(Hulless) Pumpkin Seeds...by Jen

Was whining to the hubby that I wished my kids were here to carve pumpkins just so I had seeds to roast - so off he went to the pumpkin patch (heaven forbid he just buy a pumpkin at Meijer).  He also of course didn’t just grab a pumpkin. No. He finds someone who works there and wants to know what the best pumpkin would be for seeds. She directs him away from “regular” pumpkins and steers him to “special” pumpkins. I thought this means he was paying more but I was wrong. Lol.  He purchases her advised pumpkin with “special” seeds.  Turns out there is a thing called “hulless “ pumpkins which are seed pumpkins. No shell outside the seed, only the inside seed itself.  By myself I carved these just for the seeds. 

Warning- the seeds are black, don’t be alarmed. Oh also the ones he got me were VERY hard to cut into. Don’t know if that was just these particular ones or if it’s all. Try it and let us know! 

Rinsed seeds in a colander then laid out on paper towel to soak up the extra wetness.  I then spread them on a cookie sheet, sprayed with butter flavored pam and sprinkled with salt. 
Cooked 15 minutes at 350, flipped them around and sprayed/salted again and then cooked 15 more minutes. Delicious. 🎃

*Jill here - she's not lying, these are delicious! The fact that I just learned something from my little sister is a tad disturbing LOL, but this is a good thing to know! Hulless pumpkins (one example is called a "kakai" pumpkin) are good for the seeds, but apparently don't taste good if you want to eat the flesh. I did a quick Mr. Google search for the difference between pepitas and pumpkin seeds - I thought they were one in the same - found out these hulless seeds are technically pepitas, and the traditional seeds we get from carving pumpkins are known as pumpkin seeds. Whodaknew?!



10.31.2017: Cathy's pumpkin seeds (well there's a coincidence!)


10.31.15: witch hat cupcakes

Mummy Calzone

This really is a last minute idea for you, maybe too late to take to a Halloween party but how 'bout for dinner before Trick or Treating? Too cute and easy not to share - we can always save the idea for next year!

Unroll a tube of pizza dough and flatten evenly on a piece of parchment paper (I tried to do this on a baking sheet but until the calzone is formed it's bigger than the baking sheet and was too awkward to handle - so assemble it on the counter and then carefully transfer it to the sheet). Make cuts along the sides of the dough, I used a metal spatula as a guide to make the cuts even, about 3" in towards the center of the dough. Spread pizza sauce and whatever toppings you want - I just did cheese using a 5 blend shredded mix - then fold the cut sides up and over the toppings overlapping the pieces creating a mummy effect; brush with a little beaten egg (that helps it get golden brown when baked). Bake at 350' for 20-25 minutes. Remove to a serving plate, add 2 slices of black olives for "eyes",  cut into slices, serve with a side of pizza sauce if you want to dip (which I do).

Cute, easy, and tastes great!

Click here for original source

Bloodshot Eyeball Appetizer

Here's a cute last minute Halloween party idea - I didn't make this up, there's lots of people online who've made them so I don't know who to credit with the idea. Not sure how much red food coloring we're supposed to be eating but a little goes a long way when making these "eyeballs" so it's not like you're getting a lot of it.

This is just little rounds of cheese (the kind that has the wax coating on it, comes in a bag) with a divot carved out in the center, add a slice of green olive filled with a little piece of black olive, then using a small thin brush paint on red gel food color to look like the eyes are bloodshot.

I will say that these are best served fresh, I made some up earlier in the day and the food coloring got smeary and blurry - didn't look so much bloodshot as just bloody hahaha. Ew.

10.29.17: Jen's easy spider cookies

10.29.16: brain hemorrhage drink

10.29.15: skeleton pretzels

Around the Campfire (week 43)

Dear Campers ~

This weeks recap includes a few pics from the quick trip we took to Maine with Al and Cathy - it was chilly and a little rainy, but so pretty! I love the architecture (especially the gray shingled cottages), the fresh seafood, and the little towns set along the coast - hopefully I'll get to go back and explore some more (my favorite area so far is Bar Harbor, have you been?)!

Posts you might have missed ~

10/21: around the campfire (week 42)
10/22: Sarge's Beanie Baby costume
10/23: stick pumpkin and pinecone bat
10/24: Lisa's tater tot casserole
10/25: Bat treat bag topper
10/26: Peggy's footprint ghosts
10/27: pumpkin treat bags

Not much to ramble about this week because we weren't home much - pretty much ate out every night between Macey's birthday dinner, my birthday dinner (actually I had 2 birthday dinners - yay!), and the 4 days we spent in and around Portland, Maine looking at the beautiful scenery and eating our weight in lobster (and mussels, and crab, and the best scallops I've ever had, and chowder...); it was a great trip and fun week, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be days before I'm hungry again!

The Bush family compound in Kennebunkport 

my first Maine lobster roll - just chunks of lobster on a toasted roll

look at the difference turning this photo black and white makes - I love the "mood" of the black and white one. 

