30 days of Halloween Food

Every day in October I am going to highlight some Halloween dishes that look fun. I have tried a few and have plans to try several this year. Each year we have family up for my Halloween dinner and I can hardly wait for it. Also last year I threw a Scentsy party in October and it was so fun to prepare Halloween treats for it that I thought I would do it again this year. Watch for me to announce the date so you can be sure to be there!

Everyday I will post at least one Halloween dish. I've been busy combing through magazines and have so many I want to highlight that I'll probably do 2 or 3 a day, depending on my speed, schedule and sanity. Most of my recipes come from the last several editions of Taste of Home Magazines, but I might do a few others from other places. Happy Haunting!

Tips & Tricks

When we make a meal with rice we always cook extra rice because we like it so much. But when we reheat it the next day it seems dry. I tried wetting a paper towel, wringing out the excess water, and then covering my plate with the damp towel. It seems to help lock in moisture. I also tried this yesterday when I microwaved a scone to warm it up.

Hershey's Great American Chocolate Chip Cookies

I've tried a few different Chocolate Chip Cookies over the years, but I think this recipe is my favorite.

Hershey's Great American Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
2-1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups (12 oz.) Hershey's Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
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Heat oven to 375°. Beat butter, granulate sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs; beat well.

Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts, if desired. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly. Remove form cookie sheet to wire rack; cool completely.

Tips & Tricks

Tonight while making bread & scones I tried a few things to help speed up the process. My bread wasn't raising as fast as I would have liked it to, so I dug out my electric heating pad that I use when my back bothers me. I turned it on to the lowest setting and set my dough bowl on top. It shot up amazingly fast!

When I make scones it's usually to go with Navajo Tacos and my Chili recipe. I like to make bigger scones so we only need to eat one with the meal. Awhile back in a conversation (I don't remember where) someone mentioned that people tend to eat things in twos. Made sense to me. I've started making things, like enchiladas, in smaller sizes. We still eat two, but now in smaller portions.

Tonight while making scones I decided to try the small size for two reasons. The above mentioned and I figured if I rolled out a really big one, I could then cut it out into portions. Wow, that was SO MUCH FASTER! They don't look perfect because some edges are round from the rolling pin and then the others are straight from the knife, but I think I cut my time in at least half.

Sugar Cookies & Raisin Filled Cookies

I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I need to give back the recipe card so I thought I would post it here and hopefully try it out this weekend.

Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft margarine
1 egg
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
3-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
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Cream sugar, margarine, egg, sour cream and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Roll out about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick. Cut out in desired shapes. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes.

Use these cookies to make raisin filled cookies.

Raisin Filling
2 cups raisins
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chopped nuts
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Boil the raisins in the water until the water is almost gone. Then add the remaining ingredients. Boil until blended and thickened. Allow to cool before putting on dough.

To make cookies, roll out cookie dough, and cut out in circles. Place 1 tsp. raisin mix on cookie slice and top with another cookie. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes.

*I was informed that these cookies really puff up while baking so don't roll them too thick. Also, they need to be refrigerated if you don't eat up quickly or they will go bad. If you try this recipe before I do, leave a comment and let me know how it is. If I don't bake them this weekend, I won't get a chance until mid August because we plan to stay busy! I'll add a picture when I make
them.

*The gal who gave me the recipes says she doesn't add the sugar to the raisin filling because the raisins make it pretty sweet.

Chocolate Pudding

We think this dish is best served warm topped with whipped cream and sprinkles.

Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
3 Tbs. corn starch
1/4 tsp. salt
2-1/4 cups milk
2 Tbs. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
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Stir the sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt together in saucepan. Then gradually stir in the milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Continue to stir and boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Blend in butter and vanilla.

This is how we do pizza

When I don't feel like cooking (or don't have the time) I use one of the old reliable out of the food section: Frozen pizza. I love pizza! And yet, there is always a problem...there isn't enough sauce. Everything else is fine, but I can never have enough sauce. So last week I fixed the problem.

You start with this:

Then add some of your favorite pizza toppings. Make sure you have a can of sauce! Our favorites our mushrooms, peppers, olives, pepperoni, Canadian Bacon, more cheese (sorry forgot to put that in the picture, use your imagination), and my personal favorite, pineapple.

Then you just make a pizza on top of your pizza! I start with sauce and cheese and then just pile things on.

I always have to make 2 pizza's; one with pineapple and one without. 

We have done this several times now, but always have the same two problems. The pizza is soggy and doesn't seem to cook all the way through. So we have decided that next time we do this we will cook the pizza according to package directions and then add all our extras and cook for another 5 - 10 minutes. I did try letting one pizza thaw while I cooked the first one, but I only have one pizza pan and when I went to put the thawed pizza on, it folded in half and I lost the toppings.

Choco-Peanute Butter-Brickle Cookies

I bought a new cookbook at a book fair last week. It's called "Eagle Brand: Simple 1-2-3". The first recipe in the book is kind of a everything-but-the-kitchen-sink kind of recipe. They are pretty good and they are the fluffiest cookie I've ever made.

Choco-Peanut Butter-Brickle Cookies

1 (14-oz.) Sweetened Condensed Milk

1 cup crunchy peanut butter

2 eggs

1 teaspon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup toffee bits

1. Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, beat sweetend condensed milk, peanut butter, eggs and vanilla until well blended.

2. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add to peanut butter mixture; beat until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and toffee bits. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets.

3. Bake 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly on a baking sheets; remove to wire racks to cool.

Make 3 dozen cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Bake Time: 12 minutes

P.S. - the dough is very good!

Ham 'n' Cheese Pasta

Velveeta isn't my favorite, but since I tend to be a more picky eater than others I can see how normal people would enjoy this dish so I thought I would share it.

Ham 'n' Cheese Pasta8 oz. uncooked pasta shells
1 lb. process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
1/2 cup milk
2 Tbs. ketchup
1 Tbs. horseradish
2 cups cubed fully cooked ham
1 pkg. (8 oz.) frozen peas, thawed
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Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe bowl, combine cheese and milk. Cover and microwave on high for 2 minutes; stir. Heat 1-2 minutes longer or until smooth, stirring twice. Stir in ketchup and horseradish until blended.
Drain pasta and place in a bowl. Stir in the ham, peas and cheese sauce. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Cover and bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie

I was cleaning out cupboards the other day trying to get ready for our upcoming yard sale (I'm am still not so ready!). I have tons and tons (and tons and tons) of cookbooks so I've been going through them trying to decide which ones I can part with. Seriously, I don't know why I keep buying cook books; I have my favorite and I stick with them. I've had some cook books since we married 8 years ago and I still haven't used them.

Anyways, back to my story. I found this recipe on an index card that I haven't seen for years. I was just going to throw it away, but decided to try it one more time. We forgot how much we enjoyed it. It was so good, so good that it is blog worthy. I added a few things and I am going include them here, but feel free to make it according to your taste.

Impossible Cheeseburger Pie
1 lb. ground beef
1 can tomato soup
onion
mushrooms
peppers
olives
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 cup Bisquick mix
1 cup milk
2 eggs
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Brown meat & onion. Stir in salt. Spread in pie plate with tomato soup, mushrooms, peppers and olives. Sprinkle with cheese. Stir remaining ingredients until blended. Pour into pie plate. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes.