Spiders, Pumpkins and Spooky Ghosts!

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As Halloween quickly approaches, I have a cookie recipe to share with you. I found these cookie cutters at Williams Sonoma and decided to bake, decorate and box up in cute decorative boxes and deliver to our neighbors. These cutters are great for beginner cookie decorators (like me!) because it stamps the design on the cookie so that you know where to decorate! They have taken all the guess work out of it. Well, I suppose you could say that they have taken all the credit for the design. I haven't mustered up the courage yet to bake a batch of cookies and decorate myself, so these were perfect for me as a first attempt into the cookie decorating arena!

These cutters are exclusive to Williams Sonoma and you still might find them in stores as I did -I got mine on sale! If you would like, you can buy cookie cutters in the same shapes and just use these designs as a template to make your own from scratch. 

Glazed Apple Cider Donuts

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 Let me begin this post by saying how excited I am to share this doughnut recipe with you. What can I say? Doughnuts are exciting. They remind me of my childhood.....and my children's childhood, all fuzzy and warm with loving family.

Long story short: the doughnuts I’m sharing with you today are perfect for a child's Halloween party, a memory making activity with your children, or a gift for a neighbor or friend. Doughnuts are fun to make!

Arugula Salad with Caramelized shallots, goat cheese and candied walnuts!

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I enjoyed this hearty salad for lunch last week, and it was a triumph for the taste buds!  It was soooooo tasty! I thought I would share this salad in prelude to the Halloween Sweets, which will be featured the rest of this week!  My favorite salads have lots of different things going on: some kind of fruit, some kind of nut, some kind of cheese. And almost always a little hint of sweetness in the dressing. There’s a little bit of prep involved, but the best part is that you can do all of it in advance! So perfect for dinner too! You will be delighted at how easy each step of this salad is!

Octoberfest ~ Part Two

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Almost always, my favorite part of a meal is....DESSERT! For the Octoberfest party I made JJ's Inside-Out German Chocolate Cake. It was delish and not much was left over at the end of the night. I still have a slice or two tucked away in my freezer for a rainy day when a chocolate pick me up is in dire need!

Originally taken from 'Gourmet|March 2000', this has been a family tradition for many years. As explained in the recipe, the chef uses Valrhona cocoa powder in her cake, but other Dutch-process cocoa powders work equally well. The filling is made from sweetened condensed milk that is cooked in a water bath in the oven until it caramelizes. I think it adds a wonderful richness to the rest of the cake. I could eat the milk/coconut filling alone, it's that yummy!

*This recipe makes about 12 servings.

Chicken Soup...the COLD remedy!

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 Who among you is coughing? Who among you is sneezing? Whose throat is so sore, it’s like you gargled sand?  I’m here to heal you and me, with homemade chicken soup. You may think to yourself: “Heck no! I haven't got time for homemade chicken soup! I’m opening a can!” But you’d be wrong, my friends, you’d be dead wrong. One whiff of this Godly creation and you’ll be better restored than the Sisteen Chapel. Behold the vision:

Roasted Pearl Onions

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Pin it! Onions are one of my favorite foods and these roasted onions are so tasty and easy to make. While I was looking for side dishes for my steak tenderloin, I remembered making these for a side last Spring with ham. I wrote the recipe, took the picture, but, did not deliver to you! I really enjoy roasting vegetables of all sorts and I was looking forward to roasting onions. This  recipe is pretty straight forward, no muss and no fuss. Roasting the onions brings out their natural sweetness and are a perfect side for steak, ham or any of your Fall dishes. I am pleased to offer another really tasty way to enjoy onions! Roasted pearl onions are rich in flavor and nutrients. 

Octoberfest! -Part One

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My husband and I had a successful Octoberfest party over the weekend. Most of the neighbors attended along with some family and friends. JJ and Wee Bear are back from their cruise so JJ and I split the menu and planned out decorations and set up. She has a great knack for planning and decorating plus she has so many wonderful decorations to use! I rented a beautiful farm table from a local family owned business. We got so many compliments from the neighbors on it and glad we opted for that instead of the basic buffet tables you cover with a table cloth. This table was gorgeous!

We also rented the plates and silverware from the same company, which made for an easy cleanup. You just wipe the food from the plates and place them back into the crate they came in...no washing and no drying!

The first part of this blog series, I will be telling you about the appetizers and share with you some of the recipes. A lot of these you can use for any occasion, in fact, many are create options for football/sports entertaining. 

These little gems were created by "Tink". They are easy to prep and taste so good straight out of the oven! We ask her to make these often for family gatherings.