See you next week - I have a couple last minute Halloween food ideas before fall crafting starts! Have a good day :)

Sincerely - 

Jill, your camp counselor

10.28.17: devil's food cupcakes with orange swirled buttercream frosting










10.28.16: pumpkin spice soap

10.28.15: tissue paper flowers

Pumpkin Treat Bags

Tesha made these to give out to the kids at dance class - so cute and creative! And easy, so you still have time to make them for Halloween...

Draw a jack-o-lantern face on sandwich baggies with a Sharpie; she filled hers with orange cheese balls which is super cute because they make a good looking "pumpkin" but you can fill them with whatever you want; insert a fun-sized candy bar for the stem and tie closed with ribbon.

one year ago: candy corn cupcake













two years ago: deer/trophy wife costume













three years ago: mummy meatballs

Baby Footprint Ghosts

Peggy had a pumpkin party for the kids (from the pictures I saw everyone had a blast); LeDonna was there and took this picture for me of a fun project that Peggy made - a cute painted canvas turning her grandson's footprints into ghosts. What a fun gift for parents and grandparents that they can save and put out every Halloween - love it!

I'm trying to figure out if my "kid"s paw print can be turned into something (wonder if I could get him to sit still long enough to paint his paw hahaha!).

Seriously, how cute is this idea?!

Bat Treat Holder

This is so easy and not even particularly crafty that I'm a little hesitant to post it! Ready for how simple this is? Glue a small clothespin onto the back of a cut-out paper bat. Clip on the top of a bag filled with goodies. Done.

I could go on and on about how cute this is, that you can change the shapes to whatever Halloween or other holiday you like, and that you can even buy a bag of shapes already cut out at the craft store that have glitter on them (which, not gonna lie, is what I did!)... but I'm done talking today. 'Nuf said.

Just make it already so I don't feel dumb posting this. You love it - right?

Lisa's Tater Tot Casserole

I made a version of tater tot casserole in the crock pot last year (click here for that post) which tasted delicious but cooked down so much it looked like hash brown casserole. My friend Lisa posted this photo on FB the other day and I instantly asked if I could share her recipe and picture - look how pretty it is! I want this right now (and it's nowhere near dinner time hahaha). Thanks for sharing, Lisa!

Tater Tot Casserole

1 Bag of Tater Tots

1 1/2 lbs Hamburger
1/2 onion
Salt and seasoning to taste
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cheddar cheese soup
About 1/2 cup velveta cheese
1/2 cup velveta queso cheese
1/2 cup of frozen corn

Brown hamburger and onion together
When browned and seasoned add your soups and cheese mix all together till the all the cheese is melted
Place a few TT on the bottom of a your sprayed pan 9x13 or a 9x11.
I Prefer the smaller pan
Salt the TT just a little
Sprinkle the corn
Place the hamburger mixture on top of the TT
Place the rest of TT on top
Sprinkle with some grated cheese and some Panko Bread crumbs
Bake 350 for about 45 mins till heated through and bubbling
Enjoy. I serve it with a toss green salad with Italian dressing. There something about the taste.
Remember season the meat mixture to taste.

Stick Pumpkin Art and Pine Cone Bat

Today it's a two-fer craft - both are very simple and cute on their own, but I like how they look together so I decided to share both on the same post.

• For the stick pumpkin - cut sticks in different lengths and glue to a piece of heavy cardstock in the shape of a pumpkin. Prop it on an easel or put it in a frame. 

• The pine cone bat is just 2 black paper wings I cut out of cardstock glued into a pine cone.

Initially I made a little paper face with googly eyes for my bat but 

I think it looks kinda dumb - hahahaha, I like it better with just the wings.

See - I told you they were easy! 

Sarge's Beanie Baby Costume

I. Cannot. Believe. It. Took. This. Long. for me to find the perfect costume for Sarge. It's been right under my nose for years. These little Scottie beanie babies have been on my shelf since probably 1996 and only just now, just this year, now that Sarge is almost 6 (and we had other Scotties -Harry and Holly- before him!), that it's occurred to me that the easiest, cutest, most perfect costume is to make Sarge a beanie baby for Halloween. 

All I did was enlarge the tag on the printer and print onto heavy cardstock, then embellish with some gold glitter paint. I laminated it because (a) I'm obsessed with laminating, and (b) it'll last longer - especially if it's raining out or he rolls in something before I can stop him. Dogs. 

Seriously, cutest thing ever (in my Scottie-world anyway!).

He's very upset that I wouldn't let him "play" with the stuffed Beanie Baby! 

Around the Campfire (week 42)

Hi Campers!

Hope you've had fun reading the blog this week and getting some Halloween ideas, and a couple good recipes? If not, check out this recap of all that's going on:

Posts you might have missed ~

10/14: around the campfire (week 41)
10/15: sequin pumpkin
10/16: white chicken chili
10/17: mini pumpkin diorama
10/18: spinach maria soup
10/19: ghost sucker wreath
10/20: apple crumb cheesecake pie

What's cooking ~

• lemon-dill baked salmon, cauliflower rice, steamed spinach
• oven baked pork chops, fried green tomatoes, roasted carrots
• beef stew in the crockpot
• grilled chicken, zoodles with red sauce
• grilled tuna steak, sticky rice, broccoli with cheese sauce
• pasta feast for Macey's birthday - lasagna with meat sauce, and cheese ravioli with basil pesto; bread, spinach salad, buffalo chicken dip, artichoke dip...and upside down pineapple cake! 

