 I've got a super easy Halloween treat to make your Halloween night even sweeter - Candy Corn Rice Crispy treats. They're super easy and fun to make and your little (and big) trick or treaters will LOVE them. 
Candy Corn Cereal Treats For the outer ring- 4 cups Rice Krispies cereal 4 cups mini marshmallows 3 Tablespoons butter orange food coloring For the middle - 5 cups Rice Krispies cereal 5 cups mini marshmallows 3 Tablespoons butter yellow food coloring Melt 4 c. marshmallows and 3 T. butter in microwave for 2 minutes.
Use a sharp knife to cut into wedges.   If you're feeling super ambitious, you could even wrap them in cellophane bags and pass them out to all the trick or treaters who ring on your doorbell tonight.  Have a great (and safe) Halloween!
Ciao!
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All I can say before this blog post is --- brace yourself!  Pumpkin S'mores Cupcakes That's right --- I went there. Moist, pumpkin cupcakes filled with creamy, rich, milk chocolate filling on top of a crunchy graham cracker crust topped with a swirl of gently toasted, whipped, sweet meringue frosting and a Hershey's candy.
Seriously, this is Halloween all wrapped up in a cupcake. Want to see what the inside looks like?  Pumpkin S'mores Cupcakes graham cracker crust 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs cupcakes 1 1/3 cups loosely packed brown sugar 1 large egg 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 cup milk fudge ganache filling 4 ounces chopped milk chocolate 2 tablespoons heavy cream marshmallow frosting 6 large egg whites 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until cupcakes are set and spring back at the touch. Let cool completely.
When cupcakes are cool, use a corer or a small paring knife to gently take the center out of each cupcake.
Spoon the chocolate ganache straight down into the cupcake center.
Frost cupcakes!
Toast meringue gently and add a piece of chocolate to the top.
I didn't eat ALL of the cupcakes by myself. I shared them with some neighbors and a few of the kids teachers.
These cupcakes might just be the best Halloween treat ever.  I have a few of these tucked away in my frig. to pass out to some of the parents of the trick or treaters who show up at my door tomorrow night. After all, the parents deserve a treat now and then too.
Ciao!  Every Fall, I tend to throw myself into a major project. Ben thinks its to fill the void when the kids head back to school. (There may be some truth to that but I'll explore in another post on another day.) This year, I tackled some home improvement projects that were well beyond my capabilities. I decided that the back deck needed to be restained, which meant that we had to do some pressure washing first. We literally went through 3 pressure washers and when we finally got one to work - it may (or may not) have taken a couple of pieces of siding right off the house. (oops) Those needed to be replaced of course and that was no easy task. We also ended up tearing a screen or two transferring furniture from one side of the porch to the other during the staining process which created yet another project. (You see where I'm going with this?) All I wanted to do was stain the deck. 
We spent some long days working in the yard which made all of us REALLY hungry. Too bad that I didn't have a lot of time for dinner prep because I was spending all of my time outside. Grilled chicken to the rescue. This recipe came out of my Cook's Illustrated magazine and unlike some of their recipes, it was quick and simple. I would highly recommend it - even if you're not working in your yard all day.  Honey Mustard Glazed Chicken 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup salt 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 2 teaspoons dry milk powder 1/4 teaspoon pepper Glaze 2 Tablespoons cider vinegar 1 teaspoon cornstarch 3 Tablespoons dijon mustard 3 Tablespoons honey 2 Tablespoons corn syrup 1 garlic clove, minced 1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds
Whisk in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir 1 minute until thickened.
Combine milk powder and pepper. Sprinkle half over chicken and spray lightly with cooking spray.
So there you have it - a delicious (and quick) meal. Great for a busy weeknight or a weekend meal when I'm just too darn tired to cook and elaborate dinner. Enjoy.
Ciao!  We had our annual pumpkin carving festivities last Sunday night. I use the term "carving" very loosely because the process involved a whole lot more than simple knife carving. There were dremel tools, fire, alcohol, aluminum foil, wires, spray bottles, saws and safety goggles. Really - I'm not kidding! Ryan made a fire breathing pumpkin and I'm going to be honest, I wasn't on board with his plan when he first described it to me. I had visions of exploding pumpkins but he proved me wrong and actually managed to create jack o'lantern that breathed fire - modestly. Ben and I worked on a pumpkin together. Ben found the design, I did the carving and he added the orthodontics.
A tribute to our kids who have both had to endure braces. Now that pumpkin carving is complete and the seeds have been roasted, it's onto pumpkin challah bread for me. I found this recipe on blog.krysmelo.com. It was REALLY, REALLY, REALLY good. (Did I emphasize that enough?) Seriously through, this bread is super delicious.  Pumpkin Challah Bread 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast 1/2 cup warm water 6 large egg yolks 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoons canola oil 1/4 cup honey 1 cup pumpkin puree 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon allspice 4 cups all-purpose flour
Add salt, oil, honey, pumpkin, and spices. Mix well.
Dump dough onto a floured work surface and knead by hand for about 10 minutes. Put dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand in a warm place until it rises and doubles in size, between 1-3 hours. Dump the dough back onto your floured work surface and punch it one or two times.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use your dough to form a loaf. Make light slices across the top. Let the it sit, covered with a kitchen towel, until it rises and doubles in size again.
Set your oven to 350 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 40-50 minutes.
 Maybe I went a little overboard on the pictures but the point is, this bread is GOOD. My family finished up the rest of the loaf this morning for breakfast. (It's really good toasted too.)
Ciao!  Quick, somebody stop me. I am addicted to pumpkin recipes. Seriously, I've got 30 recipes listed in the "search recipes by theme" pumpkin category and I don't even think that it's a complete list. I've made pumpkin breads and rolls, pumpkin cakes and cupcakes, pumpkin pies and cookies, all sorts of pumpkin desserts, pumpkin oatmeal and pumpkin dips, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin pancakes and even pumpkin lattes and smoothies! I think I have a serious pumpkin problem. These are some of my favorite pumpkin recipes:
I'm not sure whether this will be good news or bad news to you but the pumpkin recipes for 2013 have only just begun! I found this recipe for pumpkin banana bread on hopeineveryseason.com. I had some leftover pumpkin in my frig and 2 perfectly rips bananas on the counter - how could I NOT make this bread? The recipe makes 2 loaves of pumpkin banana bread but I cut it in half and made just 1 loaf.  Pumpkin Banana Bread 4 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 2 tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. nutmeg 1 tsp. ginger 1tsp. cloves 1 tsp. salt About 14 oz. mashed pumpkin 3-4 large ripe mashed bananas 8 oz. sour cream 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1/2 c. oil 4 large eggs 3/4 c. sugar 3/4 c. brown sugar
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until done.
 I think I may be starting to turn a little orange from eating all this pumpkin. Totally worth it though. This pumpkin banana bread was amazing.
Ciao! |
