Monster Munch and a Halloween Party!

I can't help but say the title in Dracula's voice.

Happy Halloween everyone! OK, so I know it's only the first, but my VERY best friend and I are hosting a Halloween Party! We pulled a couple of old blogs and compiled them together to make one awesome link party!

Lets start off with this fun Halloween Crack, er, Monster Munch. It makes the perfect scary movie snack or a little something extra on your haunted holiday table. Or just make it every night from now until the 31st, I'm cool with that (just share with the witches because it makes a lot, and we all know how they can be.)

It's the sweet and salty snack everyone will crave, plus who doesn't love edible bugs!? Michael's has some awesome sprinkles this time of year (Check. It. Out.)

Anyways, let's get this party started! Please follow the links at the end of this post for some more hauntingly awesome treats and crafts! And don't be afraid to let your little witches and ghouls in the kitchen with you for this one...

Monster Munch:
2 bags microwaveable butter flavored popcorn, popped
1 1/2 cups peanuts
1 1/2 cups candy corn
1 cup Reese's Pieces
1 bag of white Candy Melts
Halloween Sprinkles

Grab the biggest bowl you have and pour in the popped popcorn. Top with the peanuts, candy corn and Reese's Pieces.
Melt the candy melts according to package directions. Pour over the popcorn mixture and stir gently until everything is coated.
Pour on to a large foil lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with bugs, eyes, bones, or the like.

Place in the fridge until set. Break into large pieces and enjoy! It is the perfect salty and sweet snack to scare up some fun this Halloween season!

Looking for some more spooooky Halloween ideas? Don't be afraid, here they are...

Scare the Trick-or-Treaters at the door with a Gaudy Halloween Wreath

Conjure up some fear this season with a  Halloween Boo Sign

Whoooo wants some creative Owl Cupcakes?

I just love this hauntingly cute Halloween Wreath! With interchangeable flowers to use any season.

Looking for an easy treat to cure that pumpkin craving? How about some delicious Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt

A mummified treat will do the trick at this years Halloween party, try these Mummy Cupcakes

• Thank you for coming and partying with us! Feel free to leave a comment with a link of YOUR favorite Halloween trick or treat! Enjoy the season. 

Gaudy Halloween Wreath

I just love this little wreath!! And do you know how much it cost me... 8 whole dollars!! Everything was purchased from the Dollar Tree, the only extra you need is a glue gun!

I'm actually amazed at what cute Halloween things they have at Dollar Tree and now that you can use in store coupons... CHA-CHING!

So lets get the party started. This wreath can definitely be made with little pumpkin balls, a different sign and of course, something other than a centipede and roach. But I really just love how it evokes the spirit of Halloween!

This is definitely a Trick for the Treaters this year!!

Have fun and Happpppy Halloween!!

What you will need:

And of course your handy-dandy glue gun.

I first wrapped the wreath with the black ribbon. It actually fell a little short so pretend like you don't see the wooden wreath sticking out the top. I then placed the sign where I wanted it and glued the corners and then sporadically placed the eyeballs on the top and bottom. I finished with the bug accents. And there ya have it! In total I used 4 bags of eyeballs (I actually would have liked one more), the sign, a Bag-O-Bugs, black glitter ribbon and the wooden wreath!

These directions are really simple but trust me, so is the project!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Cream Cheese Pound Cake with a Pumpkin Streusel Swirl

Recipes with long ingredient lists scare me.

Like, really scare me. I feel like I can't even enjoy baking when it calls for 7,000 ingredients followed by another 7 gazillion steps.

However, when I stumbled upon this recipe at willowbirdbaking.com, I felt like I didn't have a choice BUT to make it. C'mon, when is anything with 3 cups of sugar and a cup and a half of butter a BAD thing!?

P.S: Anyone attempting to leave a comment on this post saying "ya but it's bad for your diet" just stop it, stop it now.

Maybe after this pumpkin post I'll take a full week long hiatus from anything pumpkin because, 1. Nothing following will live up to this recipe and 2. Hello, September on my blog, meet pumpkin... BOOM!

Plus I'm ooober excited about Halloween right around the corner (does my blog give you a hint of my obsessive tendencies yet?)

So, I'm sure my blog for the next month will be spewing out green goo, blood, spiders and everything Haunted! Is anyone else but me excited about Halloween Wars on Food Network!? Scratch that, the word spew isn't necessarily a bench-marker for delicious on a food blog huh?

