Recipe For Sunday 9/30/07

Halloween is getting closer and closer so I hope you enjoy all of the Halloween recipes and crafts. Gross everyone out with the following cookie recipe!

Creepy Witches Fingers

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1 2/3 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup almonds, whole blanched
1 tube red decorator gel

In a bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla. Beat in flour, baking soda, and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Working with on quarter of the dough at a time and keeping remainder in refrigerator, roll a heaping teaspoonful of dough into finger shape for each cookie. Press almond firmly into one end for nail. Squeeze in center to create knuckle shape. Using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Lift up almond and squeeze red decorator gel onto nail bed and press almond back in place so gel oozes out from underneath to create the look of blood. You can also make slashes in the finger and fill them with red decorator gel for more blood. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.


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Plastic Spoon Witch 9/29/07

This is a really neat Halloween craft you can do with your kids. My kids love making these.

Plastic Spoon Witch

Supplies:
Plastic spoon
½ sheet of lime green felt
½ sheet of purple felt
1 sheet of black felt
½ sheet tan felt
Small scrap of white felt
1 lime green chenille stick
2 small wiggle eyes
1 miniature light green pom pom
10 miniature light purple pom poms
1 gold chenille stick
Scissors
Hot glue gun

Directions:

1.) Cut a square of lime green felt large enough to fold over and completely cover the top portion of the spoon. Set aside.

2.) Place spoon, round side facing down, on top of the green felt. Only the top section of the spoon will be wrapped, not the handle. Place a dot of hot glue onto the back of the spoon to tack it in place. Wrap the felt completely around the spoon top, gluing as you go, tucking and gluing ends of the felt into the back side of the spoon.

3.) Cut out two identical dresses from the black felt. Lay one on the work surface and place spoon on top, positioning it so the top of the handle lines up with the neck. Place the other dress directly on top and tack in place at the shoulders and neck area. DO NOT glue.

4.) Cut lime green chenille stick into four equal pieces. Fold each piece in half. Insert, open end inward so that loops are sticking out (these are the arms and legs) and glue in place. Now glue the rest of the dress together.

5.) Cut a strip of purple felt for the belt, wide enough to cover the waist area. Tack seams in the back. Cut a square from the black felt for the buckle. Cut a smaller square out of the center of the larger square and set the small piece aside to use on the hat. Glue buckle to the front of the belt.

6.) To make the hair, cut a four inch by three inch rectangle from purple felt. Use scissors to fringe one of the long sides. Tack to the back of the “head”, lining up the center of the felt hair with the top third of the spoon. Wrap hair around the head and trim where needed. Glue in place. Note: You’ll want to leave about a quarter-inch gap around the forehead area.

7.) Cut two identical hats from the black felt. Just as you did with the dress, lay one hat on the work surface, place the head on top and then arrange the second hat on top of the head. Line up hats and glue in place.

8.) Cut a skinny strip of purple felt out for the hat band and glue in place as you did with the dress belt. Glue the small black square you cut from the belt buckle to the center of the hat band.

9.) Add a necklace by piping some hot glue around the neckline of the dress and place light purple miniature pom-poms in place.

10.) Cut a small point nose from the lime green felt and glue just the large end of it to the center of the face so that the it sticks out a bit.

11.) Cut out a tiny strip of white felt and cut it into four small squares. Glue on for the mouth.

12.) Glue on a miniature green pom-pom near her chin to create a wart. Glue on two wiggle eyes.

13.) Cut an eight inch by three inch rectangle from the tan felt. Use scissors to fringe one end, about two inches inward. Roll up the felt to create the broom bristles and glue together as you roll. Insert gold chenille stems into the bottom end of the bristles and glue in place. Tie a thin strip around the base of the broom and trim the ends. Insert the bottom of the broom handle through the loop hand and down to the foot. Tack with glue to the hand and the foot.

Side Note:

• Simplify this craft by eliminating the small details.

• To make this a puppet, leave the bottom of the dress open so that your child can reach inside and hold the handle.

• If you like, switch out the purple hair and use a dark green instead.

• Hot glue adheres faster but can burn little fingers. While the burns aren’t severe, they will produce tears. A parent should handle the hot glue gun or you can use white craft glue as an alternative. White craft glue will take longer to adhere and will require longer drying times.

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Recipe For Friday 9/28/07

We are getting closer to Halloween, so you will be seeing alot of recipes relating to Halloween. I am even going to posting Halloween crafts.

Eerie Eyeballs

Yields approx. 9 dozen bite sized eyeballs

3 oz lemon gelatin (can use sugar free)

1 cup hot water

1/2 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup pinapple juice

8 oz cream cheese

1 cup mayonnaise

Dissolve lemon gelatin in 1 cup water in double boiler, add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Add pineapple juice and cream cheese. Beat until well blended. Cool slightly. Fold in mayo. If you have a truffle candy mold or round ice cube trays, pour the mixture in the molds and put it in the fridge to set. Otherwise, pour into a deep ceramic dish and chill until thickened or firm enough for scooping. Using a melonballer, scoop full balls of the mixture and set aside for decorating.

To Decorate: Use liquid food coloring and an old detail paintbrush and get creative. You will need black food coloring for the pupils.

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Recipe For Thursday 9/27/07

Today I felt like sharing a must have recipe. Serve this salad with your next meal and your family and friends will love it.

Chicken Caesar Salad

4 boneless chicken breasts

Melted butter or oil for basting

8 cups bite-size pieces of Romaine lettuce

1 1/3 cups croutons

Parmesan cheese

Caesar salad dressing

Grill chicken, turning and basting frequently with oil or butter (or your favorite marinade). Cut meat diagonally into strips. Set the chicken aside.

