Halloween Smoothies

These crazy colored smoothies are a great alternative to candy when the kids want something sweet to drink. Great fruit smoothies ....and you control the sugar!

Simply click on the name of the drinks to see the recipe in its entiretly. YUM!

Graveyard Peanut Butter Pie

Dig into this pie and you might feel as though a spell has been cast upon you because you can't resist going back for seconds!

Simply click on the title of this recipe to see it in its entirety.

This recipe just seemed to fall together as I was making it. It is so good! If you're a peanut butter lover, give this pie a try!  Click on the title of the post to see the recipe.

I prefer to eat it when its partially thawed. My husband, on the other hand, likes it when it has completely thawed out.

Either way, its rich & creamy and really good!

Cookie Carnival's Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

This is my first time participating in the Cookie Carnival! This month's recipe is Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies.

I've never really been a whoopie pie fan but the thought of chocolate and pumpkin together in this combo intrigued me. I decided to give it a shot. They turned out to be really good. The pumpkin filling and chocolate cake cookie go nicely together. Make sure not to over bake the cookies. Watch them carefully after 8 minutes...mine were done then. To get a nice, creamy filling, I had to beat the filling for a long time. I would double the pumpkin cheesecake filling the next time.


My cookies turned out a little bigger than "mini" but that just means that there's more to enjoy, right?




Mini Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
from Martha Stewart

Makes about 20.

INGREDIENTS FOR THE COOKIES:

* 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch-process)
* 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
* 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
* 1 large egg
* 1 cup whole milk
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


INGREDIENTS FOR THE FILLING:

* 4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
* 1/4 cup canned solid pack pumpkin
* Pinch of cinnamon
* Pinch of nutmeg


DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare cookies: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

2. Place butter, shortening, and sugars into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on high speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add egg; mix until pale and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in half the flour mixture, then the milk and vanilla. Mix in remaining flour mixture.

3. Drop about 2 teaspoons dough onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing 2 inches apart. Bake until cookies spring back when lightly touched, 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks and let cool 10 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheets and transfer to wire racks using a spatula; let cool completely.

4. Prepare filling: In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together cream cheese, butter and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg; whip until smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

5. Pipe or spoon about 2 teaspoons filling on the flat sides of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies, keeping the flat sides down.

Mother Nature's Fall Decorations

Mother Nature has just begun to share her beautiful fall decorations with us here in this part of NC. The beautiful colors are starting to peek out in several places.

Unfortunately, to go along with the beautiful scenery, the seasonal flu bugs have hit our home. My son has been home from school with Bronchitis since the end of last week. My plans for starting "Tuesdays with Dorie" will be put on hold until next week because I am enjoying some rare moments of hugging my "baby" during this time. You know how 11 yr. olds are...most of the time they don't want anything to do with Mom hugging them; but when they are really sick, they don't seem to mind it. ;) Hopefully he will be able to return to school tomorrow. We were aiming for today but that didn't happen.

These pictures were taken down by the river about 2 1/2 miles from our home. I took them yesterday while waiting for the pharmacy to fill my son's prescriptions. The news reports that prime viewing time for the rich, bright colors will be in about two weeks. I sure hope so!

In the meantime, here's what it looks like here:

Cooking with Alicia & Annie Contest - Amish Funnel Cakes

We love to go to the fall festivals in the little towns around us. What I don't like is the price that they charge for a funnel cake! $5.00!! This recipe for Amish Funnel Cakes can be found at Annie's recipes. This batter makes the best funnel cakes that I've had in years, no kidding! The best part is that it doesn't cost me $5.00 to make this entire recipe! :)

I mixed the batter using the exact ingredients listed. This makes a lot of funnel cakes--probably at least 12 large. I made 8 and some batter left over. I'm refrigerating it and will try to use it again tomorrow night. (not sure if that will work?) I thinned the batter out a bit more with 2 tablespoons of water because I was using a measuring cup to pour the batter and not a funnel.

It doesn't say what kind of oil or how much of it to use. I used about a 1/2 in. of vegetable oil in a large frying pan.

Here is the recipe with the changes I've made:

Amish Funnel Cakes

3 eggs, beaten
2 c. milk
1/4 c. sugar
4 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt


Instructions

To beaten eggs, add milk and sugar.

In separate bowl sift dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to egg mixture, beating until smooth.

Heat oil to 375 degrees and pour batter into hot fat through a regular household funnel. Control the flow of batter by holding your finger over the bottom of the funnel. Make patterns, designs, swirls or whatever with the stream of batter as it flows into the hot fat.

When "cakes" are golden brown, drain on paper towels, and then sprinkle with confectioners' sugar and/or cinnamon sugar. Serve warm.