A Very Fall Weekend

Trick or treat is from 4:00 to 6:00 today and I figure I'll write this blog while I wait for the doorbell to ring.  I'm going nutzo for all things fall related this season and this weekend was no exception. 

I've got my entryway table full of everything fall-ish.

 

The outside is decorated too.  I got this turkey pumpkin decoration for $1.00 from a rummage this summer!



Yesterday we went to Tara's to decorate pumpkins, have dinner together and take Liam through her neighborhood association's private trick or treat.  What a shindig!  Three blocks packed with trick or treaters, adults in costume, neighbors sitting outside by a firepit to hand out candy, a haunted house, a stage with a DJ playing music (loved hearing MJ's Thriller) and they even had a band playing from 8 to 10.  This is going to be "must do" for us every year.

Decorated Pumpkins.  Liam looks so pleased.  Lol. 

I made mine for a friend at work who is a survivor; inspired by a pink pumpkin I saw in a magazine.  Tara drew the ribbon. 



Cheese!

I've had some recipes I've wanted to make, but always wanted to make them to share with other people.  We decided to eat a homemade dinner together rather than spend money on pizza or going somewhere.  I whipped up a few things that afternoon prior to going to Tara's.

 

Below is an Apple Brickle Dip I found in Taste of Home's Ultimate Halloween issue that was sent to me.  It tastes just like a caramel apple.  The recipe is so simple:

Apple Brickle Dip
-8 oz cream cheese softened
-1/2 cup brown sugar
-1/4 cup sugar
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-8 oz bag of bits of brickle toffee chips
-3 large apples, sliced (we prefer honeycrisp)

In a bowl, beat all ingredients together.  Use apples to dip. 

Black Bean and Vegetable Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce.  I got this recipe off of Alysha's blog last year.  A very light recipe with black beans, spinach and corn as the filling, a nice change from the usual enchilada recipe.

My boss gave me the recipe for the cake below.  The name is a bit off putting; "Pumpkin Dump Cake" but the recipe takes about 5 minutes to put together because you literally dump all the ingredients in a baking pan.  Super simple and super yummy!  It would be good even for breakfast as tastes similar to a coffee cake.

Mama and Monkey-Man

Liam getting the hang of trick or treating.  And two Monkeys!

This morning, Chris made two quiches for breakfast this week.  Mushrooms, onion, green pepper and sausage in one and bacon in the other.

I was reminded reading Alysha's blog earlier this week about a butternut squash mac and cheese recipe that we made last year that we liked so much, it made our recipe box which is rare.  This one is from September 2011 Cooking Light issue.  Butternut squash, greek yogurt, parmesan and romano cheeses get blended together to make more of a bechamel sauce as a base instead of a lot of cheddar cheese.  I did all the prep work today so that all we have to do is pop it in the oven after the YMCA on Tuesday.

Happy Halloween everyone!  It's 4:15 and we just got our first trick or treat customer.  She looked into my candy bowl and asked me "how many can we have"?