallow creme and cool whip, mix just until smooth.  Pipe into pumpkins.

Serve with apples, pears or graham cracker sticks.

Pear Bread

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #18

When I first told a friend of mine about this bread, she laughed and thought I was making it up.  I wish I could claim I made it up, but truth be told, it was probably created by someone who had harvested too many pears and didn't know what to do with them all--Kinda like the origin of so many zucchini recipes...
Anyhow, this recipe actually came from my Aunt Beverly.  Our family makes it every fall and my girls love to eat it with a glass of milk for breakfast or a snack.  It is a SWEET sweet bread and super easy!

Pear Bread

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1+ cups diced, unpeeled pears
cinnamon sugar mixture (1/2 cup granulated sugar mixed with 1 tbsp cinnamon)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix butter, sugar eggs and buttermilk.
*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, fill a 1/4 cup measuring cup with 1/4 tbsp vinegar and then fill the remainder of the measuring cup with regular milk.
-Add soda, nutmeg and salt stir until blended, then add flour.  Once all ingredients are well incorporated, add diced pears.
-Spray pan and sprinkle a thin coat of cinnamon sugar mixture over entire inside of pan.
Pour into a bread pan 3/4 full or mini loaf pan.  Sprinkle another thin coat of cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the top of the bread and bake 40 minutes or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

Witch's Brew 'Stew' And Ghost 'Toast'

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #17

The other day I had this awesome grilled cheese sandwich at a little restaurant that makes all their bread fresh that morning.  It was grilled cheese on an herb Focaccia bread and it was so good I have been craving it ever since.  However, I haven't yet had the time to try my hand at the homemade bread and so this meal was my compromise.  I made herbed butter and spread onto grilled cheese instead, and though it wasn't exactly the same, it was still pretty tasty.

Ghost Toast (aka Grilled Cheese)

Texas toast, or a thick bread (I used a ghost cookie cutter for shapes)
shredded cheese
herbed butter (I used 1/4 cup room temperature salted butter mixed with: 1/2 tsp basil, 1/8 tsp garlic salt, 1/8 tsp oregano, 1/8 tsp parsley and a pinch of rosemary and thyme -My family preferred the butter without rosemary and thyme.)

Heat oven to 450 degrees.  Butter one side of each piece of toast (you will have butter left over.)  Place butter side up in oven and bake 3-4 minutes or until slightly brown.  Remove, flip butter side down and top each half with shredded cheese.  Fresh mozzarella or fontina would melt well, but any cheese will do. Bake for 3-5 additional minutes or until cheese is melted.  Remove from oven and quickly place halves together.

Note: When cutting out shapes, you can save the scraps for homemade croutons, by cutting them in little squares and placing them in a bag until ready to use.  A simply tasty crouton recipe I have used in the past I found here.

Serve as a side with soup.

Witch's Brew 'Stew'

Cook up your favorite soup (my family likes creamy tomato.) Then using a cookie cutter on a thick slice of cheese, regular or kraft singles and any color, cut a hat and two shoes. Gently lay cheese cut-outs on top of soup. I used Chex Mix for the socks effect and circle on hat.

Note: The high heal cookie cutter and can be found at most craft stores in the cake decorating section.

Caramel Apple Cider

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #16

Ohh so delicious, oh so perfect for a chilly afternoon, oh SO starbucks like. This is really fun fall drink.  It seems to go right along with the other 'caramel apple' themed posts, and I'm sure there are more to come.  Caramel + apple = doesn't get much better than this when it comes to tasty fall treats.

Caramel Apple Cider

8 oz. Apple juice (or apple cider with no added flavors i.e. cinnamon)
2 tbsp. Cinnamon Syrup (Vanilla syrup is a close competitor, but the cinnamon is AWESOME in this drink)
Whipping Cream
Caramel Sauce

-Heat apple juice in mug for 1-2 minutes.  Stir in Cinnamon Syrup (I used the DaVinci syrup, a friend of mine that owns a coffee shop, claims they are here favorite. Look for by the coffee section in the grocery store or check out a local coffee shop/specialty grocer.)
-Top with Whipping cream and drizzle with caramel.
-Sit, relax and sip away.

