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Showing posts with the label HALLOWEEN

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

Halloween Show & Tell: Doctor Who Inspired Costumes

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It's clear that the days of fairy wings and princess gowns are in our past.  Nothing short of an encounter with a man with a blue box (that's bigger on the inside) will bring us back to those childhood follies.  The girls have traded their tutus for the TARDIS, and as a lifelong fan of Doctor Who, I welcome this new phase with sheer delight. The girls knew that they'd be getting a lot of, "Who (or what) are you supposed to be?"  Esoteric costume choices? Yes.  Did that stop them? No.    My 12-year old is enamored with Doctor #11, Matt Smith.  To pay homage to her hero, she put together an easy and comfortable costume for around $30. My daughter and one of her best buddies, 504 Main 's son. She found the fez, bow tie, and suspenders at Hot Topic.  We lucked out finding a perfect pinstriped shirt and tweed coat at Goodwill. My 8-year old was determined to "find" a World War II era English schoolboy costume in order to dress

Make a Halloween Folk Art Candy Container from a $1 Blown Plastic Pumpkin

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Do you remember the Paper Mache Black Cat Trick-or-Treat Bucket I shared last year? Using a plastic candy bucket that I picked up at Target for only a dollar, homemade paper mache paste, scrap paper and paint, I transformed this: Into this: I was excited for the pumpkins to be back in stores again this year.  As soon as they arrived, my girls and I picked up a bunch and brainstormed a plan for this year's creation.  We decided to create lidded candy containers -- the perfect place to store your candy for trick-or-treaters.  Decorative by day, functional by night! This year, I had a few new tricks up my sleeve.  With this basic tutorial you can upgrade your cheap-o pumpkin any way you wish: Folk Art Pumpkin Candy Container Materials 1 blown plastic pumpkin bucket Masking tape Homemade paper mache paste (my favorite recipe is at the end of this post) Newspaper or kraft packaging paper  Acrylic Paint Paintbrushes Paint pens (for detail

Tips & Tricks for the Perfect Caramel Apple

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  I make caramel apples twice every year -- for Halloween in the fall and for the end of the school year in the spring.  While my caramel recipe remains constant, I'm ever striving to tackle the common pitfalls of caramel apple-making. Have you ever made caramel apples and had the caramel start to puddle when you set the apple on the tray?  This year, I came up with a simple solution that creates a nice smooth even coat of caramel all over the apple.  I used a baking rack to invert the apples as the caramel, and later the chocolate, set.  If you don't have a high baking rack, you can set either side of a legless baking rack up on a few cans.   Once you've bitten through the sweet candy outside, you're left with nothing but an apple on a stick, right?   Problem solved -- cut your apple with an apple slicer.  You lose nothing but the core!  I used to play around with different flavor combinations, but the ones that always get the most applause

Mummy Bagels ~ An Easy & Healthy Halloween Party Food

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  For the past two years, my daughters have been asked to bring a "healthy snack" to their classroom Halloween parties.  There are tons of adorable treat ideas out there, but the challenge was to find a non-sweet treat that was cute, would be quick and easy to make and that even the pickiest of kids would enjoy eating.  And that's how the Mummy Bagel was born. If you have time in your schedule to run to the grocery store, whip some cream cheese, and open a can of olives, you can make Mummy Bagels.  I used pre-sliced whole-grain bagels -- healthy and time saving!  Mummy Bagels makes 24  1 dozen mini bagels, halved 2 8oz. packages cream cheese, softened at room temperature 2 2.25 oz. cans sliced black California olives Pastry bag or large Ziploc freezer bag Prep:  In a medium bowl and with an electric mixer, whip cream cheese for five minutes on high speed.  Set aside. Assemble:   1.  Arrange bagel halves on a serving

How to Make Halloween Folk Art from Dollar Store Pumpkins

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I LOVE decorating for Halloween and look forward, all year, to opening up my boxes full of Halloween folk art pieces.  I'm a big fan of antique German papier mache and the contemporary works of Nicol Sayre, Dee Foust and Rick Conant. Drawing my inspiration from those whimsical, collectible pieces from both past and present, I've come up with an easy and very inexpensive tutorial for making pumpkin primitives at home. Dollar Store Pumpkin Folk Art TUTORIAL Materials A foam pumpkin from the dollar store (or you can use a larger one from the craft store) Pumpkin carving knife (or other small serrated knife) Sharpie pen Paper Mache paste (recipe below) Newspaper, cut into strips Acrylic paints (orange, yellow, brown, black) DecoArt Americana Staining/Antiquing Medium DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint in "Asphaltum" Folk Art Pumpkin Eyes/Mouth printed on plain white copy paper (download for free HERE ) Tacky Glue Black Wire Pencil Bamboo ske

Chocolate Mustaches on a Stick -- The Perfect, Last-minute, No-bake Halloween TREAT!

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Big Wow-factor with minimal effort -- A perfect combination for busy families! The idea is far from anything new, but it's one I dearly adore: the classic, clever and delightfully dapper mustache on a stick !  I was excited when I found that Wilton is selling an absolutely charming (and at $1.99, very afforadable) mold for making chocolate mustaches ~ no special chocolatiering skills required!  Only $1.99 -- sweet deal! My posts here at Rook No. 17 this week have been light, as I've been busy putting the finishing touches on costumes and enjoying all the Halloween festivities about town with my girls. It's busy weeks like these that make me grateful for the little tools, tricks and shortcuts that help in making stand-out treats with little mess and minimal fuss. That's why, despite the odds that you've already seen a lot of chocolate mustaches out there in blogland, I'd share my find of the Wilton Fun Face Mustache Lollipop mold. My girls h

The Punk Skunk Costume

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There's certainly no shortage of adorable Halloween costumes to buy or make for babies, toddlers, and kids under 8. Somewhere between the cute and fuzzy stage of the early years and the "You're not leaving the house wearing that!" stage of the tween and teen years, is the unfamiliar territory I found myself wading through last year when my daughter hit 4th grade.   Cute and fuzzy was out. Cool, original and clever were in demand. Fortunately, we found a way to combine them all: --The "Punk" Skunk-- This costume is easy, affordable, warm, comfortable! 9 out of 10 pre-tweeners agree:  "It doesn't STINK!" PUNK SKUNK COSTUME Materials: Black Velour hoodie* White Faux Fur** Piece of cardboard to stiffen the "mohawk" Glue gun Punk inspired clothes Face Paint (black, white, pink) Create a mohawk piece by wrapping and hot-gluing a piece of cardboard (cut to the desired shape) with whi

Easy Halloween Treat ~ Chocolate Dipped Ghosts on a Stick!

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The clock's ticking on Halloween plans and projects.  With little time to spare, I needed a quick, easy and inexpensive Halloween treat to make with my daughter's girl scout troop the other day.   If you're short on time as I was, you'll appreciate this no-bake treat that takes only minutes to prepare and requires only a few ingredients!   What's more, it's easy for kids to do and would make a fun activity for a Halloween party!   Marshmallow Ghosts on a Stick (makes 2 dozen) Marshmallow Peeps Ghosts, 2 packages Wilton Light Cocoa or Dark Cocoa Candy Melts , 1 bag Wilton White Candy Melts, 1/4 cup Wilton Lollipop Sticks , 24 Piping bag or Ziploc Cello bags, tulle and/or ribbon (optional)   Step 1:  Remove Peeps Ghosts from package.  Separate into individual ghosts.  Insert a lollipop stick in to each ghost (till it reaches the top, but doesn't poke through). Step 2:  Line two baking sheets or trays with pa