Very Merry Bead Sprites

While I have been pretty good about posting recipes and holiday things, I feel the video game portion has been slightly neglected.  I shall remedy that now with a very cute yet very nerdy set of Christmas decorations I made.


This is a Christmas set of bead sprites I made.  As you can see I adapted each one to be slightly more festive with antlers, santa hats and Christmas colors.  I then put them in some red and green frames I got from IKEA. You could do this with any character and they look very nice hanging on the wall. You could also thread string though the tops and use them as ornaments.

Festive Cranberry-Apple Salad

I make this dish every Thanksgiving.  It can be a side dish or a dessert depending on what you serve it with.  Its pretty easy to make and its a nice change from the traditional canned cranberries.

 

 

Festive Cranberry-Apple Salad

 

 

Ingredients:

 

1can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple, undrained

2 pkg. (3 oz. each) or 1 pkg. (6 oz.) JELL-O Raspberry Flavor Gelatin

1 can (16 oz.) whole berry cranberry sauce

1 Apple, chopped

2/3 cup chopped pecans

 

 

Directions:

 

1) Drain pineapple juice into large container (at least 4 cups).

 

2) Add enough cold water to the juice to measure 3 cups.

 

3) Pour the juice into saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add dry gelatin mix. Stir until completely disolved 

 

 

 4)Stir in cranberry sauce.

 

 5) Pour into a large bowl and refrigerate 1-1/2 hours or until slightly thickened.

 

 

6) Stir in pineapple, apples and nuts.    

 



 

7) Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm

 



Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

 

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  This scares me a little since the end of Thanksgiving means the beginning of the Christmas season.  I'm just not ready for Christmas.  Things just need to slow down a bit while I get my life in order, or at least take down my Halloween decorations.  Anyway.  Here is a dessert that is super simple and will look great on your Thanksgiving dessert table.  I give to you....

 

 

Pumpkin Ice Cream Pie

 

 



 

 

Ingredients:

1 graham cracker pie crust

1 gallon pumpkin ice cream

1 cup caramel sauce

1/3 cup chopped pecans

 

Directions:

 

1) Spread softened ice cream evenly into the pie crust. Cover and freeze for at least an hour.

 



 

2) Spread top of pie with caramel sauce and top with chopped nuts.  Cover and freeze for another hour.



 

3) That's it!  Two simple steps.  Serve it up and let the compliments roll in.

 



 

Pumpkin Beer

Last fall I jumped on the pumpkin beer band wagon just as most places were selling out. I was only able to try 2 or 3 of the less popular varieties.  This year I vowed to do better.  I set out at the end of September to secure my pumpkin beer selections and I believe I did quite well. I was able to purchase 12 types of pumpkin beer and 2 types of pumpkin cider. Since I don't know a lot about beer I won't bore you with a review of each one but I will tell you a little about them all

(from left to right)

 

1) Jacks Pumpkin Spice Ale - Anheuser-Busch - ABV 5.50%

2) O'Fallon Pumpkin Ale - O'Fallon Brewery - ABV 5.50% 

3) Punk'n Harvest Pumpkin Ale - Uinta Brewing Company - ABV 4.00%

4) St. Ambroise Pumpkin - McAuslan Brewing - ABV 5.00%

5) Woodchuck Hard Pumpkin Cider - Woodchuck Brewery - ABV 6.90%

6) Punkin Ale - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - ABV 7.00%

7) Post Road Pumpkin Ale - Brooklyn Brewery - ABV 5.00%

8) Ace Hard Pumpkin Cider - Ave Cider - ABV 5.00%

9) Pumpkin Smasher - Big Muddy Brewing - ABV 6.00%

10) Painted Ladies Pumpkin Spice Ale - Tyranena Brewing - ABV 7.50%

11) Smuttynose Pumpkin Ale - Smuttynose Brewing Company - ABV 5.84%

12) Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale - Buffalo Bill's Brewery - ABV 5.20%

13) Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale - Shipyard Brewing Company - ABV 5.10%

14) Pumpkin Ale - Onion Pub and Brewery - ABV 5.40%

Candy Corn Cookie Bark

 



This bark might not be super pretty, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for in taste.

