Caramelized Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

After carving our pumpkins (photo coming..) I like to bake the seeds. Andre doesn't like them, but I think they are yuuuuummmmy! Plus, pumpkin seeds have loads of health benefits. Read about the benefits here. Last year, I made on spicy batch and one sweet batch. This year, I totally went crazy and just combined the two!

I followed this recipe from Allrecipes.com, but I didn't use ginger. Ginger isn't one of my fav's, so I just left it out. :)

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 2 cups raw whole pumpkin seeds, washed and dried
• cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.(I used freezer paper.)
   
2. In a large bowl, stir together 3 tablespoons of sugar, the cumin, cinnamon, ginger, and cayenne pepper, and set aside.
3. Place the pumpkin seeds on the prepared baking sheet, spray them with cooking spray, and sprinkle with salt to taste. Bake the seeds in the preheated oven until lightly golden, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, and stir in the toasted pumpkin seeds along with 2 tablespoons of sugar. Cook and stir the seeds until the sugar forms a coating on the seeds, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir the caramelized seeds into the bowl of sugar-spice mixture, toss to coat, and let cool.

This is a great snack! Enjoy!

A Trip to Burt's Farm

Since before Andre and I were married, we have been driving out past Ellijay, GA to go to Burt's Farm. I have never been to a Pumpkin farm as big as this one, and with such a wide variety of pumpkins. It's amazing to see. The kids love running in between the pumpkins, and of course, the hay ride on the big trackers! It's always fun, and a great place to take some fall pictures.

Check out the site, it's a super cool family trip!

Have You Been "BOO-ed?"

I came across this idea over at Whipperberry's blog, and had googled it when I saw it on another blog. Shockingly enough, it was posted on A Bird and A Bean. :) (We are always on the same wave length. Good thing we are Sakura sistas!) I hadn't acted on my impulse to "Boo" someone yet, because we dont have very many kids on our street, and I wasn't sure how it would play out. Then a stroke of brilliance came over me, and I thought, "I CAN DO IT AT SCHOOL!" Last week was Fall break, so I knew the teachers would come back a bit sluggish. This would be the perfect reviver, and would get us in the mood for the upcoming Ole Hallow's Eve. Plus, it would be fun to start a sweet treat movement among friends.

It's pretty simple to do...You can google the idea and find TONS of templates. Decide what kind of treat you want to give. I gave a threesome of chocolate chip cookies that I baked. I was going to give some of the caramel apples we made, but decided to keep those for myself. :) Erin gave a bag of mixed candy...it's up to you. Put it in a bag or container, and attach the printed "boo" and poem. It's also a good idea to include extra copies of the poem/boo so that the next person can put them in the treats that they make. This will (hopefully) ensure that the ball gets rolling, and people get to boo-ing. Put the treat packages on someone's doorstep, or in my case, teacher's desk anonymously...watch the magic happen.

This is the poem. You can go HERE to down load the templates.

I printed the directions on the back of the poem.

Here are a couple of other places to get your "Boo-ed" materials!

Ghost Boo-ed

Mulitple ghosts

Never Say Die part 2

Wow. It's been getting crazy busy this week with Ole Hallows Eve approaching! There's been trunk or treating, pumpkin carving, and seed roasting! Sorry if you've been patiently waiting for more printables, and I let you down. :) But I am here now! So do not hesitate...download now.

I used this one from Craftily Ever After on my mantel.

I think I will chant this little poem while I do my "witchy" dance this year...from Mrs. Adventure!

Of course, those ladies at Eighteen25 are always giving us something golden for holiday fun!

The Crafty Nest gives us this too cute cookie jar printable.

I love all of these fun sites!

Never Say Die part 1

Or maybe the saying goes, "Never say never..." or is it,"It's never too late..." Anyway, Halloween is still five days a way! You have plenty of time to come up with loads of treats, and maybe even a few tricks. Always one ready to help, I have compiled a short list of some of my printable Halloween fav's for this year. Make the moment fun!

WhipperBerry's you've been "Booed" is spunky spin on a neighborhood favorite.

I love it All has a fun little card to say HI with.

This blog has more than one really cool printables! It is What it Is...Thank you!

These almost make me wish Cash was a bit older, so he could read these in his lunch! These lunch time jokes from LiveLoveLaughGrow

are a super silly!

Ok, so I actually have more to show you, but I am falling out dead tired! I will have to complete this mamerjammer list tomorrow. Turn up and tune in for more Halloween printables!

Nothing Says FALL Like Caramel Apples!

I love caramel apples. love them. They remind me of when I was a kid going to a carnival or fair. My mom would always want a candy apple, while I went with the caramel. Some things never change. This fall, I have had a hankering to make some yummy apples, and I thought it would be a good year to get Cash involved. Considering he doesn't quite have the same sweet tooth as his mama, I think it's safe to say he enjoyed "making" them more than "eating" them. Oh well, more for ME!!!!!!!!! YAY! Well, me and Luc.....

