Would You Like A Bloody Finger?

Heard of a finger sandwich?  Well, how about a finger cookie?  Today's ghoulish treat comes just in time for Halloween.  Today's culinary delight...is severed fingers!

I hear you screaming YUM-O, right?  Or maybe you are thinking I'm some crazy from Criminal Minds, or quite possibly thinking about offering me a straight jacket... No, I haven't jumped the crazy train, I'm just really getting into the spooky spirit of Halloween!

These disturbing cookies are from the October edition of Every Day with Rachael Ray.  I have been SO excited to make them ever since I saw them so many weeks ago.  I wanted to wait until Halloween. I would have done this sooner, but the cruise kind of threw a loop into my planning...a good loop mind you.

Fingers prior to baking.

Aren't these fingers fun?  Fun in a spirited Halloween way, not in a Hannibal Lecter type of way.  Here's the thing about these particular cookies, I almost didn't make them.  While I have been beyond excited about making them for quite some time. I almost didn't bake them would probably be the better word choice.  Why?  The dough is INCREDIBLE!!  I probably ate an entire hand's worth of finger batter before I ever got around to baking them.

Baked fingers.

The finished product is just way too fun in my opinion, so I am super happy that I did indeed bake them.  They taste like a traditional butter cookie, and if my eyes were closed and I didn't see their spooky nature, they reminded me of Christmas cookies.  Weird, I know.

A full set of bloody fingers!

Then came the MOST fun part!  Dipping the severed fingers in blood!  Well, red raspberry jam would actually be more accurate.  I did this part in secret.  I didn't want my little princesses to question it.  It was hard enough trying to explain to the Tiny Teen why I was making fingers in the first place.  She requested that the next time I whip up a batch of fingers, she would prefer that they have pink fingernails.  Somehow I think pink nails takes a tad of the spooky out of things.

Bloody finger anyone?

So in the end, I ended up with a "bloody" batch and a "blood-free" batch.  The bloody ones for the grown ups and non-bloody for the under 5 crowd.  So far they have been a hit in both the tasty and fun categories.  Hope you enjoy this spooky treat!  Happy almost Halloween!!

Link to Every Day with Rachael Ray's Severed Finger Cookie Recipe

Lost At Sea

Where have I been?  Lost at sea.  Not physically lost, but definitely mentally lost at sea.  We just returned a few days ago from our very first cruise.  We went into this not knowing what cruising would be like, but left our cruise dreaming of our next.

I won't drone on and on about cruising, even though I'd love to, but I will say that our family reunion on the Disney Dream was indeed that...a dream.  It's so hard to pinpoint the best part.  The food was first class, the water was beautiful and serene, and being with a whole bunch of family...well, that's always a hoot!  I will say that it was a dream trip, and one that I'm still recovering from!

Before I left, I made this amazingly wonderful fall meal.  It came from one of my dearest friend's blog, A Bit of This and A Dash of That.  It was so yummy and fall-ish, that even looking at these pictures now as I write this blog post...I'm craving it again for din-din.

 If you have never eaten a stuffed squash, believe me that is indeed something you are missing.  I must say that the first time I was served it, I wasn't exactly thrilled.  However, it is indeed one of the tastiest fall meals out there in my opinion.  I urge you to try it before you count it out.  What I love about this particular recipe, is the inclusion of the maple breakfast sausage and molasses glaze.  It almost feels like breakfast for dinner, one of my absolute faves!

I paired this squash with a salad, just like my blogger friend Shannon.  I used a spring mix and pears just like her, but I opted out of the radishes only because I had a couple of candied pecans and those sounded like SUCH fun!

I hope that you love this recipe as much as I did!  It's easy to assemble, chalk full of good food, and so cost effective!  I've been cooking more than I've been writing lately, so hopefully I'll be getting these yummy treats out to you!  I've got a special Halloween cookie coming.  I don't usually post over the weekend, but Halloween is closing in fast!!

 I thought I'd leave you with some pics of the Texas Tornado.  Food covered face, banged up chin, and a mosquito bite welt...all in a day's work for this pint-sized powerhouse!  I've got much more to share about the cruise for another day and another post.  You know taking this little Tornado international might have been the bravest thing my husband and I have ever done!

