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

Clone Wars Party

There are 4 boys (yes my hubby counts as one) at our house, who LOVE Star Wars. Especially the new Clone Wars. Cartoon Network has a Clone Wars animated series. Last season it became a tradition for the boys to watch it every Friday night. They were so excited for the Season 2 premiere. We decided to make it a party. I, of course, mean fun food and watch the cartoon. Our menu was:

Naboo Nuggets- Chicken Nuggets. I cut chicken breast into finger size pieces. In a gallon size baggie, crush up 3 cups of Corn Flakes, mixed them with 3 tbsp. flour (you can add salt, pepper, and other dry seasoning). Break 1 egg into a shallow dish ( I used one of The Pampered Chef's coating trays). Coat the chicken pieces with egg. Add them to the baggie with crushed mixture. Seal the baggie and shake, until the chicken is well coated. You can lay them out on a cookie sheet (stoneware bar pan) and bake them or fry them. This night I opted for frying them in vegetable oil in my Stir-Fry Skillet. We dipped them in BBQ, Honey Mustard, and Ranch sauce.

Palpatine Pizzas- English Muffins, pizza sauce, cheese, Canadian bacon, more cheese. Bake @ 350 for 15 min.

Jabba Jell-o- Blue Jell-o made with Orange Juice. It doesn't have the "see-through" look. It looks thicker, like slime. I added a couple scoops of canned fruit cocktail and swirled whipped cream over the top (using my Easy Accent Decorator).

Ventress Vegetables- Bought mixed veggies in cheese sauce. Microwaved in my Large Micro-cooker. I was in a hurry, and didn't plan ahead on the veggies.

Yoda Soda- 1 scoop Lime Sherbet, topped with Lemon-Lime Soda

Hoth Asteroids- Cookies N' Cream Ice Cream

Hoth Chocolate- Hot Cocoa (to warm up after the ice cream on the cold Oct. evening)

It turned out to be pretty fun. The food was easy, and it was fun to think of Star Wars names. We might have to have Star Wars themed dinners every Friday Night, before watching Clone Wars! How Fun! Hey... now there is an idea for a giveaway! Stay tuned...

More Independence Day Recipes

Patriotic Parfait from Recipe4Living

Ingredients
1/2 pt./125ml heavy cream

1/2 tsp. sugar

1 qt. strawberries

1 qt. blueberries

1/2 pt. red raspberries

Directions
Whip cream with sugar (or omit sugar altogether and it will taste even better); set aside. Wash fruits and spread out on a terry towel to dry. Puree raspberries in the blender and chill. Slice strawberries. Place some blueberries in the bottom of parfait glasses then add some strawberry slices. Drizzle with a small amount of raspberry puree. Top with some whipped cream. Repeat layers until the glasses are full, ending with whipped cream. Make sure to keep some of the raspberry puree. Just before serving, drizzle the remaining raspberry puree over the whipped cream.

Here is the recipe I am going to try this year, with my kids:

Uncle Sam Ice Cream Cones by Family Fun

This 4th of July, invite your kids to turn ice cream cones into edible, festive Uncle Sam top hats.

1 Wafer ice cream cone
White frosting
Blue fruit leather
Red and blue decorating gels
Red and blue M&M's
Canister of ready-made whipped cream

Step 1 Place a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a plate and return it to the freezer to harden. Meanwhile, construct an Uncle Sam hat out of a wafer ice cream cone. (I am going to use my Simple Additions, small square plate. That way I can decorate the edge of the white plate with some blue and red sugar!)

Step 2 Use frosting to attach a blue band of fruit leather around the bottom of the cone. Squirt vertical stripes of red decorating gel down the sides and blue gel on the top.

Step 3 Using a star tip, squirt on white frosting stars around the blue fruit leather, if desired. TIP: To avoid smudging the Uncle Sam hat design, have your child hold the cone from the inside while decorating it with fruit leather and icing. (My kids will use the Decorator Bottle Set. The accordion style "bags" are so much easier for kids.)

