Halloween Candy Trade-In

I love Halloween night. Love it! I love pulling together costumes and eating dinner as quickly as possible so we can get out in the neighborhood with the rest of the families. I love the glowing jack-o-lanterns and giant bowls of goodies and smiling neighbors. I love watching Blaine--the brave knight--running down the sidewalk with two shields, a sword, and a ghostie candy bucket, with Tigger Roger chasing after him. I love the excitement over a 'honey bitto' (really Blaine, you love Bit-o-Honeys?) or the polite 'ackshully I don't really like these candies' on each porch. And I love ushering them home, letting them munch a few favorite sweets, cozying them up, and watching them drift off to sleep (or is it a sugar induced coma?).

But then we wake up on November 1st and there are two giant ghostie buckets of sugar on the counter. Yikes! So I have a plan this year, and my boys are already looking forward to it.

We'll save a few of our favorite candies and put them in treat basket in the high cupboard. They can be doled out for good behavior, extra chores, or an easy dessert. But the rest will be traded in for coupons. You know, like this: "Trade in 5 candies and earn a family movie night." We're going to do movies and outings (to the local science museum, bookstore, dollar store, or yogurt shop, for example) and maybe even a late night. And look. I even found these printable vouchers to use.

Here's the thing, I'm not ultra controlling or even super worried about a little sugar in my kids' lives. But you should see the loot we collected. And you should see my two-year-old on a real life sugar high. Whoa. This way, we got our magical Halloween night, we get some of our favorite sweets, and we also maintain our sanity and healthy bloodstreams. It's like a win-win-win.

Already dreaming of Thanksgiving mashed potatoes,
Anne

P.S. Any fun outings/prizes to add to the voucher list?

Autumn Sweets

Ah...the air is getting cool, the leaves are red and crunchy, the evenings are coming earlier. Nothing like the Autumn to make you want to cozy up with the family and enjoy some good eats. We think these are some of the most fun, fallish sweets...

How great do these pumpkin cookies look? Mmmm! Recipe here.

Just this week we made a batch of caramel apples with the cousins. Do NOT mess with buying and unwrapping a bunch of caramels. This recipe is tops.

Sugar cookies are a must for the littles. We think Lori's recipe is the softest. Yum!

Aebleskivers are a fun one for a brisk Autumn night. Serve with hot cocoa or cider.

And, get excited because Danielle is sharing her amazing cinnamon roll recipe with us today. Let me say for the record: I've never had better cinnamon rolls than these. I'm serious people, she could put cinnabon in the poorhouse. They take a bit of time and effort and well--mess, but just let your kids get all floured up and make them with you, and enjoy a whole day of fall fun.

(my first try at Danielle's recipe. Not as nicely shaped as hers but ohhhh...ooey gooey goodness)

Danielle's Cinnamon Rolls

Scald 2 c milk,cool
Mix 1c hot water with 1c potato flakes, set aside (or use 1 cup fresh mashed potato).
Mix 1/2 c warm water with 2 T yeast & pinch of sugar, set aside.

Combine
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup oil
4 eggs
1 T salt
then add yeast mixture, milk (make sure its not hot or it will kill the yeast), and potato.

Then add 6 C flour, switch to dough hook and add 2 more cups (so a total of 8 C flour, +or- depending on humidity....its a pretty sticky dough though so don't add too much flour or they will be tough).

Cover, and let dough rise till double in size, then beat down and knead a bit and let rise again.
Then divide in 2 and roll each piece out into a large rectangle (on a well floured surface) about the size of a jelly roll sheet.

Spread soft butter on the rolled out dough, making sure you get it all the way out to the edges. Then sprinkle with lots of cinnamon and dark brown sugar. (Also you can add raisins and walnuts if you like them, but make sure you boil your raisins first so they are soft.)

Then roll them up and divide each roll into 12 rolls. (Dental floss works best to cut them!) Place them on Jelly roll sheets or you can use whatever pan you have. If placed in a deeper pan closer together they will just be taller and narrower, and likewise a shallow wide pan will make them a bit wider and flatter. I usually put 12 rolls to a Jelly roll pan.

