Pumpkin {Shaped} Cheese Ball

Oh, hi there. I am indeed alive and have not suddenly vanished off the face of the earth.

I have no good excuse except that I've been busy, like all of you I'm sure.

I've neglected my poor blog for over a week now, and I don't feel good about it. I haven't even gotten to catch up on your Thanksgivings (I've missed you!)... or post any new recipes (sorry, no Thanksgiving recipes)... or even cook recently really (and no menu plan this week)! I feel like a terrible blogger. I truly hope you all did enjoy your Thanksgivings and had plenty to be thankful for. I know I do. I'm thankful for all of you, too! Like, so much. Especially when I don't call or write for over a week. Yall are definitely some keepers.  Don't break up with me, k?

Enough with the sappy talk though, let's get on to the food that I've deprived you of lately.

You know what else makes me a bad blogger? I have been wanting to post about this recipe for the past month and a half! Time just gets away from me. You too? Ok good, it's not just me. I made this to bring to our company potluck lunch at Halloween. I never did post about it though, but figured I could still post about it before Thanksgiving and that you, my readers, could still make it for Thanksgiving if you wanted. Again, I didn't. So here it is. Finally. After Halloween and after Thanksgiving. But before Christmas, at least... pat on the back for that.

This is a pumpkin-shaped cheese ball. Not a pumpkin-flavored cheese ball. I don't want any nasty comments saying someone was expecting a pumpkin-flavored cheese ball recipe. Though that does sound quite enticing. Just coverin' my butt.

Pumpkin {Shaped} Cheese Ball

adapted from Taste of Home

• 6 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 (8 oz) container chive and onion cream cheese, softened
• 2 oz sour cream
• 2 cups (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, finely shredded
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 celery rib 
• Sliced apples, crackers, tortilla chips, veggies, pretzels for dipping

In a small bowl, beat cream cheeses and sour cream until smooth. Stir in the cheddar cheese, paprika, and cayenne pepper. Shape into a ball, to resemble a pumpkin. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 4 hours or until firm.

With a knife, add vertical lines to the cheese ball to resemble a pumpkin furthermore. Insert a celery rib (you will have to cut it) for the stem. Serve with dippers of choice.

Printable Recipe

 

Make this next Halloween. Or Thanksgiving. Or anytime during the 2012 fall season and those to come. Just be sure to make it before Christmas, like I did, and you'll be a-ok in my book.

*Another reason I am a horrible blogger: I'm behind on my 12 Weeks of Christmas posts! Yikes, tomorrow we are supposed to be on Week 10 I believe... and I haven't linked up since Week 7. So you may be seeing some Christmas goodie recipes coming from me soon that I'll be linking up to past weeks.... going back in time. I'm allowed to do that, right? Hey, if the linky is still open I say it's fair game, even if it is several weeks later! So stay tuned for that.

I'm gonna stop listing reasons I'm a bad blogger now. 

Off to bed to get 5 hours of sleep!!! Gotta love late-night blogging.


Peace, and bacon grease!

Happy Belated Halloween... and Owl-O-Ween Cookies!

Happy belated Halloween to you all! Did you dress up in costume or go to any parties? We had our annual Halloween party at work... I dressed up as a Quarter Back and wore my Vick jersey (that's my last name too btw), and blew up a photo of a quarter and pasted it to my back... get it? Quarter back? I thought it was pretty clever, though I didn't win. That's ok, I won 2 years ago  :)

I really wanted to post these cookies the day before Halloween, or on Halloween, but it just didn't happen. I was mucho busy! So here they are, a day late. But make them next year, k?  And really you could still make them now, minus the Halloween vibe, by switching out the candy corn for a different candy that will work as a nose, and regular oreos as eyes instead of the orange ones. Then you've got yourself some good old, regular owl cookies. Either way, they're adorable.

And equally delicious. I thought these cookies would be all about the cuteness, and less about the taste. But I was wrong, because they tasted like sugary heaven. But please be warned, these cookies are capable of inducing sugar comas. 

I didn't want to have to buy almond joy drops, so I worked with what I already had in the pantry. Yay for pre-stocked Halloween candy. So for the eyes, I used brown reeses pieces on some of the cookies, and milk duds on others. I preferred the reeses pieces because the milk duds were pretty large, and weren't as round as I wanted. I also used store-bought peanut butter cookies instead of sugar cookies, because both were right there in front of my face and I just can't pass up a peanut butter cookie. Ever.

