My Carved Pumpkin - October 2012

I have not carved a pumpkin in years, but this year I felt inspired to do so.  I bought a new carving kit, that worked better than the last one I bought.  It came with a bunch of cool designs, but I decided to draw up my own, trying my best to make it look like the Sailor Moon's cat, Luna (a Japanese anime/manga character).  I used a Sharpie to draw on wax paper first, then taped the wax paper to the pumpkin.  I think it turned out pretty well!  At least I am happy with it.

Halloween Traditions

Excuse me, but does Linus live here?

When I was little I loved Halloween.  I liked to use my creativity to dress up however I wanted.  I loved going to different neighbors houses and seeing their carved pumpkins and various decorations.  I also loved getting the candy, that I liked so much, I would save it in my drawer for "a special day."  Often, most of the candy would still be there by the next year.

These days, I like to see what little kids come up with for costumes.  I still like seeing pumpkins carved into Jack-O'-Lanterns, and other decorations.  As an adult, I if I allow myself to buy candy, it is very possible it will be gone by the end of the month, if not sooner.

One of my first years as a young trick-or-treater, I remember dressing up as a princess.  Walking around with my mother I saw this one door that had a skeleton on it, that opened his mouth, and maybe moved his eyes. It was extremely scary to me. I did not want to go to the door, but at the same time, it intrigued me, and I wanted to knock on the door.   Actually, I think I wanted my mom to go knock on the door for me. She made me come with her. The lady who answered was super-nice. The skeleton still scared me, despite the fact my mom and the lady tried to convince me that it wasn't. I am not even sure I took candy from that place, but going up to that house, and meeting the nice lady with the scary decoration, remains a fond memory of mine.

Now that I am an adult, one thing I find fun to do on Halloween is to watch "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."  So when I got a little off course driving around one day, I was thrilled to see a house (pictured above) with a pumpkin patch right in front of it!  At first, I thought someone just bought a bunch of pumpkins and put them all over their yard, to decorate for Halloween.  Then, after I stopped my car, I was in awe.  I had to take a photo!  It was just too awesome a place to pass up.  I was almost expecting to see Linus and Snoopy wandering around in that pumpkin patch.  Later I thought to myself, how cool it would be if all those pumpkins in their front yard were carved into Jack-O'-Lanterns for Halloween.  I wonder if the owners do that?  I will never know.  I have no idea how to get there again.  Still, it was an amazing sight to see.

Another good Halloween movie is one I just saw for the first time yesterday.  A few weeks ago, a friend of mine invited me to see the movie "Frankenweenie."  I had seen previews, and thought it looked cute, so I decided I would go.  It made me hungry for frank and beans for some reason.... so I made "Frank and Beanies" for lunch that day.

Above:  cooked hot dog in a bun, with ketchup, mustard, and onion.  Van De Kamp's Pork and Beans on the side (photo in black in white, food is not the actual color it appears to be in this photo).

At the movie theater, they passed out these really cool cards, that promoted the movie even more.

I really enjoyed the movie.  At first, I was not absolutely sure how much I was going to like it, even though I have liked some Tim Burton movies in the past, most of his movies can be kind of out-there.  This one was so funny, it had a little suspense, and had some near tear jerker moments.  I think as a little kid, some things might have scared me, but so did some things in the Disney movies back in my day.  It is probably my favorite of the Tim Burton movies, and having it in stop-motion and 3D made it even more awesome.  A few people even clapped after the movie was over.  I may have to, if more people had clapped.  I really thought it was that good.

Halloween is a great memory from my childhood.  Lately, I have seen some things that remind me of those days.  There is this one place I often drive by that has paper pumpkins placed on every business door or window.  It is so fun to see the various faces that each kid has drawn on their pumpkin.  Here is one of the many below.

I like this ghost decoration (below) as well.  Though, it kind of reminds me of Slender...don't you think?  Bwha-ha-ha!  Hope you all have a Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Spice Cocoa - Single Serving Size

 

So, after writing my last blog, I started to look at the recipe I was going to make from Pinterest.  Some of the ingredients listed are white chocolate and orange food coloring.  Since I would have had to go to the store for white chocolate, I started to wonder what might happen if I use the Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses instead?  They are, essentially, white chocolate, but they have that extra spice taste in them.  They are already orange, so I would not need to add extra coloring...  So, I decided to grab about seven of them.  I unwrapped each one, then I chopped them up finely, like this:

 

 

Put the chopped kisses in my favorite mug.

