Category Archives: Halloween

I recently posted a blog for Halloween food called Ghouls, Ghosts, & Goblins Alike but now it’s time to talk cocktails!  I think cocktails can be the highlight of any party or holiday gathering and are often overlooked.  Most people tend to opt for beer or wine, something that’s simple to serve and comes in a variety of flavors.  I like to explore cocktails that are on theme to the event, easy to make, and don’t require a lot of ingredients to prepare.  That’s what I have for you today. WITCHES BREW COCKTAIL This cocktail is sweet, citrusy, and festive.  You probably have most of the ingredients on hand already but if not, they are pretty standard cocktails ingredients, so they are worth the purchase. I admittedly thought the cocktail would be more purple in color due to the combination of grenadine and blue curacao, but it actually turned out to be blacker in color.  To be honest, that’s OK … Continue reading

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Spooky Season is upon us and it’s something we look forward to at our house every year!  We decorate for Halloween pretty early in September, start making themed food and beverages all throughout October, and enjoy watching all the Halloween / Horror movies we can find.  This year I got a head start on some recipes and want to share them with you today.  The recipes can be enjoyed as a standalone meal (if you consider dessert a meal), or you could combine them into one big meal.  The hand pies can be an appetizer while you make and bake the pot pies to enjoy with a side of skull cornbread, finishing off with cookies for dessert.  Try them all! SPOOKY CHEDDAR & JALAPENO SKULL CORNBREAD These are both fun and festive and make a great accompaniment to any soup, chili, or stew.  The cornbread is perfectly crumbly, the jalapeno adds a bit of heat, and the cheddar … Continue reading

Posted in Dessert, Halloween, Holidays, Party, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Ghouls, Ghosts, & Goblins Alike!

Spooky Season is upon us!  Now that it’s after October 1, we can gear up for Halloween and all things spooky 😊 Halloween is a month-long celebration at my house.  We watch all the classic movies and anything new we can find, gorge ourselves on candy, and decorate with probably too many pumpkins.  But it’s fun and helps us get in the holiday spirit! I like to try new Halloween themed recipes every year too.  It’s fun to have themed treats for a movie viewing party or to simply enjoy throughout the week.  This year, I have 3 recipes to share with you: Halloween Pizza Dip Candy Corn Quesadilla Candy Corn Cupcakes   Halloween Pizza Dip is the perfect appetizer!  It’s loaded with cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni, and is enjoyed with soft pizza dough bites that are baked around the dip.  It’s served hot, right from the oven, and won’t last long 😊 It’s easy to make and comes together in … Continue reading

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It’s my favorite time of year!  The weather is starting to cool down, the leaves are starting to change, and you can find pumpkin spice at just about any store.  That’s what I’m talking about when I say my favorite time of year…. all things pumpkin spice.  I love the flavor, but I also love that it’s available for a limited time, so it’s something I look forward to enjoying. I like to create a few new recipes each year that are pumpkin spice themed.  Most are breakfast or dessert themed but that’s OK with me!  Pumpkin spice is a combination of nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, and ginger.  It’s sweet, spicy, warm, and cozy.  Yes…cozy.  Think of the feeling you get when you drink a hot cup of apple cider on a cool day.  That’s a feeling I get when enjoying pumpkin spice food.  Even better, the pumpkin spice recipes I’m going to share with you today are hearty and filling, … Continue reading

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Halloween is fast approaching – are you ready? We sure are. Halloween is a month-long celebration at our house. We decorate early, spend 31 days gorging on candy, watch every Halloween movie possible, and make some fun themed treats to enjoy. I want to share with you some of my new Halloween recipes and ideas for this year. Each is fairly customizable and will be sure to put your friends and family in a mood to celebrate. My first Halloween idea is for a Char-Spookery board. This is a traditional charcuterie board but with a spooky flair. To be called a charcuterie board, it must contain meat. Otherwise, it’s just a plain old board. What I like about charcuterie boards is how easy they are to put together and how customizable they are. Choose 2-3 meats, 3-4 cheeses, some fruit, nuts, olives, and maybe a few pieces of chocolate, and … Continue reading

Posted in Dessert, Halloween, Party, Pasta, Pizza, Poultry, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Menacing Meals

