Happy Halloween!

It was kind of a busy day.

Making spooky brownies

We made these with brownie mix and topped each brownie with a large marshmallow, covered with white icing and chocolate chips for the eyes. Yep! I broke my diet!

Trick-or-Treating

I never did get time to carve that jack-o-lantern. I used the plastic ones I had instead and I put tea lights in them. It didn't turn out too bad. I still got that warm, festive glow.

I'm kind of sad and kind of glad that it's over.

Halloween Hot Chocolate

Instead of making cocoa, we used the instant hot chocolate packets. My granddaughter made the one the right and I made the one on the left. 


What You'll Need:


2 Large Marshmallows (per cup)
2 Candies for the eye (per cup)
1 Tooth Pick to hold the eyes together
1 Package of hot chocolate mix 


Make the eyes before making the hot chocolate. Run the toothpick through the marshmallows close to one of the ends. If you don't, your eyes will flip when dropped into the chocolate, as my granddaughters did.


Once you have the marshmallows secured, take a knife and make a slit where each eye will be and insert the candy. We used sixlets. (You can use milk duds, m&ms, etc).


Make the hot chocolate and drop your eyes into the cup.

Flipping the eyes obviously didn't change the taste!

glitter-graphics.com

Jack Skellington Halloween Makeup

Check out Halloweentown and get a Jack Skellington makeup tutorial.

HERE
 

Another neat site to check out if you're are a Tim Burton/Danny Elfman fan, is Danny's Musical flash galleries. Don't expect it to run automatically. You literally have to click everything! Click on the actual slide photo to get the music. It's worth it!

Minadream 1

Minadream 2

Here's another creepy little fun site to visit to play on. Visit Ravenwood Hollow Here

Leon and Elton's "The Union" Album Review

I pre-ordered my "The Union" CD so, of course, I got it later than the release day. I, personally, think the album is great. As you've heard me say before, I am not a big Elton fan but I LOVE LEON!


I'm very irritated at some of the reviews... saying things like they had weak, wishing for the glory days voices. Some of the junk that's written in some of the reviews is more than just a low blow, it's downright hateful! Both Leon and Elton are older now and their music reflects that! Things change with age. Nothing remains the same. What did you expect?


Leon's voice has changed, but he still sounds great. He's a great musician and song writer and when his voice is strong (as it is on the album) it's very good! He's not a "has been" -- he's a "still is". He may not be just like he used to be but he's just as good, if not better, than many of the old rockers who've either tried a come back or who has recently made spotlight performances... or have had a "Reunion Tour". It's not like he's gotten rusty. He's been performing both here and abroad all these years. People just stopped paying attention. Also, those "comebackers" play the same music they always played. Leon and Elton released and "all new material" album. Leon has been putting out his own albums and still writing new material for years. I know he has health issues but I hope he's around singing and writing for many more years to come.


The older musicians who've set the pace and the standard deserve more respect that those reviews have given. Well, except maybe for Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. There comes a time when maybe it just ain't a good idea to get on a stage and "shake your thang" after a certain age...not that his performance was ever respectable by "social" or "moral" standards.


The first song on "The Union" album, "If It Wasn't For Bad" was written by Leon. I think it will be a part of his legacy. I think it's got a chance to become another Leon Russell classic. It's a song that just sticks with you and stays in your head. One you look foward to hearing again.


As I was looking through YouTube at the videos of Leon and Elton regarding their new album. I saw that they were on GMA and I didn't know about it, so I missed it. I was glad, however, that someone was kind enough to post some of the their performance on GMA at the Beacon Theater so we could see them.


Here is the link for part 1 and the video of part 2


Part 1 HERE







Here's an interesting quote from Elton. “All I wanted for Leon,” John said, “is to have, in his later life, the accolades that seem to have been missing for him in the last 35 years. I want his name written in stone. I want him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I want his name to be on everybody’s lips again." AMEN, Elton! Don't we all! No. I'm not a Leon Lifer but I guess I should be.


Now you know what happens when I get started...I write a "rant" book.

Oh, No! Serious Competition!

UPDATE: The Pumpkin Contest Winner has been announced. The Cinderella Pumpkin was 1st place winner. My daughter placed 5th. Everybody did a great job!

Pumpkin contest update: Just look at what they've done to my daughter! She has some serious competition. Check out these cool pumpkins/jack-o-lanterns! These are just amazing!

This is the front

This is the back

She's not feeling very confident, but she did have a good time making it. I think hers is very pretty and very creative. I'll let you know who wins the contest. I still haven't carved my jack-o-lantern!

My daughter's creation

It's Jack-o-lantern Time

My daughter entered a "non-carved jack-o-lantern" contest.  She did something a little different (above). I think it turned out very well. I hope she wins!

If you are like me, you haven't carved yours yet. We have this week and a another weekend. I love doing it, but for some reason I always dread it.

I have lots of apples from the recent apple festival we visited. If  you like to make applesauce in your microwave, check out the process on my other other blog HERE
 

Freebee Friday

Get a free copy of "22 Halloween Recipes" ebook and make fun foods for Halloween! Download FREE eBOOK here

Halloween Wallpaper for your computer.

Get lots of free halloween stuff ALL ABOUT HALLOWEEN Here

Get free classic audio books and learn a language audio book HERE

Jack-o-lantern Cheese Sandwiches and Caramel Apples

Jack-o-lantern Face Cheese Sandwiches

As something fun to do, I made these sandwiches for the children's lunch. I cut the bread with a round bread/pastry cutter I got years ago from Pampered Chef. I put the mayonnaise on the piece of bread that I didn't cut the face out on.

