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.
A Little Corny but it is the season.
Trick or Treat? Candy Corn Cheesecake Pie will be a treat, but a bit of a trick to make. You will learn the trick if you pop over to Wilton.
Candy Corn on a Stick is this week’s Recipe for Fun. Glorious Treats has the instructions in a beautiful pictorial.
Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies are an old favorite from Land O Lakes.
Try disguising a few pretzel rods as candy corn.
Happy World Smile Day 2012!
World Smile Day was created by Harvey Ball of Worcester, Massachusetts, who, in 1963, designed the original smiley face logo.
He thought that we all should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts throughout the world, regardless of politics, geography and religion.
World Smile Day® is the first Friday in October each year, people all around the planet perform acts of kindness and help others smile.
Here is a healthy treat from family go that’s sure to put a “smile” on anyone’s face. Even the youngest kiddos can help create these; an excellent cook together.
This week’s Recipe for Fun: False Teeth aka Apple Smiles.
Ingredients
Directions
October 1st is World Vegetarian Awareness Day kicking off Vegetarian Awareness Month promoting the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. There are many benefits of a vegetarian diet; from your health to your pocket book, and for the planet by helping save the environment, to reducing worldwide famine.
Scare up some Vegetarian Halloween Food with a few of our faves from the past.
Monster Food - Eyeball Caprese for brave of appetite.
Photo Credit: whitneymoss for this edible Bony Maroney Skeleton. No meat on the bones here. Visually dissect the skeleton for a list of ingredients. Hint: hummus face.
Stuffed Roaches anyone?
Puking pumpkin…… What can I say?
If you’ve just gotta have your meat, disguise it in a Mummy Meatloaf and we won’t tell. Mum’s the word.
Encourage Your Non-Vegetarian Friends, Co-Workers and Family Members to Go Meat Free this October… and They Could Win Up to $1,000!
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.
Look at this DIY Halloween Garland idea featured on Forty-Two Roads. We are handing this one over to Erin, our Halloween decorator. Let’s see what see will do with it?
Templates for the cut outs can be found at Paper Crave.
These Spooky Spider Deviled Eggs were a huge hit last year. You might want to try making them with the kiddos for a fun together cooking time.
Deviled Eggs, always for Halloween, but this year we’re laying (out) special spider eggs to creep out some friends.
Ingredients
Preparation
1. In an 8- to 10-inch frying pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon, turning slices as needed, until browned on both sides and crisp. Transfer to paper towels to drain. When cool enough to handle, crumble bacon.
2. Cut each egg in half lengthwise; gently scoop out yolks and place in a bowl. Mash yolks with a fork, then stir in mayonnaise, green onions, mustard, and crumbled bacon until well blended. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon about 1 tablespoon yolk mixture into the hollow of each egg-white half. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 4 hours.
Bring your Gingerbread Man cookie cutter back to life for Halloween.
These Chocolate Skeleton Cookies will disappear before your very eyes, so we suggest doubling this week’s Recipe for Fun.
The Taste of Home provides this spookily delicious recipe:
For a twist, or to “kick” it up a notch, we’re going to make Ninjabread Men Skeleton Cookies this weekend.
You can dress Like a Ninja too.
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.
And I could have been your president…..
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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.