Link to Sausage-Stuffed Acorn Squash with Molasses Glaze Recipe

Pumpkin Doughnuts, Need I Say More?

Tonight I'm going to keep this short and sweet, so that you can focus all of your attention on the YUM before you.  What is it exactly? A sugary, wonderful ball of YUM!  It's a baked, NOT fried pumpkin doughnut.

That's right good friends, it's a doughnut (or donut, however you prefer it spelled).  I like to think of it as a seasonal, not so guilty doughnut.  There's no frying involved, so there's no guilt either.  That's what I'm telling myself anyways.

The link to the recipe is below, but first let me show you a little eye candy...or eye doughnut.  First, you make the batter.  It yields 12 delicious balls of yum, and you bake said balls in a muffin tin.

After baking them for about 25 minutes, 

you let them cool for 10 minutes.

Then you roll these little ball wonders around in melted butter.  Be sure that you get the butter in every nook and cranny, so that the next step is successful.

After you have rolled the pumpkin balls in melted butter, you toss them into a ziploc bag filled with sugar and cinnamon, and you shake!  Shake until they are sufficiently covered.  You want a good pumpkin doughnut to melted butter to sugar ratio.  Don't skimp on the last 2 steps...in fact, add a tad more.

There you have it!  An inviting, AMAZING pumpkin doughnut.  I wolfed two of these hot puppies down in no time flat.  Enjoy!!

Link to the AMAZING Pumpkin Doughnuts Recipe

Hey Mambo, Mambo Italiano

 Ahhh...a delicious plate of meatballs, that's what I made for dinner the other night.  I channeled my inner Italian (even though I'm half German/half Irish), hummed a little "Mambo Italiano," and went to work on my meaty masterpiece.  I have never made meatballs before, and I have to say that I loved it.  What is more Italian cuisine than meatballs?  I think back to the "Everybody Loves Raymond" show, where his mother would always critique his wife's cooking in general, but in particular her lack of ability in the meatball department.  It seemed to be a benchmark in the art of Italian cuisine.  That's why when I successfully made these big fellas, I was immensely proud.

 Besides being proud, I was also apparently quite hungry.  Here's the truth...these are staged photos.  The night I made them, I was so excited that I jumped right in and devoured them.  Well, it was probably hunger coupled with the fact that I was feeding myself, a friend, and 4 kids 4 and under.  Of course chaos was aplenty, so between my two good buds: chaos and hunger...pictures didn't happen.

Pictures also didn't happen the next day when I reheated some meatballs for lunch.  Nope, I heated them up and devoured them again.  Are we seeing a pattern here?  So finally on day 3, I remembered before I warmed them up (I didn't want to start smelling them, salivating, and forget again to take pics).  So yes, these are staged pictures of cold meatballs.  Cold meatballs are better than no meatballs, eh?  Why does that sound like it should be a bumper sticker...

So you are wondering I'm sure, did I just sit around for three days eating meatballs?  Well, sort of.  On night one, I paired the meatballs with spaghetti (mostly for all of the kiddos), as well as green beans.  Also included in this fantastic Rach recipe, is a cool basil ricotta.  AH-HA! (That was my angel choir again).  How the recipe is intended to be served, is to pair the meatballs with a warm ciabatta loaf and this cool basil ricotta.  I vote a glass of chianti or your favorite red wine and mange bien (Eat Well)!  So on Days 2 and 3, that's essentially how I ate.

If you are feeling a little "Mambo Italiano" welling up in you, channel it into these amazing meatballs!  Blast the song from the internet, dance around the kitchen with your chianti, and WOW Raymond's mom...or the people who live in your house.

Link to Rachael Ray's Sicilian Meatballs Recipe

***Some side tips in making this.  It yields 12 baseball size meatballs.  I halved the recipe, and ended up with 9 generous size meatballs.  Also, I really have no clue what a currant is or where to find one, so I opted out of these. I believe they are a dried fruit? I looked in that aisle to no avail.  I bet a dried fruit would be yummy too, but I loved these meatballs as I ate them currant-free.  Mange Bien!