Croutons:

1 loaf Italian or French bread

Olive oil

Spices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice bread into 1/2-inch cubes; place on cookie sheet. Sprinkle on olive oil, turning bread to coat. Sprinkle on your favorite spices (garlic, onion, all types of peppers, oregano, etc.). Cook, tossing until golden brown, approximately 15-20 minutes.

Caesar Dressing:

1/2 c. olive oil

2 shakes Worcestershire sauce

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 egg

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. lemon juice

Lots of freshly ground pepper

Whisk all ingredients together.

In a large bowl, toss Romaine Lettuce with croutons and dressing. Put on 4 plates and crisscross chicken strips. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

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Recipe For Wednesday 9/26/07

Click the picture above to learn the art of pumpkin painting.

This is a cute recipe for Halloween.

Halloween Chili

1 1/4 lbs. ground goblin gizzards (ground beef 15% fat)

1 med. eye of Cyclops (onion)

15 oz. can soft shelled beetles (kidney beans)

28 oz. can blood of a bat (V-8 juice)

1/8 tsp. pureed wasp (prepared mustard)

1/4 tsp. common dried weed (oregano)

1 dash of Redtailed hawk toenails (crushed red pepper)

2 tsp. ground sumac blossom (chili powder)

1 tsp. hemlock (honey or sugar)

1/2 c. fresh grubs (sliced celery)

1 tbsp. eye of Newt (pearled barley)

1 tbsp. dried maggots (uncooked rice)

Water from a stagnant pond (tap water)

Substitutions are in parenthesis.

Brown the gizzards in an iron cauldron over a fire made from the siding off of a haunted house, add chopped eye of cyclops and simmer until the pieces of eye become translucent again, add blood of bat, and soft shelled beetles, bring to a slow bubbling boil. At this time, add the common weed, maggots, toenails, sumac, grubs, hemlock, eye of newt and the pureed wasp. As it cooks you may want to adjust the consistency with pond water. You can tell it is done when the eye of newt swells and the vertical tan colored 'cats eye' appears on one side.

Hope everyone enjoys this recipe for Halloween.

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Recipe For Tuesday 9/25/07

Today you are getting one of my recipes that has been passed down to me from my great great grandmother. My entire family uses this exact recipe.

Pumpkin Jelly Rolls

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2/3 cup pumpkin, canned

1 cup of your favorite chopped nuts (optional)

Filling

1 cup powdered sugar

8 ounces cream cheese

5 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat eggs for about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients to beaten eggs. Pour into well greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with 1 cup chopped pecans. Bake 15-20 minutes at 375 F. spread a kitchen towel on table and sprinkle the towel with powdered sugar. Turn out on a kitchen towel. Sprinkle with more powdered sugar. Use as much or as little powdered sugar as you like. Roll with the towel into a roll. Let it cool completely.

Filling: Mix powdered sugar, cream cheese, butter, and vanilla. You can add food coloring to give it a really cool look.

When cake is completely cool, unroll cake and spread on filling. Roll back into a roll without the towel.

I hope you enjoy today's recipe. Feel free to add your favorite recipes or comment on the posted recipes.

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Recipe For Monday 9/24/07

Here is today's recipe for everyone to enjoy!

PASTA ASCUITTA

Angel hair pasta
1 teaspoon crushed red peppers
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup romano cheese, grated

SAUCE:
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 cup tomato puree
1 teaspoon oregano
2 bay leaves, crushed
1 cup olive oil
1 pint boiling water
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Heat olive oil in medium skillet. Saute chopped ingredients. Add tomato puree, water,
oregano and bay leaves. Simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare pasta al dente. Fold in olive oil, cheese and crushed red pepper. Add a little sauce
at a time to provide a light coating. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serves 6.

I don't know about you, but that makes me HUNGRY!

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See you tomorrow!

A Recipe Everyday

If you love to cook, or you are just tired of the same old recipes, then this is the place to be. I will be posting a new recipe everyday. It could be an appetizer recipe, a main dish recipe, a dessert recipe.

You never know what you will find so check back often and keep everyone happy with new and exciting recipes.

As we near the holidays, I will be posting great recipes you can share with your family and friends. There will also be fun recipes you can do with your children. I will also post some bonus crafts ideas around the holidays as well.

Please feel free to leave a comment about the recipe of the day.

We would love for you to share your recipes with us. Do you have a recipe that everyone love? If so, then post it here to share with us.

Today's Recipe:

"Brown Bag" French Apple Pie

For The Pie:

1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Shortening
5 tbsp Ice Water
8 c Apples (peeled & sliced)
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
2 tbsp All-Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Nutmeg, Ground
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tsp Cinnamon, Ground

Combine the first measure of flour, salt and shortening using a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, then stir in the water a little at a time, using a fork, and form the dough into a ball.

Roll out the pastry dough on a lightly floured board. Roll to an 11" or 12" diameter and fit into a 9" pie pan fluting the edges.

Combine the sugar, the second measure of flour, the cinnamon, the nutmeg and the lemon juice in a large bowl then toss the apple slices in the mixture and arrange them in the pie crust.

For The Topping:

1/2 c Granulated Sugar
1/2 c All-Purpose Flour
1/3 c Butter
1 lg Paper Bag
Vanilla Ice Cream

Combine the sugar and flour in a bowl and cut in the butter using a pastry cutter then sprinkle the topping over the apple filling.

Place the pie in the LARGE paper bag and place the paper bag on a baking
sheet and loosely fold the open end of the bag under. Bake until the apples
are tender (50-60 minutes).

Carefully remove the pie from the bag ~ CAUTION: WATCH OUT FOR THE STEAM
COMING OUT OF THE BAG!

Serve warm with generous portions of vanilla ice cream.

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