Halloween Parties and Treats

This post is coming late because I spent my day at my children's elementary school doing their classroom parties. These are the crafts and snacks we had...

Ghost Prints

Ghosts and bats magically materialize upon paper with this simple paint craft.

Materials
Black construction paper
Orange construction paper
White tempera paint
Black tempera paint

Total Time Needed: 1 Hour

Instructions
1. Fold a piece of black construction paper in half.
2. Dribble the white paint into the crease and briefly press the paper back together.
3. Open the paper up -- a ghost will appear!
4. Try the same technique with black paint on orange paper to make creepy bats and bugs.

String of Jack-O'-Lanterns or Ghosts

Make a string of jack-o'-lanterns or ghosts to hang around a room. These simple-to-make strings make a great Halloween decoration. You can drape the strings across rooms, over windows and from the chandeliers.

Supplies needed:
Construction paper (orange and black for pumpkins, white and black for ghosts)
Crayons or markers
Scissors
Glue, tape, or staples
A long piece of green or black yarn or string

Draw a jack-o'-lantern's face on a piece of orange paper, or a ghost on white paper. Make sure to draw a long stem on the top (your pumpkin or ghost will hang from this stem, which will be folded over).

Cut out the pumpkin or ghost. Make eyes, a nose, and a mouth from black paper (or use a black crayon or marker).
Fold the pumpkin's stem in half. Fold the ghost's "stem" completely behind the ghost.

Attach the pumpkin or ghost to a long string. Use green yarn for the pumpkins, black string for the ghosts. Attach them using tape, glue, or staples.

Hang your string of jack-o'-lanterns or ghosts across the room for a wonderful Halloween decoration.

Haunted Forest Centerpiece

Black licorice, threaded with wire and shaped to make a forest of spindly trees, makes this creative Halloween table topper. Snip off the ends of six pieces of black licorice and push heavy-gauge wire through the holes of each piece. Holding the pieces together in the middle, bend the ends to form a tree trunk. Bend the opposite ends to form gnarled tree branches and wrap black wire around the center of the pieces to hold it all together. Repeat for each tree. Place each tree atop a chocolate-frosted graham cracker, add a candy-corn fence, and arrange mini artificial pumpkins under the trees to complete the landscape.

We used Chocolate Licorice and the pumkin candies. The kids had to take them home to show their families. We reminded them to take the wire out, before eating!

Witches and Worms

Witches' Brew

2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
3 tablespoons finely chopped and peeled fresh ginger
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1 chilled bottle (25.4 ounces) sparkling cider (about 3 1/4 cups)
1 quart chilled cranberry juice cocktail
1 liter chilled club soda or seltzer

In small saucepan, bring cinnamon, cloves, ginger, water and sugar to boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Cool syrup. (Syrup may be made ahead up to 1 week and chilled, covered).

In punch bowl, combine remaining ingredients and strain syrup through fine sieve into punch. Stir punch and add ice blocks.

Makes about 13 cups.


Wormy Apples

6 large golden delicious apples
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
6 gummy worms
Heavy cream for accompaniment

1. Preheat oven to 350*F (175*C).
2. Core apples from blossom ends, leaving stem ends intact.
3. Mix raisins and walnuts and stuff into cavities of cored apples. Set apples, stems up in a 7x12-inch baking pan .
4. In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Pour hot syrup around apples.
5. Bake, uncovered, basting occasionally with syrup, until apples are tender when pierced and skin begins to crack, about 30 to 35 minutes.
6. Remove apples from oven; cool in pan for 10 minutes or cool to room temperature.
7. Place each apple in a small serving bowl and spoon syrup around fruit. In the top of each apple, cut a hole large enough for one of the candy worms and tuck one end into each apple, leaving most of the worm dangling. Offer cream to pour over apples.

Serves 6.

Ghoul Brains and Spider Hats

Ghostly Green Brew

1/2 gallon lime sherbet
1 (2-liter) bottle lemon-lime soda, chilled

1. Allow sherbet to soften for about 1 hour in bottom of punch bowl.

2. Pour ginger ale over and stir until all sherbet is dissolved.

Makes 16 1/2-cup servings.