Anyways, my rant is finished... This recipe is about to go on for a minute, but please stick with me. It's worth it people!

For the Pumpkin Pie Filling:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 cup overflowing with pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

For the Pecan Streusel:
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons cold butter
1 cup chopped pecans, roasted

For the Cream Cheese Pound Cake:
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 cups sugar
6 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt

Toast Pecans: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread pecans out on a baking sheet and bake for 4-6 minutes until fragrant and toasty. Spread on a plate to cool. Keep the oven on for the cake.

Make the filling: In your stand mixer or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until fluffy and smooth. Add in the pumpkin puree, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, allspice and pumpkin pie spice. Mix until combined. Set in the fridge while you make everything else.

Make the Streusel: Combine the flour and brown sugar in a medium bowl. Using fairy like hands, or a pastry cutter will do, cut in the butter until pea sized and crumbly. Add 1/2 cup of the toasted pecans.

Make the pound cake: Beat the butter and cream cheese on medium speed in your stand mixer (make sure to rinse out if you used this for the filling). Gradually add in the sugar and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at time, just until no yellow is showing. Stir in the vanilla. Whisk the flour and salt in a large bowl and add into the batter in multiple additions, scraping down the sides as necessary until fully mixed.

Grease a Bundt pan with cooking spray and flour.
Dollop 1/3 of the batter into the greased pan and use a spatula to smooth out evenly and up against the sides to make level.
Dump the Streusel mixture into the pumpkin filling and gently mix, you do not need it to be fully combined. Dollop big spoonfuls of the pumpkin mixture onto the batter in your Bundt pan and swirl with a wooden skewer. Top this layer with another third of cream cheese batter, then follow again with the remaining pumpkin filling. Using large spoonfuls and swirling with the skewer. Top with the final third of batter and smooth out evenly.
Fill an oven proof pot with 2 cups of water and place in the warm oven. Place the cake beside it and bake for an hour and a half. Start checking the cake early, if the top starts to get too browned cover with aluminum foil.
Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes before running the edges with a knife and inverting on a serving dish.
I chose to eat mine with caramel topping and sprinkled it with the toasted pecans, but feel free to make an icing for this!

Doesn't this picture make you feel like you're in a tunnel of cake?? MMMMM.... 

This cake is everything right in the world. If a dense, moist, cream cheese cake made out with pumpkin pie... Their spit would be this cake...ok, gross. Enjoy everyone!

Fall Rag Wreath

I have been on a crafting roll lately, which for me means crafting about 4 things in the last month! I'm actually looking for my next project and am SO excited the Holidays are on their way. So excuse me while my blog is bombarded with crafts and delicious recipes, I know you wont mind!

These rag wreaths are SUPER popular so I had to jump on the bandwagon. Just keep in mind its the most tedious thing you will ever do... Like more than filling out long applications, or peeling potatoes or EVEN shredding cheese! ( and I reeaallly dislike all of those things)

So lets get started... You can make these any way you like. Here's what I did:

• 2 yards of fabric (burlap or clothing fabric is a great option, I used fleece. The wreath feels amazing but shreds almost the same as burlap) cut into 7" long, 1" wide strips.
• 1- 18" wire wreath form
• Ribbon, letters and accessories

So... Take your wire form, like this:

and, starting at the beginning of a section, begin to tie double knot pieces of fabric. I varied the way I tied and looped to give the fabric ends various directions. Push them together as you go. I suggest starting with the inner circle and working your way out. Continue doing this until the inner and outercircle of the wreath are full. If you choose multiple fabrics you can intermix the two or do the inside one color and the outside another.

Tie a ribbon on the side, bottom or top, hot glue gun letters or anything else you like. Really let your creativity flow here!

Sorry about the ugly photography, I shot at different times of the day.

P.S: Santa... I need a new camera!!

Thanks for stopping by everyone and Happy Fall!!

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Did you miss me? Did you miss pumpkin? Well, luckily I'm here with a fantastic pumpkin recipe to share.

Little individual pumpkin pie cookies, who can beat that? Its pumpkin filling meets buttery flaky cookie dough.... yep, heaven! Plus they are portable!

I'll keep this short and sweet but just promise you will make this fantastic recipe!

These cookies are adapted de Betty Crocker and make about 18 cookies.

Lets get the party started....

