Harvest Party Mix

I just wanted to share this fun little mix. Perfect for Halloween!! My Mom's co-worker gave me this recipe, and I have made every year since. Hope you enjoy it! Hope everyone has a fun Halloween tonight! I can't wait to take some of the candy and experiment with some yummy treats!

Harvest Party Mix

11 oz. package twisted pretzels
10 1/2 oz. pkg mini peanut butter Ritz Crackers
1 c. dry roasted peanuts
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. white Karo Syrup
2 TBS vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
10 oz. pkg. plain M&M's (that's what the recipe calls for, but I think that Reeses Pieces would taste better...)
18 1/2 oz. pkg. candy corn

Combine pretzels, crackers and peanuts in a large bowl. Mix sugar, butter and Karo syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda. Mix will foam. Pour this over the pretzel mix, stirring until well coated. Place into a greased 15x10" baking pan. (I put foil on the bottom and sprayed it with Pam, that way it was easier to clean up!!) Bake at 250 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. break apart while warm; add M&M's (or Reese's Pieces) and candy corn. Cool before storing in air tight containers. Makes about 16 cups.

Voting Time!

Caden's school got to vote for President yesterday. I was able to help the PTA put together this cute room. Check out how cute these little voting booths are!

Here's Caden getting ready to vote!
Caden and his class. I love that they teach kids now about voting and how it is your right to do so. By the way, it was pajama day at school...

Orange Rolls

I have been on the hunt for an AMAZING Orange Roll recipe. See, I went to my BFF, Mich, wedding and she had the wedding luncheon at the Lion House...they served Orange Rolls there. They were the most delicious tasting thing my taste buds have had contact with. So, I got the Lion House cookbook, it had the recipe in there...what a disappointment. Either I am a horrible cook, or they left out some ingredients. They were good, just not what they serve at the restaurant. So, my mom kept telling me that her friend, Nancy, makes a mean orange roll...I thought I would give them a try!! And they did not fail me! They are yummy! Otherwise I would not put the said tale above or even give the recipe. I hope you enjoy! Also, if you have one amazing Orange Roll...I would love the recipe!!!
The recipe doesn't call for a glaze on top, but to me...you always need a glaze/frosting on sweet rolls!!

Orange Rolls

Scald together in pan:
1 stick butter or margarine
1 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
Let it cool.

Mix together:
1/3 c. warm water
1 yeast packet (or 1 TBS yeast)
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients together with a spoon and add:
4 1/2 c. flour

Let rise until double in size, approx. 1-2 hours. Punch dough down and roll out like you would cinnamon rolls...long and flat about 3/4" thick.

Filling:
2 TBS Orange rind (or grated rind of two oranges)
1 stick of margarine or butter
1 c. sugar

Cook over stove and let bubble about 2 minutes.
Pour filling over the dough while still hot, spred over evenly, and roll up the dough and slice like you would cinnamon rolls. Let rise about 30 minutes, bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. These are best cooked in muffin pans.

Glaze:
Powdered sugar
Orange juice

Girly Baby Shower

Last night me and some friends gave our good friend, Emily a baby shower...this was a fun one to put together!!
Here is part of the spread and what the table looked like. The menu was: Meringue Kisses, Mini-Caramel Apples, Spinach Dip (in bread bowl) with crackers, Fruit with fruit dip, mini bundt cakes: Pumpkin and Lemon Poppy seed, Cheese Dip (in bread bowl) with french bread slices, mini sandwiches, and cookies and milk.

We also made a million Pom-Poms from Martha and hung them from the ceiling.
I made these yummy Meringue Kisses from Martha. They taste like cotton candy. I dipped the bottoms in some chocolate.
Here are the cookies and milk. I think they turned out adorable! We used some candle votive holders. The idea came from Swanky Tables.
The beautiful floral arraignment.
Jenna made these cute caramel apples. You can get 8-12 mini apples out of one apple. Then you get to have a blast with what to dip them in! You can get the recipe from Family Fun!