Gourmet Caramel Apples

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea  #15

I think fall, I think apples, I think apples, I think caramel and and itsy-bits of yum sprinkled on top then drizzled with chocolate.  And since this is how I think, every year (usually mid-September because I can't wait to create this fun seasonal treat, ) I whip out a few of these beauties.

{Fancy Shmancy} Caramel Apples

5 regular or 4 large Granny Smith apples
1 bag caramels (I prefer Kraft)
popsicle or wooden sticks
White chocolate
Milk or Dark Chocolate
1/2 teaspoon crisco or oil (per cup of chocolate)


And any combination of the following:
cinnamon and sugar
sprinkles
crushed oreos
toffee bits
mini chocolate chips
chopped nuts (I prefer pecans on apples)
coconut
granola
or any other creative topping you can concoct

It seems like unwrapping each caramel is the longest part of the process, but lucky for me, I bribe my kids by letting them eat one if they unwrap the package! Yeah, I've won a variety of mom-of-the-year medals.  A tall, narrow bowl works best.
-Melt caramel as directed on package in microwave.  While melting, wash, and dry each apple.  I find they dip best if pulled directly from the fridge.  Press popsicle stick into the center of each apple, pressing down 1/3-1/2 way through apple's core.
-Once caramel is melted, let set about 1 minute at room temperature.  Meanwhile, cover a cookie sheet with wax paper and caot WELL with cooking spray.  Dip each apple into caramel, I like to leave just a little apple showing at the top.  Hold apple about caramel bowl for several seconds to allow extra caramel to drip off.  Place on wax paper to set.  Repeat for remaining apples.

NOTE: if you do not want to cover apple in chocolate, but want to still add topping to the apple, roll in toppings while caramel is still soft. The best way to do this is place a layer of toppings on a small, flat pan covered in wax paper and roll back and forth unless well coated.  You want a thick layer of coating crumbs to hold caramel to apple or it will all run off while setting.

-Place caramel covered apples in fridge for at least 1 hour to set before coating in layers.  Melt white chocolate and crisco in microwave on medium power 1 minute.  Stir then heat an additional 30 seconds or until melted.  Let white chocolate just barely start to set before pulling apples from fridge.  Dip each apple in white chocolate and quickly top with either cinnamon and sugar or your favorite additions.  Repeat process for remaining apples.  I usually like to do a variety of flavors.

If you want to get extra creative, melt milk chocolate or colored melting chips, place on ziplock bag, cut a small hole in one corner and drizzle over top of apple. Store in fridge.

Enjoy!

Harry {Scary} Potter Treats

31 Days of Fun Fall Ideas- Idea #14

My oldest daughter could sit and multiply or add or all day, but put a book in front of her and well...let's just say we all need incentives!  After finishing her newest beloved series of fairy books, she wanted something a little more advanced, but that still contained magic, and thus we introduced Harry Potter!  Being the mean mom that I am, I told she had to read the books before she could watch any of the movies, so off reading she went and a few weeks later, this is what we created for movie night... (thanks to another fun blog, she has many more cute Harry Potter ideas as well and her versions are much more colorful, mine were a little last minute.)

When Harry first got on Hogwart's Express, he had money to burn and wanted to try all the new, never before sampled candies he could.  Here are a few of our creations.  

NOTE: There are more ideas to follow, but I only wanted to do a few per book/movie to keep things fun and interesting!

Magical Writing

Alphabet cookies- spell what ever you want!

Acid Pops

Pop Rocks

Lollipops

Karo Syrup (did I just scare everyone away?  If so, use honey, but it won't taste as good)

In a bowl melt 1/4 cup Karo syrup in microwave until hot and runny.  Dip lollipop in syrup covering evenly, but keeping coating thin.  Then roll into Pop rocks and serve relatively soon so 'acid' still pops. 

Licorice Wands

Licorice sticks

1/2 cup chocolate chips (any flavor/color)

1/2 teaspoon oil or crisco

sprinkles (I used silver)

In microwave safe bowl, melt chips and oil on medium power for 1 minute.  Remove and stir.  Return to microwave on medium heat and heat 30 more seconds, then stir.  Repeat until chips are smooth.  Dip top 1/3 of licorice in chocolate mixture, coat with sprinkles and place on wax paper, in fridge, until set.  Serve up with something fun like Ron's rat etc...