Hershey's Candy Corn Cookies

I am thinking I am not the only person out there with a candy corn addiction! I found this recipe at Cast Sugar's blog and it sounds very yummy. Not sure I've seen the candy corn Hershey's, but I haven't looked either!

Hershey's Candy Corn Cookies (from the back of the bag)

Ingredients:
3/4 c. creamy peanut butter

1/2 c. shortening

1/3 c. granulated sugar

1/3 c. light brown sugar, packed

1 egg

2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/3 c. quick-cooking oats, divided

1 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

66 Hershey candy corn kisses (pretty much the whole bag)

*Heat oven to 350°F Beat peanut butter and shortening in large bowl until well blended. Add granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together 1/2 cup oats, flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in remaining oats; place on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten cookies with tines of fork to form a crisscross pattern.

*Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely.

*Remove wrappers from candies. Place 18 candies in heavy-duty resealable plastic food storage bag. Microwave at MEDIUM (50%) 30 seconds; knead bag and candies. If necessary, microwave at MEDIUM an additional 15 seconds at a time, kneading after each heating, until candies are melted and color is uniform. Cool slightly. Cut off corner of bag about 1/8 inch from point. Lightly drizzle cookies. Before drizzle sets, place candy piece in center of each cookie

Decorating for Halloween

We've never decorated the yard for Halloween before. It's not that we don't have fun and enjoy Halloween, it's just a holiday we've never gone whole hog on before, but this year the boys started asking if we could decorate the yard. They're 5 and almost 12 and I want to encourage their enjoyment of the holidays so I bought a simple tombstone package from Walmart.
It came with the tombstones, the skull, hands and feet, the fence, the spiders and spider web, the rat and the flower. They had fun placing them in the garden.

We went out on Sunday and put this in the garden, before that the boys played Zombies in the living room all weekend. One would pretend to rise from the grave (he was laying in front of the big tombstone) and then he would chase his brother, zombie-style! They had a lot of fun. Now I will start picking up a couple of things every year and they can make the house really spooky!

Fall Break

We've been on Fall Break this week, which for my boys meant they had Thursday and Friday off of school. They've actually been playing with their toys this week and with each other with only a little bit of fighting thrown in.

Boy's playing with the Youngest's Pirate ship that he got last year for Christmas:
Football is a big game here and my boys play it in the house, and make up their own rules!

My Youngest has taken to playing with one of our new Halloween decorations. It's going to go out in the tree this weekend, but until then it's fun. My Youngest has an interest in bones and likes looking at books that cover the human body.

Last night I finally sat down and did some scrapbooking. This one is for my Oldest's 5th grade graduation last May. The colors of his school are red, white, and black, and the decorations at graduation included a lot of balloons.

I've been practicing my photography. I know I'm not very good yet, and I've got a new camera that I'm trying to learn my way around, but I think I'm making some progress. Well I'm off to watch the Sooners (hopefully beat the Longhorns!) Booooooomer!.....Soooooooner!

Christmas Shopping has begun

Went out to for coffee last night with my mother and a friend. We found ourselves at Borders Bookstore and had a delicious Hazelnut Mocha Coffee. While there we had to do some shopping (all 3 of us are avid reader's) and it helped that they had alot of items on their bargain shelves and they were having a buy 2 get 1 free sale, so I picked up a couple of Christmas presents. For my Youngest and his Cousin I found this adorable pirate package:
For my Oldest son I found this great cookbook:

3 down...too many to count to go, but it's a start.

My Obsession with Candy Corn continues

My obsession with candy corn continues! My boys and I are planning on attending a Fall Party hosted by my MOMS group tomorrow morning and I've been trying to come up with an easy and yummy recipe to take. I found this one in the Betty Crocker Fall Baking cookbook and of course when I saw that it had candy corn I was hooked!
The recipe is labelled as Halloween Buddies: Melt 1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips, 1/4 c. of peanut butter and 2 TBSP of butter in the microwave for about 1 minute (in 15 second intervals). Stir in 1/2 tsp. of vanilla, mix, and then add 4 1/2 c. corn chex cereal. Stir until completely coated. Place cereal in a ziplock bag and sprinkle it with 3/4 c. powdered sugar. Pour it onto a cookie sheet and add 1 c. candy corn and if desired 1 c. salted peanuts. Cool on the pan, store in an airtight container in the refigerator.

