holiday

fall recipe round up part one

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Can you believe it’s almost Fall? I have to admit, as much as I love watermelon, cook outs and going barefoot, there’s something so cozy about Fall. It’s a little less hotter, you can open up the house and dust off your favorite boots once again. Not to mention the harvest of caramel, cinnamon and all things apple and pumpkin.

There’s a harvest of candy corn, too. We can’t forget that. 😉

Today I’ve rounded up some of my yearly must makes and my must try recipes for the season:

Yum, cocoa cookies with spiderweb icing… spooooky.

Pumpkin squares….

Since we’re talkin pumpkin…how about pumpkin waffles?

Pumpkin waffles with cinnamon syrup? I’ll take ten.

Pumpkin fudge with macadamia nuts.

And, finally Pumpkin pop tarts with a maple crust.

I hope you enjoy my collection, now- what’s on your must-make for Fall list?

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craft, gift ideas, holiday

trinket boxes

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I don’t know about you, but sometimes I end up with empty toilet paper rolls.

Does that ever happen to you?

I saw this nifty idea on Pinterest and had to do it.

That’s tissue paper. Yeah, I should have used another color.

It’s not rocket science.

Wrap, tape, fill and fold.

Taa-Daa!

Spend more money on the gift instead of the “box”. 🙂

 

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craft, easy, gift ideas

cookie jar mix

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Cookie jar mix!

Get a head start on hostess and holiday gifts!

To make these:

Using a funnel, add ingredients in the order listed into a clean quart sized glass jar. Pack in firmly. Cover with a tight fitting lid.

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup packed brown sugar.

Attach an instruction card using a ribbon and a hole punch on some heavy weight paper  or an index card.

Instructions:

In a separate bowl, combine :

1/2 cup softened butter

1/4 cup shortening

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Empty the jar contents to butter-egg mixture.

Drop by tablespoons onto parchment lined baking sheet, and bake in a preheated oven ( 350) for 8-10 minutes.

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gift ideas, holiday

don’t eat these cookies

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Mmm, cookies.

These cookies need a warning label.

DON’T EAT ME.

Seriously.Not that it’s a crappy recipe. They are “air freshener” cookies. It’s cinnamon and applesauce. Roll em out an let em harden, paint em up and you have adorable ornaments or rear-view mirror air fresheners. Crafty.

I made mine with 1/2 c of cinnamon, (hint: dollar store had 6oz for…well, duh-a dollar!)

add enough applesauce to make a dough. (3tbs or so)

roll it out- sprinkle with more cinnamon if it happens to stick.

allow to dry for 24 hours. I put mine in the sun on a nice crisp day and it only took 6 hrs.

paint with acrylic paints…

allow the paint to dry and hang up on your tree, your rear view mirror, your neck… wherever you want to smell cinnamon.  😉 That’s everywhere to me… mmmmm.

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Cinnamon decorating cookies

1/2 c cinnamon

3-4 tbs applesauce

mix to for a dough, roll out and cut with assorted cutters, if dough sticks- sprinkle with more cinnamon.

Allow to dry for 24 hrs.

Decorate with paints, attach ribbon to hang and enjoy the smell of cinnamon.

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easy, holiday, kids, meals

spiderweb pizzas… and (gasp!) a video

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Well, if you know me on twitter and facebook, you know I got a bit ballsy yesterday and decided to make a video.  Not sure why… I think I wanted to see if I could do it. It was something I was scared to death of when I was in Project Food Blog-I decided to conquer my fear of that challenge, even though I didn’t make it that far. (sniffle,sniffle)

Now-I have to tell you- I did two takes. Because I started to crack up laughing.

Next time, I will post the outtakes.

I also still took some pictures. Because I thought I would chicken out.

aren’t they spoooooky?

I went all pre-made on em’, too.

Because there are times when you just can’t be all “homemade-betty-martha-crocker-stewart”.

Sometimes you have to be an “astronaut food mom”.

And, you know what? That’s okay, too. 🙂

I think I am rambling to stall….I am still a bit nervous. I have no freakin’ idea why.

So…. what are you going to make for Halloween dinner?

These are easy and fun.

Here’s how to do em:

Woah- doesn’t it look like I am yawning-or yodeling? Paused videos are funny that way.

Let me know what you think.  🙂

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easy, kids

wormy apples

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This is just so cute. And I totally stole it from somewhere- I can’t remember where… (online…I think, although I do have a stack of fall magazines….)

It’s not like me to not give credit-so I will try and hunt down the creator of these cuties.

And, except for the worm they are healthy.

Yippee,  soccer moms unite! We can bring these when it’s our turn for snack at games. Oh yeah. Make all the other moms call you “Martha”, come on, deep inside we know they’re just jealous…and being called “Martha” is really a compliment- weather we admit it or not.

I’d much rather be called “Martha” than Lindsey any ol’ day.

Which ex-jail bird would you want to be?

Now, to make these you will need a strong straw to bore the hole… you know the accordion super thick ones kids get at restaurants with their drinks? The kind that whistle when you blow them. Yep. Those.

Poke a hole in each apple, then cut in half. Scoop out the middle:

and… what goes awesome with apples?

Peanut butter, of course.

It also acts like paste to hold the apples together.

There you have it- you are officially a rockin’ Martha soccer team mom.

Or, a hit at your office .

These just instantly make you cool.

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holiday, kids

(almost) un-meltable ice cream

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Ok, I say almost un-meltable because I know if you… say, left it in the sun or a hot car for an extended period-it may get drippy. But… you can eat it with out getting sticky. I say “YAY!” to that. I don’t know about you…but I really don’t like to be sticky. Ew.

How many people can grab “ice cream”like this?!

What are they, you ask?

Can you tell? Yep…Rice Krispies treats. You can (and should) fill the cones up with small candies or toys. You kind of need to- they are top heavy with out some weight in the cone part. Lil’ tip from mama.

I seriously doubt that you need a recipe for rice krispies treats.

Do you?

Let me know.

I shaped my treats by hand into ice cream shapes-I could have used a scoop, but honestly I will avoid any extra dishes whenever I can.

Then, I dipped them in those candy-melt things that they sell at craft stores. While they were wet, I did up the sprinkles. My hubby thought they would be hard to bite into-( nope! ) And, they were delicious. Better than ice cream in some ways… you know how ice cream tastes awesome the first few bites and then your taste buds go “numb?” That won’t happen here. (hooray!)

I made these for our rainy July 4th. How do ya like my bunting? I never knew what that stuff was called. Now I do. Bunting. Folded fabric decor. Cool. Of course I took this picture before the skies opened up.

Kids love these, too. Really. They will even want to take a picture of them. Okay, maybe that’s just my lil’ one.

“You have to line them up, mommy”

“okay, there. Can I eat one now? I got my picture.”

“Okay, just one…”

My oldest is still with her Memaw. Rumor has it she ate a GIANT cookie at a birthday party. I will have to make these once more when she comes home. They’re  fun. And good.

OH! Giveaway time! Contest number one to celebrate the anniversary of this site!!!

THE PRIZE:

All the ingredients needed to make the “ice cream” treats- INCLUDING the recipe ( 🙂 )And candy and toys to fill your cones. To enter, just comment at the end of this post. Winner will be chosen by random.org on Monday, July 12th at 8:00am EST. Good luck!!!

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