Fall favorites and Halloween ooooohhhhs, aaaaahhhhs, and eeeeekkkks!!! And goes bump in the Night!!!

This is my favorite time of year, as you all know. When we can all act young and stupid again, all in the sake of the "children". What a crock, and that is meant in the kindest way…..I like acting young and stupid and I don't have small children, I leave that up to my now "grown-up" children…You have heard about the old saying "what goes around, comes around"? I have blessed my Children with a vicious sense of humor and a taste of the macabre. Can you do that? Anyway it sounds good. If you can make those little Halloween visitors, smiling at your door, run away screaming from fright, (No, I am not talking about their Parents), which is very hard "these" days, those kids have experienced more scary things before their teens that I have experienced all of my life. It seems that the "people" in the "business", have really pushed the envelope. I remember when we sent our kids out with the same Clown outfits that my wife sewed up for them for several Halloweens, and a few white sheets thrown in for good luck and that were about it. But, now that is a different story. I walk into a store, like Wal-mart and see walls and walls and shelves full of scary stuff. I sort of feel creepy when I walk through there, but what the heck, isn't that what Halloween is all about now? There is so much to offer, that it is amazing that anyone can make up their minds. That is why you see every year's trends being worn by the kids, like Luke Star walker and Harry Potter and whomever. When I was a kid you just wore anything old and said that you were a hobo, or just a sheet with two holes for eyes. We used to go out alone or with my brothers/sister, no questions about our safety were our parents afraid or neglectful, no they knew we would watch out for each other, plus things were a little different then. We didn't have all of the weirdoes out there trying to take advantage of the kids. I know if anything happened to us kids, my dad would make short work of anyone that hurt us. Basically, back then you took care of things and then asked questions later, a very different era. Halloween parties are so much fun. That is when you could look really stupid and people would say, "oh, it is just Halloween", I had a friend that was the jock of the school. He always wanted to dress up like a girl. Hmmmmm, I never thought anything about that, but it made me laugh, he kept complaining about the different "drafts" he was getting from a much different area. Ha ha ha, what a hoot. I though this would be an appropriate place to give you some easy tips for those ghoulish nights that await you. Booooooooo!

Mummy Dogs


Yield: Makes 8 servings



Ingredients:
1 can (11 ounces) refrigerated breadstick dough (8 breadsticks)
1 pkg (16 ounces) hot dogs
Mustard and poppy seeds
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Using 1 dough strip for each, wrap hot dogs to look like mummies, leaving opening for eyes. Place on ungreased baking sheet.
2. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown.
3. Place dots of mustard and poppy seeds for eyes.

Mini Mummy Dogs: Use 1 package (16 ounces) mini hot dogs instead of regular hot dogs. Cut each breadstick strip into 3 pieces. Cut each piece in half lengthwise. Using 1 strip of dough for each, wrap and bake mini hot dogs as directed above.



Monster Claws

Yield: Makes about 30 strips

Ingredients:
2 Tbls flour
1 Tbls plus 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning, divided
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts cut lengthwise into 3/4-inch strips
1-1/2 cups cornflake crumbs
2 Tbls chopped green onion
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, cut into triangles
Barbecue sauce
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease baking sheets. Place flour and 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning in large reseal able food storage bag. Add chicken and seal. Shake bag to coat chicken.
2. Combine cornflake crumbs, green onion and remaining 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning in large shallow bowl; mix well. Place eggs in shallow bowl.
3. Dip each chicken strip into eggs and then into crumb mixture. Place coated chicken strips on prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake chicken strips 8 to 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center.
5. When chicken is cool enough to handle, make 1/2-inch slit in thinner end.
Place bell pepper triangle into slit to form claw nail. Serve claws with barbecue sauce for dipping.

Spider Web Dip, Spooky Tortilla Chips
Yield: Makes 8 servings (5

Ingredients: Spooky Tortilla Chips (recipe follows)
1 pkg (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 jar (8 ounces) salsa
1/2 cup prepared guacamole
2 Tbls fat-free sour cream
Preparation:
1. Prepare Spooky Tortilla Chips; set aside.
2. Place cream cheese and salsa in blender or food processor; blend until almost smooth.
3. Spread cream cheese mixture on round serving dish or pie plate; smooth guacamole over top, leaving 1/2-inch border. Place sour cream in small reseal able food storage bag; seal bag. Cut off tiny corner of bag; pipe sour cream in spiral shape over guacamole. Run tip of knife through sour cream to make "spider web." Serve with Spooky Tortilla Chips.
Spooky Tortilla Chips


Yield: Makes about 60 chips
Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
2 pkg (12 ounces each) (8-inch) plain or flavored flour tortillas
Salt to taste
Preparation:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray baking sheet with olive oil nonstick cooking spray.
2. Using 3-inch Halloween cookie cutters, cut tortillas, one at a time, into shapes. Discard scraps.
3. Lightly spray tortilla shapes with cooking spray. Place on prepared baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake 5 to 7 minutes or until edges begin to brown. Remove to wire rack to cool.
Eyes of Newt
Yield: Makes 4 dozen pieces