We also had a little Candy Bar. You can find lots of pink and white candy around....we had pink marshmallows, Pink Whoopers, Watermelon hard candies, pink M&M's, Watermelon licorice, and pink and white Circus cookies, and other stuff...

Now for the recipes:

Meringue Kisses

6 egg whites
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. superfine sugar

Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with aluminum foil.

Beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the salt, cream of tartar, and vanilla and continue beating. Add the sugar 1 tsp. at a time, beating about 30 seconds between additions. When all the sugar has been added, beat an additional 6 minutes. Egg whites should be very stiff, glossy, and extremely smooth, but not dry.

Spoon the mixture into a large pastry bag fitted with a 1/2 inch star tip and pipe out "kisses," leaving 1-inch spaces. reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees and bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until the meringues are dry to the touch and can be lifted from the foil. Cool completely before storing in a cool dry place.

hAllOWeEn Party!

Last week we went to our good friends, the Lancasters, Halloween Party. It was so much fun! They had fun games for the kids and lots of yummy food!
The spooky ghost pinata...


They had a fun game...have the parents wrap the kids like mummies. Noah would take no part in it, he was in a "mood" at that point in time:)

Caden and Hannah as mummies
My cute boys. Thanks Lancasters for a fun night! The couldn't stop talking about all the fun they had!

Bridal Shower, Recipe Box

Last week I went to a good family friends Bridal Shower. Every person invited was given a room as their gift assignment. I got the kitchen. I got her a bundt pan and this cute recipe box. I gave her all the recipes I had that would go in the bundt pan, and some other tried and trues...Anyway, I know I have posted some of these before, but this one turned out so cute, I had to post it!!

Does That Car Have Good or Bad Gas Mileage?

You really never know when your child is paying attention and if they actually get what you are saying....

As we were driving home from a Birthday party yesterday Caden was filling me in on some things his Uncle Logan taught him.

C: Mom, did you know that Grandpa's truck has bad gas mileage? We wanted to ride in it, but we can't. We had to ride in Grandma's car because it has good gas mileage. So what kind of gas mileage does your car get Mom??

M: Caden...where on earth did you hear all this?

C: Uncle Logan
So I tell him that big cars have bad gas mileage and small cars have good gas mileage. The rest of the way home he was pointing out which car had good and bad gas mileage.

What a weird conversation to have with my 5 year old...

SpOoKY BrOWniES

My Mom sent me this idea...I thought it was so cute! What a perfect idea for a Halloween Party!

SpOoKY bRoWNieS

1 box brownie mix (or make some Homemade)
Frosting (again, homemade or store bought)
Large Marshmallows
Black gel/frosting (the kind in the little tube)

Make your favorite brownie and cut into squares (my friend Brandi taught me a little trick...if your brownies are still warm and you want to cut them, cut them with a plastic knife, not the usual utensil, they make the perfect cut!!)

Glue the marshmallow down with a dot of frosting.

Melt the frosting in the microwave for 30 seconds to get it to pouring consistency. Pour about a tablespoon of frosting over each marshmallow and pipe on the eyes and mouth with black frosting.

I have yet to make these, I'm saving them for Halloween. As soon as I make them I will post my picture, until then, this is the picture I was sent...Maggie-Pie is the genious behind the cute-ness, so check her stuff out! I just wanted to post it so you can make them for your trick-or-treaters!!

Can I Have This at MY Halloween Party??

Have you all ever heard of Amy Atlas? Well, you need to check out her pictures. Pure inspiration! I love how everything is placed, the detail of everything, including the backdrop! I think my favorite part would be making all the goodies!

The Family Streaker

The other night we found out that Caden is a Streaker.

He sleep walks basically every night. He is completely oblivious to what is going on or what he is doing. We ask him the next morning about it and he denies it all.

So on Wednesday night Ben and I were watching TV and we can hear Caden up and going to the front door, then he comes running to us BuTT NaKeD! Then we realize that he has to go potty so we are running him to the bathroom...lets just say he sprinkled his tinkle all the way to the bathroom.