Oh, and I just had to copy borrow the creative idea to perch my owls on tree limbs, like Stephanie did. Hey, when I see a fantastic idea, I must roll with it. Her tree shot looks much better than mine, but that's ok. This isn't a contest :)

Owl-O-Ween Cookies

adapted from Cookin' Cowgirl

• Store-bought peanut butter cookies
• Chocolate whipped frosting
• Halloween oreo cookies
• Reeses pieces (brown ones)
• Candy corn

Frost the flat side of the cookie with frosting. Twist oreos apart and place the back side down, cream side up for the large part of the eyes. For the small part of the eyes, put a dab of frosting on the back of a brown reeses pieces, and place in desired spot. Cut the remaining oreo in half and use for eyebrows. Last, put a candy corn where you want the nose. 

Printable Recipe

These are so fun to make! Definitely kid-friendly. Not only are they adorable and delicious, but they are also so easy! No cooking required, unless you prefer to make your own homemade sugar cookie or peanut butter cookie base. Not I... I chose to make this recipe because it required no cooking! Plus it was just too dang cute to pass up, and I just love owls.

And this isn't even what I brought to our Halloween lunch party. I'll have to share that recipe with you soon and very soon....

Hope you all had a very scary Owl-O-Ween :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

*Note: The oreos are small enough to fit on a standard-sized store-bought sugar or peanut butter cookie. No need to search around for gigantic base cookies. I was worried about the oreos fitting on my cookies, but they fit fine.

Linking up here.

A Fall Craft - Mini Pumpkin Wreath

This blog aint just about food. Today I'm bringing you a Halloween craft idea! I know... you guys didn't know I could be crafty, did you? It's cool, neither did I!! 

Now don't go thinking I'm all sorts of amazing with my crafty skills, cuz I'm not. I actually am one of the least crafty people ever. I want to be crafty. I want to take old junk furniture and turn it into a masterpiece. I want to be able to make my own jewelry and clothes, and sew, and paint drawings, and sell stuff on Etsy. I want to gut my house and re-do it all by myself without calling in a professional. But let's face it, I'm not crafty. I asked for some art supplies two birthdays ago so I could get my art on. Nope, never touched it. It's still in the bag. And yes I've got some old pieces of random furniture that I've purchased throughout the years at numerous yard sales, stashed in the basement, which I vowed to renovate and never did.  I just get intimidated...

But for once, I saw a crafty Halloween idea on Pinterest and knew it was something I could actually start and finish. Sweeeeet! That Pinterest has got me inspired, thinking I can do all sorts of things! I've spent hours pinning different holiday-themed crafts and other house renovating ideas. I have been so inspired to decorate my home with fall and Halloween decorations, that I knew I had to make this wreath made with mini pumpkins from the grocery store.

First you wanna grab a wire hanger from the closet. I molded the wire hanger into a round shape as best I could. Stick each mini pumpkin through the wire... it will go through. I wondered... it does. Mine isn't the best circle, but it'll do. I secured the wire to itself and hung it on our door for guests to see right when they walk up. 

You can purchase the really mini pumpkins from your grocery store in the produce aisle. I got mine at Walmart. They weren't with the other large pumpkins, or even the smaller sized pumpkins that you would still display on your porch. Those are too big for this wreath. I couldn't find the tiny ones at our local outdoor pumpkin stand. Your best bet is to grab the tiny ones from the produce section.

And so there be it. My finished craft project! Isn't this Halloween wreath ultra cute? I think so. And it was super easy too. It better be, cuz that's pretty much the only way I could have completed it.

Go me! :)

Peace, and bacon grease!

 

Martha Mondays : Guacamoldy with Creature Chips

Yesterday was Halloween, and I hope everyone had a fantastic time! I was excited to make these Guacamoldy with Creature Chips for my company Halloween party, and for Martha Mondays! 

Unfortunately, I didn't think the guacamole recipe was too good. Granted, I didn't use exact measurements. Maybe that's where I went wrong? But it tasted a little too lime-y and was not seasoned well. I guess I am used to Chipotle's guacamole. I did like the idea of using cookie cutters to make shapes for the tortilla chips. I used cat and bat cookie cutters. Next time I would probably use a different kind of tortillas, as mine were too thick. I used a chipotle as well as a yellow corn tortilla, so next time I will stick to flour tortillas. They seem to be thinner. Also, I cooked the tortillas for longer than 12 minutes, and they still were not crispy enough, not enough like a tortilla chip. So overall I was disappointed with the taste-factor of the recipe. But the idea is super cute! And I will definitely make it again with some adjustments. Here is Martha's original recipe below.