On the other piece of bread, I used a sharp knife and carefully free-handed the jack-o-lantern face. I then placed a slice of round cut American cheese in the middle. I used a piece of the bread crust at the top for the pumpkin stalk. I popped them in the microwave for 12 seconds to lightly the melt the cheese. I didn't do a very good job, but the kids were "amazed" and pleased.

For dessert, we put caramels in a bowl and melted them in the microwave and dipped/drizzed over the apples. We then set them on wax paper to cool.

Vintage Halloween Postcard

Spooky Treat Bags and Cupcakes

This was so easy and fun. You need some markers, construction paper, a couple of paper lunch bags, a glue stick or some Elmer's glue, safety scissors, and some stickers. We used glow-in-the dark stickers which was a lot of fun for the kids.

Just cut out some creepy eyes from the construction paper and glue them to the bag. Then write names on the bags with the markers and stick or glue the stickers onto the bags.

When we were done, I heard a knock on the refrigerator in the kitchen. You guessed it. It was my little ones saying "trick or treat; give me something good to eat". How could I resist. They love to trick or treat in Grandma's kitchen.

My daughter made cupcakes with them. It's just such a wonderful time of year to do fun stuff and make things with children. She got the Halloween cupcake liners and a few accessory items, a box of cake mix, a can of icing and some orange food coloring (which you can now buy). For years, we just had to make our own and it wasn't easy to get that orange color. Her finished product was very festive.

Football Food

I think I'm gonna need something stronger than popcorn and coke! I may have to go for some apple cider and cheese puffs.

Cheese Puffs!

¾ Cup Flour

¼ tsp Salt

¾ Cup Water

6 TBS Unsalted Butter Cut into 6 pieces

3 eggs

1 cup sharp cheddar

Preheat Oven to 450. In medium saucepan melt butter, add water. In a separate bowl, mix flour and salt. When butter and water start bowling, add flour mixture all at once. Cook dough until it smells nutty. Remove from heat and place in mixer. Turn on medium speed; add one egg at a time. Add cheese. Use spoon to drop dough on cookie sheet lines with buttered parchment or use a silpat. Bake for 12-18 min until puffed up and golden brown.

recipe from Rachel Vander Martin

Freebee Friday

Do a Halloween monster mashup of your family. It's fun! The kids will love it. Make yours HERE

I think I posted this free software previously, but I had not actually used it yet. I was having a problem with the 2 programs I had previously been using (getting a clicking noise in the audio) so I gave this a try. I LOVE IT! and it's FREE!

# Freemake Video Converter can import the majority of video, audio, and image formats, and outputs to AVI, MP4, WMV, 3GP, DVD, MP3.
# The program also prepares videos supported by various multimedia devices such as iPod, iPhone, iPad, Xbox, Blackberry, Android mobile devices, and others.
# The converter has DVD burning option. You can get it HERE


The video I was trying to convert and burn was a youtube capture. I have the movie on VHS but I wanted to put it on a DVD for my granddaughter. It's The Adventures of Ronald McDonald - "Scared Silly". Now she has it... again.

You can get it too:
Part 1 HERE

Part 2 HERE

Part 3 HERE

Part 4 HERE

Visit the Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald site HERE

Tour the Haunted Inn Game is a free online game that's cute but will drive you crazy! Good luck.
Here

Check out the halloween hot wings recipe Here

I really like Vintage or Victorian Halloween cards. Here's a couple. 

Halloween Party Ideas

 I hope these items are helpful in your party planning. I forgot where I got these labels, so I'll share them here. It was a great site. If you search for "printable Halloween labels", you might find it.

Free printable poison labels. Click to right where you can download them all in a zip file
HERE


Printable tarot cards
HERE

Printable Barbie Tarot Cards
HERE

I wouldn't use Tarot cards, personally but some people like to have them around for party decor. They are definitely interesting. The History of Tarot Cards and How To Use them -- Plus a very attractive printable set can be found HERE

Create your own tarot cards
HERE

If your are planning to serve "blood punch" at your Halloween party, you may find these labels useful
here

Print free Halloween Party invitations
HERE

- Halloween punch. To prepare an unforgettable party beverage, prepare a light-colored cocktail, and with Halloween-shaped Jell-O forms make some "ice cubes" with different monster shapes. Such as a hand form with a frozen red juice in it.

A few minutes before your party starts, get frozen juice out of the form and place it into punch bowl. You will have a scary moving hand in the bowl and it will also make your cocktail cooler.

- Spider web cupcakes – These cakes will certainly be a favorite on your Halloween menu. You will need to prepare a large amount of cupcakes; chocolate, apple flavor or pumpkin are some of the common options. Then crown them with a white or cream cheese topping. As a final touch, decorate the top of every cupcake with spider web design made out of black food coloring. The best way is to create few concentric rings using the black icing, then drag a toothpick through the topping going from the midpoint of your web. Drag the toothpick this way not more then four or five times to crate a lifelike spider web. It is also a good idea to used Halloween paper cupcake liners.


Brittle Meringue Bones

3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 200F. Line cookie sheet with brown paper bag or parchment. In a medium sized bowl at high speed, beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt till fluffy. Gradually beat in sugar. Add vanilla. Place in pastry bag fitted with a medium plain piping tip. Pipe 3" bone shapes onto parchment or brown paper bag. Bake 1 hour until set. Turn off oven, dry in oven 1 hour. Be sure to store in airtight containers or they will become soggy. Makes 4 to 5 dozen small finger-sized bones.

Get more cool party recipes like this one HERE