 

 

Candy Corn Cookie Bark

 

 

Ingredients:

•  1 package white almond bark
•  1.5 cups pretzels, broken into piece
•  16 Halloween Oreos, broken into pieces
•  1 cup Candy corn
• Halloween sprinkles
   

Directions:

 

1) Spread the Oreos, pretzels, and half the candy corn on a cookie sheet (ideally with sides) lined with foil

 

 

2) Place the bark in a microwave bowl and microwave slowly until its melted. About 2 minutes



 

 

3) Carefully pour the almond bark over the cookie sheet

 



 



4) Spread the bark so that all the Oreos and pretzel pieces are covered.  Top with sprinkles and remaining candy corn

 

 

5) Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour or until hardened



 6) Break into small pieces and serve.

 

Pumpkin Chili

The weather has gotten quite chilly meaning its time to whip up a batch of chili.  Keeping with my October theme I made a big pot of pumpkin chili in the crock pot.  It was the perfect dinner to enjoy while watching all the Fox Halloween specials.  

Pumpkin Chili

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced

2 Serrano peppers, diced
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
2 cups tomato juice
1(15.25-ounce) can black beans, drained

1 can of chili beans in chili sauce
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Directions:1) In a medium saute pan, brown the ground beef; drain. 

2) Chop the onions, bell pepper, and serranos and add them to the ground beef. Cook until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.

3)In a slow cooker, combine the diced tomatoes, tomato juice, beans, pumpkin, chili powder, cumin, pumpkin pie spice, salt, and pepper. Stir it all up. 

4)Add in the cooked beef and stir.

5)Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours. 

Pumpkin Puppy Chow

Thursday nights are usually spent on the couch of one of my guys friends. They play whatever video game they are currently playing while I collect stars in Super Mario Galaxy 2.  I've also been trying to do some sort of Halloween themed activity every night of October so I was looking for something fairly quick and easy.  It was really easy to make and got great reviews from everyone.  

Ingedients:

9 cups rice chex

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 pkg. Pumpkin Spice Hershey's kisses



Directions:

1) Measure out 9 cups of chex in a large bowl





2) Melt the kisses in a double boiler

 3) Pour the melted kissed over the chex and stir until well coated

4) Place powdered sugar in a large Ziploc bag (or small trash bag) and add chex mixture

5) Shake shake shake and serve



Halloween Decor part 2



I have a lot of Halloween stuff. So for part 2 I decided to showcase 5 of my favorite decorations.

 

 

#5  This is a wallflower from Bath and Body Works.  It has bats and it double functions as a nightlight.  What more could you want.

 



 

#4  My mom got me this at a craft fair.  Its a decked out wine bottle that's filled with orange lights. I love the way it glows.

 



#3 I got this bat tea light holder from Party Lite last year.  It can hang or the hooks can be removed so it can sit.  I prefer it hanging.

 

 

#2 I found this awesome metal bat bowl at Kohl's this year.  I really like it but I haven't a clue what to put in it. Suggestions are welcome.

 

#1  This is by far one of my favorite pieces.  These rat salt and pepper shakers hang on a witch's hat and I believe they are made by Department 56.  They don't hold a lot but man are they cute.

 

Magnetic Spiders

Craft time!

 

Magnets + spiders = Awesome

 

 

Simply add some magnets to the back of plastic spiders and you can put them on any metal surface.  I chose to have them infest my kitchen.

 



 

 

 

Pumpkin Fettuccine with Gouda Cheese Sauce

To start of the month of October, I wanted to cook something festive.  Last weekend at the farmers market I picked up some pumpkin spice fettuccine, so I decided to give it a try.  The pasta can also be purchased online. It has a light pumpkin flavor and seems like it could be pretty versatile.  I paired mine with a Gouda cheese sauce, corn bread, and green beans.  I will certainly be picking up some more this weekend.

 

 Pumpkin Fettuccine with Gouda Cheese Sauce


Ingredients:

• 1lb Pumpkin spice fettuccine
• 2 cups milk, heated,
• 1/4 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 sage leaves
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 Tbs. unsalted butter
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups Gouda cheese, shredded

 

 

Directions:

 

1) In a small sauce pot combine milk, onion, garlic and sage. Cook over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear around the edges of the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Don't let it boil.

 

2)Remove pan from heat and let stand for 10 minutes. Remove and discard onion, garlic and sage leaves. Cover to keep warm.

 

3)In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook until it is a glue-like consistency.

4)Gradually add the milk, whisking constantly. Reduce the heat to low and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and slightly thickened, 4 to 5 minutes.

5)Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of shredded Gouda cheese. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

6) While the cheese is melting, boil a large pot of water for the pasta.  Once the water has reached a rolling boil add the pasta and cook until tender. The pasta only takes about 6 min to cook.

7) You can either mix the pasta and sauce together before serving or serve them separately like I did.

Happy October!