Halloween – Page 10 – Gracious Rain

October 23, 2009November 1, 2020

Batty Chips

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You could–of course, go ahead and buy tortilla chips OR you could make these cute little batty ones with tons of personality. This is an easy way to get people talking about–your chips. You know, that has never happened before.

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Simply cut random bat shape out of regular flour tortillas.

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Place them on a cookie sheet. Spray lightly with Pam so the spices will stick.

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Sprinkle with a mixture of garlic salt, ground coriander and paprika (equal parts). I mixed the spices and put them in a shaker bottle. It worked beautifully.

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Bake at 350 degrees for about 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Allow them to cool.

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Serve with Volturi Dip. You may hear a lot of, “No way! You made those?” from your guests. Just say, “Oh, yeah. I slaved allll day.”

Heh.

October 21, 2009November 1, 2020

Halloween Luminaries

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Kinda pretty—

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wouldn’t you say? And you know me–I need it to be fun and easy and if you can repurpose something in the process–well, then…it’s perfect.

All you need is:

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small jars–any size–we used baby food jars, tiny mustard jars and even a spaghetti sauce jar.

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tissue paper or crepe paper–we used orange, peach and purple–cut or torn into small pieces

Mod Podge–my new love in life

small paint brushes

LED candles–you can use real tea lamp candles, but it makes the surface of the jars tacky while they are hot. LED are better.

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Dab a tiny bit of Mod Podge onto the paintbrush…

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and paint it on the jar.

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Collect up a piece of tissue and stick it on the gluey spot.

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Cover the entire piece with the glue–top and bottom.

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Keep collecting and pasting and covering your tissue pieces until you have covered every inch of the bottle.

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Set them somewhere upside down to allow them to dry. You may just be surprised at how really beautiful they look.

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You could even sneak a face on one of them when no one is looking.

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Fancy them up with ribbon or raffia…

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Or leave them plain. Insert the LED lights in the bottom of the jars. Turn down the big lights and try dinner by… luminaries. I think you’ll like it!

October 19, 2009January 1, 2022

The Mummy Dog Dudes

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What a perfect, spooky snack for your little ghouls on Halloween night–or any night for that matter. Serve these creepy cuties with a bowl of soup and they’ll be ready for whatever haunts the evening brings.

We used Turkey Franks and a refrigerated tube of Pillsbury bread sticks.

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Open the bread sticks–really isn’t that the spookiest part? I hate those exploding tubes. Get somebody else to do if if you’re like me. Then cut all the dough strips in half lengthwise.

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Roll each strip just a bit so that it longer…

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and wind up your little mummy babies any way you want. Leave a small space for the face to poke out.

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If you want to–tear some strips and lay them on here and there for a tattered bandage effect.

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Bake mummies at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or however long it takes for the wrappings to get nice and toasty brown.

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Daub tiny mustard or ketchup eyes on their faces with a sucker stick or a paintbrush.

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Arrange them on a serving platter and…

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feed them to your friends.

The Mummy Dog Dudes

: Launi

Ingredients

Hot Dogs
Refrigerated Tube of Pilsbury Breadsticks
Mustard

Instructions

Open the bread sticks–really isn’t that the spookiest part? I hate those exploding tubes. Get somebody else to do if if you’re like me. Then cut all the dough strips in half lengthwise.
Roll each strip just a bit so that it longer…
and wind up your little mummy babies any way you want. Leave a small space for the face to poke out.
If you want to–tear some strips and lay them on here and there for a tattered bandage effect.
Bake mummies at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or however long it takes for the wrappings to get nice and toasty brown.
Daub tiny mustard or ketchup eyes on their faces with a sucker stick or a paintbrush.
Arrange them on a serving platter and…
feed them to your friends.

October 17, 2009October 26, 2022

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

About this time of year, when I stroll into the grocery store for whatever it is—without fail–in the bakery section, or at the checkout stand and sometimes even on display right as I walk in the store will be the most lovely, the most Halloweenish, the most tasty looking Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies ever created. I believe it’s fair to say that I almost always resist the impulse to stack the silly things in my cart and grin my way home. Almost…always.

At any rate–this is a fabulous substitute for all the cookies I’ve bravely walked away from–but even better because it’s a cake instead, so way quicker to make and just as scrumptious to eat. You’ll love it to itty, bitty, bits. Seriously.

Make it…I dare you.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients:

3/4 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into a well-greased 10-in. fluted tube pan,
Bake at 325° for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan. Dust with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream.

Eat it–the heck–up.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cake

Ingredients

¾ cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Beat in vanilla.
Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; add to the creamed mixture alternately with pumpkin.
Fold in chocolate chips.
Spoon batter into a well-greased 10-in. fluted tube pan,
Bake at 325° for 65-70 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan.
Dust with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream.

October 14, 2009October 30, 2020

Bottled Cupcakes

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Temporarily bottled that is. Just long enough for someone to get a fork. I saw this cute thing on Joy’s Hope, and had to give it a try.

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Simple enough to make this treat for your friends, neighbors, coworkers or family. Start by whipping together a regular cake mix…

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and scooping it into greased muffin tins. Skip the cupcake papers. I used a #30 ice cream scoop to fill each well with batter. Bake as directed.

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Aren’t they just sweet and perfectly uniform?

Now for the frosting. You’ll need:

1 lb. powdered sugar
1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp.. vanilla

Combine and beat until creamy. If you want to use a frosting tube–you can, of course. But we just filled a plastic bag and cut the corner off.

Note: If you are tempted to use store-bought tub frosting–don’t. You’ll be sorry. It was too runny and made a mess of everything. You must trust me on this.

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