I was looking for something new to add to my Halloween recipe collection when a friend gave me the idea of a scary eyeball cake, after I made a yogurt and berry cake that ended up looking rather...bloody. I started experimenting with a way to create one. I had the berry cake portion that makes the exterior of the eyeball figured out. It was the interior part of the eyeball that was causing me problems.
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We've made it to the final day of this special blog series. It's Halloween! And as much as I've enjoyed trying out all these new treats and snacks, and I've found a few favorites that I will repeat in future years, I am not ashamed to say that I've had enough. It's time to return to other obligations. But before I sign off, let me show one or two more quick ideas to polish off the holiday. We're sliding into the homestretch now of this Halloween blog and I still have a dozen more ideas I could prepare. But today I am sharing a clever idea using bundt cake pans. I found this specialty pumpkin pan at a glass warehouse while traveling. While it's not essential to buy this pan, two regular bundt pans would work just as well, it was convenient and provided an idea I wouldn't have had otherwise. Here is a cute idea I found in the Taste of Home Halloween 2015 Issue. Donna came over and we ended up having a blast making these mini pies. You can follow this link to get the recipe of this contest winning creation. There is a touch of maple and cinnamon in the recipe making it great for an autumn snack. http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/mini-maple-pumpkin-pies Day 26. Wow. I wasn't sure I'd even make it to day 26. This has been an exhausting month. Naturally I was hoping this cookie would be a fairly easy one to put together just so I could check another day off the calendar. What's so hard about icing a cookie and slapping on a spider, right? Well, harder than I thought, apparently.
These cute pumpkins are the perfect snack for small hands and are so simple to make you'll find yourself making variations for all sorts of occasions, not just Halloween. Make just a few to eat now or make a bundle and freeze them for later. Fair warning - these are addictive and, for better or worse, their small size make them too easy to pop in your mouth with little effort. Donna's Caramel Apples Makes 12
12 Apples 12 Wooden Skewers ½ c. Butter 2 c. Brown Sugar, packed 1 c. Corn Syrup 1 (14 ½ oz.) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract I made these quite a few years back as table settings for Thanksgiving. They are a small snack size Twix wrapped and decorated like an ear of corn, with a name tag attached. As I was trying to come up with an idea for a friend's daughter's class party, we decided this would fit the "Fall" themed party the school allowed in lieu of a Halloween party. Since she wanted a "healthier" snack, we went with Rice Krispies Treats instead of the Twix bars (even though they ended up having more calories than the Twix bars. Just sayin'.) I personally like the Twix shape better as well, and because the bar is red, it looks more autumnal than the blue wrapper the Rice Krispies Treat wears. But whatever. You can use whatever your favorite candy bar is and it will still end up looking like corn.
This is a fun treat for Fall, not just Halloween, and one I used for a library owl party. Actually, it was an "Guardians of Ga'Hoole" party. But they turned out to be such a hit and so adorable that they needed to be added to this blog. This is a great option as a take home treat, to be eaten at leisure. Also, they make a nice place card on a party table, adding to the theme. It's quite a substantial party favor. This is a cake for the adventurous. If you start to break in down into components, though, it turns out that it's not as complicated as it seems. Don't believe me? Walk through the steps with me and you'll see that you can adapt it to make your own wonderful haunted creation. This isn't just a one-design cake. At the end I'll show you a second version I made. Same basic design, different party.
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I remember the excitement of visiting the public library as a child. The magic and suspense of reading favorites like The Velvet Room and The Secret Garden tugged at my imagination. Biographies of George Washington Carver and Betsy Ross allowed me to see the lives of those who came before me and to appreciate their accomplishments. Poetry collections like my favorite The Tall Book of Poems, which I took with me on sleepovers, introduced me to a range of poetry where I could consider how the placement and rhythm of words affected your mood – sometimes bouncy, other times melancholy. Plus, I really loved the way that book felt in my small hands. My goal in writing children’s books, I think, is an attempt to recreate those feelings, those early years of reading books where everything seemed possible.
I received an M.F.A. in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Hamline University and won the Karen and Philip Cushman Late Bloomer Award from SCBWI. I worked as a Children's Librarian for 20 years and still prefer to read books written for young people. I have two Cavapoo dogs named Prince Albert and Daisy Wu, and a black kitten named Mortimer. I am married and split time between homes with my husband Rod in Dayton, OH and in Cadiz, KY where we enjoy our pontoon boat on Lake Barkley.
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