Gracious Rain

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 16, 2009October 30, 2020

Spooooky Skirts

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These Autumn days…

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that can’t seem to make up their minds–

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cold? warm? rainy? dry? hot? cool? slippers? sandals? and on and on.

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The cool and cold of these days sends me to my fabric stash or to the fabric shop—which is so much more dangerous–to find something lovely to play with.

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The holiday fabrics are always a temptation because I have these sweet dolly babies that are so fun to dress-up. And so I flew downstairs to my “sewing chamber” to contemplate the seasons and…

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came back up with thousands of Halloween skirts for the little ladies.

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I found the free Lazy Days skirt pattern over at Oliver + S to be positively perfect–quick and easy. My kind of project.

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Of course, it never actually occurred to me to ask the Mamas if they even wanted a thousand girlie Halloween skirts. Wasn’t willing to risk them saying, “no.”

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So I will ask you, my friends–

How do you think it will go over when Lily-foo and Baby Chompy…

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wears pirate skirts….to church?

ha!

——————–

Week #32 Food Storage Prompt: 1 can of tuna, 4 cans Tomato soup

October 15, 2009October 30, 2020

Stuff I’m Loving…

right this minute…

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1. All these cool pumpkins from our very own garden

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2. This happy little shopper getting comfortable in the cart

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3. A pan of English “Flapjack” candy-granola-type stuff that was fabulous until I burned it. Dang puddle.

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4. Seriously cute baby hair

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5. Holiday Herbal Tea in Sugar Plum Spice flavor just in the nick of time

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6. Tweedle-Dee and the Noodle

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7. Strawberry Peanut Butter M&M’s…can I just say…W.O.W.

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8. A rainy backyard on a sun-shiney day

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9. Rainbows that obediently follow the rain

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10. A brave kitty watching the sunset from a very wet deck

And so we see—all is right with the world.

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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