don't forget!

via

I know, how could anyone forget to vote with all the ads shoved in our faces and signs littering the side of the roads each day. But just in case you are immune to all that, don't for get to vote! Doesn't matter who you prefer, just vote!

Halloween candy cookies: a solution to the endless supply of candy

What to do with all the Halloween candy?  We have found a solution...cookies!

Cookies to bake together and share with friends!

Instead of chocolate chips in this recipe, we used chopped up Halloween candy!  The cookies were mighty tasty and easy to share.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

from Ghirardeli 

Yield: 

4 dozen cookies

Ingredients: 

11 ¹/₂ ounces Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips   Halloween candy chocolate pieces chopped 
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
³/₄ cup sugar
³/₄ cup brown sugar, packed
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 ¹/₄ cups unsifted flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¹/₂ teaspoon salt
1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (optional)

Directions

Heat oven to 375ºF.

Stir flour with baking soda and salt; set aside. In large mixing bowl, beat butter with sugar and brown sugar at medium speed until creamy and lightened in color. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Mix on low speed until incorporated. Gradually blend dry mixture into creamed mixture. Stir in nuts and chocolate chips. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.

spooky noodle dinner {a little late, but fun}

I made this spooky little dinner for my kids on Halloween.  It was a big hit among the little ones and adults too.  I think it would be a great dinner any night. 

 I heard this recipe on XM radio one day when I was flipping through...I don't have a source.

Ingredients:

1 pack of hot dogs

1 box of spaghetti noodles 

(I used whole wheat noodles--with the hot dogs and sauce they didn't know any different)

1 jar of marinara sauce

Cut the hot dogs in to small circles.  Take uncooked spaghetti noodles and poke them into the hot dog slices.  Boil the noodles (with hot dogs attached) per package instructions.

Serve spooky noodles with marinara sauce.

Enjoy!

halloween

The pumpkins were carved according to their owners' specifications... 

The table was set with a frightening skull centerpiece...

Spooky noodles were made and cooked...

{recipe to come}

The sun slipped below the horizon as costumes were put on excited little people...

 

And the trick-or-treating began...

and lasted far longer into the night than anyone would have predicted.

Now...what to do with all the candy?

Madeline...

These little Madelines are eager to travel the streets of Paris tonight with their little loot bags in tow.

Happy Halloween!

magic

cocktail hour?

You know, the hour that marks the beginning of break-downs, exhaustion, a long day and tired kids.  My pediatrician refers to it as "cocktail hour"--- the hour at 5 o'clock when the adults desperately need a cocktail to get through the evening with tired kids. 

This little one has found her cocktail hour just after dinnertime.  We rock, bounce, walk, etc. to calm her down.  Lately, we have moved to the patio.  There is something soothing about the end of the day when the breeze kicks up and the warm light of the sun fading that calms her.  With a blanket in hand and the breeze blowing through her hair, she is content.  This has become our spot when cocktail hour arrives--just under the fern and and next to us, out on the patio.  We don't dare move until she is peacefully sleeping .  Now, if only this technique worked with our older children...