Halloween Cookies

Bats, cats, ghosts and pumpkins. Yummy, and soft and so many of them. I am plum tuckered.
I made the dough this morning, baked up all the cookies.
Went and did Morgan's class Halloween party.
Came home and made up the Royal Frosting. Put a pizza in the oven, and started frosting the cookies.
Ate some pizza, kept frosting cookies.
A lot of work, but aren't they adorable? Now time to plate them and pass them to friends and neighbors.

Happy Haunting!

Hemming Levi's for us short people

It may just be me, but does anyone else have a hard time with Levi's being too long? As I was getting all my winter clothes out, I found a pair that I hardly wear because they are just too long. So I decided to use this new hemming method I found.
Measure your desired inseam. I like a 30 inch inseam because it hits perfectly below my ankle bone.
Cut off the unwanted length. I know you might be thinking you need a couple of extra inches to fold up and sew, but hold on and I will tell you the cool trick. So, go ahead and cut at the exact length you like.
Now, you know that really cool bottom seam of levi's? The one with the gold stitching that is really hard to mimic? Cut that off your scrap. Do not cut right up to the edge, but leave a scant :) or 1/4inch for sewing.
Now pin that original hem around the bottom of your levi's. Sew right sides together.



Last, iron seam down and you are done!

Friday Fun

Friday night is our pizza and movie night, and with the fall weather and Halloween just around the corner I had to add a fun Halloween tradition from my childhood.
Yummy ohhy gooey caramel apples. The only thing missing from the caramel packages found in the store, in the produce section next to the apples?? THE STICKS! What is up with that? I had to improvise. I guess I will be collecting Popsicle sticks next summer.

What are some of your special Halloween tradition treats??

Personalized Pumpkins

Okay, so I saw this idea on a blog I follow and had to do it in memory of my good ol' Nashville days. They monogram everything, and I love it. So this is for y'all down south.
With all the coats we had to do, the kids pitched in and helped. I think they make a cute addition to our Halloween porch.

Sweet Nector

Each year I have the traditional canning items.
September: Peaches
First part of October: Spaghetti sauce and Salsa
Mid October: GRAPE JUICE

Now this stuff is like liquid gold. Normally I walk away with a few quarts when I help the in-laws. For all the time it takes and the little product you get, there is not much to go around, but this year, I lucked out. The in-laws are leaving in a couple of weeks for a mission to Canada and they decided not to do the annual grape juice. So I got to go and pick all the grapes. I got 19 quarts! Holy grape juice! Yeah, it was a long day starting at 9am and finishing at 9pm. But it was well worth it!

Next...
First part of November: Apples

Boo to you too!

I finished my fun Halloween quilt the day of Dave's big birthday bash on the 9th. I have been enjoying its nice warm coziness at nights with a cup of hot chocolate and a good book. I may have to keep it out until Thanksgiving, then its will be time to switch to my Christmas one. Which I refuse to start until after Halloween!

Life is like a Hurricane

Okay, so does anyone remember that tune from Ducktales. Yah, so I was thinking about where the time has gone since my last post, and that song popped into my head.

My life has been so busy. From kid's school, football practice, PTO, football games, PTO, and oh did I mention PTO???

I volunteered, to be the Room Parent coordinator. Hmmm, now why did I do that? It has been so much work the last couple of weeks, not to mention the school's fall carnival is in 2 weeks, and I am on that committee, oh and I am also the Room Parent for Morgan's class, who is of course in charge of a booth at the carnival.

But with all that, I have bottled 16 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 48 quarts of peaches, and few quarts of salsa. Oh, and today I started to tackle my Halloween quilt.

Yup, I am officially insane. Why do we fill like we need to do so much? Fall is supposed to be my quiet time, my curl up on the couch with a good book and a Diet Coke time.

No, I have too much to do. I will finish my Halloween quilt by Oct. 1st so that I can have a full 31 days of joy with it.

Please stay close, don't leave. I will be back, I promise!

P.S. We had our ward chili cook-off (which I should have totally won). I did my white chili, and these amazing SMORE' BROWNIES. Ohh, they were to die for. Here you should really try them!


White Chili
1 TBLS oil
1 onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp pepper
2 whole chicken breast cooked and diced
3 cans Northern white beans (15oz)
1 can Garbanzo beans (15oz)
2 cans White corn (12oz)
1 can chopped green chili's (1 7oz or 2 4oz)
2 tsp chicken bouillon (or 4 cubes)
1/2 to 1 cup of chicken broth

Boil chicken (season water with lemon pepper)
While chicken is cooking, saute onions, garlic and spices in oil.
Dice chicken and add to onion mixture.
Add remaining ingredients (do not drain beans, corn or chili's)
Simmer for 1 hour or put in slow cooker on low for a few hours
Serve in bowl topped with shredded Monterey Jack cheese and sour cream


Smore Brownies
1packaged brownie mix (or I use a homemade recipe)
Bake as instructed on box
Take out of oven and sprinkle with mini marshmallows and broken up pieces of graham crackers. Put back in oven for 5mins. Watch so your graham crackers don't burn. Take out and sprinkle broken up pieces of Hershey bar.
Cool for 20mins (that gives time for the sweet chocolate to melt)
Cut and serve (with Milk and a napkin)