Note: I actually did one scoop of sherbet in each glass, and poored the lemon-lime soda over the top. Careful not to overflow! I also found some brain gummies at our local WINCO and dropped one into each glass. But they just sank to the bottom. So it didn't have the visual effect I was hoping for. But the boys enjoyed finding them after the drink was gone!

Spider Party Hat

This party hat is so fun---you really can't get the idea of the bouncing legs until you put him on!!!
Materials needed:

Black and orange construction paper

Ruler

scissors

glue or tape

Cut eight strips of black paper 1-1/2" by 9" (these will be the legs). Cut two strips 2" by 11" (these you will need to glue together to make the 2" by 22" hat band). Cut two 2" black circles, two 1-1/2" orange circles, two 1" black circles (these are the eyes).OR you can print and cut out the colored eyes pattern.

Follow the sketch for the placement of eyes. Fit the 2" wide strips, that were glued together, around the person's head-- overlap and glue ends together. Glue the eyes to the hat band with the eyes touching as shown. Fold the leg strips in half, then fold one end of each leg strip back 1" for the foot. Glue the straight end to the inside edge of the hat band. Fold and glue remaining legs. You will have four legs on each side of your hat as shown.

Put it on and have fun bouncing up and down!!!!

Here's another link for REALLY detailed instructions

Halloween, tacos, games, and GIVEAWAY!!

It's FINALLY time! The giveaway I have been SO excited about! And some Halloween recipes and ideas to go with it! Let's start with the recipes, then I'll give you the details of the giveaway!

We had Tarantula Tacos for dinner and Witch's Hats for dessert!

I got the taco recipe from Betty Crocker




1 box (4.7 oz) Old El Paso® Stand 'n Stuff® taco shells
1 lb lean (at least 80%) ground beef
1 package (1 oz) Old El Paso® taco seasoning mix
2/3 cup water
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 oz)
1 1/2 cups shredded lettuce
1 medium tomato, chopped (3/4 cup)
1/4 cup sour cream
20 extra-large pitted ripe olives
1. Heat oven to 325°F. Heat taco shells in oven as directed on box.
2. Meanwhile, in 10-inch skillet, cook ground beef over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in taco seasoning mix and water. Reduce heat to medium; cook uncovered about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, until water has evaporated. Remove from heat.
3. Spoon beef mixture into heated taco shells. Top with cheese, lettuce and tomato.
4. Spoon sour cream into small resealable food-storage plastic bag. Seal bag; cut tiny hole in corner of bag. Pipe sour cream over top of each taco to resemble spiderweb.
5. For each spider, top taco with 1 olive, pitted end down. Cut second olive lengthwise into 8 pieces; place around whole olive for legs. For eyes, squeeze 2 dots of sour cream onto top of olive.

Nutrition Information:
1 Serving (2 tacos each): Calories 440 (Calories from Fat 250); Total Fat 28g (Saturated Fat 12g, Trans Fat 1g); Cholesterol 90mg; Sodium 1150mg; Total Carbohydrate 22g (Dietary Fiber 2g, Sugars 3g); Protein 24g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 6%; Calcium 20%; Iron 15% Exchanges: 1 1/2 Starch; 0 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Medium-Fat Meat; 3 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 1 1/2 *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.


I bought all the ingredients the day of (with my promo package coupons!). When I opened the sour cream, it had a chunk of green mold. So... that's going back today! And we didn't get to have the spider webs or eyes. That was a bummer, 'cause I think it completes it!

The Tacos tasted great! Everyone had seconds. Then, for dessert...

Teeny Weeny Witch's Hats
1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 C. butter, softened
2/3 C. powdered sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1 oz. squares semisweet chocolate, melted
36 milk chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease cookie sheets. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in medium bowl. Combine butter and powdered sugar in large bowl; beat until well blended. Add egg and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in melted chocolate until blended. Gradually stir in flour mixture until well blended.
Shape dough into 36 balls; place 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheets. Flatten each ball to 1/4-inch thickness; press chocolate candy into center. Bake 6-7 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool completely on wire rack.
Yield: 3 dozen

I thought I had semi-sweet chocolate morsels, but they were actually milk chocolate. So the cookies didn't end up as dark as they probably should have. We ate the cookies, and enjoyed them, but the right chocolate probably would have made them better.

