Spooky Pizza

My middle daughter is having a Halloween party tomorrow at school and she asked me if I'd make something special for it. Last year, I made scary dirt pudding with marshmallow ghosts and gummy worms. It was a great recipe, but keeping it cold (because of the milk in the pudding) was challenging! This year, I spotted a recipe from Kraft that was not only easy, but looked like lots of fun to make. With all the gummy worms and bugs, I think this one is definitely for the kids!

Spooky Pizza

16 Oreo cookies, divided

1 pkg. brownie mix (I made my own recipe for brownies, but I would use the mix if I had it!)

1 1/4 cups miniature marshmallows

white decorator icing (or mix 1 cup of confectioner's sugar with a few Tablespoons of milk until thick)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Chop 8 Oreos and set aside. Prepare brownies and spread into a greased 14 inch pizza pan. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until done. Sprinkle marshmallows over hot brownie and bake 3 to 5 minutes more until partially melted. Immediately sprinkle chopped Oreos over marshmallows. Let cool.

Decorate remaining cookies with decorating icing to resemble tombstones, ghosts, etc. Let icing dry. Decorate pizza with gummy worms, gummy bugs, etc. Stand decorated cookies up around pizza gently pressing into marshmallows.

"Hold on, man. We don't go anywhere with "scary," "spooky," "haunted," or "forbidden" in the title."

-From Scooby-Doo

Brrrr, It's Snowing!

It's October and it's snowing. I can hardly believe it. At first, it was just a few flakes almost too hard to see. Then it started coming down like rain. I never thought it would stick on the ground, considering it was in the high 50's just over the weekend and the ground was still warm from summer, but stick it did.

It looked more like January than October. The kids quickly put on gloves, coats, mittens and snow boots and ran outside to play.

It's hard to believe I just picked these tomatoes out of our garden not two weeks ago. I wonder if this means a cold, snowy winter?

More Sleep, Please!

I have been so lazy the past few days. I haven't done any baking or cooking outside of the usual everyday meals. I have no motivation to keep up with the house or do any of the other requirements of my job. I think it has to do with the cold weather that has arrived in the past week. Everyone around me is yawning and wishing they could go back to bed, me included. Thank goodness for daylight savings time this weekend. One more hour of sleep sounds like heaven right now. And maybe it'll jump start my motivation!


"In dealing with those who are undergoing great suffering, if you feel "burnout" setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself. The point is to have a long-term perspective."
-Dalai Lama

"The best time to listen to a politician is when he's on a stump on a street corner in the rain late at night when he's exhausted. Then he doesn't lie."
-Theodore H. White

Friday Five

I'm in the mood to do something fun today and I thought I might try a meme. If you want to participate, please copy and complete on your blog. Have fun!

5 Things Found In My pocketbook
grocery store receipts
gum
hand sanitizer
coupons
cell phone

5 Things I would do today if I could
read a book
quilt
eat (a lot!)
sleep
laugh (a lot!)

5 Things I love about my life
my kids
my husband
my health
my freedom
my sister and brother

5 Things I’ve Always Wanted To Do
bake professionally
own a successful business
visit Europe
move back home
have a big family

5 Things I enjoy the most
dinner and a good movie
laughing with my kids
autumn
Christmas
chocolate

Forty Clove Garlic Chicken

Every time I have thought about posting this wonderful recipe, I would think about how the picture of the chicken would turn out all pale looking and unappealing, and I'd post something else. This time, I'm jumping in with both feet. This is too good of a dish to pass up. The more I make this chicken, the more I love it. Most people, like I used to, will steer clear of so much garlic in one sitting. But once the garlic is roasted, it loses it's sharpness and becomes sweet and savory. If there is any garlic left over from this dish, I save it for Italian bread. Just warm it up and spread on with a bit of butter. Unbelievable!

Forty Clove Garlic Chicken

2 to 3 heads of garlic, about 40 cloves

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thawed if frozen

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons butter

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp. dried thyme

1 cup chicken broth, preferable low sodium

Peel away the papery outer skin of the garlic. Don't peel the cloves.

Pat chicken dry. In a large 10-inch skillet, heat oil and 1 Tablespoon of the butter over med-high heat. Add chicken and season with salt and pepper. When chicken is brown on one side, turn over and salt and pepper other side. Add garlic around the chicken breasts. Add the wine, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and turn heat to low. Cook for 25 to 30 minutes or until juices run clear.

With a slotted spoon, remove chicken and garlic to a serving platter. Remove bay leaf.

To make sauce: Skim any fat from pan. Add 1 cup broth and boil until reduced by half. Remove skillet from heat and add remaining 1 Tablespoon butter. Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

"There is no such thing as a little garlic."

-Arthur Baer

“Without garlic I simply would not care to live.”

-Louis Diat (1885-1958)

Pumpkin Carving Fun

On our trip to Virginia, we picked up some nice pumpkins to carve as well as a new kit called Pumpkin Surface Carver. I'd never seen anything like it before. The kit comes with two plastic carvers each with a U shaped and a V shaped small metal attachment, a booklet full of patterns and glow in the dark paint. You tape the pattern you want onto the pumpkin and punch out the holes outlining the pattern. Then you use the carvers to carve out the surface of the pumpkin. When you are done, you use rubbing alcohol to seal the design and let it dry for 24 hours. Then you can apply the glow in the dark paint inside the design. The result is a really cool glow in the dark pumpkin and very happy kids!


http://www.pumpkinsurfacecarvers.com/


“I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion."
-Henry David Thoreau

Double Mocha Iced Brownies

Got a craving for chocolate and coffee? These brownies will satisfy even the worst craving and then some. The favors of chocolate, mocha and cream cheese blend together into one very rich treat. All you need is a glass of cold milk. Yum! Thank you to Dozen Flours for the basic recipe. I changed it around a bit to add my own ideas.

Double Mocha Iced Brownies

Chocolate topping:

8 oz good quality semi sweet chocolate chips

8 oz. heavy whipping cream

Brownies:

2 sticks (1 cup) butter

2/3 cup cocoa

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

2 tsps. vanilla

1 cup all purpose flour minus 2 Tablespoons

2 Tablespoons instant coffee, finely ground

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 Guittard Cappuccino chips

Chocolate cream cheese frosting:

1 8oz cream cheese, softened (I used low fat)

4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

4 Tblsp. ganache

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Ganache:

Place chips in a bowl. Heat cream in pan on stove until steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat and pour over chips. Let sit then stir until blended. Reheat in microwave if needed to melt completely. Let cool.

Brownies:

Spray a 9x13 pan well. In a medium saucepan, melt butter. Remove from heat then add cocoa and sugar. Mix well. Add eggs one at a time beating until blended. Stir in vanilla and add flour and salt. Do not overbeat. Fold in chips. Spread in pan and bake 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add 4 Tablespoons of ganache and mix well. Add more if you want a stronger taste. Add salt. Slowly mix in confectioners sugar. If mixture is too thick, add a bit of whipping cream until it's spreadable.

To assemble: When brownies are cool, spread cream cheese frosting over top. Pour ganache over frosting. Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to serve.

"Researchers have discovered that chocolate produced some of the same reactions in the brain as marijuana. The researchers also discovered other similarities between the two, but can't remember what they are."

-Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show

"In Seattle you haven't had enough coffee until you can thread a sewing machine while it's running."

-Jeff Bezos