Ghost Suckers!
Head over to 18 twenty five and learn the ghost sucker secret Recipe for Fun.
Boo! Don’t let these pretzel stick ghosts frighten you, they’re really not that difficult to make. Kitchen Daily shares the tricks for this great cook together with the kiddos.
We think Brownie S’mores look frightfully good, don’t you? Home is Where the Boat Is shares this and other Halloween ideas sure to please your “Peeps”.
If we haven’t scared you yet, this might!
Join us Saturday, October 13th
from 1P.M. – 3P.M.
Hop on your brooms and fly in for
fun games, prizes, hot cider and treats.
Register to win a eco-friendly car!
All children 8 years old and younger dressed in a costume
will receive a FREE prize!
Bring in a child size Halloween costume to swap
and take home a “new to you” one.
Start bringing in your costumes now and receive
10% OFF*
your purchase.
Any left over costumes will be donated to St. Joseph’s Home for Children.
Bonus: now through October 31st
all Melissa & Doug Toys are 20% OFF*.
*Not valid on prior purchases, with gift cards or other offers.
Perk up and celebrate National Coffee Day 2012!
Why not enjoy a cuppa Jo with the girls?
If it’s espresso for your daily dose, this fashion forward single shot pretend espresso machine offers an early start.
Your career may dictate whether you’re more likely to need that coffee fix during the day. A Dunkin’ Donuts/Career Builder survey indicates that the top 10 professions most likely to “need” coffee to get through the workday are:
For any of you who may be a bit challenged when ordering your coffee, here is a glossary of terms from the Barista Guide:
Americano: Espresso diluted with hot water to roughly the consistency of drip coffee. Similar to drip, but with more complexity, and the benefits of the espresso’s crema.
Cappuccino: 1/3 Espresso (2oz.) 1/3 Milk (2oz.) 1/3 soft microfoam (2oz.) This drink is always free-poured, and never spooned. If your coffee house spoons their foam, find a new shop. Sometimes topped with Cinnamon or Chocolate powder, but left alone for the purists.
Chai: A spiced Indian tea beverage with varying ingredients, but usually including ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, sugar, milk, and, of course, Tea. There are many variations of this list of ingredients, but most will contain at least this, if not anise or fennel, or maybe even black peppercorns. Pronounced “CHigh”
Cuppa: Short for “cup-of-coffee”
Cappa: (or Cappu) Short for “cappuccino”.
Espresso: A ~1oz (single) or ~2oz (double) beverage created by a high pressure extraction at ~9bar pressure from ~8 (single) or ~15 grams (double) of fine, evenly ground coffee, evenly distributed and compacted into what is known as a puck. The Espresso has three major parts to its anatomy. The Crema, the Body, and the Heart. If your coffee house’s espresso lacks Crema, it’s time to find a new shop.
Flat White: Usually ~6oz. In all. Similar to a cappuccino, but with latte proportions of foam.
Frappe: Common terminology for an iced, blended beverage. Often containing coffee. Starbucks has a well-known rendition of their own known as a Frappuccino Blended Coffee (or Frappuccino Blended Crème, depending on the recipe)
Iced Coffee: Just like it sounds. Coffee, cold, and on the rocks.
Latte: A little bit of espresso and a lot of milk, with a thin cap of foam. Generally anything 10oz. And up. Flavorings may be added to form flavored lattes. (i.e.- vanilla latte, hazelnut latte, etc..). Milk may be substituted with Soy milk for a Soy Latte. A latte made with nonfat (or skim) milk is often known as a Skinny Latte.
Latte Macchiato: A latte made by pouring the espresso in last, on top of the milk and foam.
Macchiato: Macchiato is an Italian word meaning “to mark” or “to stain”. A Macchiato is a single or double shot of espresso, marked with a bit of foam or frothed milk, usually with close to equal portions espresso and foam or frothed milk.
Mocha: Named for the drink made popular by Portuguese traders at the port of Mocha, it’s a drink made with chocolate, espresso, steamed (sometimes frothed) milk, and topped with whipped cream.
