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!

Halloween Jewelry

In case you haven't picked up on this...I love Halloween.  This season I have made many additions to my collection of Halloween themed jewelry pieces.   I try to shy away from things that are orange and black with "Happy Halloween" written on them.  The pieces I own are just as tacky just in a different sort of way...

This is a lovely skeleton bracelet.  She has heart eyes and little pink bow.

I picked this little guy up off Ebay. He's a jack'o lantern necklace that also has storage for very tiny things.  I have't a clue what would ever go in there...

This goth looking cameo what picked up at a craft sale that benefitted a local animal shelter.  I love animals.

I really like these spider earrings.  They are Betsey Johnson and they are awesome.  You may be able to find these at you local Nordstrom Rack or on Ebay. 

I found these pendants at the Hyde Park art fair.  The one on the left is an anatomical heart and the one on the right is a tree.  Both are made from bottle caps.

This set is also Betsey Johnson and features one of my favorite Halloween creatures...the bat.  I found the necklace on Ebay and the ring at Nordstrom Rack.

This may take the cake for tacky strange jewelry and I think its wonderful.  Its a betsey Johnson snake necklace that I picked up at Nordstrom Rack.

Betsey Johnson spider necklace.  I have a lot of Betsey things.

Turquoise skull earrings from a street fair in Evanston.

Last but not least my mother got me this skull necklace for Christmas last year.  It is, of course, Betsey Johnson.

Baked Zucchini Rounds

Saturday I took my first trip to the Downer's Grove farmers market.  I was pleasantly surprised with the array of fresh meat, cheese, flowers, fruits and veggies they had.  One of the things I picked up was some zucchini.  I decided to try out a bite size appetizer type dish, except it was my dinner.

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Sun Dried Tomatoes

2 tbsp butter

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350. Slice the zucchini in 1/4 inch thick slices

2) In a bowl melt 2 tbsp butter.  Toss the sliced zucchini in the butter.

3) Lay the zucchini in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

4) Sprinkle the slices with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

5) Bake for 7-10 min.  While cooking slice up some sun dried tomatoes.

6) Once the slices are done top with sun dried tomato slices.

7) Then add cheese.

8) Place back in the oven until the cheese melts.

3 Cheese Bow-ties with Bacon and Chicken

 This is the first meal I cooked in my new apartment.  I didn't take quite as many pictures as I would have liked, but I was busy entertaining my guests.  You're all smart people, I'm sure you can figure it out.  It was really good so give it a try.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp butter

3 tbsp flour

2 cups milk

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

7 slices provolone cheese

1/2 cup shredded italian cheese blend

2 chicken breasts

1 lb bacon

1 12oz box bow tie pasta
Red pepper flakes
Sun dried tomoatoes

(Note: I really like meat... you don't have to use near that much chicken or bacon)

Directions:

1) Boil the chicken breast until fully cooked.

2) While the chicken is cooking you can also begin cooking the bacon.  I find the easiest way is to use kitchen shears to cut the bacon into half inch pieces.

3) Once all the bacon is cut, fry it up.

4) Once the chicken is done remove it from the pan and cut it into bite size pieces. Set it aside.

5) Remove the bacon from the frying pan and set on a paper towel to drain off some of the fat. Set it aside.

6) In a large pot get some water boiling.  Don' forget to salt the water.  Once the water reaches a rolling boil add the entire box of pasta and cook on medium high heat until tender.

7) Once the pasta is done drain it and set aside.

8) In a medium sauce pan, combine 3 tbsp of butter and 3 tbsp of flour on medium low heat.  Stir together using a wooden spoon. If you don't have one don't worry, a regular spoon will do.  The result of mixing these should be a pasta like consistency.  If its too thick add more butter.

9) Kick the heat up to medium and add 2 cups of milk.  Whisk like crazy until the majority of the lumps are gone.  Bring this mixture to a boil and let it boil until it thickens up a bit.

10) Now is the best part.  Add the cheese.  All of it.  And turn the heat to low.  Slowly mix until all the cheese is melted.  

11) Once the cheese is melted add salt and red pepper flakes to taste.

12) Pour this awesome sauce over the pasta and mix it all up.  Gently fold in the chicken, bacon, and sliced sun dried tomatoes and dig in.