Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from October, 2011

MINI PUMPKIN CAKES, A THANKSGIVING TREAT INSTEAD OF PUMPKIN PIE!

      Delicious pumpkin flavor and pumpkin pie spices make this treat a yummy way to celebrate the season. With only 30 minutes of hands-on time it's doable for a special dinner party or just a fun treat for the kids. This recipe is brought to you by www.myrecipes.com    Hands-On Time: 30 min.; Total Time: 1 hr., 44 min. (including Caramel-Rum Glaze). Ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened 2 cups sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 3 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt Caramel-Rum Glaze* Or Vanilla Glaze Caramel Stems, Leaves, and Vines (optional, instructions below) Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating until light and f

NOVEMBER FOOD HOLIDAYS TO DIE FOR!!

   Wouldn't it be nice to celebrate a different holiday everyday? Well, you can celebrate a national holiday everyday. There is a national food holiday for everyday of the year. That means that you can do something unique and serve a fun food that goes along with that day's holiday. November is one of the best times to celebrate national food holidays. Not only do we get to celebrate Thanksgiving, but there are 29 more days of great food holidays. National Vinegar Day November 1 :  This can easily be one of the best food holidays, if you know some fabulous recipes. For example, make coleslaw or make pickled sausages. There are so many great ways to use this tangy ingredient. National Deviled Egg Day November 2 :  Now this food holiday was definitely made for Southerners. To make delicious deviled eggs simply boil your eggs and then combine the yolks with some mayonnaise and crumbled bacon. National Sandwich Day November 3 : Skip the complicated dinner you had pl

NOVEMBER HOLIDAYS TO LOOK FORWARD TO!!

   This is a listing of actual holidays, believe it or not. Several web sites even offer electronic cards for you to send to friends and relatives to help celebrate ! November 1 - Bra Day Whatever you do, don't burn your bra today! This holiday commemorates the date that Mary Jacob invented the first modern brassiere circa 1913 in New York. November 2 - Practice Being Psychic Day Today is "Practice Being Psychic" Day, and I am reading your mind right now. You are thinking "Why would anyone think up such a silly celebration?" I'm pretty good, don't you think? November 3 - Sandwich Day Happy Sandwich Day! This holiday celebrates the emergence of the sandwich, popularized in 1762 by the 4th Earl of Sandwich, John Montague, an 18 th century English aristocrat. November 4 - Bad Mood Day On this day, I suppose it is permissible to be in a bad mood for a 24 hour period. Celebrate this holiday at your own risk! November 5 - Natio

HALLOWEEN POISON CAKE!! OH SO....GOOOOD!

 This recipe is brought to us by www.cakejournal.com .  Enjoy a piece of poison cake on Halloween, it's to die for! AH! AH! AH! Halloween poison cake recipe I know that many of you have seen vibrant coloured cakes for years. But back in the days when I was a kid, a cake with this colour was very special. This (Danish) cake bring back so many childhood memories to me and I have always known it as the The Poison Cake!   Basically it’s just an almond flavoured cake, coloured green. Green and perfect for Halloween! The cake is super moist and I like to eat it with a big glass of cold milk on the side. On top of the cake is a thin spread of cocoa powder icing (powdered sugar and unsweetened cocoa powder) If you want it a little more festive, you can sprinkle some fun Halloween sprinkles on top. Halloween poison cake Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C) 9″x13″rectangle cake pan, prepared with parchment paper or cake release. Ingredients: 375 grams sugar (2 cups) 250 grams s

DIY SPARKLING JACK O' LANTERN GLITTERBLAST PUMPKIN!

      This diy project comes from www.styrofoamcrafts.com . Good luck and have fun making this one of a kind Jack o' lantern.    It’s October – let the season for Halloween crafts begin. And, what better way to start than with Halloween decorating ideas featuring pumpkins? First up is our Glittering Jack-’o-Lantern made with Krylon’s new Glitter Blast . When Krylon sent me sample cans of this sparkly, spray-on glitter finish, I knew I had to try it out on STYROFOAM Brand Foam. Glitter Blast is totally safe for STYROFOAM Brand Foam and comes in a dozen colors – imagine how it will make your holiday crafts shimmer! Make several glittering jack-'o-lanterns and stand them in a row. To make the Glittering Jack-‘o-Lantern , you’ll need : STYROFOAM Brand Foam, 12” x 5” cone (or other size of your choice) Krylon Gitter Blast: Starry Night, Orange Burst Contact paper Glittered, sheer black ribbon Green, glittered floral pick Glittered raven Newspaper Low temp glue gu

CELTIC INTERNATIONAL COLOURS FESTIVAL FROM NOVA SCOTIA!