Inspiration Found

Somewhere along the way, I lost a little inspiration for this blog.  I was going through a phase.  I guess really more of a lull.  I had momentarily lost my drive to cook and experiment.  Then a little unexpected push came my way, and I'm oh so grateful!

I received a facebook message from a sorority sister that I haven't seen in forever.  She shared with me that she had picked up the October edition of the Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine because this blog and I are in it.  She then shared that she doesn't really care to cook, but did try something from the magazine.  Her family loved it, even her two young boys! 

That's when it hit me, she reminded me of me.  That's how all of this blogging fun began back in the spring.  I was a total novice cook that gained a curiosity and a hope and desire to learn to cook food that my family and friends would love.  So today, I dedicate this post to K.  She got me cooking again, and I'm loving it!

Today's recipe is the same recipe that K prepared and her family loved.  It comes from the October edition of the Rachael Ray mag, and it is called No-Peeking Peking Chicken.  It's a crocky pot recipe, so already you know that the chicken is going to be tender.  It takes about 4 hours on low to prepare, however I started the recipe a bit late, so I did half low/half high, and it was ready in under 3 hours.

This meal is Asian inspired, and it is recommended to be eaten 2 different ways. The first suggests the chicken be paired with traditional white rice.  The second considers removing the chicken from the bone, adding some chopped cucumber, and wrapping it all up in a tortilla.  I created my own third option.

I decided to adapt this recipe to be more like one of my favorite meals, Chicken Lettuce Wraps from P.F. Chang's.  Instead of wrapping it up in a tortilla, I used lettuce.  I shredded the chicken, added some chopped cucumber, and drizzled some of the sauce from the pot onto it.  The chicken had a great flavor, and the cucumber added a great crunch.  I ate this for dinner a couple of nights ago and again yesterday for lunch.  In eating it both hot and cold, I have to say that my favorite way was cold.  It was more like a hearty, flavorful, salad wrap.  

Try it and see what you think? K's family loved it, and we enjoyed it too.  The recipe link is below.  As always, thank you for your positive feedback! It encourages and inspires me!

Link to Rachael Ray's No-Peeking Peking Chicken Recipe

October Obsession

I've finally come to terms with it.  I'm obsessed with October.  So much so, that I wish it were an even longer month, and I'm thrilled to pieces that it isn't a shorty like February.  I've always known that I've loved October, but I never realized that my love is more than likely obsession.

Why am I obsessed with fall?  Well for one reason, the weather finally gets pretty.  For another reason, I love Halloween ...especially the build up.  Also, I love all things pumpkin and pumpkin-y so the more days I have where a pumpkin flavored food can be eaten, the better I say!

To add even more fun to an already fantastic month, the past 2 years we've had the fun of baseball post season.  Folks, that's what we've been up to.  We've been cheering on our Texas Rangers, and it has been a blast.  Typically, I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but when it comes to post season and being there live for a game, you can't help but love it.

 Yesterday, we took our little princesses to Game 2 of the ALCS series here in Texas.  You can imagine what a hoot the Texas Tornado was in all of the excitement.  She did her best to get into the spirit of it all, but in the end...we left during the 4th inning.  Once home, we enjoyed the remainder of the game from the comfort of our couch, and we only cringed a little bit when the grand slam home run ended that game in extra innings...and we weren't there.  Either way, it was most definitely a memory we'll never forget!

Today while those sweet princesses are in preschool, I thought I'd enjoy baking some pumpkin-y stuff.  A few posts ago, I shared with you an amazing recipe for gluten free pumpkin bread. Today, I took that same recipe and manipulated it a bit.

                                              

The standard recipe yields 2 9 x 5 loaves of pumpkin bread. Today I made a dozen pumpkin muffins, as well as 3 generously sized mini loaves.  I'd say that if you were doing all muffins, you would probably yield between 2-3 dozen.

Instead of following the recipe to the letter, like I usually do, I adapted it in the following ways. 