For the Dough:

1 package (1 lb 1.5 ounce) Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
4 ounces cold cream cheese

For the Filling:

3 ounces cream cheese, softened well
4 Tablespoons Pumpkin Puree
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and coat a regular muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Place cookie mix in a large bowl along with the butter and cream cheese. Cut in the butter and cream cheese using a fork or pastry blender until pea sized and crumbly (do not over-mix!) Reserve 3/4 cup into another bowl. Firmly press 2 heaping tablespoons of the remaining cookie mixture into the bottom of each tin. Press together to form the bottom crust.
3. In a small bowl mix together the filling ingredients. Place a rounded tablespoon of filling into the center of each bottom crust. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of the reserved crumb topping. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Cool for 20 minutes in the pan then run a knife around the edges and lift. 

ENJOY!! It's finally Fall!!

P.S: Be sure to come back in late fall to see what ELSE I make with Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix.... Finally giving out my secret!

Halloween Boo Sign

Yes, I craft sometimes too. Don't look so shocked!

It's not really anything I do every weekend, I don't have a craft room, and definitely don't expect me to pull out my bedazzler! I do love, however, browsing Michael's for hours and I most certainly love making my own holiday decorations.

I'm sure you have all seen these signs (or something similar) floating around the internets so I couldn't help but share my own. The best part is that you can make them any way you like by picking whatever letters and paper you fancy. Thus making this a multi-holiday craft!

And, it whips up in less than an hour. If I can do it with two toddlers pulling at everything, so can you!!!

You Will Need:

1. Wooden letters
2. Scrapbook paper
3. Mod Podge
4. Ribbon
5. Any extras you like 

I found everything at Michaels, the letters run about $2 a piece depending on the size you get. I ended up getting a whole pack of 4" by 6" scrapbook paper because our Michaels had an awful selection of Halloween themed paper in the individual sheets, the entire book was only $3.99.

Start by tracing the the letters (back side facing up) onto the back of your scrapbook paper.

Cut out the letters using scissors, I also used a pairing knife for the centers, just make sure you have your paper on a flat/hard surface.
Coat the front side of the wooden letters with a layer of Mod Podge and stick the paper to it. Smooth lightly as you go but do not worry about air bubbles. Let dry completely.
Once dry, brush a top coat over the letters and let this dry. The Mod Podge creates a nice finish on the letters.

Tie the letters with pieces of ribbon (I did wish I had purchased a solid black ribbon) and then Mod Podge on your accessories.
I ended up not using the Happy Halloween accessory so I am saving it for another project.
This whole project ended up costing around $12, but this also left me with extra paper, ribbon the Happy Halloween sign.

Have fun everyone!! Life is too short not to be creative!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread

This bread is delicious and addicting. It's moist, sweet, crunchy and indulgent. Luckily, this recipe makes 2 loaves. Unlucky for me, they're both gone :(

(And no I didn't eat them both myself!)

This bread also reminds me of a certain coffee chain, that sells a shmumpkin shmice latte, and the pumpkin cream cheese muffins they have... You feel me!?

Would you believe me if I told you I made this at 3 am?

Better yet, would you believe me if I told you I found a bloody hand-print on my wall?

Well, please believe both because they are BOTH true. Some real C.S.I. stuff going on in my household. Hence the reason I'm up at 3 am (because, psycho paths cant kill you if you are baking delicious bread!).

The hand print is still on my wall because if there is an ax-murderer in my home, I need evidence (you know, if they can't locate my body or something).

So if this is my last blog post, just promise me you will at least remember me by this recipe...

For the Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

For the Bread:
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line two 8x4" loaf pans with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray.
In a medium bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar, flour, egg and vanilla; beat until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
In the bowl of your stand mixer, blend the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice. Mix on low for a few seconds to combine. Add in the pumpkin puree, oil, eggs and sugar. Mix just until combined. Add in the walnuts and fold by hand.
Pour a quarter of the pumpkin batter into each prepared loaf pan. Spoon on (half into each pan) the cream cheese mixture and then pour on the remaining pumpkin batter, splitting between both pans. Do not worry if you do not have enough pumpkin batter to completely cover the cream cheese. Using a knife or chopstick, stick straight into the top two layers (pumpkin and cream cheese) and swirl to create a marbling effect. This gives the cream cheese filling a nice swirl effect when it bakes.

Bake loaves in the preheated oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool bread in the pans for 20 minutes then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Best enjoyed slightly warm with a cup of coffee.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, tomorrow the fam and I are headed to Apple Hill!