So, what is a Grande in a Venti cup soy upside down caramel macchianto with five shots of extra caramel? Ooops add whip to that and a double sleeve please.
For a full pot of Java if that’s what you prefer, this pastel pretend coffee maker will compliment the trendiest pretend kitchens.
No bones about it, might as well add a bit more pretend fun; serve up some bones with your coffee.
Make your way over to Food Mayhem to learn this edible bone making magic spell, or skill.
Are you that parent? The kids are now sound asleep so you know it’s a safe time to rummage through their stash for the “good” candy.
Our Facebook survey results are in. The candies that top the theft list of the most likely to be stolen by parents are: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups at the top, closely followed by Snickers, M&Ms, Kit Kats, Twix, Milky Way, Butterfingers, candy corn, Three Musketeers, and Skittles.
If the candy jar at your house runneth over, or you have a Halloween fear of dental bills, there are cures for the candy coma.
Have you heard about the Switch Witch? A child grows in Brooklyn shares this disappearing act for all of the sugary stuff you may not care to have around for you or the kids.
The story goes like this: a child gets to eat all the candy they want up through Halloween night. On Halloween night, before the child goes to bed, s/he lays out all their candy for the Switch Witch. The Switch Witch comes when they are asleep and takes the candy and switches it for a toy. Ta da! Cavity-creating candy is gone and a sugar free desirable new toy is there instead!
For the more curious:
The Switch Witch lives in Hallow Heights which is a little island in the sky by the moon. The Switch Witch loves candy. All witches love candy, but the Switch Witch loves candy the most and she has the biggest candy stash of all the witches. Do you know how the Switch Witch gets her gigantic candy stash? The Switch Witch gathers most of her candy for herself and all the witches and cats on Halloween night. (Did you know that witches’ cats love candy too? They only eat milk chocolate though as it has delicious milk in it! –this is true only for witches’ cats though!). So, here is how the Switch Witch gets her candy: late Halloween night, when all the children are sleeping, she visits the houses of children who choose to switch their candy for a toy. How does she know which ones are switching their candy in? A child puts a piece of candy on the door (of their room or house) to let her know that they want to switch. The Switch Witch flies from building to building on her broom, with her black cat Corn (as in Candy Corn) on the back. They come in through a window. They fly in through the window with magic- the window does not need to be open. She takes all the candy the child puts out and puts it into a sac that Corn holds open for her in his mouth. Then she ties the candy bag to the end of the broom. She takes out a shiny black bag that is full of toys. She leaves one toy for the child to thank them for the candy. Then she leaves just as quickly as she came: on her broom, out to visit other children and perform more switches. By early morning, she and Corn return home to Hallow Heights where she sorts all the candy into large glass jars. That night, all the other witches come to visit and the Switch Witch doles out the candy they want. They eat their candy with her, share stories of Halloween, hear about what toys she brought to the children and come back night after night for a treat. You know how most pictures of witches are flying near the moon? That’s because they are on their way to Hallow Heights to visit the Switch Witch and share in her gigantic candy stash. By next Halloween, the Switch Witch has run out of candy and goes back out to do her switches.
I’m not sure about this one, but to each your own.
Hot Dog It’s the Wag-O-Ween Party 2011 Today!
Put on your costumes and bring your people in.
Totally Kids fun furniture & toys WAG-O-WEEN PARTY 2011
Please join us today, October 22 from 1-3PM at 7876 Portland Avenue South, Bloomington, MN
All Costumed Families with Their Costumed Pets will Receive a FREE $5.00 Gift Card!
(All pets must be on leashes during the party please!)
Professional photographer, Gretchen Osowski will be on hand for Furry Family Fotos.
Hot Cider, Treats, Dog Biscuits, Games & Prizes for the Whole Family!
No Tail Wagging Pets? No Problem! Bring Your Favorite Stuffed Animal and Dress Up
Do not let your people miss out on the fun. You can have them get more de-”tails” at 952-881-2425.
And it all ended with a one night stand.
Wrap up some mummies and put them on your plate. Surprise the kiddos, a hot dog inside. The how to is found at Family Fun.
