• Take kids to pumpkin patch where they lovingly spend 1.2 hours picking out the perfect pumpkin.  Pay $23.75 and bring them home.
• Husband sets up perfect pumpkin carving station complete with newspaper and specialized, intricate carving tools such as the dog food can opener and a bent steak knife.
• Kids lovingly draw faces on the pumpkins that require 1,205 intricate cuts to create.
• Husband cuts tops off pumpkins.  Kids look inside and proclaim that “pumpkin guts are gross!” and refuse to touch them.
• Husband gives them my heirloom silver soup ladle and cajoles them to stop making faces and start digging.
• After 5.7 seconds, children declare pumpkin guts to be “disgusting, cold and icky”.  Children ask to go inside to wash hands and never return.
• Husband retreats to his recliner and picks up remote while muttering something about “every #@%@# year” and “never again.”
• Search for kids unsuccessfully.
• Spend next 3 hours scooping, carving and drilling until sun sets.
• Carry two 23 pound pumpkins to the front porch.
• Dig in junk drawer looking for two stubby candles and box of matches.
• Call kids and husband outside to ooh and ahh and proclaim that these pumpkins are the best they’ve ever done.

Aahhh, memories.  Where would be without family traditions?  I also like to serve a nice warm bowl of soup before they rush to the door and anxiously wait like racehorses chomping at the bit while I take “just one more” photo.  This is one of my faves because it’s super easy and is made with pantry ingredients.

ROASTED PEPPER AND TOMATO SOUP

• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 2 Tablespoons flour
• 16 oz can of whole tomatoes with Italian seasoning, undrained
• 7 oz. jar of roasted red peppers, drained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon sugar
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil or 2 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in large saucepan.  Stir in flour to make a roux and cook for about 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, red peppers, broth, tomato paste, garlic, sugar and salt and pepper. Cook until soup bubbles. Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a standing blender.

BAT WINGS

4 slices of bread (makes 2 sets of bat wings)
Olive oil, butter or cooking spray
Garlic salt

Tell your kids the garlic in the soup did him in.

Yummy Chocolate Cookie Dough

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Try not to eat all the dough. Feel free to chill it if you want but you can work with it now.

Little Martha Stewart type note here - when I make this recipe for grown-up functions, I use cocoa powder instead of the sugar to flatten.  It makes a less sweet cookie.  Also, I leave off eyes and other body parts.  Most adults prefer to eat a cookie without eyes.

You could always put a popsicle stick under these and make lollipop cookies.  You know I love me some food on a stick.

So, chickens, here is an EASY Halloween treat that you can do with your kids with only three (yes, I said THREE!) ingredients.  And in plenty of time before Halloween.  You’re welcome.

I found these skinnier pretzels. The thick pretzel logs would work fine though.

Ok, ok, parchment or wax paper is technically four things you need.

Yeah, I know we all buy a type of that gel stuff once a year and use only 1/100th of the tube.  So you could totally use chocolate chips, M&M’s, raisins or whatever you have in your cupboard here.  (What UP, Martha!)

Which we totally did.

Ok, I admit I’m old and frantic.   But I really don’t remember parents running around like maniacs when I was a kid.  I work from home during the day, but my real job starts at 3:00 pm when the bus pulls up.  Let’s take an honest, unexaggerated look at yesterday, shall we?

