Ghostly Pretzel Rods & Cookie Headstones

I am in charge of dessert for Logi's kindergarten class Halloween party, and I decided I would create a graveyard of cupcakes and top them with frosting and Oreo cookies crumbled into dirt.  and then top the dirt with gummy worms, ghosts and headstones.  Very spooky and Very tasty!

 I buy bags of melting vanilla chips online.  I am certain you

can find at any baking supply store. 

Use a glass or stainless steel bowl, over a pot of water 

(only a few inches of water, as the water should never touch the 

base of the bowl) on medium heat.  Stir often.

Keeping the the double boiler on medium heat, I switched out bowls

and started melting some standard dark chocolate chips.

I used a spoon to coat the pretzel rods (broken in half, as I am going

to stick them in cupcakes and full size would be maj overkill). Then

set dipped (and dripped off, into bowl of coating) pretzels on a 

parchment lined tray to fully set up.

Melted dark chocolate.  Be responsible, don't like the bowl!

After melted turn the heat off, but leave over the warm water until

you are ready to transfer.  The best thing about working with melted 

chocolate, if it starts to harden, pop it on the heat for a minute and it

will quickly melt again!

I bought single layer cookies (this cookie is usually sandwich cookies,

so I was excited to find them as singles)  I placed them plain side up, on

a parchment paper lined tray.

Transfer the melted dark chocolate to a bottle. 

 They aren't perfect, but sure did turn out cute! 

 I used too many vanilla chips, so placed the excess melt on a piece

of parchment and spread out with a spatula to set.  I then broke

it up into bits and popped in a freezer safe bag and into the freezer for

a later date bake session. 

I will certainly post a picture, once these little goodies are plopped 

in the cupcake graveyard!!!

Final Product!
They were scrumptious and adorable!
Use my recipe for frosting, at the beginning of this
post, and use green gel to get the 'grass' then crush
Oreo cookies for the 'dirt'.

 So easy, cute and tasty = Halloween success!

October Fest Egg Bake

 

Just under the end-of-October-wire I knocked out this egg bake today.

I have been thinking about it for weeks (as pretzel buns feel like a pantry

staple this time of year AND who doesn't love an egg bake on a Sunday morning?)

Slice (or chop, however you desire) a large yellow onion, over medium/high

heat slowly saute with 3 T of butter.  Add salt & pepper.

After ~10 minutes the onions will be soft and translucent. Transfer to 

a bowl and pop in the refrigerator to cool.

Some of the other ingredients, in addition to the sauteed onions:

pretzel buns

peppers (mild, slightly sweet)

sausages (any variety would work just fine)

 3 T spicy brown mustard

Not pictured:

shredded cheese (any variety will do, so use up what you have)

Eggs (I used a 32 ounce carton of egg whites)

Wash the peppers, cut off the tops, and cut down the middle lengthwise.

Use a spoon to scoop out all of the seeds. Then chop the peppers.

 I did to say how much peppers to add, as you can add as little or many

to your liking.  I cut enough peppers to yield 1/2 cup chopped.

I cubed 6 cups of pretzel buns.  To the bowl of sauteed onions I added

the chopped peppers, spicy brown mustard and sausages.  

 Place the pretzel bun chunks in the base of a greased pan (this oval

is just  a couple inches shy of being the equivalent of a 9x13 pan).

Top the pretzel chunks with the onion & sausage mixture.

Top with cheese (I used 2 cups total of shredded jack, asiago and parmesan)

Like I said, any cheese will work. I had a bag of shredded jack in the

refrigerator and always seem to have a wedge of parmesan and asiago on

hand.  The combo of these cheeses was excellent!

Top with eggs (I used a 32 ounce carton of egg whites) that have been 

whipped with salt and pepper and cover for the night.  

A true egg bake always sits in the refrigerator overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350, uncover the 

dish and bake for ~1 hour.

The egg bake will be golden brown, crusty and puffy like a souffle!

Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving!

It's probably appropriate to serve this with beer, at breakfast!

Heavenly (seriously I heard angels singing) Cheesy Pumpkin Noodles

I cannot quit the squash family, this time of year.  It is a deep seeded love, 

and I am super excited to share this quick and super tasty recipe with you.

What you need:

1- 15oz. can of pumpkin puree (I prefer Trader Joe's brand)

1- 8oz tub of whipped cream cheese

2 cups whole milk

1 & 1/2 bags of 1 lb. spaghetti noodles

5 T. butter

1 large onion, sliced thin

1 & 1/2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese

1 T. pure maple syrup

8 sage leaves

hearty pinch of grated nutmeg

salt & pepper

 

Begin melting the butter in a saute pan.  Add the thinly 

sliced onions, salt & pepper.Cook over medium heat.

The butter will be bubbly and slowly start to brown.

 After the onions start to tenderize and the butter starts to brown, toss in 

the sage (I stack the sage and slice twice down the length of the leaves, then

chop across).  Cook an additional few minutes, while stirring the sage around.  

 Brown butter and onion perfection.  This will smell like heaven, 

infused with fresh sage!

 Toss the prepared spaghetti noodles in the onions and brown butter

 (the spaghetti is cooked to al dente in a big pot of boiling salted water),

coating each noodle with the infused butter.

Set the noodles aside on a platter, while you whip up the sauce in

the saute pan 

In the noodle free saute pan, add the milk, cream cheese, pumpkin,

maple syrup and fresh grated nutmeg.  Combine, then salt and pepper 

to taste. Like with any milk base sauce, I always think I end up 

needing more salt and pepper than I originally thought, so taste as you 

go and continue seasoning.  

After the milk, cream cheese and pumpkin are combined, stir

in the grated parmesan cheese. Taste it.  Is it seasoned appropriately?

The sauce will be thick and absolutely mouth watering!  If it is too 

thick for your liking, thin out with a tiny bit of milk.

 I simply garnished with some maple spiced pecans I had in the

kitchen. They are so good and were the perfect tiny crunch.

Do click above to see how absolutely simple they are to whip up.

I think some other wonderful additions to this heavenly pasta 

would be:

sauteed portobello mushrooms, chicken, bacon...mmmm!

Report back with the goodies you throw in. 

 Enjoy!!