Last Minute Halloween

My mom sent me the cutest Frankenstein Halloween treat box inspired by a take-out container.  When I saw it I knew the possibilities could be endless.  I have lots of other ideas to explore but here are the ones I’ve done so far.

The Spider

(My daughter took this one to school with an apple in it for her teacher.)

  The Bat

The Black Cat

 

The Owl

(I didn’t get him finished but you get the idea)

The original Frankenstein

The Jack-O-Lantern

The Ghost

Group Shots.  I could imagine these lined up on someone's mantel with other fun Halloween decorations.  

 

I filled these little guys with treats and gave them away. 

Just a little ribbon and a tag. 

25 Pies in 25 Days

So I signed up for allrecipes New! Pie Countdown Newsletter and I was thinking that it would be really fun to try and make all the pies.  So starting November 1st I will be making a new pie everyday until Thanksgiving and blogging about the experience.  Now some of you are probably thinking what are you going to do with a pie everyday?  Well obviously I don’t want to eat one pie  everyday so some of you LUCKY people we soon be the recipients of a pie.  Feel free to join in of the fun my leaving comments on how you thought the pie turned out and if you would make it AND if you check out what pie I’m making that day and you really want it feel free to request it after all it has to go somewhere.  If you don’t live close I'm sorry I probably won't be mailing you a pie BUT maybe you could get some great ideas for your Thanksgiving dinner.

Butternut Squash Soup

 
It’s fall and fall to me means soup.  So I wanted to make a butternut squash soup but I really couldn’t find a recipe that looked good so I just threw this one together and I think it turned out wonderful.  I'm linkin it up here to SAMM.  It's a great way to get new ideas for dinner.

1 butternut squash peeled and cubed
2 potatoes peeled and cubed
2 carrots peeled and sliced
1 onion peeled and sliced
4 cups of vegetable stock
water, milk,  cream or more stock
2-3 TBS butter/ olive oil
garlic to taste
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese
Your favorite spice blend (sorry it’s not super specific but use what you like)

The directions get a little tricky.  I was in a hurry so I just boiled all my vegetables including the onion until soft and pureed it with my hand blender thingy.  And it turned out great.  BUT this is how I would have done it if I had more time.
Sauté the onion and garlic in the butter or olive oil until transparent.  Then add the squash, potatoes, carrots, onion and the vegetable stock.  When all the vegetables are soft puree it with my hand blender thingy.  Then add the water, milk, cream, stock (whatever) until it’s the consistency that you want.  Then add spices to taste.  I also added some parmesan cheese and part of a packet of a Knorr spice blend. * NOTE* I really thought that this soup was great how it was BUT if only my husband and I were eating it I would have liked to spice it up a bit maybe with some green chilies or jalapenos.  ALSO if you have a Costco that sells the artichoke jalapeno parmesan dip that would be really yummy mixed into this soup.  Happy eating!

Carrot Fennel Soup

Another fall favorite this soup is awesome! Check out other meal ideas here SAMM

2 bulbs fennel, sliced

2 TBS of olive oil

4 lbs of carrots (about 12 medium) peeled and sliced

6 cups vegetable stock

6 cups of water

2 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Sauté fennel in olive oil until transparent.  Combine fennel, carrots and vegetable stock in a large sauce pot.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender.  Puree soup until smooth.  Add water.  Simmer until heated throughout.  Stir in salt and pepper.