   Since 1997, the Celtic Colours International Festival has featured hundreds of musicians from all over the Celtic world and attracted tens of thousands of visitors to Cape Breton Island. For nine days in October, Cape Breton Island is home to a unique celebration of music and culture as the Celtic Colours International Festival presents dozens of concerts all over the island, an extensive line-up of workshops, a visual art series of exhibitions, and a nightly Festival Club. Over the years, artists have traveled from Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Brittany, Spain, Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Cuba as well as from across the United States and Canada to join the finest of Cape Breton's musicians, singers, dancers, storytellers and tradition-bearers for the annual Autumn celebration.    One of the things that sets Celtic Colours apart from the vast majority of festivals taking place around the globe is that it isn't limited to just one location. Communities around Cape

TOP 10 GROSSEST HALLOWEEN CANDIES!!

Overindulging in Halloween candy is bound to make anyone nauseous. Why not skip the teeth-rotting middleman and turn your stomach before you eat a thing? These ten repugnant candies should do the trick-or-treat. 1. Dracula Drool : This vile vial gets bonus gross-out points for its graphic name. It's not just blood, it's hemoglobin-stained saliva that dripped off the Count's slobbering fangs. 2. Vampire Hair : Candy hair would have made this list on its own; so would candy vampires. The combination in a flossy candy that explodes on your tongue puts it at No. 2. Also noteworthy is the revelation that Marge Simpson is indeed a vampire. 3. Forkz Candy Eyeballs : Who needs candy corn when you can get candy corneas? As if they're hors d'oeuvres at a monster mash party, these eyeballs have forks sticking out to really make them pop.   4. Pick 'n Lick : A giant sugar cotton swab gathers up globs of ear wax-colored powder. Thi

HOW TO MAKE "BLEEDING" CUPCAKES FOR HALLOWEEN!

   This recipe comes from www.bonappetit.com .  Make some for one of your kids school Halloween parties and you'll be the hit of it!! How to Make "Bleeding" Cupcakes for Halloween        Provocative series like Twilight , The Vampire Diaries , and True Blood have made vampires the sexiest thing since sliced bread that has been molded into the shape of a sensuous woman.    That is why bleeding cupcakes are sure to win any Halloween/Sexy-Themed Baking Contest you might enter this week. They're not only showy and delicious, but super simple to put together as well--just like the scripts for all those dramas. (I'm just kidding. Don't bite me.) Here's how: 1) Bake cupcakes using your favorite recipe. 2) Once cooled, dig a small lump of cupcake out of the top. Set the removed chunk aside. 3) Pour a little bit of an edible, reddish, runny substance, such as strawberry jam or cherry pie filling, into the hole. 4) Re-insert removed

DIY HANGING AND FLYING BATS FOR SOME HAUNTED HALLOWEEN DECOR!

  Brought to you by www.marthastewart.com .  I'm getting ready to make a batch of these so that they can hang upside down on my porch.  Welcome trick-or-treaters in hair-raising style by turning your front porch into a bat cave. . Tools and Materials Half-bat template Thick black paper Bone folder Painters' tape or removable hooks Hanging Bats Print our half-bat template ; then fold a piece of thick black paper down the middle, place the template on the fold, and trace. Cut out, and unfold. Use a bone folder to crease wings (and fold opposite the direction of body fold). Poke holes in the bat for monofilament: in the tail for an upside-down bat, in the wings and head for one that's right side up. Hang from ceiling with painters' tape or removable hooks. 

BANNER ELK, NORTH CAROLINA WOOLEY WORM FESTIVAL!

History of the Woolly Worm Festival   When Jim Morton first put a blade of grass in front of a woolly worm, he had no idea that the fuzzy critter at his feet would lead to a festival that draws nearly 20,000 people, 140 vendors, 1,000 worm trainers, and national media crews to the town of Banner Elk. Morton was one of the founders of the Woolly Worm Festival. "October of 1973 was my first autumn in this area," says Morton. "That was when I first learned about the woolly worm's role in local folklore. A gentleman who worked at Grandfather Mountain told me about woolly worms being used to forecast winter.    Morton, who is always interested in area lore, tucked the knowledge into the back of his mind. "Some years later, I was invited to a meeting where they were trying to get some ideas together to possibly form a merchant's association in Banner Elk. It was a preliminary gathering. I was not a merchant, but I accepted the invitation to go to the meetin

HISTORY AND TRADITIONS OF TRICK OR TREATING!

    Trick-or-treating is a customary practice for children on Halloween seen in many countries. Children in costumes , either in large groups or accompanied by an adult, travel from house to house in order to ask for treats such as candy (or, in some cultures, money ) with the question "Trick or treat?". The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given.    In North America , trick-or-treating has been a customary Halloween tradition since at least the late 1950s. Homeowners wishing to participate in it usually decorate their private entrance with plastic spiderwebs, paper skeletons and jack-o-lanterns . Some rather reluctant homeowners would simply leave the candy in pots on the porch, others might be more participative and would even ask an effort from the children in order to provide them with candy. In the more recent years, however, the practice has spread to almost any house within a n