kattitudes

It’s Halloween. Am I going to leave you high and dry? No. Voila, a recipe for how to roast pumpkin seeds.

You carved your pumpkin. Now you have all those lovely seeds left over (in all that … muck). What to do with them?

I used to have a trick to clean the seeds and make them nice and salty. I boiled them in salt water for about 10 to 20 minutes, then I would bake them nice and dry. However, I find as I age, I am liking the nuts and twigs part of life more and more, so I enjoy the flavor of the dirty seeds more now. Eew, I know.

Anyway, on to what to do.

While it’s O.K. to leave some strings and pulp on your seeds (it adds flavor), clean off any major chunks. They won’t cook in time.

Preheat oven to 300° F.

Combine 1 to 2 tablespoons melted butter or oil (olive oil or vegetable oil works well) per cup of seeds.

Salt to taste.

If you like, you can add other spices like pepper, paprika, garlic, cayenne, cajun seasoning blend. I always add worcestershire sauce because that’s how my Mister rolls. I like paprika and cayenne and salt.

The beauty of pumpkin seeds is that they are pretty much a blank canvas. You can add whatever your favorite spice combo is and it always tastes good.

Toss pumpkin seeds in a bowl with the melted butter or oil and seasonings of your choice.

Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

Do yourself a favor and start checking in on them at 30 minutes, because every oven does things different. You might end up with burnt seeds otherwise. Such a waste.

These are just so silly, and have nothing to do with handmade, but every time I see them, I just think “how fun!”. As an reformed chocoholic (migraine sufferer), I will no longer eat any chocolate. The chocolate is simply not worth the pain. However, I can see the fun in gifting these as part of a very special Halloween celebration.

In order to purchase these, you will have to go directly to the Hersheys website and order them directly from the source.

Argh! I saw this on BHG and had to yoink it because it is perfect for our Halloween Crazy Dinner.

These are so fantastic. I absolutely love them. And not at all hard to make. Instead of using milk chocolate, the pears are dipped into melted white chocolate, then black candy pieces were attached to resemble a skull head.

Goodness I just think these are fantastic. Now I am going to have to figure out a way to incorporate them into the menu as a whole.

To get them to anchor in a dish like that, a chunk of florist foam was used, then covered with the green candies so as not to show through. The stems of the pears were removed and sticks just like what you use with caramel apples (lollipop or popsicle sticks) were used to push into the foam to anchor them in place.

And with that, you have a fantastic skull imitation. I cannot wait to try to make these. And I cannot wait to see the reaction.

I swear by all that is holy, if I do not get my rich moist dense pumpkin bread (or cupcake, I’m not particular) with sweetened cream cheese frosting, I am liable to start gluing candy to my house, then baking and eating the small children when they get too close to my general vicinity.

Have I mentioned lately how much I want some pumpkin bread? I literally do not understand why I have not baked any. I actually think that there is a small voice telling me that it is actually a self preservation issue. Do not bake the pumpkin bread and save yourself from diabetic destruction.

Lord how I want me some pumpkin bread. With a 2 inch thick layer of sweetened sugared up cream cheese. Just tart enough. I thought I wanted it loaded up with plump juicy raisins and cranberries, like little fruit bombs for my tongue to run into and explode on contact in some demented healthy version of a taste frenzy, but no. I realized it is that deep rich moist pumpkin darkness (come to the dark side) that I crave (come to the dark side) so much that I am about to start hurting people if I don’t get it.

I am thinking, in retrospect, this is one of those times that maybe, a little delayed gratification has gone too far. I am actually scaring myself.

This pumpkin bread has cream cheese filling. Because, you know, there isn’t enough richness yet. (Kill me. Just shoot me and put me out of my misery).

INGREDIENTS:

Filling:
* 1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, at room temperature
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar
* 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
* 1 large egg
* 1 tablespoon finely grated orange peel

Bread:
* 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1 cup pumpkin puree, canned or homemade
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 large eggs
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional

PREPARATION:
Preheat oven to 325°. Lightly grease two 8×4x3-inch loaf pans. In a medium mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour, 1 egg, and the orange peel; beat until smooth and creamy.

Into another bowl, sift 1 2/3 cup flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; set aside. Put pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, 2 eggs and 1 1/2 cup sugar in a large mixing bowl; beat well. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the flour mixture just until combined. Fold in the pecans or walnuts, if using.

Pour half of the pumpkin bread batter evenly into the two prepared loaf pans. Spoon cream cheese mixture on top of pumpkin batter layer and then pour on the remaining pumpkin batter.

Bake in preheated 325° oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool bread in pans for 10 minutes; remove to a rack to cool completely.

Pumpkin bread recipe makes 2 loaves.

FROSTING (icing):
1 8 ounce package cream cheese
2 tablespoons vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Mix together well all ingredients. Avoid plunging your fingers into the icing. No. Stop that! Frost (the pumpkin bread - what did you think you were supposed to frost. Your fingers? For goodness sake, stop it. Stop icing your fingers. That doesn’t count!) when cool.

With autumn here and all the fall festivals grinding through their paces, the Mister and I automatically go into caramel apple mode. No. No. Don’t start waving those chocolate covered abominations at me. Those are an offense unto the lord and you know it (says the woman recently forced to give up chocolate. No, seriously. I have a note from my doctor and everything).