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Looking for a no brainer? This Mummy has no brain, just unwrap it and you will find Halloween Playdough. Another recipe from the Idea Room.
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Mummified Oreos could be your treat.
You may ask How She Does It, she will show you how to too.
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Mummy? No it’s a baby, well maybe a baby Mummy.
Babble claims all it takes is roll of gauze plus a cute baby and you’ll have your own baby Mummy.
All you Mummys and Daddys have fun with your babies on Halloween.
Yes indeed, upcycled and upside down.
Megan (surprise – surprise) here is a new project – how about building a which-way witch for the event. Birshykat has the 411 you’ll need for this creation. (witch BTW was made from finds right here in Minneapolis) She even crafted the witches shoes! (the Goodwill is conveniently located down the street) We will see what our talented furniture designer, Megan will come up with…
Hallo-Green Costume Exchange Party 2011.
Celebrate EEK-onomically this Halloween by exchanging costumes! Bring in your kids’ gently-used costumes and trade for a new-to-you one! Trading costumes is a fun way to get kids excited about recycling. Join us at Totally Kids for games, prizes, and spooky treats!
START BRINGING IN YOUR GENTLY-USED COSTUMES NOW!
All those participating will receive 10% off their entire purchase!*
Bring in gently-used costumes for kids or dogs and trade for a different one!
WHEN: Saturday, October 8 from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.
WHERE: Totally Kids at 7876 Portland Ave. South, Bloomington, MN 55420
WHAT: Hallow-Green Costume Exchange Party 2011
WHY: To offer families a creative, eco-friendly Halloween tradition
Everyone will be entered into a drawing; the first chosen will have first pick of a new-to-you costume. The rest will follow; then, let the trading begin!
Any additional costumes that you can donate will be combined with the leftover Halloween costumes and given to St. Joseph’s Home for Children. Last year we were able to provide a huge car load of Halloween costumes for the kids at St. Joe’s. This year our goal is to at least fill 2 car loads. Please help by sending over any gently used costumes that you are no longer using!
www.shoptotallykids.com
phone: 952-881-2425
To top off the witches head, (wherever it is) here are some yummy kid easy to make Witches Hat cookie concoctions.
Simple iingredients are Keebler Fudge stripe cookies (turned upside down), Hershey Kisses attached with orange Wilton tube icing. Soooo easy!
*Offer good October 8 only. Not valid on prior purchases, gift cards or combinable with other offers.
Trick or Treat! The Halloween season comes to a close after a month of many fun festivities, Wag-O-Ween, Hallo-Green, National Costume Swap Day Party and many contests. The costume recycling was a great sucess with a huge load of Halloween costumes was delivered to St. Joseph’s Home for Children, thank you to everyone for your generous donations. Now we face lots of un-decorating, bats, birds, ghosts, spooky things all need to come down this week. There are cobwebs everywhere.
Kate, Stephanie and Annette, three of Totally Kids weekend team pose in their Halloween attire.
This pooch decked out as a witch, stops by to take a test drive on her way back for a photo session with the Wag-O-Ween photographer, Josh P. Roberts.
Josh and Osa sporting a Twins jersey join Stephanie for Wag-O-Ween. Woof!
These pretty little Peacocks won everyone’s vote for Best in Show for costumes, and their is a talented mother behind them. No, not hiding behind them, she made the costumes.
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Gourmet Mom on the Go will show you how to treat your family to these ghostly ghostly pancakes. Take a good look at them and don’t you agree, Halloweens a Scream?
She’s no monster but surely can dash. After running around the store all day, up and down ladders hanging pictures, constantly arranging and rearranging furniture for vinettes and displays, it was off to serious running along the Mississippi River almost every evening after a full day’s work. Today was the test of all her dedicated training. At mile post 8 Megan gracefully sailed past us with her beautiful smile in what appeared to be just another lovely Minnesota crisp fall morning walk in the park, not a gruling marathon run. We are so proud of Megan, a real winner.