1. Instead of 1 cup of oil, I used a 1/2 cup of oil and 1/2 cup of applesauce with cinnamon.
2. Instead of the 3 cups of sugar, I reduced that to only 2 cups.  I'd say after making it both ways, that 2 1/2 cups would probably be ideal.
3. Lastly, I added chocolate chips to the mini loaves.  Chocolate...always a good decision.

If you're a pumpkin lover like me, I hope you enjoy this treat during this fantastic fall season!

Link to Serious Eats Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread Recipe

A Different Kind of GNO

Last night, I attempted a different kind of GNO, a Girls Night Out with my princesses.  For those of you that know the Texas Tornado, you know what level of lunacy this really was.  Nonetheless, I was committed to power through and succeed in this mission.

Here's the thing, dinner out with the Texas Tornado is tricky no matter how many adults are pitching in, and last night it was just the Tiny Teen and I on board with managing her.  The evening didn't start well.  The Texas Tornado is in a real frustrating "no clothes" phase, and if she's home and indoors, I pretty much oblige.  However, restaurant rules are different, and clothes are necessary.  I think you see the battle brewing...

It was a long, sweaty 30 minute battle to not only stuff her into a sundress but keep said sundress on her.  Forget shoes.  Those would need to be added last minute, while constrained in a car seat.  You see, the Texas Tornado had drawn her battle lines and her little heels were dug in.  Well, what she hasn't fully grasped yet, is that Mommy is a heel digger too...and mine are 4 inch stilettos.  In other words, Momma wasn't budging.  To be fair, I did want to give up a time or 2, but I kept thinking that if I give up on this now, it will only be harder next time.  So off to dinner we went, and the Tornado eventually gave in to the plan.

Let's talk about Tiny Teen.  Yes, I've settled on that name for the 4 year old princess.  Mostly because she speaks with the vocabulary of a much older child, reasons in a fairly mature way, and argues with me about make up and clothes.  Tiny Teen's mission is to make the world "healthy."  Yes, she's quite the tree hugger.  Upon finally arriving at dinner last night, while I was trying to get the Tornado from her car seat, I missed the part where Tiny Teen was picking up garbage.  Classified under things you may not know, is the fact that my husband and I are germ-a-phobes.  While I was proud of her efforts, I was pretty grossed out too.  Sweet girl though frustrated with litterers, was doing her part to make the world a better place.  So in we went to the restaurant, Tiny Teen's arms full of litter.

Miraculously, the 3 of us girls actually managed a dinner together, and with only one tiny mishap.  The Texas Tornado is fascinated with silverware.  She is obsessed with using it...even with her Cheez-its.  What I didn't notice right away, was that she was poking the lady behind us in the back with a fork.  How embarrassing when I finally did notice!  The Tornado is a lucky gal because she oozes charm, so even though she was poking this lady with a fork...she still managed to wrap her around her toddler finger.  Clearly I apologized and apologized, but I really think it was the Tornado charm that won her forgiveness in the end.

Shifting gears a bit, I've got to tell you that I just haven't been on a cooking kick lately.  What I do have for you today though is quite a bit of fun.  Have you ever considered MINI caramel apples?  I hadn't, but there are quite a few people attempting them, and seriously...they are the cutest!

First you start by melon balling an apple.  I chose a granny smith.

 Then you take some toothpicks and stick them in the top.  Already looking like mini caramel apples, eh?

 Now, here's where it gets tricky.  You see, the caramel doesn't really stick.  I know, great recipe right?  Some sites I went to, they melted caramel candies and attempted that way (they had trouble too), so I decided just to grab the caramel sauce from the ice cream aisle and just heat that up on the stove.  You can see that my finished product was rather drippy.

 The taste was still there, but it did make things a tad sticky.  Then I remembered that I had some caramel frosting in the fridge, so I experimented with that.

As you can see, this yielded a VERY caramel apple.  Here's my theory after attempting this fun project.  I vote, melon ball you apples.  Dip them in some lemon juice to avoid browning.  Stick a toothpick in each one, and arrange on a beautiful little platter.  Next, pour some caramel sauce into a little crock pot and heat the caramel.  Keep the caramel warm.  Next invite your friends over for a little fall fun!  Let them dip their own mini apples into the caramel, and then you never have to worry how the caramel sticks.  Instantaneous mini caramel apples coupled with loads of CUTE!

