Easy How To: Using dessert ingredients around your home

Smells good!  madmolecule/Flickr
Many fall dessert ingredients can be used to make your home smell good.

Your choice of delicious fall smells like cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg, apple, orange, or pear can fill your home.

Simply simmer water with a few sticks of cinnamon, some cloves or orange zests and apple or pear peels, etc..  It's that easy.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY BARS, HARVEST PUMPKIN CUPCAKES & CARAMEL GLAZED APPLE PIE

CARAMEL GLAZED APPLE PIE

Take America's favorite pie to the next level with caramel

INGREDIENTS:

Apple Pie:

Pastry for double crust pie
8 cups peeled and sliced cooking apples (about 4 to 6 large)
1/3 cup Karo® Dark Corn Syrup
3 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons Argo® OR Kingsford’s® Corn Starch
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® Ground Saigon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt

Caramel Glaze:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3 tablespoons Karo® Dark Corn Syrup
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine, melted
1 tablespoon Argo® OR Kingsford’s® Corn Starch

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Fit one pie crust into bottom of 9-1/2 inch deep dish pie pan. Add apples. Combine corn syrup, butter, sugar, corn starch, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Pour over apples. Top with second crust, fold edges under, seal and flute. Cut a few slits in top crust to vent.

Place a shallow pan under pie to catch any drips and bake for 45 to 55 minutes, until crust is browned and apples are tender. Combine all Caramel Glaze ingredients in a small bowl. Dollop over pie and carefully spread over hot crust. Bake 10 minutes or until topping is bubbly.

WHITE CHOCOLATE CRANBERRY BARS

White chocolate and cranberries are a great flavor combination

INGREDIENTS:

Mazola® No-Stick Canola or Butter Flavored Cooking Spray
2/3 cup Mazola® Vegetable Plus! Oil OR Mazola® Canola Oil
2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon Spice Islands® 100% Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Argo® Baking Powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup slivered almonds
Optional glaze: 1/4 cup white chocolate chips, 1 teaspoon shortening

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 13 x 9-inch pan with parchment paper or foil, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Spray with cooking spray and set aside.

Combine oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in mixing bowl; stir well. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in bowl, stirring to blend. Add to oil mixture and stir until well mixed. Fold in white chocolate chips, cranberries and almonds. Transfer to prepared pan.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until light brown and firm in center. Remove from oven and cool in baking pan. Cool completely prior to cutting. To cut, transfer from baking pan to a cutting board. Slice using a sharp serrated knife and gentle sawing motion.

Optional: To garnish bars with a drizzle of chocolate, place 1/4 cup white chocolate chips and shortening in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 50% powder for 20 seconds at a time if needed to completely melt. Stir until very smooth. Drizzle over bars with a spoon. OR, transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Snip a tiny corner and squeeze chocolate over bars.


HARVEST PUMPKIN CUPCAKES

Rich and spicy pumpkin cupcakes with orange cream frosting


INGREDIENTS:

Cupcakes

4 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup Mazola® Vegetable Plus! Oil
2 cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Argo® Corn Starch
4 teaspoons Spice Islands® Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 teaspoons Argo® Baking Powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Frosting

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
3 tablespoons butter OR margarine, softened
1 tablespoon orange juice
2 teaspoons Spice Islands® 100% Pure Bourbon Vanilla Extract
1-1/2 teaspoons freshly grated orange peel
4 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:

To make cupcakes: Blend the eggs, oil, sugar, and pumpkin in a large mixing bowl; set aside. Stir together dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and beat until well blended.

Pour into lined muffin tins. Fill about 2/3 full. Bake in preheated 350°oven for 30 minutes or until center springs back when touched. Cool 30 minutes. Spread with frosting.

To make frosting:

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread over cooled cupcakes.
Recipes from Bakeforthecure

Easy How To: Save those pumpkin seeds

Pumpkin seeds by wiserbailey/Flickr
When you are ready to carve your Jack-O-Lanterns with your children, save those pumpkin seeds.  They can make fun "beads" for your children to string necklaces, belts, or garlands.  Or you can eat them.  Pumpkin seeds are full of zinc which is great for the immune system.

To toast them, evenly spread them out on a baking or cookie sheet, and bake in the oven

Easy Tip: Using canned pumpkin or apple sauce

Apple pumpkin by Rivertarts/Flickr
Whenever you would use apple sauce to make a cake more moist, or to add to a turnover, etc., you can also use a bit of canned pumpkin.  All you have to do is replace a bit of the butter or oil from your cake or bread recipe with the pumpkin or the apple sauce.  It will not only be more moist and healthier, but it will also add great fall flavor.

HOW TO MAKE SNOWBALLS & PAPER SNOWBALLS!

SNOWBALLS

Making Realistic sparkly white Christmas snowballs is so easy and fun!! What better way is there to enjoy the holiday season than to get the children together and make crafts that can also be used as decorations?


Here's what you'll need:

A few packs of white Styrofoam balls in any size you like. They come in 1" 1.5" 2" 2.5" 3" and so on! Get them from Walmart, JoAnns Fabric, or any craft supply store.
A bucket of white joint compound. Available at Walmart or any hardware store.
Your choice of either mica flakees, German glass glitter, or fake snow (all available on e-Bay).