The Monster Dash is one of four big races sponsered by Team Ortho each quarter to raise money for research. Every year Team Ortho donates money to the Shriner’s Hospital, the Orthopaedic Trauma Association and the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. All of which have received a portion of nearly $90,000 over the last three years.
These high-quality races throughout the year to keep people active.” Staying active is one of the best defenses against orthopaedic injuries, to areas like knees, hips, and the spine. Exercise increases or maintains your bone density; as a result you may be able to better avoid injury in the future. Earn some “bones“ in the race Volunteer Incentive Program.
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Monster Food
Dash to the kitchen and make monster brownies.
Monster Eyeballs Anyone?
You’ll need a laboratory to create these tasty monsters with edible googly eyes.
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Make and shake these with the litle monsters in your life.
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What goes “Ha-ha-ha . . . THUD!” A monster laughing his head off!
Halloween Safety Tips For Dogs
1. Avoid chocolate and other candy. Make sure to keep any candy that you are going to hand out safely hidden from your dog. Notify kids in the house to put their candy bags away. Chocolate is a big no-no for dogs as it contains theobromine, which their bodies cannot properly digest. The darker the chocolate, the worse it can be. Small amounts are typically not lethal, so if he does snag a bite don’t freak out. But also don’t let it happen.
Candy wrappers, tinfoil, and other dangers can be found in candy bags, so keep your dog safe by putting these away.
2. Put your dog in a safe place, either a separate room or his crate, when the trick-or-treaters are coming by. You should not let him be at the door to greet the kids. Costumes, commotion, and loud noises will stress him out and can cause problems ranging from stress to aggression.
3. Don’t leave your dog around kids without supervision. The erratic movements and loud, startling noises can really upset him. Add in a scary costume and you have a formula for disaster.
4. Be careful about placement of electrical cords for decorations. If your puppy or dog chews on these, trouble will follow. Arrange them for safety and use a bitter apple spray on the cord to keep pets at bay.
5. Don’t leave candles unattended. Carved pumpkins look great with a candle burning inside them, but they can be tipped over. They can also be investigated by curious pets which can lead to burns or worse.
6. Make sure that your dog’s costume is the right fit. Don’t put him in a costume that is too small or tight. Also check for loose ends that could be chewed on and swallowed or cause other problems. If your dog hates having the costume on be a friend to him and take the costume off.
7. Watch out when the door is open. If your dog is not secured in another room or in his crate then he might bolt out the door. With all the activity outside it may be even harder to get him back in.
8. Walk your dog before the festivities begin – all those costumes can be scary.
9. If the noise is bothering him, try adding background sounds (radio, TV) to distract him from the neighborhood hubbub.
10. Be careful when out walking your dog after Halloween – loose candy can be found and he may grab a big piece if he sees it before you do.
11. Think twice about taking him out with your family to trick or treat. There’s a lot of costumes and commotion which can put any dog on edge. He might be happier at home.
12. Tell kids the dangers of the treats and to not feed the dog any.
13. Be firm. Don’t let anybody who wants to greet your dog just to be polite. Be willing to say “no thanks” if your dog is feeling anxious or if the other person (perhaps an excited, sugar filled child) is approaching inappropriately.
14. If you take your dog with you, do not take him up to a stranger’s door – the resident dog may not take kindly to that and it could end up being a bummer. Someone should wait at the end of the driveway with the dog.
15. Do not leave your dog outside. There are plenty of rumors that dogs are taunted and teased, that gates are opened, and that candy is tossed in yards. It’s unlikely that lots of kids are running around causing harm to dogs on Halloween night, but the commotion is enough to unnerve your dog and it is conceivable that a youngster might toss a treat toward your dog with the best of intentions but bad results.
It may seem like a lot, but the truth is that Halloween is a fun time for parents and kids and can easily be fun for dogs too. Many dogs enjoy being the center of attention and will tolerate wearing a costume (which we get a huge kick out of!) to do so. Keep an eye out for the dangers of candy, keep your dog secure in your house, and be ready to ward off over excited kids and all will be well. Happy Halloween.
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Halloween Treats For People
Pupcakes recipe from Gourmet Mom On the Go.