Ingredients:
2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, divided
¼ cup chopped roasted red pepper, divided
1 pkg (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
1 clove garlic, minced
8 (6- to 7-inch) flour tortillas
16 slices deli roast beef
Preparation:
1. Reserve 48 olive slices, 48 pieces red pepper and 1 tablespoon cream cheese.
2. Chop remaining olives. Combine remaining cream cheese, olives, red pepper and garlic in small bowl; mix well.
3. Spread about 2 tablespoons cream cheese mixture on each tortilla. Top each tortilla with 2 beef slices, overlapping slightly. Roll up tortillas, jelly-roll fashion. Trim off uneven ends of each tortilla; discard. Slice each tortilla roll into 6 (3/4-inch) pieces.
4. Using reserved cream cheese, attach reserved olives and red pepper to make roll-ups look like eyes.

Sloppy Goblins
Yield: Makes 8 servings

Sloppy Joes take on a new taste and persona with the addition of hot dogs and frightening goblin faces.

Ingredients:
1 Lb 90% lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
5 hot dogs cut into 1/2-inch pieces
½ cup ketchup
¼ cup chopped dill pickle
¼ cup honey
¼ cup tomato paste
¼ cup prepared mustard
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
8 hamburger buns
Green and black olives, banana pepper slices and baby carrots
Preparation:
1. Cook beef and onion in large skillet 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring to break up meat. Drain fat. Stir in remaining ingredients except buns, olives, pepper slices and carrots. Cook, covered, 5 minutes or until heated through.
2. Spoon meat mixture onto bottoms of buns; cover with tops of buns. Serve with olives, banana pepper slices and carrots. Let each person create "goblin face." Refrigerate any leftovers.

Witches' Brew
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Yield: Makes 4 (6-ounce) servings

Ingredients: 2 cups apple cider 1-1/2 to 2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 Tbls honey ½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg Preparation:
1. Process cider, ice cream, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into glasses and sprinkle with additional nutmeg. Serve immediately. Hint: Reduce the fat in this tasty brew by replacing vanilla ice cream with reduced-fat or fat-free ice cream or frozen yogurt. Serving Suggestion: Add a few drops of desired food coloring to ingredients in food processor to make a scary brew.

Scary Spider web Cupcakes
Perfect for a Halloween party, these rich, chocolaty cupcakes are fun to make.

Prep Time:20 min
Start to Finish:1 hr 10 min
Makes:24 cupcakes
105 Ratings : 9 Reviews

1 box Betty Crocker® SuperMoist® devil's food cake mix
Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on cake mix box
1 container Betty Crocker® Rich & Creamy vanilla frosting
3 drops red food color
4 to 5 drops yellow food color
1 tube (0.68 ounce) Betty Crocker® black decorating gel
48 large black gumdrops

1.
Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make and cool cupcakes as directed on box for 24 cupcakes.
2.
Tint frosting with red and yellow food colors to make orange frosting. Spread frosting over tops of cupcakes.
3.
Squeeze circles of decorating gel on each cupcake; pull knife through gel from center outward to make web. To make each spider, roll out 1 gumdrop and cut out 8 strips for legs; place another gumdrop on top. Place spider on cupcake. Store loosely covered at room temperature.

Scream! Cheese Swirl Brownies

Brownie mix and cream cheese swirl into baked classic flavors with Halloween party colors.

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:2 hr 45 min
Makes:24 brownies

Filling
2 packages (3 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar
4 drops red food color
4 drops yellow food color
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Brownies
1 box Betty Crocker® Supreme brownie mix (with chocolate syrup pouch)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
2 eggs

1.
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease bottom only of 13x9-inch pan with shortening or cooking spray. In small bowl, beat filling ingredients with electric mixer on low speed until smooth. Set aside.
2.
In large bowl, stir brownie ingredients until well blended. Spread 3/4 of brownie batter in pan. Spoon filling by tablespoonfuls evenly onto brownie batter. Spoon remaining brownie batter over filling. For marbled design, pull knife through batter and filling in wide curves; turn pan and repeat.
3.
Bake 26 to 30 minutes or until set. Cool completely at room temperature, about 1 hour. Refrigerate at least 1 hour until chilled. For brownies, cut with plastic knife into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Comfort Food…Yummmm…On a Cold Day, I can see…No let’s not go there.