Cover with plastic and let rise till they are big and fat, then back at 375 till for about 15-20 min (just watch them...you don't want to over cook them..they will be just light brown).

Cream cheese frosting:

1 box powdered sugar
1 8oz. cream cheese (room temp!)
1 cube butter (room temp!)
1t. vanilla

Thanks, Danielle!

xo,
anne

What about you? What Autumn deliciousness are you baking up?

Festooned!

There is almost nothing more fun than opening up the Halloween decorations box every autumn. Except maybe adding to it every year (wink!). We thought you might want a few fun ideas for Halloween 2010.

First of all, there's nothing like the dollar spot at Target for some new, inexpensive decor. It's so fun to treat your kids to a new item of their choice because hey, it's only a dollar! Also, remember to use what you've got. Bring out all your candles, clip some autumn branches from your maple tree, ask a local farmer for some dried corn stalks for your front porch.

Next, get crafty...

Spooky silhouettes are some of our favorite things. You can follow our directions here. This year I'm going to use these darling templates.

And how's this for simple, spooky fun? Check out this 'forgotten flowers centerpiece' idea. Love it! We think we're going to spray paint every fake flower we can find and put bundles of them all around the house!

Also, here are some Bloom '09 Halloween ideas that may be new to you...

all sorts of pumpkin decor

keeping it simple and kid-produced

October round-up

What are you doing this year for decor? Any fun ideas or links to share?

"One Tea-Scoop of Salt..."

Lori Truman is back with her famously delish sugar cookies! Yay! Welcome, Lori!

Got a bit of time on your hands? And a little holiday cheer in your heart? Then you should make these sugar cookies with your child/children/spouse/self.

Because they are YUM. I got the recipe from my practically perfect in every way (baking included) sister-in-law, Maria, who got it from our fabulous aunt, Laurie, who must have gotten it from the ultimate goody guru. I think the secret is the sour cream.

Soft Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking soda
6 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. almond flavoring
1 tsp. vanilla

Maria's directions:
Cream together the butter, sugar and eggs.
Add sour cream, flour, soda, salt and flavorings.

The dough is fairly sticky, so you will need to use a fair amount of flour when rolling the cookies out. (I like to put it in the fridge for a few hours to help it firm up).

Cut out shapes and bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for about 7 minutes. (I never set the timer when I bake, I just watch the cookies. Someone taught me once that the cookies are done when the tops are no longer "shiny" and there are small air bubbles on top.)

Frost with your favorite butter cream frosting. (I also add a little almond flavoring to my frosting--maybe 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon or something).

My directions
Do all the above (letting your daughter roll out the dough. Daughters love to roll out dough). But when you forget to "just watch the cookies" and you burn one batch (me=not practically perfect in every way), then you should designate that dozen for experimental frosting by your four year old.And, in general, you should have fun making these cookies. And you should not mind the flour and frosting EVERYWHERE. Because isn't it fun to hear your child direct, "Now, one tea-scoop of salt!," after scrutinizing tsp for a few seconds? Isn't that worth a flour/frosting covered kitchen? Sometimes it really is!

And...sometimes it's really not! And on those days, when you don't have a bit of time on your hands (but you do have a little holiday cheer in your heart!), then you should buy Halloween Oreos. Because they are orange and black. And they have ghosts and bats and cats and witches imprinted on them. And doesn't that make them the perfect Halloween cookie?? October is the only time we buy Oreos.

Whatever cookies you choose, my friends, here's to a happy, tasty, Halloween!!!

Halloween Menu

I really like my husband. When I get out the Halloween decor, he jumps in to help me hang the spider garland and assemble my pumpkin displays. I think partly because we like to do absolutely everything together and partly because he is super creative. And Taylor's creativity really shines in the kitchen. Boyyy, does it!

So here is our favorite Halloween menu, a la my husband:

* Squash soup with reduced balsamic vinegar designs*

For soup recipes, try Alton Brown's or this one from epicurious. Click here for instructions on reducing the vinegar (it's super easy). Once it's reduced, put it in a squirt bottle and make your designs. Some we've tried: spiderweb, spider, witch's hat. I suppose if you are really confident in your art work, you could try a black cat or a witch or anything else ghoulish you wish!

