Homemade Halloween Oreos

I've posted these homemade Oreos before, but not the Halloween version.  I always like to let the coloring of my food work for me.  Any food that is somewhat close to black, orange, or white is perfect for Halloween entertaining.

You can click here to print out the recipe, but basically all you need is a Devil's food cake mix, eggs, and shortening.  Then, of course the cream cheese frosting.  You can go ahead and buy the frosting, or here's a yummy homemade version from Our Best Bites.

I made these Oreos a bit smaller than usual because you are getting two cookies once you frost and sandwich them together.  But you can make them any size you like.

For the Halloween version of these, I simply made the cream cheese frosting orange, then rolled the frosted cookie gently in Halloween sprinkles before the frosting set.  That way the sprinkles would stick to the frosting.  Easy and absolutely delicious!!

And here's another favorite Halloween cookie at our house.  Ghost sugar cookies.

Ghost Sugar Cookies

What are your favorite Halloween cookies?

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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October Pinterest Board

Whenever I have a spare minute (which doesn't seem to happen too often) I love to scroll through Pinterest.  And it becomes a bit of an obsession during October!  I have more pins than I'll ever have time for, but I love just looking at them for bits of inspiration, even if I don't complete the entire project.

Follow Brooke @ blissfulroots.com's board October on Pinterest.

As I've mentioned, all three of my boys have birthdays in October, and we'll be adding one more birthday to the bunch in a couple of weeks.  So, I'm always one the hunt for fun party activities, decorations, and food to go along with the Halloween theme.  Pinterest has been a lifesaver!  And I'm sure it will continue to be. We have many years of Halloween parties ahead. But, you won't hear any complaints from me!  I love every minute of planning and preparing for all these October parties.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Pumpkin Spice Pretzel Bites {Repost}

My boys love to check out the samples at Walmart whenever we go.  I usually don't ever try them, but the other day my three-year-old pulled out an orange covered pretzel from the sample container.  I was curious, so I tried one.  Boy, am I glad I did.  It was delicious!  I could tell the pretzel had been dipped in candy melt, but not just any candy melt, it had a pumpkin flavor to it.  The salty pretzel and pumpkin spice were delicious together!

  

Well, we continued our shopping, and right there on the Halloween isle I found some Wilton's Pumpkin Spice candy melts (they're limited edition, so grab them when you see them).  That was it!  The secret ingredient to the pretzels.  I got right on making some of my own.  

Pumpkin Spice Pretzel Bites

1 bag pretzels

1 pkg. Wilton's Pumpkin Spice candy melts

white chocolate chips (optional)

sprinkles (optional)

Melt candy melts in the microwave according to package directions.  Dip pretzels (gently one side at a time) into the candy melt.  Shake off excess candy melt.  Allow to dry. Melt white chocolate chips, then drizzle on top of pretzels.  Sprinkle with sprinkles before white chocolate sets.

Please note the dip gently one side at a time with the pretzels.  I thought it would be totally easy, but not so much.  I dunked my first pretzel in, but then the candy melt didn't drip through the pretzel holes.  The pretzel looked like a big glob of orange, not a pretzel.  Luckily I was making these with my sister (she always figures these type of things out), and she tried lightly dipping one side of the pretzel in the candy melt, and then the other side.  It worked much better, and you could actually see the pretzel holes.  They didn't look perfect, but once I got the white chocolate and sprinkles on they looked fantastic.  The white chocolate and sprinkles are optional, but they make the pretzel bites look a bit more dressed up.  

Don't they look cute in my little Halloween box (tutorial here)?  I tell you, these boxes are good for just about anything!  These pretzel bites would be perfect to leave on your neighbor's doorstep if you neighborhood does the, "You've Been Booed" thing.  Or you could leave them just because, no reason needed.

I think next time I'm going to try using pretzel rods or sticks. That would make the whole dipping process much, much easier!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Autumn Tree Printable

Just a quick post today with a fall printable to share.  My brother-in-law is getting married on Friday, and we have some family coming to town today, so it will probably be a busy week from here on out!  But hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with one last apple recipe to share for the month of September.

Click to Print

I know I keep saying this over and over lately, but I'm a complete believer in simplicity.  Even more so than I used to be.  So a lot of my printables reflect that, as you can see with today's.  A simple autumn (the name I would have used if baby four would have been a girl) tree with one single word.  Simplicity to a tee.  I love it, and hopeful you will too.  Oh, and today's printable is square instead of the majority of my 

8 x 10 printables.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Apple Poems For Kids

I ran across some old apple poems I used when I taught first grade the other day.  They brought back some fun memories, and they looked as old as they are (about 7  years, or so).  I need to update the look of the poems, but the words are still as fun and engaging as they were back then.  They make me want to sit down with a group of first graders and do a shared reading!