OPTIONAL:

Fragrance oil for candle making & spray nozzle (get it on e-Bay).
Instant coffee, molasses, cinnamon & water.
Foam or sponge brush.
Modge podge craft glue in a matte finish.
Plastic lined tray or baking sheet.

How to make the BASIC traditional white snowballs:

Generously roll your Styrofoam balls in the stirred joint compound and quickly drop the rolled Styrofoam ball into a bowl of your glitter, fake snow or mica flakes. Toss the glitter, fake snow or mica flakes onto the ball and roll it around CAREFULLY to coat snowball evenly. GENTLY pick up the ball and shake off the excess, and place it onto the lined tray to dry for 2-3 days. Roll balls over at least once in the middle of drying time. Dry FULLY! Use a nice variety of sizes!!

How to make the dirty snowballs:

Simply roll your Styrofoam ball in the joint compound, and allow to dry for 2-3 days on the lined tray. Don't add glitter yet! Once your snowballs are fully dry, combine 1 HEAPING TBSP. instant coffee with one cup boiling water, and blend to dissolve coffee. Next, add 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1 tsp. molasses to the hot coffee, and stir until all dissolved. Allow the molasses and cinnamon to settle on the bottom of the mug and wait for coffee to cool. With a sponge brush, apply the grungy mixture onto the DRY compound coated Styrofoam balls, and then pat dry with paper towels, to give the desired dirty look. Once they are fully dry again, brush each grungy ball, one at a time, with a THIN layer of your modge podge glue, and roll them while the glue is wet & tacky, into the glitter of choice. Coat evenly, shake off excess, and set to dry. BE SURE THE SNOWBALLS ARE COMPLETELY BONE DRY BEFORE PACKAGING OR THEY WILL SWEAT IN THE CELLO BAGS!

Because they take a few days to make, it is a good plan to start early!

ANOTHER SIMPLE WAY TO GRUNGE THEM: Blend about a cup of joint compound with a big sprinkle of cinnamon or nutmeg, or spice of choice, mix well. Then take the plain Styrofoam ball and roll it in your grungy joint compound that you have mixed with spices. While compound is wet, roll in glitter, fake snow or mica flakes and dry for 2-3 days! EASY!

HANGING SNOWBALLS

Use small Styrofoam balls, cut a piece of wire long enough to insert through the ball and have enough left to hang the snowball. Make a small hook on the bottom end and push it into the Styrofoam ball. Being careful not to get too much of the compound on the wire cover the ball and roll in the glitter, fake snow or mica flakes.

PAPER SNOWBALLS

Things You'll Need:
Dishwashing tub
16 sheets of 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper or 4 sheets of newsprint


Fill a dishwashing tub or a small bucket to within a few inches of the rim with warm water.
Submerge any extra scrap printing or computer paper you may have on hand in the water. You'll need about 16 sheets of 8 1/2-by-11-inch paper, or about 4 sheets of newsprint. Be aware that if you use newsprint, the ink may stain your hands and anything else it happens to splash onto.
Let the paper soak for a minute or two, then stir and rub it briskly under the water until it shreds into mush.
Scoop a double handful of soggy paper out of the water and mold it into a ball, just as you would do with snow. Squeeze the paper down into a firm mass, squeezing the water out at the same time, and add more until the snowball is the desired size.

Your snowball needs to be approx 75mm/ 3 inches in diameter when it dries, so make it a bit bigger to allow shrinkage.
Place the snowball on a baker's rack or other well-ventilated surface to dry, rolling it over at least once a day so that all sides receive adequate air circulation. It may take a week or longer before the snowball is fully dried out.


Lots of uses for these...use the smaller balls to fill up a mason jar or put in with some wintertime potpourri or fixins. Decorate a sewing drawer or cheese box light, add to a wood bowl or basket with some greenery or pip berries. Set them on a shelf with some of your snowman collectibles! They are a great addition to your winter decorating!

GHOSTING~MASON JAR LANTERNS~EERIE LUMINARIAS

On Fridays I am going to recycle past posting. This will give new followers a chance to see them and the older followers to find them once again.

Sara over at Graphic Pretties came up with this idea and I thought you might like to start this as a Halloween tradition in your neighborhood…Sounds like fun to me and then maybe at Christmas time you could do a Secret Santa in the same fashion…

Have you heard of ghosting? We started ghosting in our neighborhood a few years ago and it has been started by someone every year since. If you have several children in your neighborhood they will really enjoy the fun!

Pick two neighbors to ghost...buy some treats and put them in a decorative bag or plastic pumpkin... at night sneak up and place the treats on the porch.. knock or ring the doorbell and RUN. place the ghosting letter and ghost picture along with the treats...this will provide them with the info they need to play along.
Get the ghosting letter and ghost picture *HERE*

Want to make some of these adorable
MASON JAR LANTERNS
Then go to Our Best Bites for the instructions...Click *HERE* to get the INSTRUCTIONS

EERIE LUMINARIAS

Light the path to your haunted mansion with these clever milk jug luminarias
Click *HERE* for the instructions & patterns!!

Homage to the Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower has been under several Al-Qaida bomb threats this week.  Beloved to Parisians and Francophiles the world over, La Tour Eiffel was evacuated and closed for several hours.  Here is a photo mosaic for a virtual Foodie Fieldtrip Friday in homage to this beautiful structure.



1. Macarons Gregory Renard à la Tour Eiffel, 2. DSC_0751,
3. Parisian Sweets Plate Ring, 4. Paris Tea Party