 

 

Pictured above:  mug by Sandra Boynton - she is one of my favorite cartoonists, who used to focus on greeting cards and merchandise, but now seems to be doing more children's books, which are also good.  Now back to cocoa!

 

I added a half teaspoon of vanilla (then later changed it to a full teaspoon, because 1 teaspoon is better). I also added a dash of salt, which enhances the flavor of the beverage.

 

 

Heated one cup (8 oz.) of milk in the microwave, using my beverage button, which on my microwave is 2 minutes and 50 seconds (microwaves all vary). Then, I poured half of the milk in my mug, and used a wire wisk to blend all the ingredients together. Then I added the rest of the milk.

 

 

I finished mixing my beverage with a spoon. Then I tasted it! Success! I made Pumpkin Spice White Cocoa! The extra vanilla and salt really made a difference for me.

 

 

After tasting the first version of cocoa I made, I decided I wanted to make the cocoa more like regular hot chocolate (instead of white hot chocolate), so I did all of the above, then added some Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, and that was good, as well. 

 

After tasting each of the cocoas I made, I decided to add a Ghost Peep, as suggested by the other recipe, to see what it would be like.  It was a nice touch.  It just depends if you want a sugary marshmallow in your cocoa or not.  Whipped cream would have been nice as well.

 

Here is my recipe below (Makes 1 serving):

 

7 Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses, chopped

1 teaspoon Vanilla

a dash of salt

1 cup of milk

Hershey's Chocolate Syrup (to taste - optional)

 

Place chopped kisses in a mug. 

Add vanilla and salt.

Heat milk to desired warmth.

Pour half of the milk in mug, and mix with a wire wisk, using two hands in a spinning back and forth motion.  Add rest of milk, then stir.

If you want a more traditional chocolate flavor, add Hershey's Chocolate Syrup to desired taste.  Stir again.

Garnish with marshmallows, marshmallow Ghost Peeps, whipped cream, or whatever else you desire.

Enjoy!

 

Trick or Treat! These Are Sweet! - Chocolatey Fall Flavors

Above (clockwise):  Chocolate Italian Soda, a cat I made in a pottery class one year, Carmel Apple Milky Way Mini, Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kiss, Kirkland Signature Almond Cherry Cluster, (and a cute skeleton napkin).

A coworker of mine always seems to find interesting food items. This year, she found Carmel Apple Mini Milky Way candy bars, and Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses.

I like the Carmel Apple Milky Ways best. They are just like regular Milky Way, but have a bit of a apple and nutmeg taste that is mixed into the carmel, that makes them extra tasty. Along with the Pumpkin Spice Hershey's Kisses (which is white chocolate, with a pumpkin spice flavor on the outer layer, and what seems to be a cream cheese flavor in the middle), it is like eating Halloween and Thanksgiving together!

Another treat I was introduced to this fall, was Almond Cherry Clusters! Dark chocolate, with dried cherries, and almonds. So addicting.... but dark chocolate is good for you, right? My dad bought them, but he is not as impressed by them as I am.

 

Along with the other candy items, I found some Ghost Peeps for a hot cocoa recipe I found on Pinterest.  I have not tried the recipe, because where I live, it is not quite cold enough...yet.

 

To not be beverage deprived, I decided to try something different using some of my Sugar Free Torani Chocolate Syrup, some soda water, and some heavy whipping cream (since I don't have any half & half on hand) to make Chocolate Italian Sodas! I have to say, they have turned out pretty well. I have often made Raspberry Italian Sodas, but never chocolate ones before.  Chocolate ones are delicious!  May even be my favorite beverage, as of now.

 

If all that does not prove my addiction to chocolate, I just tried a new place that serves Double Chocolate Cake Dougnuts.  It is called, "Top Pot Doughnuts."  I was drawn in by the huge doughnut that is displayed on top of the building.  It has nice patio seating, and is charming inside, with a bunch of old books for customers to read.  A very nice hangout, indeed.

 

 

With all these new tempting treats, it looks like I better plan to excercise more regularly, and keep up with a good diet.  Still, it is nice to indulge once in awhile.