Scary . . . Halloween Hands

Decorating the house is EZ-smeezy. Everyone does that. We carve pumpkins and hand out candy to short passersby on October 31st but I like to do a little bit more. I even like to decorate my fingers and toes.


I don't have beautiful nails 'cuz I don't usually worry about painting anything. But, at the holidays, I love to have my hands dripping with art - even if it is stickable nail art.

But the scariest thing I see about this is the dirt hiding under the nails. YIKES. . . Now, THAT'S what I call scary!



So is there anything you do to go the extra mile-um-I mean inch? Any silly things you like to do at Halloween to add a little oomph into your celebration? Please share.

Care for a Wormy Apple...? (Caramel Apples)

Treats don't last long around our house and, you can tell, just look at us. Heck, we don't believe in snackrificing good taste especially around the holidays. Just check out these caramel apples. I couldn't even get them off the silpat before we were slicing into them.

And they are soooo fun to make. Of course you can create your own caramel by melting sugar and butter on the stove until it turns to caramel. I do this when I'm making caramel corn but . . . it's a lot of work and your timing has to be pretty perfect for it to turn out "just right". I tend to like my caramel a little well done - my kids prefer it "under done" in my opinion. So I usually make a couple batches: one for all of them and one for, yep, you guessed it: me.

Anyway, there's a very easy way to make caramel - just buy a couple bags of the candy squares, add about a half cup of water and melt it in the microwave in a skinny bowl - that makes the apple dipping so much easier - and less waste. I'm always about saving money. Then set your apples out on a silpat or wax paper to set. Then put them in the refrigerator for fifteen minutes to stiffen. Take the apples out of the refrigerator - let sit for five minutes (if you can) and then munch on those crispy critters. You can see we add a few of our own critters to treats. I always like having a wormy apple to crunch on. :)

Earth-Friendly Friday - BACK TO THE FUTURE

Sometimes I wish we could go back in time - and not just when I look in the mirror and try to figure out what wrinkle cream might actually work.

I get that longing for days gone by when I think back to the way Mom and Dad raised their house full of kids, the one I grew up in.

Dad worked in a paper mill, as a laborer, so they never had a lot of money - especially not since they took those words to heart to "go forth and multiply". Some times I wish they would have thought it meant to go sit in a corner and work out a few math problems instead of having nine kids.

But Mom taught me more than I could learn on my own about conserving, consolidating and re-crafting.

I still try to be green - especially at Halloween. And, we can all share a few simple ideas.

Instead of spending lots of money on commercial treats, why not have a homemade Halloween? Plan a party for the kids in your neighborhood. You can invite the kids to come over and bob for apples, make caramel apples and popcorn balls. Let the kids come in costume. It will be a fun-filled day the kids will remember for years.

We had these parties in our house, back when the kids were young.

We would buy pinatas and let the kids pound them to smithereens!

Let me know if you have a Homemade Halloween party. I'd love to hear all about it.

Hope you'll all have a Happy and green Halloween.

Playing Favorites . . . ?

Halloween is right around the corner, which pumpkin is your favorite? Put your answer in the "comments" section so I can see.

Thanks for joining in the conversation.

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I thought I'd share a few of the pumpkins Shauna Puckett painted for the holiday

Of Mice and Men . . . ?

I love decorating at the holidays. How about you?

I traced these little mice out on thin foam sheets and then cut them out. Then I glued little wiggly eyes on and used poster gum to put them up all around the house.

I even put them out on the stairs and porch outside. Last year I cut them out of black construction paper but the rain ruined them. The foam will work well in Portland, Oregon's wet weather-I hope. There was only one problem with my plan, Sasha (my puppy) went around the house eating the little rodents. She didn't understand that they weren't real. Oh well, at least I'll never have to worry about being over-run by rodents - not with Sasha on guard.

Popcorn Balls - Treat for Tuesday

The "kids" still like helping me make popcorn balls. And this is an ancient family recipe I'm sharing with all my blogging buddies.



Okay, I know they're a little lopsided but so are my pumpkins :) They're supposed to look like Jack-o-lanterns. Use your imagination . . .

POPCORN BALLS

INGREDIENTS:

2 and ½ quarts popcorn
1 cup sugar
½ cup water
½ cup white corn syrup
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla (or orange extract)
(Food Coloring: 1 teaspoon Red and 2 teaspoons Yellow to create orange)

(OPTIONAL: Chocolate Chips, green gum drops, raisins and red licorice)

Heat water, vinegar, extract and white corn syrup over medium heat, add in food coloring

Slowly add in sugar and salt until sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil – let boil 3 minutes.

Pour mixture over popcorn – in a metal mixing bowl, stir with metal spoon (mixture will be hot) When cooled a bit, shape into balls and place on wax paper or silpat sheet. Decorate them with green gum drop tops, raisin or chocolate chips for eyes and licorice for the mouth. Or, you can try whatever ideas you come up with.

You can also make ghosts out of the popcorn balls. You just don't use food coloring. These are fun and OH SO YUMMY!

Book Signing by Lisa Madigan - FLASH BURNOUT

Lisa Madigan had her debut book release at Powell's Books in Beaverton.

First a group of writers, like Jone MacCulloch, Suzanne Young, Laini Taylor, Lisa Schroeder, Suz Blackaby, Carmen Bernier-Grand, Matt Holm and others got together at Panera to share a cup of coffee and a pastry before we went over to Powell's Books to get our copies of Flash Burnout.

Lisa had Nathan, a young adult from Wilson High School, read excerpts from her story.

Then she talked about how she finds time to write by getting up early, even on the weekends, and gives up opportunities to watch t.v. and go to movies or parties but she said, "Writing is my passion." And we all find time to do the things we love.

Lisa also threw out candy to the audience:

What a great way to spend an afternoon, celebrating a book opening, eating pastry and chocolate and talking with old friends and making new friends. No better way to spend a Sunday.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.