In a perfect world, I've have printables for all of the poems for you, but that's not quite going to happen.  At least you can see the words, and make your own copy of each one.

Poems are such a fun way to bring in a literary element to your holiday festivities!   I have all these memorized (even from 7 years ago) and will just repeat them to my boys every now and again.  Often times in the car, or when we need a little settling down time.

If you have a copy of the poems you can do a bit of shared reading with your little ones at home.  Have them point out letters they know, or do an "I spy" game with them.  You could also count how many times the word 'apple' is used in each poem.  Just be creative.  Help your little ones fin any letter, punctuation, word, anything literary they can find is great!  And leave the poems up where your kids will see them often.  You'll be amazed with what they'll catch on to just by seeing it frequently.

This last poem can go to the tune of "Ten Little Indians" so I guess it could qualify as a song, instead of a poem.  Songs are great because they're so quick and easy to memorize and are so engaging!

Happy apple rhyming!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Homemade Cider Carmel Sauce

I've been sharing a lot of apple recipes (caramel apple pie cake and homemade pear applesauce) here this month, and you really can't talk apples without talking carmel as well.  At least I can't!

I saw this recipe several years ago on Studio 5 (a local lifestyle show here in Utah).  The recipe was for an apple bread pudding.  It did look delicious, but bread pudding isn't always my first choice of dessert.  What did catch my eye was the cider carmel sauce she made to go on top of the bread pudding.  

I honestly cannot describe how amazingly delicious this sauce is!  Think of your favorite carmel candy with a hint of apple.  I almost hate to put it on top of desserts because sometimes the amazing flavor of the sauce gets lost in the other ingredients.  Don't get me wrong, I put this on plenty of desserts, but when I'm really craving it, I just eat it by the spoonful!  It is a bit thinner than most carmel sauces I've had, so I just keep it in a jar in the fridge, and it's perfect when I pull it out.  If you're eating it warmed, it will be a bit runny.

Click here for the recipe of cider carmel sauce.  The apple bread pudding, and an amazing cinnamon whipped cream recipe can be found there as well.

P.S.  I've used apple juice in place of cider, and it works just as well.  Not quite the intense apple flavor, but delicious just the same!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Apples Are The Perfect Treat {Printable}

My husband thinks I'm crazy, and a lot of you out there would probably agree with him, but I love Barney!  My twins grew up watching him, and my four-year-old will still watch him once in awhile.  And actually, they won't admit it, but my twins can easily get caught up in an episode every now and then.

Click to Print

I like Barney for a lot of educational and social reasons, but it's the seasonal shows that I really love (surprise!).   I found Barney's Halloween Party at Target years ago when my twins were young.  It was only $5, so I thought, why not?  Well, we have definitely gotten our $5 worth.  We've watched this DVD every year at our house for over five years.  I love to get it out each fall, and my boys really do love it too, they just won't admit it!

Anyway, there's a part of the movie when the kids and Barney visit a farm for items for their school carnival.  They talk about apples, and they do this cute little apple song/chant.  I've always liked it, and one year I was crazy enough to write down the words to it.  It's kind of fast, so I had to rewind, rewind, and rewind  to get it all.  I want to get it all typed up at some point, but for now, the first few lines will do.  

And if you're not into cutesy Barney song lyrics, then I have a chalkboard apple printable that might fit your style better.

Chalkboard Apples Printable

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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Caramel Apple Pie Cake

I have the best mom in the world!  She is wonderful for so many reasons, but her love of helping others (especially her kids) is amazing!  

She's probably the biggest fan of my blog, and I know she worries about me keeping up with it.  And since she doesn't want me to stop blogging anytime soon (it is a great connection when we're a bit far apart), she's always giving me recipe ideas to help me out.  Last time she came to visit she brought a notebook with several fall recipes, and the groceries to go with them so I could easily make them.  See!  She's the BEST!

I keep thinking I've made every apple-related recipe on the Earth, but she proved me wrong.  She left two apple recipes, and I'd never made either.  So, today I have the caramel apple pie cake to share, and next week I'll share the other recipe she left (apple butterscotch bars!).

Click to Print

This cake comes together so, so quickly.   I didn't pour the caramel sauce over the cake after it baked, I just poured it on each individual piece of cake as I served it.  I knew we'd had leftovers, and I wanted to cake to keep a bit better, so that's why I left the caramel off the entire cake.  But go ahead and try it!  I'm sure it's delicious, moist, and it probably would keep just fine.

So, if you're in need of a quick apple dessert any time soon, give this cake a try.  It was a big crowd-pleaser with my family (in-laws included) the other night.

And here's another delicious, favorite apple recipe I make every fall.  Homemade pear applesauce.  Pears have been amazing here in Utah these past few weeks, and they add an amazing flavor to the already delicious applesauce!

Homemade Pear Applesauce

What are your favorite apple recipes?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you found a little something worth your time.

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