Fun Halloween Treat Ideas

Here are a couple of easy Halloween treat ideas that the kids and even the adults will love. These Reese cup bats and chocolate mini donut spiders are not only fun but also so easy to make.

  Every Halloween, our grandsons go trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. So, we always try to have some fun treats. There is no recipe or cooking involved; you just need the treats and some time to assemble them.

Fun, easy Halloween Treats: Here is what you need:

Reese Cups (Full size)
Oreo Cookies
Pretzels (Large Thin)
Chocolate mini donuts
Edible candy eyes
Edible dab-n-hold adhesive

Let us make the spiders first:

With a sharp knife, cut the large loops of the pretzels where they meet the middle. This is not a perfect process, so you're going to waste some of them.

Now, press four pretzel loops on each side into the mini donuts. Ten glue on the candy eyes using Wilton Dab-N-Hold Edible Adhesive. And that is it, you've made a mini donut spider.

Now for the Reese Cup Bats:

First, separate the Oreo cookies, scrape the icing off one side, or you can eat that one and keep on going.

Again, use a sharp knife to cut the Oreos in half. These will be your bat wings. This is also not perfect; you're going to waste some, which is great because you get to eat them.

Use the edible adhesive to attach the Oreo halves to the Reese Cups, and do the same for the eyes. Oh!! How easy these are to make and how much fun they are. I'm sure they will disappear quickly.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy.

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Moist Easy Zucchini Bread

With a few simple ingredients and not much time, you can enjoy this moist, easy zucchini bread. Yes, it's that time of year again, the fall, when we enjoy the fresh harvest from our gardens.

My friend George gave me some beautiful, fresh zucchini from his garden. So, I did some digging and found my mother's easy zucchini bread recipe.

The thing about zucchini bread is that it's really versatile; you can add all the things you enjoy. For example, chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins, or just about any fresh fruit that you like.

As always, I used my KitchenAid Stand Mixer for this recipe. I used my flat batter attachment to beat the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together.

I mixed the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon in another bowl.

Then I added the dry ingredients to the mixer and mixed until the batter was nice and creamy.

Next, I added the grated zucchini and continued mixing until it was fully incorporated. This is the time to add any of the options I mentioned above.

I greased two 9-inch x 5-inch bread pans with Baker's Joy non-stick spray. I use this spray for all of my muffins, and they never stick.

I preheated the oven to 325 degrees and baked these for 50 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center came out clean.

Let them cool for 20 to 30 minutes, and they will pop right out of the pan.

If you would like the bread to be a little higher, then use 8-inch x 4-inch bread pans.

Ingredients for quick, easy zucchini bread:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2-1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups grated zucchini
Add any of the options that you like

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy

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Grilled White Potatoes

The other day, Fran came home from the grocery store with a really nice Rib-eye steak for the grill. There is nothing that I like better than steak and fries, or sometimes a baked potato.

This time, I decided to try something a little different. I made these grilled white potatoes with butter, garlic, parmesan cheese, and served them with sour cream and fresh chives.

These turned out to be the best-grilled potatoes that I ever made, and they were a perfect side for my Rib-eye steak.

First, I washed the potato, then sliced it to about 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. I cut the slices in half and skewered them on my flat metal skewers.

Then, I melted 3 tablespoons of butter and brushed it on both sides of the potatoes. I fired up the grill on medium.

I sprinkled both sides with Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning, salt, and pepper.

I grilled these for 15 minutes on one side, then turned them over and grilled for another 10 minutes. After they came off the grill, I brushed on the remaining melted butter and served them with sour cream and fresh chives. The result was that the outside was nice and crispy, and the inside was tender and so delicious.

You might also like our Grilled Sweet Potatoes

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy

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How to Cook Corn on a Campfire

We live in a small village in Western New York, and every year the village shuts down for its Independence Day Celebration. The main street is lined with food and craft vendors, the tennis court is turned into a fun zone for the kids with bouncy houses and slides, and in the gazebo, a live band plays all day.

In the morning, there is a 5K walk/run for those in shape, and later in the day, a parade for the kids. Of course, the evening finishes off with a fantastic fireworks display.