My wife is the best, she can throw things together with her eyes closed and it turns out fantastic. We usually call it comfort food. This is the food that we all grew up with and can't seem to get out of our systems. It is a mood, a thought, it is something we can't describe, but it gnaws at us, calling to our stomachs, come out, come out wherever you are. It is all of the best and the worst of our childhood memories when Mom was our comforter, who we could turn to her and she would always put a warm something in front of you and you would eat and eat and eat. Does that ring a bell? Now I know why I look the way I do. Food has always been my comfort, why is that, I guess it's because it make me feel good until the next morning when I step on that darn scale. I picture myself sitting in front of the fireplace with a hot cup/usually bowl of something that make me feel like life is worth living. I am with my Honey and we are together. I would like to take a poll and see what makes you think of when I say comfort food. I know that we all have one or two or thousand and two. Something that reminds us of our youth, what puts a smile on our faces? Something we long for and shouldn't have. Well, I think I have said enough, now it is your time. Well, if there are no takers. I have several which are anything, in the creamy soup family, and anything in the Pasta family. We used to gorge on Hamburger helper stroganoff about 4 boxes at a time…OMG, did I just say that. Meats are usually from the hoof, I am so sick of the stuff that comes back to haunt you like Chicken, which is a necessary evil these days. Fish has to be Halibut and vegetables, well that is my wife's realm She could be very happy, just opening a can of vegetables and munch away as I gag away. As you can tell I am not much of a vegetable eater. Do you blame me? Desserts are everything and more. I am a baker at heart. I love to bake, I don't know, it is just satisfying. My newest success is Biscotti, have you made any yet. It is very easy and it stores well and everyone loves it. I am going to do that for Christmas gifts this year. I can't afford anything else if you know what I mean. Last night my wife made this fantastic Chicken (well) even though it is Chicken it can be good. Well, anyway, we have it with of all things Potato Salad, my wife makes the best, it is my Mom's recipe and we have given it out to our kids, and they will pass it down. There is a secret ingredient that no one can guess, but it is what makes it. We had it with one of my youths favorite Van Camp Beans now before you gag it is "My Favorite" so I have a license here.. We did throw in Ruffles with Ridges. Are you full yet? Well, here is the Chicken Recipe:

Ana's Baked/Fried Chicken

It sounds a little different, but your taste buds will pop and you will end up wanting more and more… Trust me.

1 Tbls Butter or Margarine
2/3 Cup Original Bisquick ® mix
1 ½ tsp Paprika
1 ¼ tsp Salt
¼ tsp Pepper
1 Cut-up whole Chicken (3 to 3 ½ lbs.)

Heat the oven to 425 F. Melt butter in rectangular baking dish, 13/9/2 inches, in oven. Stir together Bisquick, paprika, salt and pepper; coat chicken place skin sides down in dish (dish and butter should be hot). Bake 35 minutes; turn chicken. Bake about 15 minutes longer or until juice is not longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.

My mouths is already starting to water already. See how easy it is.

Quick Macaroni and Cheese

2 quarts water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni (can use regular or rice pasta)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated (about 2 cups, packed)
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup ham, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes
Freshly grated black pepper

1 Bring 2 quarts of water with the teaspoon of salt to a boil in thick-bottomed saucepan. Add the elbow macaroni and follow the cooking time instructions on the package, minus about 2 minutes. (If your macaroni doesn't come with instructions, start checking at 7 minutes). Cook until al dente – cooked through, but still slightly firm. Drain the water from the cooking pan (if you use a colander, return the macaroni to the pan). Lower the heat to low/warm. 2 Add the butter. Stir in to coat the macaroni. When the butter is about half melted, you can stir in the cheese. Add the milk. Stir in until all the butter and cheese is melted and blended well with the milk. Add the chopped ham and a few twists of freshly grated black pepper.

Serve immediately. Serves 3-4 adults or 4-6 kids.

1950's-style Meatloaf Recipe




This meatloaf version became a family favorite in many households in the 1950's. The key is in the onion soup mix and the mixture of ground beef with pork sausage for added flavor and moisture.


1-1/2 pounds ground beef (chuck is best)
1/2 pound ground pork sausage (seasoned or not)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1 large clove of garlic, pressed
1/2 cup minced sweet onion
1/4 cup minced green bell pepper
1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 package dry Lipton's Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup milk
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste, divided use
2 to 4 strips bacon, cut in half (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine ground beef, pork sausage, eggs, bread crumbs, garlic, sweet onion, bell pepper, oregano, kosher salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, onion soup mix, milk, and half of the tomato paste. Gently mix only until combined. Do not overwork the meat or it will become tough. Form into a loaf. Cover with the remaining half can of tomato paste. Weave the bacon strips over the top.

Bake 1 hour. Let meatloaf rest 15 minutes before cutting to serve.

Yield: 6 servings

My Favorite, All-Time, "Mystery" Tomato Soup

Let's see, This is a no brainer, I love tomato soup. I looked up a number of recipes and they were fantastic, but nothing that I would call comfort food, not the way I like it. Well here is my own recipe of tomato soup. Are you ready?

1 Can Campbell's tomato soup and equal amount of milk, put both into a pot, heat until very hot. Pour into a bowl, large cup or whatever floats your boat, then take a handful of regular crackers and crunch them up into the palm of your hand and throw, ever so gently, into the soup, take your soup, large spoon, your "blankie" and wearing your PJ's, and sit down on the couch, with a ton of soft pillows, in front of your favorite tear jerker movie, or the fire place and enjoy. Well, that about does it for me. What do you think? I feel comfortable already. Well, I hope you enjoyed this little bit of heaven when it comes to comfort food. I enjoy sharing this with you. I know that we all have comfort food that we like and swear by. I just think it is fun sharing with you! See you next time with my Halloween/Fall favorites ooooohhhh, awwwwwwwe, ecccccck, about.