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Halloween Sweets, Treats, and Peeps Party Shopping Ideas

Halloween Party Shopping Ideas

Can I tell you how much I absolutely LOVE Halloween?  It is probably my favorite holiday of all.  Which is really funny if you consider that I hate to be scared.  I'm so bad that I have nightmares from walking through rooms with horror shows on.  But Halloween is so much fun.

I love the colors and the sparkle and the fun side of Halloween.  Not to mention the chance to eat more sweets and treats.

To kick of this month, I wanted to share some fun Halloween decorations, treats, and party favors that I found from the small business shops on Etsy.  Hopefully this will kick start your Halloween fun too!


Halloween Party ceramic Skul...
$100

4 Poisoned Apple Caramel App...
$26

Halloween Party Crackers - W...
$6.75

Halloween SALE - Halloween P...
$9.99

Halloween Decoration, Hallow...
$18.99

Vintage Halloween Party Cand...
$2.25

Jack O Lantern Halloween Dec...
$20

3 DIY Halloween Favor Box Ki...
$7.95

Halloween Mason Jar Decorati...
$28

Bloody Zombie Monster Hand C...
$15

50 Halloween Party Straws, S...
$8

Personalized Chalkboard Witc...
$10.5

Printable Halloween Party Fa...
$5

PRINTABLE- Halloween Mini Ca...
$5.5

Halloween Party Favor Boxes ...
$10

printable Halloween party ba...
$5.99
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Slow Cooker Curried Apricot Pork Roast

I love the flavors of curry powder and apricots together, so recently I decided to use them in a pork roast that I made in a slow cooker.

I have not been particularly happy with roasts in the slow cooker, but have been happier with them since I started cooking them for less time.  This roast reached 160 degrees in 3 hours.  I had allowed six hours, so I just turned my slow cooker to Keep Warm for the remaining time.

The sauce is great poured over rice, couscous or quinoa.  We really enjoyed this meal.



Slow Cooker Curried Apricot Pork Roast
2 1/2 to 3 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast
1 t. salt
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/4 t. pepper, coarse ground if possible
1 T. vegetable oil
1 jar (18 oz.) apricot preserves
2 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. chicken broth
1 clove garlic, minced
1 t. curry powder
1 T. cornstarch
1/4 c. water

Trim any excess fat from the roast.  Heat oil in a large skillet.  Meanwhile, combine salt, garlic powder and pepper.  Rub mixture on all sides of roast.  Brown roast on all sides in hot oil.  Transfer to a 4-qt. slow cooker.  In a medium saucepan combine apricot preserves, Dijon mustard, soy sauce, chicken broth, garlic and curry powder.  Heat and stir until preserves are melted.  Pour mixture over the pork roast.  Cook on low about 6 hours or to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.  (See my comment above.)  Remove roast from slow cooker, cover with foil and let rest 10 minutes.  Pour sauce mixture into a saucepan.  Combine cornstarch and water and stir into sauce.  Heat and stir until sauce boils and thickens.  Slice roast and drizzle with apricot sauce.  Sauce is also good over rice, couscous or quinoa.














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Club Cracker Bars aka Homemade Twix-Saturday Sweet

This no-bake bar cookie has probably made its way around the net several times, but if you don’t know about it, you should.  It has been called Homemade Twix bars because it resembles that candy.  Whatever you call it, it is really good.

When I make these, I line the 9x13-inch pan with foil and spray the foil with nonstick spray.  After the pan has cooled, I remove the uncut  bars and flip them over onto a piece of waxed paper or a jelly roll pan.  I then can see the Club crackers on the bottom and use them as guides to cut the cookies.  Because these are very, very rich cookies, I usually cut the crackers in half.

Smooth or chunky peanut butter may be used for this recipe.  I prefer super chunky peanut butter so that I get some peanut pieces in the frosting.  One package of crackers will make two recipes of bars.


Club Cracker Bars
54 Club Crackers (about half a box)
1 c. graham cracker crumbs
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
2/3 c. peanut butter (smooth or chunky)
1 c. chocolate chips (may be semi-sweet or milk chocolate)
Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with aluminum foil and spray the foil with non-stick spray.  Lay 3 club crackers end to end across the width of the pan.  Repeat down the length of the pan.  You should have about 9 rows.  Combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, sugar, milk and butter in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, watching carefully and stirring often.  Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Pour mixture over crackers in pan.  Cover with another layer of crackers.  In a microwave or double  boiler, melt peanut butter and chocolate chips, stirring often until smooth.  Pour peanut butter/chocolate mixture over the top layer of crackers, spreading until smooth and even.  Refrigerate about a hour or until cool.  Remove pan from oven, flip over onto a piece of waxed paper or a jelly roll pan.  Remove the foil.  Using the bottom layer of crackers as a guide, cut into bars then cut bars in half, making 54 squares.