Make tonight’s dinner a fast and fun meal that’s completely customizable with sheet pan nachos!  These are guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser and are super easy to make.  Simply layer your toppings, bake, and enjoy! One big plus of these is they only take one pan to make so clean up is a breeze, and the pan doubles as the serving vessel so you can simply dig in and be satisfied in no time. I have 3 recipes to share with you today: Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos Sheet Pan BBQ Chicken Nachos Sheet Pan Buffalo Chicken Nachos   As mentioned previously, these would make for a great weeknight meal.  Otherwise, serve them at a football party, birthday party, weekend cookout, holiday party, etc.  The options are endless!  The recipes make a large enough quantity that you can feed a crowd. Let’s start with Sheet Pan Chicken Nachos.  These are … Continue reading

Posted in 4th of July, Halloween, Holidays, Labor Day Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, Party, Poultry, Super Bowl, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Sheet Pan Nachos

Cake Pops are a fun phenomenon and something I had to try.  When I think of a Cake Pop, I think of cake that is coated in melted chocolate, skewered on a stick, and served as a bite sized treat.  They can be made in most cake flavors and decorated as simple or elaborate as you want.  They are very similar to truffles but are often a little lighter and truffles aren’t served on a stick. I started my Cake Pop venture before the 4th of July (can you see I’m a bit behind on writing this? :)) but thought these are great treat for any time of year!  You could make some to celebrate Labor Day, the end of summer and kids going back to school, dessert at a BBQ, or just make them because you love cake 🙂 I purchased this fancy Cake Pop maker (little countertop appliance … Continue reading

Posted in 4th of July, Christmas, Dessert, Halloween, Holidays, Labor Day Weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, Party, Super Bowl, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Cake Pops

We don’t use our air fryer often but every now and again it’s fun to try a new recipe.  This time we tried an Air Fryer Blooming Onion.  A blooming onion is essentially a large onion that is sliced to resemble a flower, battered, deep fried, and served as an appetizer.  My recipe removes the deep-frying step and has you air fry it instead. The batter creates this lovely crust that is crispy, the onion is tender, and the dipping sauce adds a nice tang to each bite. The recipe can be found here. Start by preparing the onion.  Peel the onion and slice off the stem.  Do not remove the base on the other side of the onion – only remove the stem or end of one side.  Otherwise the onion will fall apart!   Turn the onion so the cut side is down.  Cut an inch from the … Continue reading

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Halloween might look a little different this year but that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy some spooky treats!  I for one, love Halloween and all the fun food, scary movies, and candy.  I’m sure a lot of families are deciding what is right for them…do you send your kids out to trick-or-treat or keep them home?  Do you plan a small get-together with your closest friends or family to celebrate?  Dress up and parade around the neighborhood?  Whatever people decide to do, I hope they stay safe and healthy. If you are staying in, I highly recommend making some themed treats to enjoy.  This year, I’m going to have a dessert buffet for us to enjoy.  When I say “us”, I mean Andrew and me.  It will be the 2 of us…enjoying plenty of sweets…while we binge watch Halloween movies 😊 Here’s what I’m going to make: Spooky Chocolate Dipped Strawberries Candy Corn Marshmallow Treats Spider Web Pretzels Frankenstein … Continue reading

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Halloween is fast approaching. For some, Halloween is a lifestyle and obsession, for others, it’s a day to be someone or something else.  I personally love decorating the house, buying candy to pass out to trick-or-treaters, dressing up the dog…. but mostly, I love the food!  I like to take a traditional dish and “dress it up” for Halloween.  For example, a pepperoni pizza might have the pepperoni in the shape of a jack-o-lantern.  You get the picture 🙂   This year, I have quite the spread.  It’s going to be one big Halloween celebration at our house, starting with breakfast, and ending with dinner.  Here’s what’s on the menu: Eyeball Donuts Spider Web Donuts Candy “Charcuterie” Board Eyeball Asparagus and Gruyere Tart Spider Web Loaded Potatoes Festival Feetloaf Mini Skeleton Cheesecakes   Halloween is full of candy and treats so why not start the day with something sugary?  Eyeball … Continue reading

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