I thought this would be a perfect recipe for a party with a lot of kids of all ages present and it has candy corn!

My Most Favorite Halloween Candy!

I love Candy Corn! I look forward to October every year so I can have it, and then I spend the month gorging myself! I don't touch it any other time of year, because it is soooo good, I wouldn't be able to roll out of my house if I ate it all the time!

At the Idea Room today I found this recipe for Candy Corn Bark. They look really good: Line a cookie sheet with tinfoil and place a layer of milk chocolate (or white chocolate chips) and melt in a preheated oven at 250 degrees for 5 minutes. Spread melted chips in a smooth thin layer. Place in refrigerator for 20 minutes till chilled. Then add your next layer of white chocolate. Melt the chips in the microwave for 20 second intervals stirring the chips between each turn. Let cool till warm but still spreadable. Quickly spread over first layer. Add candy corn and sprinkles and place back in the refrigerator to chill. Once chilled break into bite size pieces. Store in a tupperware container and keep refrigerated to prevent melting.

In the Kitchen: Oct 12-18

This is a short week for my boys at school. Fall break is Thursday and Friday.

Menu---I have to work around Baseball games on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings this week

Monday---Sweet & Spicy Bacon-Chicken w/Mashed Potato & Peas
Tuesday---Hamburger Hotdish w/Green beans
Wednesday---Taco Pizza w/Salad
Thursday---Teriyaki Chicken w/Rice & Mixed Veggies
Friday---Beer-Battered Fish & Fries
Saturday---Bacon-Cheeseburgers w/Pasta Salad & Chips
Sunday---Balsamic Glazed Pork Chops w/Scalloped Potato & Zucchini Cakes

Baking---I have Bunco on Thursday this week and a MOMS Fall Party on Friday, so my baking schedule is:

Tuesday---Double Batch of Amish Friendship Bread
Thursday---Scream! Cheese Swirl Brownies and Halloween Buddies (both found in the Betty Crocker Fall Baking Cookbook)
Friday---Halloween Buddies (Chex mix dipped in chocolate and peanut butter and dusted with powdered sugar & candy corn party mix)

Update---I had an OOPS on one of my meals last week. The Thai-Style Burgers and Asian-Sesame Noodles were a Crash and Burn! meal at my home. The boys ended up eating ramen.

The BINGO King!

Last night my Oldest son's school had a Family Fun Night in the Gymnasium. We never planned on going because he was supposed to have a football game last night, but due to the torrential downpour we had, it was cancelled. His friend and his Mom were going and they asked if they could take Oldest and since his homework was done I said "sure."

The Family Fun Night had a lot of activities set up in the Gym that included games and food and lots of fun. My son found the BINGO game. He won the first game and came home with this:
Filled with candy and a light up pumpkin lantern.
He then went on to win the last game of the night, and so brought home this gift for me:

(Of course it was the only prize left!) so he had to pick it, but I love it anyway. It contained a 8x8 pan, a large measuring cup, 3 spatulas, 3 bag clips, pot holders, dish towels and dish clothes. Who doesn't need more dish towels and dish clothes? (I use mine until they fall apart!), and I wanted a small pan for baking, Yeah!

Thank you Son!

The Blahs!

I think the family has a case of the Blahs! Yesterday at Gymnastics my Youngest had an uncharacteristic crying fit because he didn't get to jump on the trampoline 4 times. He used to throw fits, but they have been few and very far between for at least the last year so the one yesterday threw me for a curve. Thinking it over I believe we are wearing down with all of the activities going on this fall.

We spend a lot of time outside of the house in the evenings and we will continue to do so until mid-November. It will be nice to settle down and stay home at night. My Oldest has baseball games on Monday and Wednesday evenings (which we will always attend....I haven't missed one in the last 6 years), and he plays Football on Sunday afternoons and Thursday evenings, plus practice on Mondays if we can squeeze it in before the baseball game and Tuesdays and Saturday mornings for baseball. We're tired. I've seen it in my Youngest's crying fit, my Oldest's less than stellar grades (I'm complaining because he has A's and B's, not sure if that is fair to him...I need to lay off), and the fact that we don't have time to just sit down and veg in front of the TV.