Since we live only two blocks from the park in the village, our house is a hub of activity on the 4th of July. This year, we kept it simple with hot dogs, hamburgers, fruit, desserts, and one more thing, corn on the cob cooked on a campfire.

It sure was a fun day, and this was the first time I ever cooked corn over a campfire, so I thought I would explain how I mastered it.

How to cook corn on a campfire:

First, I soaked the corn with the husks on for 5 hours in my large stock pot. Two hours before we wanted to eat, I started a fire in my Firepit. I needed to let it burn down so there were almost no flames, just hot wood.

My fire pit came with a grill top, so this made it easy for me. I set the ears of corn on the grill top and turned them every 10 minutes for 30 minutes. I used my Grilling Gloves to turn the corn. Then I peeled the husks off some hot, juicy, delicious corn.

This method will also work very well on a gas or charcoal grill. I think the key is to keep turning them every 10 minutes.

You might also like my: Campfire Mountain Pies

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy.

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Baked Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Caps

We have been making this baked portobello mushroom recipe for years. This is perfect if you have a meatless day in your menu as a complete meal served with a vegetable, and these are oh! so healthy. Or, these make a great starter to any meal.

Cheese-stuffed portobello mushroom caps with goat cheese, topped with chopped nuts, mozzarella cheese, and served with a tasty tomato sauce.

So, the other day Fran picked up 3 nice portobello mushrooms and an 8 oz. package of goat cheese. We had everything else we needed to make these.

First, we cleaned and rinsed the mushrooms. I poured 1/2 cup of tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch x 9-inch baking pan. Then sprinkled some Italian seasoning in the sauce.

I chopped the nuts for the topping in my mini food processor. You can use any kind of nuts that you like. I used walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pine nuts. I just pulsed them a few times so the nuts were still coarse. You can also chop them finely if you prefer.

Next, I placed them in the pan and added the goat cheese; I used a little more than a tablespoon for each mushroom. Then I sprinkled shredded mozzarella and topped them off with the chopped nuts. Bake these at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

The ingredients that we used here would be enough to make 4 or 5 of these; any more than that, you will need more goat cheese, sauce, and nuts.

Baked Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms:

3 or 4 Portobello Mushrooms
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Italian Seasoning
3 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons walnuts (Chopped)
2 tablespoons pine nuts (Chopped)
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds (Chopped)

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy.

KitchenAid 3.5 Cup Food Chopper KFC3516CU, Contour Silver

 

Quick Easy Blueberry Muffins

Friday morning, Fran and Jamie had some errands to run. So, that left Bobby, Tyler, and me the whole morning on a rainy day.

I made some scrambled eggs for Bobby, and all Tyler wanted was chocolate milk. I remembered Fran telling me that we had some blueberries in the refrigerator that needed to be used.

Since it was raining out, I thought the guys would like to help me make some blueberry muffins. Tyler was more interested in building things with his Tinker Toys, so Bobby and I got to work on these quick, easy blueberry muffins.

To make easy blueberry muffins from scratch, you only need a few simple ingredients and, of course, fresh or frozen blueberries. Our blueberries were fresh, and we had everything else we needed. The ingredients and instructions are below to make these quick and easy blueberry muffins.

First, we made the batter using my KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Then we folded in the fresh blueberries by hand using a spatula.

We sprayed a large muffin tin with Baker's Joy Non-Stick Spray and filled each muffin cup with 1/4 cup of batter.

We mixed some light brown sugar with white sugar and sprinkled it on top. Then, into the oven to bake for about 20 minutes at 375 degrees. We yielded 12 easy, moist blueberry muffins from this recipe.

Here is what we used to make our blueberry muffins: 

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1-1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions:

1. Add the oil and sugar together and begin mixing on low speed.
2. Then add the eggs, vanilla, honey, baking powder, and salt. Continue on low speed.
3. Add the milk and one cup of flour, and continue mixing for about one minute.
4. Lastly, add the second cup of flour and continue on low speed until you have a nice batter.
5. Then fold in the blueberries by hand with a spatula.
6. Fill the muffin tins, then sprinkle the light brown sugar and sugar mixture over the tops.
7. Bake on the center rack at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until golden brown.

These easy-to-make blueberry muffins are perfect for breakfast or just a snack. I have to tell you, these didn't last long after coming out of the oven.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy.

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