I need ideas! Let's dish. Literally. lol
What are some of your favorite holiday treats? Not just Christmas, but Thanksgiving and maybe even Halloween too. I know a lot of Christians choose to ignore Halloween altogether, but for those who prefer to give it an alternative spin like attend church carnivals, etc. what do you do in your home? Or with snacks? I saw the cutest recipe in a cookbook for rice krispie treat ghosts. They had candy eyes and were anything but scary.
Tonight I'm making rice krispie treat leafs at my parent's house, with iciing veins and maybe red hots. (will post pics later if they turn out decent! lol)
Want to share any cooking or decorating tips? Especially for holidays-on-a-budget? Let's make it interesting. Leave a comment with an idea or tip to share, and in doing so, you'll be signed up to win a Mystery Book. That's right, a book yet to be revealed. Trust me, it'll be a good one. =) I'll draw the winner Friday.
Sign up today in the comments section! And give me some recipes and decorating advice!!!! lol Let's brighten up Autumn.
9 comments:
Betsy,
My grandsons are older now, so we don't decorate inside so much. They came over on the weekend and we decorated outside. Photos are on my blog. They also carved pumpkins with my husband, so they had a great time.
When we used to decorate the interior, I often made a nice display of artificial sunflowers, maple leaves and grasses in a wicker basket that I had sprayed black. It always looked very nice.
We also had a gigantic spider made of white glue, newspaper and black tissues. It was fun to make and was attached to fishing line near the front door for the trick or treaters.
Wow, I'm totally the wrong person to ask for advice on recipes and treats. It'll be interesting to see what others have!
Well, I'm not so good w/ seasonal decorating other than Christmas. :-) But CurlyQ and I picked up a few small pumpkins and I drew a face on them w/ black marker and she painted and painted them. They are a hot mess but they are cute and she had a blast. They are sitting out in the front awning of our house. Also...with fun easy things that take less time: Candy apple candle (there have got to be some out there, right?)...fill glass jars with your candy that you're going to give out but they can be decor until Halloween day. Pick up a little book for Little Miss and kepe it out on your coffee table so she can enjoy the fun season on her level. CurlyQ LOVES her halloween book from last year...we are always reading it. :-)
Anyway...have fun! CurlyQ is going to be a Lion...with a huge afro-mane of all her own hair. :-)
For Halloween we usually have friends over. Neither of our families are big into the halloween scene, so we get together and eat veggie pizza and seven layer dip and play games and visit.
Veggie Pizza:
Two cans crescent roll dough
chopped broccoli
shredded carrots
diced cherry tomatoes
sour-cream dill veggie dip
spread cresent roll dough out to cover bottom of jelly roll pan. Bake until crisp.
Spread with veggie dip
top with fresh chopped veg.
Enjoy!
Hi Betsy! I have no creative ideas, because I don't have a creative bone in my body!! I just want to say that you inspire me every day! I enjoy reading your blogs and comments on FB. You and Brandon are doing such a wonderful job as parents, and are such awesome examples of what young Christian couples should be like. We will probably never meet in person, but I feel like I have known you forever, and I hope you will be part of my life forever through your books (which I love!!), blogs, and even posts on FB. Luv ya girl! Keep up the good work!! God bess you!!!
for halloween at our church we do "trunk or treat" instead of going around the neighborhood the kids can come to a place where they know people. the adults place their cars in a circle around the parking lot, fill the trunks with candy, and the kids go around and get bags of candy!!
I found your blog through Stacy at The Fancy Fritter!
I am not so good at other cute holiday treats, but I have a couple for ya for Halloween!
Mummy dogs and Boo cups!
Mummy Dogs:
Ingredients:
•Hot dogs
•Ready-made croissant dough
•Mustard and ketchup
Preparation:
Cut the croissant dough into strips. Wrap hot dogs to look like mummies. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. You can make faces with ketchup and mustard.
Courtesy of: parentingteens.about.com
Boo Cups:
2 pkg. (3.9 oz. each) JELL-O Chocolate Instant Pudding
3-1/4 cups cold milk
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed,
divided 20 OREO Cookies, crushed (about 2 cups),
divided 30 miniature semi-sweet chocolate chips
Make It!
BEAT pudding mixes and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Stir in half each of the COOL WHIP and cookie crumbs.
SPOON 1 Tbsp. of the remaining crumbs into each of 15 (6-oz.) plastic cups. Cover with layers of pudding mixture and remaining crumbs.
DROP remaining COOL WHIP by spoonfuls onto desserts to resemble ghosts. Add chocolate chips for the eyes.
Courtesy of: www.kraftfoods.com
I wish I could show you our pictures, they both turned out really cute!!! Have FUN!
Ooh! A mystery book! Even with the swine flu, that's too good a deal to pass up.
I make a delicious Autumn Cheesecake every Thanksgiving that my family (immediately and extended) always rave over.
I'm happy to share the recipe.
Autumn Cheesecake
Ingredients:
crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
3 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
filling:
3 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
topping:
4-6 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a large bowl, fork together crust ingredients. Press into the bottom of a greased 9" springform pan. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Mix at medium speed until smooth and creamy. Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Pour filling into the baked crust.
In a small bowl, stir together the topping sugar and cinnamon. Toss the apple slices. Lay the coated apple slices in a spiral patern over the cream cheese mixture, working from the outside in, ending at the center. Sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Bake for 60-70 minutes.
Loosen cake from rim of pan with a butter knife. Allow to cool, then remove the rim of pan. Chill cake a minimum of 24 hours before serving.
If you can, chill it for 48 hours. It really allows the flavors to blend and mellow and it ends up even more creamy. Trust me, I've been working on perfecting the art of cheesecake baking for years. :o)
So here's what I'm doing next year: glittered pumpkins!! A friend did this and it looks ridiculously awesome. There are instructions on Martha Stewart.com (of course) or you can google glittered pumpkins. Most of the pics I've seen use fall colors, but my friend did bright blue and pink (the exact shades on your website, actually), and they caused a serious case of decoration envy.
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