Jon's birthday is Thursday and so we will make birthday cupcakes and celebrate quietly with his younger brother, Brandon. I enjoy our small get togethers, a birthday is just an excuse to have a good time with good friends.
With Halloween coming up quickly, I have begun to carve my pumpkins. Here's the first one of the year! This one only took about an hour and a half from start to finish. The more complex designs take me anywhere from 2-4 hours to complete.
I came into the living room the other night and this is what I saw:
Yes, those are the two men in my life holding all the remote controls to every electronic device in our living room. I kid you not, even the cat. It was very humorous to me, so I took a picture :)
I was flipping through some seasonal recipe ideas looking for inspiration. I came up with one based on a treat my dad used to make. At Christmas, my Dad always made buckeyes. They are a peanut butter candy dipped in chocolate. Then, he would spread Ritz crackers with peanut butter and dip them in the leftover chocolate. Seeing as how it is almost Halloween, I figured why not put a creepy spin on things. And so, Squished Spiders were born!
Here's to you and your culinary adventures, friend. Cheers!
Squished Spiders
Ritz crackers
Creamy peanut butter
Chow Mien noodles
1 bag Chocolate chips
Food grade paraffin wax
Melt together chocolate chips about 1/4 sheet of paraffin. This will thin the chocolate while still allowing it to set.
Meanwhile, spread some peanut butter on the top side of the Ritz crackers. Place 3 chow mien noodles on each side to make 6 spider legs on each cracker.
When chocolate is melted, stir to ensure the paraffin is distributed evenly. Dip spiders in chocolate. Cool on wax paper or aluminum foil. Chill to set hard quickly.
Don't forget the Cat Litter Cake I brought to the church youth group for that one Halloween. That was pretty scary - scooping what looked like cat litter and cat poop out of a cat box with a cat box scoop. (Crumbled up cake with blue and green food coloring, tootsie roll poops, and a new cat box, liner and scooper that had never been used for cat litter.)
ReplyDeleteShouldn't that be 4 chow mein noodles on each side? Everyone knows spiders have 8 legs. ;-)
ReplyDelete(Okay, Ritz crackers and chow mein noodles - probably not really room for all 8 legs. :-P )
How could I forget?! People loved and were completely horrified at that cake. It was super yummy! And the brownie "eyeballs " dipped in white chocolate. YUM!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately there is only room for 6 legs, good thing my tastebuds don't know the difference!
Jon LOVES the little chocolate critters. :)
Your posts are absolutely delightful.
ReplyDeletethey truly are.
that's all i have to say bout that.