Serve this soup up with some of yesterday's peasant bread, and you've got yourself a meal!

And for dessert--

* Vanilla milkshake ghosts*

Happy dining!
-Anne

Home-made Fun & Memories

I poke around the ether quite often for holiday inspiration. I love to gather ideas from Martha Stewart, Better Homes & Gardens, Danielle :), and the likes. But often, those are not the kinds of crafts little kids can help with.

This season, I wanted to focus on things I could do with my kids. One day while Henry and I were playing with scissors at the white table, we just started piecing together jack-o-lantern faces from shapes we'd cut. In an instant, my mind was flooded with all kinds of cut-n-paste ghouls we could create together.

Next thing we knew we were excitedly cutting big orange circles, little green stems, snaggle-toothed smiles, and finally, we were gluing. Henry loved the messiness of the glue. I loved the synergy of our combined creativity. Over the next few weeks, we made additional spooks out of paper, glue, and a little bit of washable paint. We had so much fun concocting ghoulish forms - monsters, ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and scary black blobs. We laughed about the faces Henry made with his clumsy brush strokes.

When we'd amassed a nice little collection of frightful faces, I hung a length of twine from the fireplace mantle and Henry helped me attach our creations with mini clothes pins.

I couldn't love a Martha masterpiece more.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Another fun activity we did together was a Halloween scavenger hunt. We just did it one morning while Lily was napping. Henry went into his room while I hid half-a-dozen clues -- inside a shoe, in the oven, tucked inside a library book...

They lead him to a little Halloween DVD I had picked out at the beginning of the month. When he found it, we watched it together. It was a fun way to create excitement and a memory around a simple gift.

Hope you've filled the month with Halloween magic - and if you haven't, there are still a few days to squeeze in some simple fun!

Friday Forum: Autumn Traditions

As soon as the air begins to crisp up, my husband, Taylor, gets giddy. He wants to do nothing but pick pumpkins, eat soup, and caramelize apples. I love autumn, too. It's everything family, cozy, earthy, and delicious.

I'm always looking for great ideas to add to our list of traditions. So, here's my proposal for today's forum. If I share our favorite caramel apple recipe (a la my sister, Kathryn), will you share your favorite autumn tradition? Deal?

Gourmet Caramel Apples

*15 large apples (we love Granny Smith. you decide!) washed, stemmed, and dried
*Homemade caramel (see recipe below)
*Melted chocolate and/or white chocolate
*Assorted toppings (chopped nuts (toasted pecans are delish), coconut, toffee bits, mini m&ms, finely chopped candy bars, etc.)
*Candy apple sticks

Insert stick into apple. Dip into caramel to coat. Let excess drip off. Roll immediately in desired toppings. Place apple on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Place in the freezer for a few minutes to set caramel. Next drizzle chocolate over the apple. (I like to pipe it out with a fine pastry tip.) Let it set in the freezer again. Drizzle another kind of chocolate. Let it set. The apple will keep a few days out of the refrigerator and up to two weeks in the refrigerator. Wrap finished apples in cellophane or in large favor bags and tie with ribbon.

Homemade Caramel:
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. butter
1 1/2 c. light corn syrup
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

Combine ingredients in saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Cook until mixture reaches 238 degrees. Let it cool slightly before dipping apples.

Enjoy!
-Anne

Your turn...

Holiday Service

It’s no secret our world needs more good will. At my house, we make sure to incorporate service with each holiday—yes, even Halloween! Our acts of service don’t really change from holiday to holiday, just the way we keep track of all the good things we do.



Here are 3 of my family's favorites:

1. Paper chains.
Cut strips of Halloween-y paper and keep them handy. I like to put mine in a vase by the phone. Each time you do something nice for someone else, write it down on a strip of paper and add it to your paper chain. Start this now and by Halloween you’ll have enough chains to decorate the whole house (or at least the kitchen).

2. Wall art.
Keep a stack of paper in the kitchen (I like to cut it down to 3” squares). Each time you do a good deed draw a little picture of it and add it to the wall. Pretty soon you will have an entire wall of happy memories.