I am about to teach you the neatest trick ever. (OK, the neatest trick ever seen with a caramel apple. Let’s not get overly excited here. This is not world peace).

You wanna know how to keep the caramel part of your apples from getting all mushy and icky? Do not push the stick all the way through the apple! Seriously.

The apple juice from where the apple is punctured softens the caramel and makes it all eeww (yes, that is the technical term). So, avoid the problem by not pushing through until both sides of the apple are sporting a hole. Voila. Problem solved.

To make these autumnal tasty gems, you will need:

10 to 12 lollipop or popsicle sticks
10 to 12 medium apples
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup light corn syrup
2 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp blackstrap or other dark molasses
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and butter or oil the foil lightly or line with a nonstick liner. Push a lollipop stick into each apple. Set aside.

In a deep, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar, butter, cream, corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, and salt and place over medium-high heat. Stir gently with a wooden spoon from time to time to make sure no sugar is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook until the mixture registers 236°F on a thermometer, 5 to 7 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat and let the caramel cool to 180°F. One at a time, dip the apples into the hot caramel, let the excess drip off the bottom, and then set them on the prepared baking sheet. If the caramel slides off the first apple, let the mixture cool for a little longer and try again. You may need to tilt the pan to dip the last few apples (to free your hands, prop one side of the pan up with a kitchen spoon or the like).

Let cool completely to set the caramel. The apples will keep, uncovered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

This is utterly fantastic with gingersnaps or (my favorite) tart Granny Smith apple slices.

Another knock out accompaniment is pear slices, believe it or not. It was a strange combination at first, but once you got used to the flavors together, it was amazing. And I definitely like the fruit with this dip much more than the gingersnaps (and I love gingersnaps!).

Ingredients:

1 - 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioner’s sugar
1 - 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon pure orange extract
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Blend cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar until smooth in food processor. Remove cover; add pumpkin and remaining ingredients. Blend thoroughly.

Chill 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Oh, and as an experimentation note, once I added a little bit of fresh grated ginger I had left over from a different recipe. It was *fantastic* so I do it regularly now - really gave the dip an extra zing. I probably had about a teaspoon or so, maybe a little more. I really recommend the addition.

OK, phew! I actually had to go through my archives and verify that I had not yet posted this. I am loving these cupcakes.

As I know I have said in the past, these things are so adorable, but in all honesty, I am not eating this. I will beg others to try them, make them and push them on complete strangers until they are sick of looking at them!

I’m like a dealer, but for silly candy creations instead. I love the crazy looks, but there is no way I want to deal with the backlash that I know my body would give me for eating that much of what I lovingly term shlock. That would put me in a diabetic coma!

Anyway, back to the point. These are too cute! I love the monster look. And I now that I think about it, you could actually counteract a little of the sugar freakout by making the cupcakes something wonderfully tasty like a rich moist pumpkin cupcake (which I confess I have been craving for months and I still have not settled down and just baked yet. What is wrong with this picture?!).

The whole idea here was to get you the great picture of these wonderful monsters. What you make them with is up to you and your dietary needs. But at least you have a great visual to get you started. Enjoy!

While I’m not particularly advocating extra sugar shock at this point, I am saying that there comes a time when we have over saturation and our imagination has just had too much and we need some visual help. It is times like these that we just need a good picture to send us on our way.

Therefore, take a good look and wander off to the kitchen and get your Halloween treats ready. Get ready, set, go.

Oh goodness me. I just don’t have it in me to make something like this right now. At Christmas, I try to invite one or two kids over to make a gingerbread village, and we do have the greatest time.

But this is just wild! I love the detail work. And considering that Halloween is pretty much an excuse to consume sugar anyway, I can see the recipient of such a gift really enjoying being on the receiving end of such a fantastic work.

Do you have it in you to put something like this together before the 31st of October? September is amazingly whittling itself away and Halloween is going to be here before we know it. Get your thinking caps on and get your costume planned if you haven’t yet!

Here is another entry into the “you know you shouldn’t eat this but you are going to anyway because it is so darned cute or at least the kids will eat it” category.

This is put together with nothing more than pop tarts and a number of different frosted sugared up cookies, but gosh, it is so cute!

Kids are home from school and you have a house full of rowdy monsters begging for a Halloween treat? Why not sugar them up and entertain them at the same time?

Hey, you’re ready for the sugar rush, right? After all, that is what Halloween is all about.

When I saw this shot, I knew (along with the Frankentart from earlier) I had to yoink it, knowing it would go down on my list of “things I would have to try some day to make for my nephews and then send them immediately home so that their Mom and Dad could live with the fallout instead of Aunt and Uncle”.

Hey, Auntie is no dummy. She knows. Sugar them up and send them on to the next stop!

As for the wee ghosties and the bats, those can be found in the baking aisle of your grocery store or, failing that, in the cake decorating section of your local craft store. I have seen so many of those sugar crafts stocked up both in the stores and online. Cute, but I doubt they are for mouth treats. I would be more likely to replace them with a licorice goodie or two.

But what the hey, I realize that the ghostie and bat were selected, not for their foraging pleasures, but for their appearances, so their dining appeal probably doesn’t really count for a hill of beans. But at least it looks really neat.

By the way, if you like this haunted house, you should check out the Halloweenbread House.