Step 4 Remove the ice cream-scoop "head" from the freezer and top with the Uncle Sam hat. Working quickly so the ice cream doesn't melt, add blue M&M's eyes and a red M&M's nose. Finally, add a whipped cream beard. To do this, have your child hold the canister upside down while squirting on a long white beard. (I am going to use whipped topping from the freezer section, thawed, and put it in my Easy Accent Decorator. Easier for my kids to use and Cheaper!)

Step 5 Serve up your Uncle Sam ice cream cone immediately. Makes 1

Kids' Strawberry Daiquiris by Family Fun

While you enjoy a true daiquiri, offer your kids this innocent version of the grown-up drink.

6 ice cubes
16 strawberries
1/2 cup frozen concentrated limeade
1/2 cup water

Step 1 Place the ice cubes in a blender or food processor and pulse until they are crushed. Add the strawberries, concentrated limeade and water. Puree the mixture until smooth and thick. Pour into tall glasses with flexistraws. Makes 2 servings.

Berries ‘N Stars by The Pampered Chef

This beautiful, fruit-filled pastry makes a spectacular star-spangled finale.

1 pkg (17.25 oz) frozen puff pastry sheets (2 sheets), thawed
2 lemons
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 qt. strawberries
½ pint blueberries (about 1 cup)
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Unfold one pastry sheet onto lightly floured Rectangle Stone. Roll into 13 x 10-in. rectangle using lightly floured Baker’s Roller®. Move pastry into one corner of the stone, leaving open space along two sides. Unfold second sheet of pastry onto smooth side of Large Grooved Cutting Board; roll to a 13 x 10-in. rectangle. Cut four 1-inch-thick strips lengthwise from second sheet using Pizza Cutter; reserve remaining dough for decoration.

Brush outer edges of pastry on baking stone with water using Chef’s Silicone Basting Brush. Arrange and press strips around edge of pastry, forming an even border. Trim off any excess
dough. Prick entire bottom of pastry with pastry tool.

Cut 16 stars from remaining dough sheet using Creative Cutters (discard remaining dough). Arrange stars in open space along edges of baking stone. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. (Center of crust may puff up slightly, but will flatten out as it cools.) Cool completely. Remove pastry stars from baking stone; set aside.

Meanwhile, zest lemons with Microplane® Adjustable Grater to measure 1 tbsp zest. Juice lemons to measure ¼ cup juice. In Classic Batter Bowl, whisk together condensed milk, lemon zest and juice. Gently fold in whipped topping. Attach desired tip to Easy Accent® Decorator; completely fill with filling mixture (1¹ cups) and set aside for garnish.

Fill cooled pastry shell within border with remaining filling. Hull strawberries using Core & More; slice using Egg Slicer Plus®. Arrange strawberries and blueberries over filling. Garnish with rosettes of reserved filling and pastry stars. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Lightly sprinkle pastry with powdered sugar using Flour/Sugar Shaker.

Yield: 16 servings
Nutrients per serving: Calories 260, Total Fat 13 g, Saturated Fat 6 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Carbohydrate 31 g, Protein 4 g, Sodium 180 mg, Fiber 1 g

Cook’s Tip: Thaw puff pastry sheets at room temperature about 1 hour before using or microwave on 20% power for 3-4 minutes until thawed but still cold. Puff pastry that is too warm is difficult to work with.

"Cool" 4th of July

I am always planning holiday fun around food, and kids. Here are some Family Fun red, white, and blue recipes to cool you off.

Patriotic Pops

2 cups blue Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid
12 5-ounce disposable cups
1 cup frozen whipped topping
1 cup vanilla yogurt
12 craft sticks
2 cups cran-raspberry juice

Step 1 To make the pops, equally divide the blue juice among the plastic cups, then place the cups in the freezer until the juice is partially frozen, about 30 to 45 minutes.

Step 2 Mix together the whipped topping and yogurt and divide this mixture among the cups.

Step 3 Set a craft stick in the center of each pop and return the cups to the freezer for approximately 45 minutes.

Step 4 For the final layer, add the cran-raspberry juice to the cups and place them in the freezer until solid.

Step 5 To remove the pops, run warm water over the outside of each cup.