Now... the moment I have been waiting for... THE GIVEAWAY!!!

As if Taco Night wasn’t the best night of the week already, Old El Paso is giving it a whole new flare. El Tacodor™, the world’s only Family Taco Night Game, is a fun and easy way to keep your family laughing at the dinner table. Challenge family members to quick fire trivia, wordplay and pantomime, and share a laughter filled night at home.



Some examples of the challenges include:
* Crunch Time: Name at least 10 animated movies within 1 minute
* Meat-N-Greet: Name 5 things that you’d bring home from your favorite vacation place and let the table guess where you traveled
* Lettuce Play: Act out different animals – no noises! Your partner must guess 3
* Lime Light: Cheer, “We love tacos, yes we do! We love tacos, how ‘bout you?”
* Say Cheese: Pronounce the name of everyone at the table backwards!


We played the game, and had some laughs. Some of the challenges were hard for the kids. But they said it was still fun. The Hubby, who has a hard time being goofy, even did a couple challenges, before excusing himself.


And if that wasn’t exciting enough – you can also enter the Old El Paso El Tacodor Sweepstakes for a chance to win $5,000 just for having fun with your family. Other prizes include monthly giveaways of $300 cash cards, and weekly giveaways of gift certificates for Old El Paso products for the next five months. When you visit El Tacodor you will also find a link to coupons, a calendar to schedule your next taco night, topping choice chart and more!

You can download the game and go buy all your taco ingredients and have a Family Taco Night and Game Night or... You can win it all!!!

If you win, you will receive information and a link to the El Tacodor game, as well as (2) two coupons to purchase Old El Paso dinner kits and a $10 gift card to purchase any additional meal needs (i.e. meat, cheese, lettuce, etc).

Here's HOW you can win:

Entry #1: MANDATORY ENTRY. Tell us what your favorite part of Taco Night is with your family.

Entry #2: Blog about this giveaway. Leave a link to your blog.

Entry #3: Become CHEF LIKES friend on Facebook. Then come back and leave a comment with your Facebook name.

Entry #4: Post this giveaway on Mr. Linky or other sites that promote giveaways. Leave the link.

Entry #5: Subscribe to my feed or PUBLICLY Follow this blog. Be sure to confirm it, if I don't see your name, this comment won't count!

Entry #6: Grab my button, post it on your site, and leave me the link!

Please leave a separate comment for each entry. And make sure I have a way to contact you, when you win! I will accept entries until Oct. 31- Halloween night at 12 midnight (MDT). I will post the winner either Sunday night or Monday morning.

*YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT TO ENTER* YOU CAN CLICK OPEN ID IF YOU BLOG WITH A DIFFERENT PUBLISHER OR CLICK ON NAME/ URL AND LEAVE ME YOUR NAME AND IF YOU HAVE A WEBSITE, YOUR WEBSITE*

Old El Paso provided me with free product, information, and a prize pack through MyBlogSpark™. Thanks for participating!

Halloween Countdown

I meant to post this earlier. Sorry... I am hoping that each day this week, I can inspire you to have a little Halloween Fun in your kitchens and with your families! I have come across A LOT of FUN recipes and activities. I have so many ideas, I can't try them all. So here are some ideas that I like, but won't be using, this year. Maybe you can share how it turns out, if you use them.

Spooky Brownies

Spooktacular fun and scrumptious eating are coming your way! Gather your goblins to share lots of baking tricks and treats.

Prep Time: 30 min

Total Time: 3 hours 10 min

Makes: 24 brownies

Brownies

1 box Betty Crocker® Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)

Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for in brownie mix directions

Decorations

1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy creamy white frosting

Neon green, pink and blue food colors

24 large marshmallows

Miniature candy-coated chocolate baking bits

Betty Crocker® black decorating gel (from 0.68-oz tube)

1 roll Betty Crocker® Fruit Roll-Ups® chewy fruit snack (any red variety)

Gummy worms candies

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Make and bake brownies in 13x9-inch pan as directed on box, using water, oil and eggs. Cool completely, about 2 hours. Cut into 6 rows by 4 rows, making 24 brownies.

2. Divide frosting among 3 small microwavable bowls. Heat frosting as needed: microwave 1 bowl uncovered on High about 10 to 15 seconds until frosting can be stirred smooth. If frosting becomes too firm while decorating, microwave on High an additional 5 seconds; stir.

3. Decorate as directed below, using 8 brownies for each bowl of frosting.
Franken-Brownies Add 5 drops green food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon green frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Decorate with green baking bits for eyes and ears. Use black gel for mouths and centers of eyes. Cut fruit snack to use for hair.
Boo-Brownies Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon white frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use black gel for eyes and mouths.
Spider Brownies Add 5 drops pink food color and 3 drops blue food color to frosting in 1 bowl; mix well. Top each of 8 brownies with 1 large marshmallow. Tuck gummy worms candies under each marshmallow for legs. Spoon 1 tablespoon purple frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Use orange baking bits for eyes. Use black gel for mouths, centers of eyes and eyebrows.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Follow High Altitude brownie mix directions.

Make the Most of This Recipe With Tips From The Betty Crocker® Kitchens How-To

Line the baking pan with foil for easier cutting and quick cleanup.

Purchasing

Look for neon food colors next to the standard food colors in your supermarket.

Nutrition Information: 1 Brownie: Calories 250 (Calories from Fat 80); Total Fat 9g (Saturated Fat 3g, Trans Fat 2g); Cholesterol 20mg; Sodium 150mg; Total Carbohydrate 40g (Dietary Fiber 0g, Sugars 31g); Protein 2g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 0%; Vitamin C 0%; Calcium 2%; Iron 6% Exchanges: 1 Starch; 1 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 1 1/2 Fat Carbohydrate Choices: 2 1/2 *Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

Spiced Hot Apple Cider
1 gallon apple cider

1 (6-ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate

3 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1. Combine all ingredients in 6-quart saucepan. Cook over medium heat until heated through and flavors are blended (15 to 30 minutes).

Makes 21 (6-ounce) servings.

Cook's Tip: To keep cider warm, hold in slow cooker on Low Heat setting.

Chocolate Haystacks

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 1 hr 10 min
Makes: About 22 servings, 2 haystacks each

What You Need!
1 cup BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chunks
1 cup butterscotch chips
2 cups chow mein noodles
2 cups JET-PUFFED Miniature Marshmallows
1/2 cup PLANTERS Salted Peanuts

Make It!
MICROWAVE chocolate chunks and butterscotch chips in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 to 3 minutes or until almost melted, stirring after 1-1/2 minutes. Stir until completely melted.
ADD remaining ingredients; stir until evenly coated.
DROP teaspoonfuls of the chocolate mixture onto large sheet of wax paper. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm.

Kraft Kitchens Tips
Size-Wise
Looking for something sweet? One serving of this crunchy treat will hit the spot when served with a cold glass of low-fat or fat-free milk.
Variation - Chocolate Critters
Prepare as directed. Insert additional chow mein noodles into the haystacks for the critters' "antennae" and "legs". Press small colored candies onto the heads for the "eyes".

Nutrition Information
Calories 160 Total fat 8 g Saturated fat 4.5 g Cholesterol 0 mg Sodium 50 mg Carbohydrate 21 g Dietary fiber 1 g Sugars 16 g Protein 2 g Vitamin A 0 %DV Vitamin C 0 %DV Calcium 0 %DV Iron 4 %DV

Monster Mash Party Mix
10 cups popped popcorn

1 (16-ounce) bag plain M&M's

1 (14-ounce) jar dry-roasted peanuts

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup Reese's Pieces

1. Mix altogether in a large serving bowl and enjoy the party!

Makes 15 cups.

Ghost Wind Socks
These spectral porch decorations flutter and float upon the breeze.