• Go to pick up 3rd grader for piano lessons at school. Ask teacher if she knows where my daughter is.  Teacher says daughter must have forgotten about piano and got on the bus to go home.  Ask teacher if she got my note about picking up child.  Teacher explains that she isn’t responsible for daughter’s after school activities.  Mutter and walk back to car as I rush home before bus drops off 3rd grader.
• Call piano teacher to tell her Daughter #2 will not be at lesson.  Piano teacher asks where Daughter #1 is who should have arrived there 45 minutes ago. (!!!!) Rush home and find Daughter #1 at home playing Nintendo because she “forgot” to walk to her lesson too.
• Sigh with relief, hug kids and then lose my temper while I lecture them for 15 minutes on importance of remembering piano lessons are always on Wednesdays.
• Dump contents of overstuffed backpacks and sort through school papers each child brings home.
• Write checks for school pictures ($30 each child), PTA fees ($30 each child), $6 field trip fee and $30 School Fee (What’s THAT for anyway?)
• Start dinner.
• Husband arrives home, sits in recliner and picks up TV remote until dinner.
• Stop 28 times to assist and review 5 math sheets, 2 spelling worksheets, 1 essay, a story using 10 adverbs ending in “ly” and a book report totaling 50 minutes of homework.
• Call hubby to dinner. During dinner, review graded schoolwork with children.
• Children announce that they must wear orange for School Spirit Day which just happens to be tomorrow.  I swear, if we ever move, it will be to a school district that has DENIM as a school color.
• Review note from 3rd grade teacher that some school supplies are missing and due tomorrow.
• Husband returns to recliner and picks up remote.
• Clear table and pile dishes into sink.
• Run out to store to buy two orange t-shirts for School Spirit Day tomorrow.
• Stop at office supply store and buy 1 plain green plastic folder, 3 plain red folders, 2 blue pens, 1 red pen, 1 Post-It note cube, 100 4×6 ruled cards and 3 PLAIN stretchy book covers (Whatever happened to covers made from brown paper bags?)
• Get cashier to give me 10 dimes, 2 quarters, 5 nickels and 10 pennies for 3rd grader’s math homework.
• Run to drugstore and buy “MUST HAVE BY TOMORROW!” hand sanitizer, Kleenex, Ziploc bags, plain white socks, Saran Wrap and disinfectant cleaner. I’m waiting for the day when I’m required to bring in bubble bath for the teacher to relax after work.
• Attend “Meet the Teacher” night and get more forms and listen to requests for donations/volunteers by PTA, music teacher, school secretary, librarian, gym teacher and home room coordinator.
• Guiltily sign up for Halloween party, Teacher Appreciation Dinner, Library Storytime and Cultural Arts Day.
• Return home and sign 12 forms, 3 teacher notes and 2 planners.
• Pack forms, supplies and planners into each child’s backpack.
• Ask if child has books to return to school library.
• Spend 10 minutes looking for library books.
• Remind kids that their homework belongs in their backpacks, not on living room floor.
• Tell kids to get ready for bed.
• Pack lunches
• Tell kids to get ready for bed again.
• Third grader tells me that she has no clean socks.  Throw in load of laundry.
• Tell kids to get IN BED NOW!
• Drop onto sofa.  Husband puts down remote and grins.  Give husband evil eye.  Husband picks up remote again.
• Get youngest a drink of water.
• Tell kids to GO TO SLEEP NOW OR I WILL COME IN THERE AND YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE MY UNHAPPY MOMMY FACE AND I MEAN IT!
• Collapse into bed and pull covers over my head.  Dream of summer vacation.

Here’s my question of the day:  Is it JUST ME!?  Do you feel like your child’s school is a second job?  Discuss amongst yourselves.

P.S. - You can make that glaze by mixing a little milk or maple syrup into powdered sugar to get the consistency you want.

The only problem with food on a stick is disposing of the stick. Until now.

A Pocky is a cookie, but technically a “candy covered biscuit stick.” I get them at the Asian market near our house, but I think World Market carries them too. I like to call them sticks you can eat.

You don’t want the chocolate too thick because it doesn’t coat well and might break your stick Pocky.

Assemble some bowls of yummy dipping stuff.

Voila.

Not pictured: Tropical Pocky**

**My daughters ate the Tropical Pocky (dipped in coconut) before I got my camera ready.

As always, I am grateful if you Digg or Stumble this post if you enjoyed it! Thanks!!!

I’m a member of Great Cooks Community, a great blogroll of cooks ranging from hobbyists to pros run by my friend, Jill McKeever. If you like cooking, you need to go join this phenomenal group of people from all over the world who love to share their recipes.

In case you’re also crazy creative enough to try this, here’s what you’ll need:

• Cupcakes (betcha didn’t see that one comin’, did ya?)
• Fondant
• Food coloring
• Mini M&M’s
• Pink coloring gel
• Chocolate melting wafers (I used yellow, milk chocolate and dark chocolate)
• Wax or parchment paper

Break off a piece of fondant and add the food coloring. I found this one called “Flesh” at the cake decorating store (imagine how strange it felt buying something you can eat called “FLESH.”) Add just a bit at a time and knead the fondant (it’ll get more pliable with the warmth of your hands) until the color is well blended. I found I could adjust the skin tone by adding more.

I used marshmallow creme to attach the fondant to the cupcakes but frosting would work fine.

See how it’s on parchment paper? You could use wax paper or a Silpat. Just don’t pour the chocolate directly in your mouth. It might be fun but it won’t accomplish your task. (Although I admit the chocolate squirt bottle makes it too tempting…kind of like those pressurized squirt cans of whipped cream.)

I used more royal icing to attach the hair. One thing I learned from this is that my cupcakes tops were CURVED while my hair had dried on a FLAT surface. Next time I might fill the cupcakes less or shave the tops flat before putting on the fondant.

I can’t say that they’ll recognize themselves. These cupcakes looked much better in my mind (kind of like my life!) But they’ll certainly laugh about them (or at me…not sure which.)

Still, for seven year olds, these are probably cool enough.

If you think I’m crazy enough to warrant a vote at the Great Cooks County Fair cookoff, please be sure to drop a vote here. Voting starts June 1.

Apparently, however, she saw this:

Now, I know cupcakes have been in vogue lately.  Like so many simple things from my childhood, they’ve been “Martha Stewart-ized.”  Oh no…simple chocolate cupcakes like our moms made are no longer sufficient.  Now a simple cupcake can be a major production with vanilla bean from Madagascar, French rose water and gold dust.  Like this from Dozen …which comes with the following description:

The Emily

Named for a wonderful friend, our buttery yellow cupcake is topped with a Tiffany inspired blue royal icing with a hint of lemon and finished with delicate white non-pareils.