Guacamoldy with Creature Chips from Martha Stewart

*Serves 8

• Plain or butter-flavored vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 24 assorted large flour tortillas, such as plain, whole wheat, and sun-dried tomato
• Coarse salt
• 3 pounds ripe Hass avocados, (about 7), pitted. peeled, and cut into chunks
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice, (about 3 limes)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 fresh jalapeno chile, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Using a few Halloweeninspired cookie cutters, cut shapes from tortillas. Arrange as many shapes as can fit in a single layer on oiled sheet. Coat tortillas with cooking spray, and season with salt. Bake until slightly darkened and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining tortilla shapes, using a clean, cooled baking sheet.

Put avocados, lime juice, 11/2 teaspoons salt and the pepper, jalapeno, and cilantro in a large bowl. Mash with a fork until chunky. Serve with chips.

And here's PJ and I all dressed up on Halloween! We are still big kids at heart  :)

Halloween in July? No.... I'm Just Late! - Part 2

I needed something simple to go along with those terrifying Strawberry Ghosts for my company Halloween party, and simple is what I found!

This recipe makes 24 servings and takes about 25 minutes total.

Ghoulish Fingers (from the Taste of Home website)

Ingredients

* 3 packages (8 ounces each) assorted lunch meats
* 1 package (3 ounces) cream cheese, softened
* 12 grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Directions

* Roll up each slice of lunch meat; spread a small amount of cream cheese at seam to secure roll. Insert a tomato half at one end of each roll to resemble a fingernail; secure the tomato in place with a small amount of cream cheese.
* Place seam side down on a platter. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Yield: 2 dozen.


Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 39 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 9 mg cholesterol, 96 mg sodium, 1 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 2 g protein.

Now these were more on my level! You can't really go wrong with salami roll-ups, stuffed with tomatoes, even if they don't really look like fingers. Here is how mine turned out!

Try these with some tasty Strawberry Ghosts and you're good to go! Remember, 'tis better to treat than trick!

Halloween in July? No.... I'm Just Late!

I started this blog just a few weeks ago. So obviously I haven't made any Halloween goodies recently, but I do have some pics stored on my computer from when I did make some treats for our company Halloween party in 2009 (which I must add, I won first prize for the best costume! I mean look at me, I'm soooo date-able!)

But on to what really matters... the FOOD!

I figured I couldn't go wrong with strawberries and chocolate, and it seemed pretty easy to make, so I decided to try this recipe.

Strawberry Ghosts (from Taste of Home website)

***Yields 30 servings

***Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

* 30 fresh strawberries
* 8 ounces white baking chocolate, chopped
* 1 teaspoon shortening
* 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
* 1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

* Wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt white chocolate and shortening at 50% power; stir until smooth. Stir in extract.
* Dip strawberries in chocolate mixture; place on a waxed paper-lined baking sheet, allowing excess chocolate to form the ghosts' tails. Immediately press chocolate chips into coating for eyes. Freeze for 5 minutes.
* In a microwave-safe bowl, melt remaining chocolate chips; stir until smooth. Dip a toothpick into melted chocolate and draw a mouth on each face. Yield: 2-1/2 dozen.


Nutrition Facts: 1 strawberry equals 54 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 2 mg cholesterol, 8 mg sodium, 6 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 1 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1/2 fat.

Ok so does it say something about me if this recipe was NOT very easy for me to make?! My end result did not turn out nearly as pretty as the picture from Taste of Home. I had problems with the almond extract. Every time I added it in, the mixture would harden very quickly. I like the flavor that it added, but next time I may just eliminate the almond extract since it made it harden too much and made it nearly impossible to dip the strawberries into the chocolate with a smooth finish. I ended up having to spread the chocolate onto the strawberries with a butter knife. I don't know what it is about that almond extract!

So here are my strawberry ghosts. Remember people, I am a NEWBIE! Don't expect perfection from me, just heart and passion!  Check out how my Ghoulish Fingers turned out!