Materials
White construction paper
Black permanent marker
Stapler
White crepe paper
Tape
String

Total Time Needed: 1 Hour

Instructions
1. For each wind sock, decorate a 6-by-18-inch piece of white construction paper with ghostly eyes and a horrific mouth.
2. Roll the paper to form a tube shape and staple the ends together.
3. Cut eight 8-foot-long strips of crepe paper and drape them over the top edge with both ends hanging down to create "tails." Secure with tape.
4. For a handle, cut a 30-inch piece of string and staple the ends to opposite sides of the top of the decoration.

Tips:
As an interior decoration, have a fan blowing lightly in the room for the same effect as a breeze.

Darth Taters

For our Star Wars dinner this past week we had Darth Taters- Thanks Amber, for your WINNING suggestion!

Our menu was:

Bossk Broccoli

Chewbacca Cheddar

Sugi Cream
Aurra Apples

and Embo Salad

This has been fun for our boys! We are taking a week off from the Star Wars fun. There won't be another new episode until Nov. 6. And... I am planning some fun Halloween and Spooky dinners and treats. So... stay tuned... I'm hoping to post a new Halloween idea every day. We'll see... Thanks again to Amber and our other Star Wars contributors.

WINNERS!!! WINNERS!!!

Okay... time to announce the winners of our Star Wars Food Ideas and Giveaway. I am a little disappointed in my readers. I was expecting a bigger response. I need to increase my reader base. So tell all your friends about this site. I will have to add some extra entries for telling your friends about my next giveaway. So... this giveaway... the winners are:

The boys voted for their favorite food and name and:

Amber- ID said...
I'm sure you have heard this one, living in Idaho and all. I've seen it on t-shirts. But since I haven't seen it yet... Darth Tater.

Tonight we are going to have a Darth Tater Bar. I will post details of the toppings in my next post!

Random.org picked #8

Half A Dozen said... Chewbacca Noodle Soup (I came up with this one on my own)

And #10:

Jenna-UT said...
OK- here's one you probably all ready heard, since it's in a Star Wars Cook Book. Hon- Burgers. I thought that was clever!

Congrats! Now, it's first come, first serve. Again you can pick from-

* A set of Star Wars crayons and mini Star Wars notepad.

* 10% off your total Pampered Chef order coupon (redeemable only through me).

* A Pampered Chef kids gift set (put together by me- My Safe Cutter; Cut-N-Seal; Stoneware Heart Mold; and a reusable Pampered Chef Shopping Bag) valued at about $20.

Thanks for participating! Stay tuned for the next giveaway. I received my package today from My Blog Spark. This is going to be SO COOL!!! And tell your friends to come check me out too!

Pears... Pears... Pears...

Wow!! There are so many different kinds of pears. I never realized... I know silly. I learned from USA Pears, that we grow Green Anjou, Red Anjou, Bartlett, Red Bartlett, Bosc, Comice, Concorde, Forelle, Seckel, and Starkrimson in the US. I have also learned that there are about 30 species of pear around the world. More include Asian Pears, Callery Pear, Plymouth Pear, Algerian Pear, Snow Pear, Willow-leafed Pear, and many more.

All this learnin' got started because our local grocery store was having a sale on pears. They were offering four different kinds, Red, Bosc, D' Anjou, and Bartlett. Now, I know what Bartlett Pears taste like. These are the most common pears in our area to buy and eat. But what about these other "flavors"? I wasn't sure which to buy. So... I bought one of each!

Our family did a taste test to see what the different pears taste like, and which ones we like best. Here's the line up with their results:

This was described as Sweet and Juicy by the boys. But my hubby and I didn't think had much flavor at all.

The boys described the Bartlett as Juicy and Good. The Hubby said, "it tastes like a pear, it's familiar". The little dude said this was his favorite.

The store listed this as "Red". So I don't know if it's Red Bartlett, or Red Anjou, or what exactly. But, we thought it was Juicy, soft, and the taste was a little sharp. It would be GREAT with cheese! We had one vote for the Red Pear as the best.

Last, but not least, the Bosc Pear. I REALLY liked this one! The boys said tart and juicy. The hubby and I said Crisp and Sweet (like candy). It was really good. I would declare this as the winner. But... we had four taste testers, one couldn't decide, and as you saw, we had one vote for two other pears.