I’m not sure when cupcakes started being named like shoes or described like designer couture. Don’t get me wrong. I cleaned my computer screen with my tongue while viewing their cupcakes. But it just sets the standard so high for normal people like me.

As you can tell, I’m not really thrilled with the whole “designerization” (I just made up that word) of simple home cooking.  (I know…cupcakes that look like dogs aren’t really gourmet….it’s just the idea.)

But anyhoo, said Eleven Year Old hardly ever asks for anything so I really wanted to give her this one thing.  But a cake designer, I’m not.

Nevertheless, we rallied the troops and started decorating.

And like all kids who start out excited about something, they bored of it about 20 minutes in and started backing away slowly and quietly so as to avoid my attention as they made their escape. When I looked up to talk to them, they were long gone.

So I finished them myself.  And like all loving mothers who do things for their beloved children, I thought,

“I HOPE she remembers and appreciates all this when she’s 50!”

Of course, the kids can’t (and I prefer not to) partake of that hallowed tradition, so we whip up a McDonald’s-like Shamrock Shake, the ubiquitous St. Patrick’s Day tradition of my youth. I remember going to see “The Goodbye Girl” in 1977 and having one of these at McDonald’s after. I don’t remember who my double date was, but I remember this shake. That’s how old I am it is. If you were born after 1970, you might not know McDonald’s Uncle O’Grimacey. Let me enlighten you young ones. See, back in the old days, this kind of creepy, garish, child-nightmare-inducing commercial was considered good advertising.

What? You don’t think a corporate fast food chain’s marketing ploy is Irish? Well, just shows what you know. Shamrock Shakes are still regularly sold by McDonald’s in one country….Ireland. See? See? If ya can’t trust the Irish for St. Patty’s traditions, well, who can ya trust?

Here’s my version…a treat, yes, but with more recognizable ingredients than MickeyD’s green-goo. The kids will love you for this. If you’d like, you can add a bit of creme de menthe for the adults.

Slainte.

MINT-CHOCOLATE SHAMROCK SHAKE

2 c. mint chocolate chip ice cream
1/2-3/4 c. milk (depending how thick you like your shakes)
Whipped cream

Do you really need instructions? Pour it into a blender and press “Blend.” Stick a bendy straw in and watch your kids’ faces light up.

More traditional Irish recipes:

Corned Beef @ The Grass is Green on Our Side
St. Patrick’s Day Soup @ Former Fat Guy
Irish Soda Bread @ Closet Cooking
Lamb Stew with Dill, Sweet Peas and Root Vegetables @ Culinary Types
Salmon Cakes @ The Blooming Chef

Easier said than done. However, I’ve come up with my own bags of tricks and borrowed a few others. If you’re always short of time in the morning, I’ve noted those recipes that freeze well. Just reheat and serve. Here are some ideas to get your kids off to a good start.

1. Oatmeal - The biggest hurdle with oatmeal is that it often looks like wallpaper paste or that glue we used to eat as kindergardners, you know, the kind that came with a brush? Oh, well, you didn’t eat it? Oooooo kaaaay. Anyhoo, oatmeal is a blank canvas. Jazz it up, girl!! Try adding some of the following: brown sugar, apple butter, honey, fruit spread or preserves, yogurt, caramel, applesauce, wheat germ or granola. Obviously some of these are healthier than others so just ad a couple chocolate chips or a spoonful of pie filling…just enough to make it fun.
2. Breakfast Sandwich
3. Oatmeal with nuts and chocolate chips
4. Baked Graham Cracker French Toast (freezable)
5. PB&J Wraps - Smear PB, jelly and cream cheese on a whole wheat tortilla and roll. Slice it up for the little tykes.
   
6. Oatmeal with peanut butter and chocolate flavored protein powder (tell ‘em it’s Nestle Quik!)
7. Peanut Butter Granola Logs
8. Ants on a Log Moving Rocks - Spread PB on celery, add the raisins then add almonds or granola
9. Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts.
10. Rice cakes with Nutella and banana
11. Pumpkin Oatmeal
12. Bean Dip with whole wheat tortillas
13. Inside Out sandwiches - Roll ham or turkey slices with cheese around a rolled up tortilla or slice of bread.
14. Whole Wheat Pancakes - The trick here is to make them fun. Draw a face with maple or chocolate syrup. Add bananas and chips for the eyes. Next time you’re at a restaurant with the kids for breakfast, look at how they make Mickey Mouse, a Martian, give the kids a cookie cutter to make shapes. (freezable)
15. Breakfast pizza - For older kids and teens, a breakfast pizza is a lot more appealing than cold cereal. I make these on English Muffins, put them individually on a cookie sheet and freeze. After they’re solid, I pack them into Ziplocs for microwaving on busy mornings. Younger kids love these with the cheese cut into shapes before topping the pizza. (freezable)
16. Cheese quesadillas or rolled tortillas with eggs and cheese. Roll a tortilla around string cheese with a bit of pizza sauce.
17. Hummus Roll - Spread on whole grain flatbread, sprinkle with shredded carrots and thinly sliced red pepper for older kids. