Crafts

By popular demand, here are some of the tasty treats from our Halloween table that we posted on Monday.  We promise all the “spooks” at your party will gobble up every bite of this delicious treat!

Monster Munch

7 Squares almond bark, divided

1 ½ cups pretzel sticks

Orange food coloring

2 cups graham cereal

¾ cup Halloween M&M’s

¾ cup mini marshallows

½ cup chocolate sprinkles

Melt 2 sq. almond bark in small microwave bowl for 1 minute. Remove and stir. Repeat for intervals of 15 seconds until melted thoroughly.

Stir in pretzels until coated. Spread out on wax paper to set.

Repeat the melting instructions for the final 5 sq. of almond bark. Stir in orange food coloring until it’s a bright orange.

Place cereal in a large bowl and cover with half the orange almond bark. Stir until coated evenly. Add chocolate pieces, marshmallows, and remaining bark. Stir in pretzel sticks. Spread out on waxed paper in small clusters. Sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles. Let set.

After it’s partially set, it can be divided into cups, or drizzle melted chocolate or colored almond bark for a beautiful effect.

Makes about 5 cups.

For more ghoulish fun click on this link to learn how to make Spooky Ghost Pears!

Happy Munching!

 

The other day I stumbled upon this tasty little Etsy shop, courtesy of Design Mom, and I fell in love!  SmidgeBox Designs is the brain child of Lesley, an extremely talented stay at home mom from Vancouver B.C. 

Aren’t these Halloween buckets divine!?  I love the color and texture in each one of them.  You can tell from the pictures that they are expertly crafted down to the littlest detail.  Lesley, you are a master of design!  I wish I could order all four for my four little spooks!

She also has some amazing fabric bins for everyday use.  Don’t you think they would class up any playroom or nursery?

And check out these AMAZING baby blankets.  I see one of them on my little guys Christmas list already.

Run, don’t walk, over to Lesley’s Etsy shop, SmidgeBox Designs.  She is a designer after my own heart!!

Happy October!!  I have been a Fall fan my whole life.  I love everything about it.  The smells, the tastes, the colors, the baking, and especially the traditions.  One tradition I would LOVE to share with you…

Have you ever been Booed?

 

For a few years now, we’ve been “Booing” our friends and neighbors.  We make a fun treat and secretly leave it on their door step with a sign and instructions for participating in the fun.

With that, I am sooo excited to introduce our newest WhipperChick along with a taste of her handy work!  Kristin Call, the amazing designer behind our blog has joined our team and we couldn’t be more excited!!  She has designed a super cute printable for all our lovely readers to start or continue this fun Halloween tradition.

Click on the images below to download Kristin’s cute “Booed” sign and instruction sheet to start the FUN!!

Kristin has some amazing work that we will share in the next few weeks. The cool part…you can purchase any of her tasty designs at her Etsy shop, Peach Tree Paperie.  I’m telling you, you’re going to fall in love with her and her fabulous talents.  I have!  Click here to visit our WhipperChick page to learn more about this talented lady.

Really? I love my job! Who else gets to create such “spooky” beauty and call it work? The challenge in designing one of our Halloween tables came when I decided to still emphasize some of the creepy details surrounding a celebration originally purposed to honor the dead, and yet display it with eye-catching form. If you can find style in the swirl of a spider web, then this table’s for you!

 

I love the pleasures of the Fall. Cooler weather, warmer colors, and best of all Halloween (i.e. pumpkins, parties, costumes, and an endless array of goodies).   How fun it was to search the possibilities and eliminate when the options crossed the line between eerie and flat out disgusting. My efforts were focused on avoiding the traditional All-Hallows-Eve colors, though it’s impossible to leave a Halloween party completely devoid of black and orange. I felt compelled to toss in sparks of green, purple, and an occasional yellow just for variation. What you see here are some of my favorites, from the chocolate yogurt cups and frozen layered sherbet, to ghost pears and ”monster munch”. Stay tuned for further details, recipes, and other “dish” from our fantastic table to follow in the coming days.

Don’t forget, in you are in the Las Vegas area and need help spookifying your event, email us at [email protected].  We would LOVE to help.

For all you cheek pinchers out there, Heather had another wonderful photo session with a cute little fly guy.  Click on this link to see all the fun.

 

It would seem that lemons are made from sunshine. They soak up the rays until their skins turn a bright cheery shade that radiates warmth and happiness. These delightful pucker-fruits add a bright flavor to every dish. An All-Star pair, lemons and sugar combine to heavenly deliciousness in lemonade and lemon bars to name just a few enjoyable concoctions. There’s no end to their adaptability. Consider them stirred together into yummy cheesecake batter and infused in the crust. They transform this luscious cake with their lemony-sweet goodness into a treat so good you have to share! Yeah, it’s that good! Now that I’ve got your attention, let’s get started…..

Ingredients

Crust

1 box Lemon Cake Mix

½ c. butter, softened

1 t. grated lemon peel

Filling

2 (8oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened

¾ c. sugar

3 (3.5 oz) containers ready to eat lemon pudding (from 4-pack container)

½ c. sour cream

3 eggs

2 c. frozen (thawed) whipped topping

Heat the oven to 300 degrees.

You’ll begin with a lemon cake mix. Before you start, reserve ¼ cup of the mix for later. Now mix in the butter and lemon zest until crumbly.

Spray your pans with cooking spray and then scoop some of the crust mix into each of your pans. We used these fun 3-inch cake pans with a lift out bottom. They’re awesome! Press the crust mix down into the bottom and up the sides a bit. This recipe will make about ten 3-inch cakes. Reserve the remainder of your crust mix in a small bowl while you stir up the cream cheese batter.

Combine reserved cake mix, softened cream cheese, pudding, sugar and sour cream on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until mixed. It will look heavenly and it will taste even better. Resisting the urge to dip your fingers in the batter, spoon the mixture in on top of your crusts, filling each cake up about two-thirds of the way. The filling will rise and then sink back down as it cools.

Bake in a preheated oven for about thirty minutes. Begin checking around 25 minutes. You want each cake to be firm around the edges but still a bit jiggly in the center. Remove from the oven.

Cool on the counter for about twenty minutes and then refrigerate for twenty more before loosening and removing from the pans. You’re going to want to pop them out before then, but trust me, it will only end in tears! Let them firm up completely in the fridge before working your magic. During this time, keep your batter in the fridge, lightly covered until your pans are free to make the remaining cheesecakes. Then repeat the process until you’ve used up all your batter.

Once removed from the pans, cover and refrigerate your cakes 4 hours or overnight…if you trust your husband not to sneak in and “taste test” them for you. It’s your call.

When you’re ready to serve, top with one tablespoon each of lemon curd. Pipe on whipped cream and top with a half slice of lemon. Now call your girlfriends over for lunch and wow them with this little nibble of sunshine that will have them raving! Enjoy!