Here's a link to give you some other ideas.  Otherwise, a good old fashioned google search will inspire you too.  Hope you are having the BEST fall!

VIDEO: Pumpkin Pie Hot Cocoa

I hope that everyone is enjoying all of the fun that the season of fall has to offer!  Just in the past 24 hours alone, I've been on a pumpkin patch field trip and halloween costume shopping with the princesses.  We are living and loving all things October around here.

Today's post is yet another video, and hopefully it will get you/keep in you in the spirit of fall!  Click today's video to learn how to make a quick hot beverage merging the amazing flavors of pumpkin pie with the comforting taste of hot cocoa!  This one is not to be missed!

***While I adapted today's recipe for use with a Keurig machine, this video also includes a stovetop version.  Enjoy!***

A Day of Pumpkin Fun

October is here and the temps are cooler (in the 80's, but cooler nonetheless), so whatever are we to do?  Hit the pumpkin patch, of course!

I'm not one for waiting in line.  Maybe it is because I grew up 40 minutes from Disney World, and I'm no stranger to line waiting.  However, if it is AT ALL possible to forgo a line, I'm all for that...especially with little kids.  So you can bet that we arrived at the patch shortly after they opened yesterday, and that I was hitting the pumpkin patch in their opening weekend as opposed to holding off until Halloween weekend.  No sir, no ma'am, not me, I'm not hitting that mad rush!  I can happily say "Pumpkin Patch Visit 2011...check!"

Because I love them, and I think they are cute, here are just a few photos of the princesses pumpkin patching it up...

The Texas Tornado and her best pal Dora.

The princesses with the 4 year old's best pal Ariel.

Tiny Teen waving to her adoring fans.

How the Texas Tornado does a hay maze.
Why figure it out, when you can climb over it? 

 Ok, so here's where we are going to have to get serious.  There's been a breach, and Trainer C now knows about this blog.  Yup, the gig is up, the cat is outta the bag, I'm done hiding.  Trainer C "friended" me on facebook this week, and the hidden food blog was hidden no more.  So what's a good little trainee to do?

I did follow through with the whole "no grain" bit the whole week he asked me to.  Then he was so proud of all of my efforts, that he wanted me to do it a second week...and he increased the workouts.  A real gem, eh?  So during our training session, I was a constant flow of questions, mostly because I wanted to know how far I could really push the line on this grain business.  His response?  If I'm going to eat a bread, a dessert, what have you, let it at least be gluten free.

I made it 10 days without a grain passing my lips, but it all ended yesterday.  Pumpkin patch day HAS to end with something pumpkin-y.  It's a law...in this house anyway.  So in the spirit of compromise, I found a gluten free pumpkin bread recipe.

YIKES!  Is that what you're thinking?  Please don't!!  I know gluten free sounds like flavor free, but honest to goodness, this bread was AMAZING!  Whether you care about gluten or not, don't count this recipe out.  It was absolutely fantastic!!

The recipe link is below, and it yields 2 9x5 loaves.  I ended up making 1 regular size loaf and 3 mini loaves.  In one of the mini loaves, I threw in a handful of chocolate chips at the last minute.  What a grand idea that was.  It was absolute heaven on earth.  I should have done it to all of them.  With or without the chocolate though, it was great.  I will absolutely be making this one again!

In the comments below the recipe, there are some suggestions.  My advice?  Follow the recipe as is for the first attempt and see what you think.  If you want to go back and fiddle with some changes, go for it. For some, it might be too much sugar, so perhaps in attempt 2 you could try cutting that back a bit.  For others, it was too much vegetable oil, in which case some people did half oil/half applesauce.  These all sound like great suggestions, and I may try them out of curiosity.  However, this recipe was delicious as is.

If you got someone in your life needing gluten free food, I say surprise them with a loaf of this pumpkin bread.  It would absolutely brighten both of your days, I'm sure of it!  Happy Monday and Happy Fall!

Link to Serious Eats Recipe for Gluten Free Pumpkin Bread