Now I am wishing I had done this taste test earlier, so that I could go back and buy more at such a GREAT price! But it is the prime harvesting season, so I'm hoping to find more good deals on pears. Keep an eye open and taste test for yourself. Find that pear your family loves and savor it!

Some of these results could be skewed because of my lack in knowledge for picking the "perfect" pear. So I did some research on that too. Here's what I found (and where I found it).

Produce Oasis had great tips for individual types of pears.

How to Pick Ripe Pears: Most pears in the supermarket are not yet ripe, so choose those that are firm (but not extremely hard) and free from dark soft spots (brown speckles, though, are OK and may signify a better flavor). Once you get the pears home, leave them on the counter to ripen for a few days (or put them in a paper bag to speed things up).

Utah Fans- Haunted Heber Creeper Giveaway!

Hey Utah Fam and Fans- check out this giveaway at Fahrenheit 350- They are giving away 4 tickets to ride the Haunted Heber Creeper! I wish I lived in Utah to go! So... I'm letting you know, and entering my sis and her kids in to win! I hope they get it! Her boys would have so much fun! I know it's not food related. But I have to pass on fun stuff from home.

I'm taking this blog to a new level!

After watching blogs about couponing, freebies, and giveaways, I was introduced to My Blog Spark. This group has a program that will help me offer my readers new ideas and giveaways. I have all ready received my first challenge. So stay tuned... more to come! And it will be BIG! I'm talking- you will have a Family Fun Night idea, just from reading the post. And possibly a FREE meal! YEAH!!!! This is going to be so FUN! Thanks for reading!

Is there really a difference?

I have always used all-purpose flour for everything. It is the least expensive, and we are on a budget. It doesn't matter... it always works out. Well... sometimes works out. My sister, who has A LOT of allergies at her house, was taught a recipe for Milk and Egg Free bread. She shared this recipe with me. I have hesitated to make this recipe, because it uses Soy Lecithin in place of the milk and or eggs. It also calls for A LOT of Bread Flour. So I had to ask-

"What is the difference between All-Purpose, bread, and cake Flour?"

I've heard the density, the gluten. But honestly, I didn't understand. So I am hoping to shed some light and experience on this subject.

I looked it up on O Chef and learned this:

"Bread flour is a high-gluten flour that has very small amounts of malted barley flour and vitamin C or potassium bromate added. The barley flour helps the yeast work, and the other additive increases the elasticity of the gluten and its ability to retain gas as the dough rises and bakes. Bread flour is called for in many bread and pizza crust recipes where you want the loftiness or chewiness that the extra gluten provides. It is especially useful as a component in rye, barley and other mixed-grain breads, where the added lift of the bread flour is necessary to boost the other grains. All-purpose flour is made from a blend of high- and low-gluten wheats, and has a bit less protein than bread flour — 11% or 12% vs. 13% or 14%. You can always substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour, although your results may not be as glorious as you had hoped. There are many recipes, however, where the use of bread flour in place of all-purpose will produce a tough, chewy, disappointing result."

I also went to HubPages for the facts, and here they are:

"... The primary difference between different types of flour are the quantity of the wheat germ and bran that are milled with the flour, and the type of wheat used for the flour, and the relative protein content of that wheat.

Whole wheat flour is simply wheat that has been milled into flour with some, or all, of the germ and bran still attached...

The higher the protein content, the more gluten can be developed. These chains of gluten are important for bread, as they are what allow the dough to capture the created gasses during the cooking and leavening processes, and expand from dense to light. High gluten is not considered an asset when making pastries, pie crusts, biscuits etc, as the gluten can make these tough and chewy...

Cake flour is a low gluten flour that has also been chemically altered slightly for better use in cake baking.
Self raising flour is generally all purpose flour that has had baking powder mixed in, and do not require any additional baking powder to be added when making biscuits, pancakes or muffins.
Always look for flour labeled unbleached, as it tastes better, and store whole wheat flour in the fridge or freezer."