Linking to these great parties:

Weekend Potluck
Saturday Sharefest
Saturday Spotlight
Strut Your Stuff
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Link Party Palooza
Party Junk
I'm Lovin' It
Share Your Creativity
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Chocolate Covered Bacon Denver Bronco Gift Box

Chocolate Covered Bacon Denver Bronco Gift Box

Are you going to a tailgating or football viewing party this weekend?  Do you want to take a host or hostess gift that's unique, memorable, and yummy?  Then I have the answer for you!

How about Chocolate covered bacon in a custom gift box?

I know, I know...you can thank me later.

Bacon Gift Box Template
I started with a box template that I designed up.  It measures 10 x 4.5 inches.  I imported it into Gimp and filled in the template like I did with the alphabet letters to give me a custom designed box.

Denver Bronco Chocolate Covered Bacon Box Lid
After printing the box lid, I cut around the edges and scored the lines.

Chocolate Covered Bacon Gift Box
You will need to cut one side of the end tabs to create sides to fold and glue into the inside of the box.

Denver Bronco football Chocolate Covered Bacon Gift Box
Then I printed the original box template at 98% size.  This gave me the bottom of the box to put together.

Chocolate Covered Bacon
I made up some chocolate covered bacon to go inside the box.  This was almost too easy to show you how to do.  It was a matter of cooking the bacon and then dipping it into melted chocolate pieces.  Let the bacon harden in the refrigerator on wax paper for a few minutes and you're done.

Denver Bronco football Chocolate Covered Bacon Gift Box
Now add the chocolate covered bacon to your custom box.  You can give it away like that or you can add some coordinating ribbon in your team colors to finish it off.

These would be great treats at a tailgating party, football birthday party, Superbowl party, or for a fun and unique gift for the beloved man in your life!
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Graham Cracky Bars-12 Weeks of Christmas Treats

 
Do you see that little graphic above?  12 Weeks of Christmas Treats hosted by Brenda from Meal Planning Magic has come around for 2013, and I am so excited.  This is the third year that I have participated so my Christmas Treat recipe file is overflowing.  I can’t wait to add to it with this year's goodies.

If you read my blog or check out my recipe index, you will see that I love, love, love (did I say love!) bar cookies.  Why do I love bar cookies so much:  they are easy to make, and you only need to bake one pan thus saving on electricity; they can be “down home” or “uptown” depending on the recipe; you can freeze them without cutting them into bars, thaw and then cut them for fresh cookie taste.

Because I love bar cookies so much, I have decided that my 12 Christmas treats for 2013 will be bar cookies.  Each week I will share a different bar cookie recipe.  Some will be for 9x13-inch pans and some for 10x15-inch pans.  I hope that each of you finds one or two new favorites in the bunch.

This first bar cookie was adapted from a Pillsbury Bake-Off recipe that was submitted sometime in the first 18 years of the Bake-Off.  That would have been from the late 1940’s to the late 1960’s.  The recipe comes from Pillsbury”s Bake-Off Cookie Book.  My copy is well used, missing its covers and half the index.

This is a cookie for the person who cannot make up their mind what they want.  Want a brownie, it’s in there; want a graham cracker, it’s in there, want a chocolate chip cookie, it’s in there.  No matter what you’re craving this cookie has you covered.

I used Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa for a deep chocolate flavor, but regular cocoa is OK.  I also used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips because I wanted chips in every bit, but regular chips are OK, too.


Graham Cracky Bars
1 3/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking soda
3/4 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1/3 c. milk
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
2 T. cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark)
1 T. vegetable oil
3/4 c. chopped toasted pecans or walnuts
15 single graham crackers
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips (regular can be used instead)

In the bowl of a electric mixer, combine flour, salt, soda, butter, sugar, milk, eggs and vanilla.  Mix at medium speed until well blended.  Remove half of the dough to a medium mixing bowl.  Mix together the cocoa and the vegetable oil.  Add to the dough in the mixer bowl and mix at medium speed until cocoa mixture is well blended in.  Stir in pecans or walnuts by hand and spread chocolate mixture evenly in the bottom of a foil-lined and greased 9x13-inch pan.  Arrange the graham crackers over the chocolate dough.  Add the chocolate chips to the dough in the medium bowl and mix until well blended.  Drop dough by tablespoons over the crackers and spread carefully and evenly to cover.  It may help to use a metal spatula that has been dipped in water to do this.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.  Do not overbake.  Cool and cut into bars.  Makes about 36 bars.


To see the other treats that fellow bloggers have shared this week, check out the links below.  If you would like to join us for the next 11 weeks or whenever you can, the information about joining the fun is here.

Linking to these great parties:

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Denver Bronco Logo Decorative Plate DIY

It's been a while since I made any new decorative plates for a party, but when I started working on our Bronco football party, I knew I needed to add some to the dessert table to add some sweet flair.