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy but not interesting enough for an entire post ~

• Miss Lori sent me this picture of the cute baggie wreath she made after seeing it on the blog, along with this note:  Just wanted to share my $3.00 wreath-thank you for the idea on the plastic bags-who would have thought?! So cute - thanks for sharing!
• 2 family birthdays this week - my mom is in Tennessee so we didn't get to celebrate with her, my niece Macey came home for the weekend so we got to hang a bit with her. I'm still full from all the food at her birthday  dinner!
• still working my way thru the stack of library books - this week flew by and there's no time for reading. that's a bummer for me.
• been busy in the craft room and kitchen - you'll see some of those things next week. Stay tuned - can't wait to show you Sarge's Halloween costume, cutest thing ever (in my opinion haha). 

See you guys next week at "camp"! Have a good one (and stay warm, all of the sudden it's SO cold here!!)

Sincerely, 

Jill, your camp counselor

Apple Crumb Cheesecake Pie

This is the dessert I made for my "competition" with Cathy (after we went to the Country Mill and split a 1/2 bushel of Northern Spy apples we somehow turned it into having a bake-off to see who could make the better apple dessert - really, why do I turn even getting apples into a competition? LOL!!). She made an apple spice cake with warm rum sauce which was fantastic, reminded me a lot of the apple pudding cake I make for Dave that is so, so good. I didn't get her apple spice cake recipe, but click here for my apple pudding cake recipe.

I found two recipes for this 2 desserts-in-one apple pie/slash/cheesecake;  it's weird but it seems they are both using a third person's recipe but use different amounts of ingredients to make the filling - I'm curious what the original recipe calls for. I bet one of these recipes is the original and one is modified but I don't know which is which! click here and here for the recipes I based this on. I sorta combined the two recipes to come up with my version:

Ingredients:

• dough for 1 piecrust (homemade or store bought)

APPLE PIE FILLING:

• 6 cups apples, peeled and diced
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 6 T. brown sugar
• 6 T. white sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 1/2 cup water

CRUMB TOPPING:

• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 T. unsalted butter, melted
• pinch of coarse salt

CHEESECAKE:

• 1 8oz. package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons sour cream

GARNISH (optional):

• 1/4 cup caramel sauce (I used Sanders)

INSTRUCTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 375'

APPLE PIE FILLING:

1. Drizzle the lemon juice over the apples and toss to coat. Set aside.
2. Stir together the sugars, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a large saucepan. Whisk in the water until everything has dissolved.
3. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Add the apples and increase the heat to medium-high to bring the mixture to a full boil again. Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally for 10-12 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool.
5. Refrigerate the filling in an airtight container for 4-6 hours to thicken. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

FOR THE PIECRUST:

1. Spray a 9" pie plate with nonstick baking spray.
2. Place the dough in the pie plate. Fold the edges of the dough under and crimp them. Refrigerate until ready to sue.

FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:

1. Mix together all crumb topping ingredients and set aside.

FOR THE CHEESECAKE:

1. Beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the sugar and beat the mixture until smooth.
2. Add the egg and beat until fully incorporated but do not over beat the batter.

ASSEMBLY:

1. Spread the cheesecake batter in the prepared pie crust.
2. Gently spoon the apple pie filling on top of the cheesecake batter.
3. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the pie filling.
4. Bake for 40 minutes
5. Drizzle with caramel sauce if desired.

notes: Either I didn't cut the apples in small enough pieces, or I didn't cook them long enough before adding them to the pie because they were crunchy even after the pie was baked. It still tasted great, but the apples needed to be cooked a bit more. My advice is to cook your apples until they are just soft and not crunchy - don't overcook tho or it'll be mushy. Mine didn't soften much during the baking of the pie. 

Ghost Sucker Wreath

I've made ghost sucker wreaths for a long time but this time I switched it up a bit. The "classic" way is to wrap a kleenex around a sucker, knot it to a wire wreath and hang a small pair of kids safety scissors from the bottom so you can cut off one "ghost" at a time as needed (either to give a sucker to someone or if you need a sugar fix haha!). For this wreath I wrapped each sucker in a coffee filter which makes a pretty ruffly wreath that I think looks better than the kleenex version!

Instead of knotting them on I tied each one on with a bow so I don't need scissors to get the ghosts off the wreath. Because the coffee filters are thicker, it worked better to alternate the suckers with head facing into the center and head facing out - I was able to fill in the holes easier this way and make the wreath look nice and full.

After wrapping the coffee filter around the sucker just dot on eyes using a fat sharpie - I enjoy the little faces peeking out between the filter ruffles.

Black curly ribbon would have been better looking probably, but I didn't have any so just used white - still cute! I finished this one by adding a Dollar store bow (attach with a pipe cleaner and make a loop for hanging), but that's your call - it also looks good without one!

10.19.2017: bloody handprint decals
10.19.2016: graveyard dirt cake
10.19.2015: halloween gingerbread houses