It doesn't help that the Fall here has been gloomy and rainy. I believe we've had more cloudy and overcast days than sunny ones. It was sort of nice that our baseball game was cancelled last night due to the rain. We were able to just put on pajamas and relax with Halloween cartoons on TV. Unfortunately, those games will have to be made up in a couple of weeks...UGH!

Troop Court of Honor

My Oldest son had his Troop Court of Honor last night, where he received 2 rank badges. There are 6 ranks before a boy can earn his Eagle. He's on his way.
Scout Rank: the first rank you earn after you've learned the Scout Oath, Law, Salute, Sign, Handshake, Motto, Slogan and tie the square knot and learn the Outdoor Code.

Tenderfoot Rank: Come prepared for a campout, campout, assist with the cooking at the campout; whip and fuse a rope, learn 2 knots; rules of safe hiking; demonstrate how to display, raise, lower and fold an American flag; explain in your own words the meaning of the Oath, Law, motto and slogan; know your patrol name, yell and flag; explain the buddy system; record your results in push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, standing long jump, 1/2-mile run and show improvement in a month; identify local poisonous plants; demonstrate the Heimlich maneuver and show first aid for: simple cuts and scrapes, blisters, minor burns, bites and stings of insects, venomous snakebite, nosebleed, frostbite and sunburn; demonstrate the spirit of the Scout Oath and Law in everyday life, have a Scoutmaster's conference and a board of review.

Next up: Second Class!

Weekly Menu---Oct. 5-11, 2009

These menu's are a little tricky to come up with this month! My oldest has baseball on Monday and Wednesday evenings and football on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Sundays and some Mondays! Plus I have Scouts on Tuesday, so I've been trying to come up with simple meals (a lot of them can be put in the crock-pot earlier in the day), so we can eat when we get a chance!

Monday---BLT's w/Chips (we can eat these in the car!)
Tuesday---Roast Tacos w/Refried beans and Salad (roast in the crock-pot)
Wednesday---Kielbasa Sausage w/Mac & Cheese & Roast Broccoli
Thursday---Chicken w/Gravy, Rice & Peas (another crock-pot meal)
Friday---Sausage, Biscuit & Gravy, Hashbrowns and Eggs
Saturday---Thai-Style Burgers w/Asian-Sesame Noodles
Sunday---Barbecue Chicken Legs w/Baked Potato & Carrots

12 Weeks until Christmas!

Well it's official, we have exactly 12 weeks until Christmas! (Please do not throw anything at me!) I hate feeling rushed during the holidays so I'm making an effort to start planning now. This includes the much loved holidays of Halloween and Thanksgiving, which seem to come one after the other much too quickly for me.

I wish I could find a planner that is already made up online that I would not have to buy, but everything I've found only covers Christmas, and that is too narrow a focus for me. I can't leave out the other 2. I love planning things, carry through is not always so great, but I am really going to try this year. I always feel like I'm throwing together the holidays every year!

Halloween---luckily this year Halloween falls on a Saturday, so the kids will not be rushing around after school, and I will not be trying to get supper into them before Trick-or-Treating. I have most of my Halloween decorations up already, since those and my fall things are usually put up on Sept. 1st to get me in the fall spirit. Our school district is off this year on Friday, Oct. 30th so I'm thinking of having a small party with a few friends and family over. Of course the food will have to be "spooky", like chocolate covered marsh mellows and mummy pizzas, and maybe edible eyeballs! I want to decorate the yard a bit for the party, but frugally, so I'm looking for things to do with stuff I have around the house.

Thanksgiving---this holiday doesn't alter much in our home. My Mom and Grandmother will be invited over and we will have the traditional turkey, gravy, dressing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, pumpkin bars (pumpkin pie is not a favorite in our house, but pumpkin bars are---Oh so delicious!

Christmas---again another holiday that is rooted in tradition in our house with Christmas eve potato soup and ham sandwiches at Mother's house and Santa and unwrapping presents on Christmas morning. Lots of baking and shopping...I hate shopping, going to try and get that done starting this week!

I am going to try to start a new tradition in our family this year. I always loved learning about other countries and their customs, traditions and foods and so I am going to start introducing my Sons to a new country every month! We will start with the US for Thanksgiving...an easy beginning, but we are going to go back and really explore the 1st Thanksgiving and how it differs from what we do today. I want to dive into Germany for December, because they have a lot of cool holidays and customs for this time of year. I'll post about what we do later.

Anyway...off to start planning Halloween!