But since I have absolutely NO artistic ability at all, I was worried how to make the bronco logo look realistic and cool.  If you have a silhouette or cutting machine, this would be super easy, but since I am one of the few crafters left that doesn't have one, this is an old fashioned way to make the Bronco logo decorative plate.

I started by finding the Broncos logo on the web.  I had to measure my plate to see how big to make the logo.  I printed out the bronco head to be about 6 inches by 3 1/2 inches.  Then I cut it out to use as a template.

I used the bronco logo as a template to trace around in the center of my plate.

After I had the base done, I went back and cut up my logo into pieces with the center lines and the horse's mane so I could trace them.  I did freestyle the eyes, ear, and nose since they weren't too difficult.

I finished by coloring in the orange and going back around the outline to make it thicker.  Then, I baked the plate at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Now I have a pretty cool and unique serving plate for my Denver Bronco tailgate party!

If you were going to make one, what team would you try?
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10 Fun Football Projects

With September winding down, so are my football posts.  I have one or two more fun ideas to share, but I wanted to end the week by sharing some of my favorite and/or most popular Football posts since I started blogging.  I hope that one of them will inspire you to have a great Monday night football party tonight.  After all, there has to be at least something good about Mondays some days...

Football Helmet Cupcake Printable


Football Cake Pop Tutorial

Football Can Printable

football Gum Head

Football Party Treats

Football Windsock Decoration

Football Team Pennants

Football Bingo Printable

Football Push Pop Printable

Superbowl Football Party.
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Pasta and Cheese Stuffed Meat Loaf-Improv Cooking Challenge


Pasta and cheese are the two ingredient that Kristen from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker picked for the September Improv Cooking Challenge.

In trying to think about something a little different, I remembered that, when my kids were growing up, I made a dish called Macaroni and Cheese Meat Loaf.  The kids liked both meat loaf and mac and cheese, so they really liked having them together.  Two comfort foods, what more could they ask?

I haven't seen the recipe I used in years, but thought that I could probably create one of my own.  I adapted a recipe I found in my recipe cards (copied from Family Circle in 1981) that had mac and cheese served on top of a meatloaf. I am sharing the meat loaf mixture that I used, but your favorite meat loaf recipe that uses 1 1/2 lbs. meat can be substituted.  I chose to use rotini pasta so that is why I did not call the recipe Mac and Cheese Stuffed Meat Loaf.  I did not include a topping because the pan is very full, but a very thin one could be added, if desired.  I love red peppers and used them for nutrition and color, but have listed them as optional in the recipe.  Leave them out if you have picky eaters.

Meat loaf in pan ready to bake.  See how full the pan is.

To prevent having to clean the oven, I place the loaf pan on a foil-lined baking sheet.


Pasta and Cheese Stuffed Meat Loaf
1 1/2 c. rotini, macaroni or other pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped red pepper (Optional)
1 egg
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 T. butter or margarine
1 T. flour
3/4 t salt
Pinch black pepper
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer sharp, but you can use mild or medium or American cheese if you prefer)
1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 c. dry breadcrumbs
1 T. minced dried onion or 1/2 c. minced fresh onion
1 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
2/3 c. evaporated milk
1 T. Worcestershire sauce

Cook pasta according to package directions, undercooking it 1 to 2 minutes, and adding red pepper to pasta water 1 to 2 minutes before you remove the pasta from the heat.  Meanwhile beat egg and milk together in a small bowl.  Drain pasta.  Return pasta to pan and quickly stir in  butter or margarine, flour, salt and pepper.  Heat and stir until butter is melted.  Stir in milk/egg mixture and cook stirring constantly until mixture is thickened.  Stir in cheese until melted.  Set aside.   Place ground beef in a large mixing bowl.  Add bread crumbs, instant minced onion, salt and pepper.  Mix to combine.  In a glass measuring cup, mix together evaporated milk and Worcestershire sauce.  Add to ground beef mixture and mix lightly but thoroughly.  Place half of the meat mixture in a well-greased 9x5-inch loaf pan and spread evenly.  Top with all of the pasta mixture, spreading evenly.   Cover pasta mixture with remaining meat mixture.  (Pan will be very full.)  Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees about 1 hour.  Cover and let set for 10 minutes.  Drain off any fat if necessary.  Slice and serve.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

More Improv next month with cake and frosting.  You can find out more about joining the Improv Challenge by visiting Kristen's Improv Page.

Linking to these great parties:
Full Plate Thursday
Catch a Glimpse Thursday
Showcase Your Talent
Thursday's Treasures
Freaking Awesome Friday
Weekend Potluck
Link Party Palooza
Share Your Creativity
Strut Your Stuff
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Party Junk
I'm Lovin' It
Saturday Sharefest



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