Frosty Fireworks (Flavored Ice)

One way to make a splash this Fourth of July is by treating your kids to tall glasses of Patriot's Punch. Simply fill an ice cube tray with a red or blue fruit-flavored beverage (such as Powerade, Gatorade, or Kool-Aid) and let the cubes freeze solid. Then drop three or four colored cubes into each glass, pour in flavored seltzer water or clear soda, and watch the special effects. As the cubes melt, colored bubbles will swirl through the seltzer.

This Family Fun recipe reminds me of an old Pampered Chef recipe.

Star-Studded Fruit Jewels
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups water
2 packages (3 ounces each) any flavor gelatin
10 small pieces of fruit such as maraschino cherries or grapes, cut in half, or

20 whole blueberries

Directions:

Lightly spray Star Cube Trays with nonstick cooking spray.
Pour water into Small Micro-Cooker®. Microwave on HIGH 2-2 1/2 minutes or until boiling. Add gelatin to micro-cooker; stir until gelatin is completely dissolved, about 3 minutes.

Place 1 piece of fruit in each well of ice cube tray. Pour gelatin evenly over fruit. (The fruit will float to the top of the well.)

Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm. Run flat end of Citrus Peeler around edges of gelatin stars to release.

Yield: 10 servings

I hope you enjoy a "cool" holiday.

Mummies for Dinner

I LOVE to do fun and spooky recipes for our family Halloween Dinner. This year was a little different. Due to scheduling conflicts we had our Family Halloween Dinner a couple nights early. It was also different because I wasn't feeling great the day of, so we had the food, but not the excitement leading up to it, and no spooky table decor. The boys were a BIG help! So, simple as it was, here was our menu:

Mummy Pizzas

Mummy Toes and Fingers

Mummy Guts and Teeth

I Love to get recipes from Family Fun. They have great ideas for kid crafts, costumes, decorations, and recipes. Check it out!

So here are the recipes I used. I did change each of them, just slightly.

Mummy Finger and Toes
Recipe Ingredients:

Cocktail wieners

2 pkgs. Refrigerated Crescent Rolls

Ketchup or mustard

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Roll out crescent dough, but don't separate it into triangles, keep them in rectangles (4 rectangles per package). Pinch seams together. Cut them into 3/4 inch wide strips.

3. Roll each wiener in a dough strip.

4. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes.

I didn't do this, but should have- Before baking, cut a wedge into the end of each cocktail wiener to make a toenail. After baking, fill the toenail with ketchup or mustard.

When I got to the last rectangle of dough I had more wieners than dough. So I actually cut the dough in half, and made smaller rolls. I think this actually looked better. They weren't so fat when they baked. But... then you would have more dough than toes...? Just a side note.

I used The Pampered Chef Cutting Board to measure and the Pizza Cutter to cut the dough strips. I baked them on a flat stone, of course.

Mummy Pizzas
Ingredients:

English muffins
Pizza sauce
Black olives
Scallions
Red or green pepper
Cheese

Step 1 Heat the oven to 350° F. For each mummy, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin (toast it first, if you like).

Step 2 Set olive slices in place for eyes and add round slices of green onion or bits of red or green pepper for pupils. ( I didn't do this)

Step 3 Lay strips of cheese across the muffin for the mummy's wrappings.

Step 4 Bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.

I used the Small Scoop to scoop and spread the sauce. I grated some Parmesan Cheese over the sauce using the Rotary Grater, and added some Canadian bacon. Then continued with the face. For the cheese I used the Cheese Knife to cut it into strips. The recipe also said you could use string cheese and just peel it apart. We used the Egg Slicer Plus to slice the olives. And baked it on the new Round Stone .

I can't find where I got the drink recipe from, but I did my own version anyway.

Mummy Guts and Teeth

Ingredients:

Apple Juice or Cider

Apple- Peeled, cored, sliced, and cut

Seedless Grapes- cut in half

In a punch bowl, combine the Apple Juice, cut up apple and grapes. Add ice, if desired.

The apples should look like teeth and the grapes like eyeballs, we said guts, since our pizzas had olive eyes.

I used the Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer to prepare the apple. Then cut it into wedges for the teeth. I used the peel of the apple to drape in and out of the bowl. Cool huh? I thought I was clever!

I used the Trifle Bowl for the punch bowl. Since it is clear you can see all the "goods".