First- It's best to use Granny Smith apples, as they provide a nice contrast to the sweet caramel. Wash and dry apples thoroughly, and leave in the fridge. over night. It's good to have them nice and cold for the dipping.
Second- Begin melting your caramel. I just used a bag of Kraft caramels, and followed the cooking directions on the bag. (Cash thought he was a mastermind for being able to unwrap the caramels at lightening speed.) It takes a while for the caramel to melt, so I used this time to stick the sticks ( a little play on words there...) into the apples. Again, I didn't go fancy. Using what we had, which was craft sticks, seemed A OK for us. We also used this time to pull out some ole' wax paper, and cover a cookie sheet with it. Rub a little bit of butter over the wax paper, too.
Third- Tilt the pot of caramel a little to the side, so you get more depth. Gently role the apple around in the caramel leaving a little bit of apple left at the top. Hold the covered apple for a few seconds to let the caramel begin to harden before putting it on the wax paper.
Fourth- If you want to add a little extra "som'in som'in" to the apples, then let them harden for about 15 or so minutes. We used what we had on hand: M &M's, chocolate, and pecans. Pretty much, anything would work. For the M&M's and Pecans (candy that is harder in nature) just throw them in the food processor for a second. That'll show them who's boss. Actually, for ours, we just chopped them up with a butcher knife because Luc was napping. We didn't want to wake him. SO! Get that candy ready.
Fifth- Once the caramel has had a few minutes to harden, just roll the apples over the chopped candy, and viola! If you are using chocolate, use chocolate's instructions on how to melt it ( I usually either use a double boiler, or microwave it with a bit of butter. Stir every 30 sec. until it's melted.) Put the melted chocolate in a ziploc baggie, and snip one of the bottom corners off. Hold that apple upside down, and go to town! (Our chocolate didn't look super good, but ooohh yeah, it tasted super good.
( I don't know what Cash is doing, but he looks awesome.)
Sixth- BEST PART!- Eat your sweet treat! If you aren't woman (or man) enough to eat them all in one sitting, then place the remaining apples in the fridge. Be sure you thaw the apples a few minutes before you decide to tear into them again.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Earlier this week, Cash had a play date with our friends Charley and Reagan. I thought it would be fun for them to do something fallish, so we made these pumpkin cookies. The kids had a blast, and really did a good job helping "mix" the ingredients.



Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup shortening (or butter)
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 cups flour
1/2 t salt
1 t baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the sugar and shortening for 3-4 minutes. Mix in the egg, vanilla and pumpkin. In another bowl whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Mix just until combined. With a spoon, stir in the chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.

I found this recipe over at One Charming Party. (I L*O*V*E that blog! Great party ideas.)

Secret Pal Commission

I have been commissioned, by a friend, to whip some stuff up for her secret pal. I love doing things like this, so I gladly accepted. My first set of goodies are office supplies. I don't know about you, but I have a huge crush on anything remotely related to office supplies or stationary! LOVE IT. I hope my friend's secret pal has the same opinion. In her basket this week she will be receiving 4 magnetic flower clips, 4 flower magnets, and 4 flower tacks.

Aren't they just the cutest? I love Gerber daisies! They just always brighten up my day. :) These were super easy to make...partly because I didn't make them...well, I didn't make the flowers.

These flowers were bought back in the beginning of the summer for another project. They didn't get used, and I hated to see them just sitting there....waiting. I grabbed them up yesterday along with some clothes pins, magnets, and tacks.

I started by taking apart the clothes pins, and painting them green and blue.

The flowers had an adhesive backing, so I cut little felt circles to go over them. I then hot glued the flower to one side of the clothes pin, and a magnet to the other. The big flowers were put on the clothes pins, and the smaller ones on magnets and tacks. I pretty much did the same thing for the smaller ones, except just hot glued them directly to either a tack or a magnet.

I think I am going to have to make some for myself. Who else wants a batch?

Halloween Yarn Wreath

I have been wanting to try making one of these wreaths for a LOOOOONG time. I saw some on Etsy, then my friend over at More Chic than Shabby started talking about them, then my bestie over at A Bird and A Bean made one! We hadn't even talked together about yarn wreaths, but that is how it always works out for us....one of us thinking/the other doing and vice versa. (She usually ends up on the "doing" end of it first, as I am terribly slow...)

Anyhoo, I finally got around to making one, and I am SO GLAD I DID. I am absolutely in love with these wreaths! For the cost of what you put in to it....it's flipping amazing. I spent a buck on yarn at Big Lots, and about $4 on a styrofoam wreath at Hobby Lobby. The rest of the stuff I already had, so I was in like flynn.

Here's how it went:

1. You need a basic wreath, and yarn. It can be any kind of wreath you like, and whatever size.

(The yarn spells it out for you!)

2. Tie one on! A knot that is...just tie one and start wrapping. Erin says in her post that it doesn't have to be perfect, that it will end up ok. No worries. I am completely OCD, so I had to wrap mine meticulously. It took about an hour, which is how long Erin says, on her blog, that it would. I watched an episode of Teen Mom online while I did it. (It's my guilty pleasure! Don't judge!) When you finish, just tie another knot in the side you choose to be the back.

3. I used felt to make flowers for mine. I have seen all kinds of things on yarn wreaths, but I already had felt. Plus, there is love in my heart for felt. I had made these flowers before, and hadn't used them for anything, so I was excited to use them on this. Ok, so cut a circle out of the felt. Size depends on what you want. My small flowers used about a 3 inch circle, and my larger ones about a 5 inch circle.

4. Once you have the circles cut, cut into it in a spiral motion as seen below. Then just roll the felt up starting on the outside. Use hot glue to glue the very middle fat piece to the bottom of the rolled flower. I then hot glued a bead into the center of the flower. I made 4 large flowers and eight small ones, but you can use as many as you like.

5. I made Cash go out into the yard and pick me out a couple of little branches. I covered them with Mod Podge, and some orange glitter that was left over from the "Spooky" banner.

6. I arranged everything to my liking, then hot glued it all down. (Thank goodness for hot glue!!)

7. I had some left over black and white ribbon from some other project, so I used it to tie the wreath up.

Afterward, I thought I might like a black raven on my Halloween wreath. I found one in my stash, spray painted him black, and stuck him in the mix. I am not totally sure how I like it, but I suppose it's fitting for Halloween. What do you think? Bird or no bird?