3. Journals.
Keep a little service journal and add an entry each time you brighten someone’s day. You can make a pamphlet book like the ones I mentioned yesterday or use a journal you already have handy. Make sure the journal is kept in a convenient spot so everyone in the family can add to it when they need to.

To help you get started, I made a pdf of Halloween service ideas. Print it out on some Halloween paper and cut it into strips. Each day, draw out a paper strip and do the service. Then add it to your paper chain or wall art or journal.

Don’t forget step #3 that I mentioned Wednesday: Repeat! Traditions take time and lots of repetitions. So hop to it! Go send grandma a spooky card and decorate some sugar cookies for your neighbor.

Send me an email (sarah [at] sarahnielsen [dot] com) to let me know how your letter writing and good deed doing are going. Or if you need help with any of the projects I’ve mentioned. Or if you just want to say hi.

Happy Halloween-ing!

Thanks a whole million, Sarah! So many great ideas. Please come back and share more of your loveliness with us soon.

Writing Holiday Letters

These ideas are specific for Halloween but you can take any one idea and tweak it for every other holiday.

Send a letter to someone in your extended family. Or keep it close to home and leave a surprise note for someone in your own house.



There are endless possibilities when writing real letters. Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Accordion Books.
One reason I love accordion books: they are easy to display since they stand up on their own.
That means the recipient of your letter can display and enjoy your letter for a long time.

Use your scrap paper you have from other projects (I know you have some) and make an accordion book. You can follow the tutorial I wrote over here. Or you can learn to make an accordion book with pockets right here.

Write in it or add photos. Have each member of the family fill up a square with writing or a drawing. Describe your Halloween-y dinner menu. Draw pictures of your costumes. Be creative!

2. Postcards.
Did you know you can send a photo as a postcard? Just write on the back with a Sharpie, put a stamp on and you are good to go. Such a great way to share snapshots of your Halloween fun.

3. Pamphlets.
Make a little pamphlet book. (Learn how to do this right here.) Each person can have a page to write in. Put photos on the extra pages. Or make up a Halloween story. My toddler came up with a great one today all about his dragon costume. I wrote the story down for him as he told it to me and then he drew a picture on each page.



To help you get started, I have a little freebie for you! Here is a pdf of 6 Halloween cards. Print them out, cut them up, write a note, and send them off. They are a perfect fit for the pocket accordion books.

Or I have listed the pocket accordion book set and a set of 3 pamphlet books (pictured at the tip top of the article) in my etsy shop and you can go buy them there.

Meaningful Holidays

We are so tickled to have Sarah Nielsen as our guest here at Bloom for the next few days. She has all kinds of clever ideas about how to fill the upcoming holiday-filled months with meaningful service, creative correspondence and memorable traditions. You can find more of Sarah on her delightful blog or at Book Bound Bindery, her lovely little corner of the Etsy marketplace.

First of all, thanks to Anne and Em for inviting me to Bloom. What a great little spot of blogdom they have created.

With holiday season right around the corner, I decided to share a few tricks I use to make our holidays more meaningful.

The most important thing is to reserve family time! You could go to a dozen parties each weekend between now and Valentine’s Day (or so it seems, right?!). But don’t. Spend time with your family—especially just your own little family.

Here is my recipe for meaningful holidays:

1. Write letters to your family.
We write letters to our grandparents and cousins and aunties and uncles. I let my kiddos be in charge of this one. Sometimes we paint, or scribble, or glitter, or glue, or whatever until they are satisfied. Then we seal it up and send it off.

The next part that is equally important (and most often forgotten) is to write to each other. Write your spouse a note. Leave notes on the kiddo’s pillows. Help the kids write nice notes to each other.

2. Do something nice for your neighbors.Deliver flowers, rake leaves, shovel snow, make visits, pick up trash, or anything else you can think of. Be creative.

One of our favorites is to deliver treats. Bake your favorite chocolate chip cookies or get fancy with some themed treat (like these or these or these). That part isn’t what’s important. Delivering them is important. Actually take them to the door and give your friend a big hug. Look him/her in the eye and say, “I like you! Happy (fill in Holiday here)”. We all need more face to face interaction.

