IT'S OUR KIDNEY'S FIVE YEAR ANNIVERSARY, SO WE HAD A LITTLE HALLOWEEN PARTY

to celebrate.  A yummy chili feed with the family to warm our bellies before everyone went their separate ways trick or treating.

5 years down, 55 more to go!

I hope your Halloween night was as spooktacular as ours!

PUMPKIN POP TARTS

Pumpkin Pop Tarts

Pastry:
2 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp salt
1 TBSP sugar
3/4 cup Earth Balance (or butter)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
7 TBSP ice water

Put first five ingredients into a food processor and pulse until coarse balls form.  Add water 1 TBSP at a time.
Form dough into a disk, wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Pumpkin filling:
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine in a bowl and let sit while pastry dough is chilling.

Cinnamon Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup almond milk (any milk)

Combine and adjust liquid until desired consistency.

Now for the fun part!  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Roll out the pasty dough to approximately 1/4-inch and cut into desired shapes.  Put a heaping TBSP of pumpkin filling in the center.  Spread, but avoid the edges.  Lightly dip your finger into water and rub the outside edge of the shapes (this will act like glue to hold the top piece on.)  Place the top piece on the lightly press the edges together to seal.

Place on baking sheets and bake for 18-20 minutes.  Top with a drizzle of cinnamon glaze before serving.

PS - Here's a link to a different version of  I did a couple of years ago - pumpkin pop tarts with apple cider glaze.  Happy baking!

HALLOWEEN

Only the wee ones dressed up this year

We had the King of the killer whales and Ginga Hagane from Bayblades.

Who, you say?

This guy.

We hope your Halloween was wonderful!

HALLOWEEN STARTED OUT AS IT ALWAYS DOES,

with a chili and cornbread dinner. Then, it was hilarious.Three of the four boys dressed up this year and this is what they chose.
Boxman had a hard time seeing and was tripping a lot. Spooky Ghost's eyes kept creeping down past his nose, so he couldn't see well either.
As people were handing out candy, they were stumped with Boxman. Was he a locker?, he certainly couldn't be a......box. Between the tripping, costume malfunctions and perplexed candy givers, it was a hilarious evening.
Mom, dad and Steph came over for dinner. Dad did his scary clown makeup himself, didn't he do a great job? Lily hated his costume.
Steph made her Harley Quinn outfit and went trick or treating with us. Dad stayed at the house in a dark spot by our cars. When the trick or treaters came toward the house he'd shine a flashlight on his face.
Larry and I didn't dress up this year. What did you dress up as?

WE HAD A SERIOUS CARVING SESSION

Carving pumpkins is one of our favorite Halloween traditions. It's so much fun!
The pumpkin seeds were toasted but only a few of my man clan like them, so we don't do a lot. This year we tried a sweet and salty and it was just okay. What is your favorite recipe for pumpkin seeds?

PUMPKIN PATCH

This weekend we went to Airlie Hills Farm in Monmouth. It was our first time at this pumpkin patch and we had so much fun. We stayed for hours. They have a hay maze, corn maze, dark maze, slides, a hay ride, farm animals, etc.. and of course the pumpkin patch. We only had the wee ones with us and they didn't want to leave. It was an awesome family outing and we'll be back next year.

NIGHTMARE FACTORY

The Nightmare Factory at the School for the Deaf is awesome! The set is incredible and the costumes are amazing. We had such a fun time!When you purchase your ticket, you have an option to pay $5 more for a VIP pass to get straight in. Don't do it. Standing in line, about an hour, was part of the fun! Interesting characters walk around and there are a few times you get startled. Then, you wait for the unsuspecting to get spooked too and then you get to laugh at them. It's awesome. Everyone in line is in such a great mood and it's a fun experience from start to finish.
$10 admission and they open at 7pm. If you haven't gone yet, definitely go.

DON'T CALL THE HEALTHY DINNER POLICE

because I would be fined big time for last nights dinner spread.
Ideas from the man clan started rolling and last night ended up being an impromptu Halloween dinner picnic movie night and I let them pick the menu.We spread a blanket on the living room floor in front of the tv and laid out the food. After much deliberation about what movie to watch, Monster House vs DragonHeart, we had a movie night smorgasbord.

Main Dish - mummy hot dogs with face decoration of ketchup and mustard
Side Dishes - candy corn, chocolate covered pretzels, Halloween gummy worms, popcorn
Dessert - witch fingers

With that menu, you'd never know that there was a mama in the house, but it was fun.

PS - DragonHeart won.

WHAT DO YOU CALL A MUMMY EATING IN BED?

A crummy mummy!!

We had mummy pizza tonight and it was delish!

PS - Why don't mummies take vacations? They're afraid they'll relax and unwind.

GHOSTLY SHENANIGANS

are happening around here again.

Remember these ghosts from last year?

PS - There is a teenage ghost here too but he didn't want to have his ghostly self in the blogispher.

PUMPKINS

are getting prepped and carving utensils are being gathered.Tomorrow these pumpkins will transform into jack-o-lanterns.

COMFORT FOOD

was the theme for family dinner and we chose to be a little Halloweenie with some weenies... We brought Hot Dog Mummies and Monster Toes.
Tis the season - mmmwahahahaha...

GHOSTLY PIZZA

is in our oven.... What's your favorite Friday night dinner?