I went ahead an made the recipe using a mixture of White and Wheat flour. Hoping that the extra wheat would help in the lack of gluten in the all-purpose. But lo, I read on, AFTER I mixed, and found out that the proteins in Wheat don't have the same reaction as the gluten added to the bread flour. But... oh well, all ready done, let's see what happens?

This recipe makes about 4 loaves of bread. But can be used for things like rolls, bread sticks, cinnamon rolls, pizza dough. This recipe comes from Pantry Secrets.

I made rolls, bread sticks, and 2 loaves of bread. Some of them rose really well, others, not so well. As you can see in the next two pictures.

I think that using the Wheat flour usually makes the bread/ rolls hard as rock. But this time, they were fluffy and soft, even the ones that didn't rise so well.

My family gave me another idea for a food investigation. I enjoy learning. So I may do more Food Investigations again, soon.

More Birthday Cakes

In reviewing my blog I noticed I never posted with my boy's birthday cakes. I don't know that you care, but I love to share!

The baby turned one. It has become tradition to do a Baseball cake. Not fancy, but we enjoyed it!

The little dude turned 6. He wanted a Transformers birthday. I cut out a stencil of the Autobots sign. Looked up the colors. Made the colors. Decorated. Looked at the example, and realized I did the colors backwards. Red should have been on bottom. I don't know how I managed to mess that up. Luckily, little dude didn't care, and everyone still knows it's the autobots sign. And it tasted GREAT!


Big dude wanted a Harry Potter Party. We actually had two parties, one without a theme for family. And one Harry Potter Party with friends. Here's the no theme cake. Sprinkles and candles.

I had fun with the food ideas for the Harry Potter Party.

We had Magic Wand Pretzels (Log Pretzels dipped in white and dark chocolate with sprinkles on the end). We set up jars with Candy for Honeydukes. There was Berttie Bott's Every Flavor Bean (Jelly Bellies), Gummy Lizards, Chocolate Covered Cockroaches (choc. covered cinnamon bears), and Sour Worms (sour gummy worms). We also had Butter Beer. The cake was Wizard Hat cupcakes. Those were fun to make. The kids ate the cones first, and then couldn't finish the cupcake! That was great! I can't find where I saved the Butter Beer recipe. I did and on-line search and found quite a few ideas. If I find the recipe I used, I will post it.

Our Birthday cakes! YEAH!! Until next summer!

Star Wars Food Ideas and Giveaway

Okay... FINALLY a week later, I have an idea for a giveaway.

Last night we had Tatooine Toast (French Toast), and C3PO.J. It was simple, but fun. I am hoping to do a Star Wars themed dinner EVERY Friday night that we watch Clone Wars. See my post about our Clone Wars party. I realize almost any food could be adapted with a Star Wars name, but I could use come creative help! Here's how it's going to work:



I will give away 3 things-

* A set of Star Wars crayons and mini Star Wars notepad.

* 10% off your total Pampered Chef order coupon (redeemable only through me).

* A Pampered Chef kids gift set (put together by me- My Safe Cutter; Cut-N-Seal; Stoneware Heart Mold; and a reusable Pampered Chef Shopping Bag) valued at about $20.

Here's how to win:

1. MANDATORY ENTRY- Leave me a comment with one idea for Star Wars Food. I will let my boys pick their favorite, and that will be the winner of ONE of the prizes.

The other prizes will be drawn RANDOMLY (using random.org). Here's how to get more entries:
2. Leave more comments with more Star Wars Food ideas. There is NO limit to how many idea comments you leave.

3. Blog about this giveaway to all your friends and fans. Leave me the link so I can check you out too!

4. Add the link to this giveaway on a Mr Linky or a blog giveaway site, forum, carnival. Be sure to leave the link.

5. Subscribe to my blog or become a Follower. Be sure to confirm your e-mail, if you subscribe. Don't forget to leave a comment letting me know. If you all ready do/ are you can leave a comment to.

I will accept entries until Thursday October 22 at midnight. That way I can start using the new ideas for Friday's episode. I will post the winners and they can choose their prizes. Be sure to leave a way for me to contact you in your comment. If I don't hear back from the winners in 48 hrs. a new winner will be selected. Thanks for visiting and for sharing!