We could not figure out what he did with his clothes, we were looking everywhere...they somehow ended up in Noah's bedroom....

I wish I could see what he was dreaming that night!!

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Every year it is a must to go to the Pumpkin Patch (as I'm sure it is with every other person out there!). We have gone to the same one every year since Caden was born. (In Flower Mound). Anyway, the boys actually somewhat let me take some pictures of them! I was pretty excited, of course there are lots of fake smiles...oh well, what do you do?

Noah was very excited to go this year...he just wanted his picture taken with everything! Caden...not so much.
I got a wee little smile out of Caden on this one...pure bribery, if he did, he got a snow cone.
This Pumpkin Patch is great, they have so many photo ops in every corner!

Yes, I know the picture is sideways, my computer is messing with me. When we got there, we ran into my sis-in-law and niece, McKenna! Here is a picture of her and the boys. We also ran into another friend, Abby and another friend, Hannah. Great day to go!

Me and the boys on the Hay ride.
I love this picture!
Love all the orange! Have a Happy Fall everyone!

Costumed Candleholders

Wanted to share another little Halloween craft I did...Pumpkin Candleholders. Of course it is from Martha...They were really easy to do, you just have to make sure that the hurricanes you use are flat, strait up and down, no curves. Otherwise the tissue paper will not stay down flat! Also, make sure you have a really good exato knife...there are some tight corners you will have to cut out!

You can also see the Halloween banner that is peaking out. I got it at Hobby Lobby, but for all of you who can sew...have at it! I have seen lots of banners lately, the scrapbooked ones are so cute! That may be a project for another day...

Leave Me a Message!!

I found this cute idea from Mish Mash...I saw this picture frame on her blog and thought they were adorable! (If you have not been to her blog...have fun looking! Give yourself a good couple of hours to get through all her great ideas!) Then my mind started thinking...I could do a Halloween theme, Christmas, Valentines Day, St. Patty's Day, Easter, B-day, An Everyday one, etc...So, I am in the process of making one for the different holidays and I keep it right by my phone so I can take down messages and give myself different reminders!
I found the 10x10" frame at Michaels for $5. I found the paper and ribbon at Hobby Lobby. I inked the edges of the paper to make it stand out a little bit more. You don't have to dress them up too much because you want to leave enough room for messages.

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies

Yes, I'm not going to lie to you, these taste BETTER than they look. They are sooo rich and tasty and gooey and peanut buttery, the list goes on. What's not to love when you have a Reeses Peanut Butter cup, marshmallows, chocolate ganache and M&M's? Try these, you won't be disappointed! The cookie part came from my cousin, Sharlyn who got it from Dinners Ready. The marshmallows, ganache and M&M's came from none other than the Picky Palate! I didn't use Picky Palates cookie part because it only made 12...I need alot more than that to feed all my YW at church tonight. I must say that they chowed down on them quickly!

Peanut Butter Cup Surprise Cookies
aka...my butt just got bigger cookies

1/2 cup margarine (I used butter)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
about 24 miniature peanut butter cups (mine made about 32 cookies)

36 mini marshmallows
1 c. semi sweet chocolate chips
2-3 TBS heavy cream
1/4 c. mini M&M's

Cream margarine and peanut butter. Add sugars and flour and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, vanilla, salt and soda. Chill one hour, shape into 1 inch balls. Spray mini-muffin pans with Pam. Put balls into pans and bake at 350 for 12 minutes. Remove and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into the middle of the cookies. Top each cookie with 3 mini marshmallows and return to oven for 2-3 more minutes or until marshmallows are puffed. Let cool for 10 minutes.

Place chocolate chips into a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until melted smooth. Stir in 2-3 TBS heavy cream until silky and smooth. You can return back to microwave for 15 seconds to get a thinner consistency. Spoon chocolate over top of puffed marshmallows and sprinkle with mini M&M's.