3. Repeat.
Chances are you and your families are not going to remember everything about every holiday. But you will remember the way these activities make you and your families feel. Those memories come with time so stick with it.

So there you have it. Tomorrow I’ll share some of my letter writing tips (I happen to LOVE writing letters) with some specific Halloween ideas. Friday, I’ll give you some tips for including service in your holidays.

Halloween Cupcakes

(image from The Sweetest Kitchen)

I've been doddling around some baking blogs, whetting my appetite for Halloween cuppies. No doubt you have a Halloween party or carnival coming up that you are donating baked goods for. (Heaven knows there's nothing more fun than a Cake Walk!).

So, some links for you...

Those pictured above are the Dulce de Leche Pumpkin Cupcakes from The Sweetest Kitchen. Dulce de Leche with pumpkin? Yes, Please!

There are several darling (and simple!) ideas at Kara's Cupcakes. The mummies are my favorite.

And, of course, Martha makes the list, as always. These brain cupcakes are nice and creepy!

More links? Share, please!

-Anne

Pumpkins, pumpkins!

Pretty much, we are smitten with pumpkins here at the blue house. The bulk of my autumn/Halloween decorating is some sort of variation on the pumpkin theme. Everything I've done this year is super simple (and quite inexpensive--everything pictured here totals about $20), so I wanted to share my latest pumpkin ideas...

1. Doorstep. Obviously this isn't a new idea. ('Duh, Anne,' you're thinking.) But what I want to emphasize here is the great variety you can find. Such great shapes, sizes and colors! Blaine chose the greenish/gray one, and it is awesome (and weighs about as much as me)!


2. With your dishes/vases/cake plates/etc. On my (free on the roadside!) buffet are all pumpkins that were home grown (either by us or my mother). I had so much fun using them to accent the stuff I already had. (If there is one thing my mother taught me about home decorating, it is to use the stuff you already have.)


3. Glitter pumpkins. Oh, glahry! I love these! I saw the idea on Martha Stewart's website three years ago, bought the glitter two years ago, and finally got my pumpkins glittered this year! The directions on Martha's site are great. (See HERE.)


A few notes:
Your young children can totally do these. The red and gold ones pictured here were done by my 3-year-old boy and my 7-year-old niece.

The superfine glitter is available through Martha's Michael's line.

I wish I had done 'funkins' instead. It's enough mess and the glitter is pricey enough that I wish I could keep these around. Next year...

Here's a fun close-up shot.


4. Pumpkins and pots. This is from an idea I saw once in Better Homes & Gardens. I love the earthy look of the terracotta pots (and most of us have some lying around, right?). This year I went for some extra funky pumpkins and squash, which I love. Last year it was a little more traditional (see here).

I hope you can find a great local pumpkin patch! Happy Harvest!
-Anne

(More fun pumpkin ideas? Let us know!)

p.s. Please remember to cast your vote for your favorite photo! (See finalists below.)

Spooky Canvases

Welcome October!

A few of weeks ago I got the Halloween itch and called the cousins over to help me scratch it. We mod-podged these spooky silhouettes onto canvas boards and they turned out darling.

What I love about this:

*Even the 3-year-olds participated, and they turned out fabulously (the owl pictured above is my Blaine's work!).

*It's simple and quick.

*It's cheap. Of course you can go with a stretched canvas, but these canvas boards are a tiny fraction of the price!

Here's how you do it:

*Gather your supplies (canvas boards, mod podge, paint brushes, black spray paint, and a cut out silhouette of your choice--see links below.)

*After your silhouette is cut out, spray paint it black and wait for it to dry.

*Adhere your silhouette to the canvas board with mod podge. Cover the whole board. It will dry clear.

To display: you could lean it against something, set it on an easel, or attach a ribbon to it and hang it up.

Here are links to the templates we used (thank you, Martha Stewart!):

Bat #1

Bat #2

witch

spider

skull

spitting cat

owl

AND. If you want to get a little more sophisticated and have some grown-up craft time, check out this raven that Danielle did. Fabulous!

--Anne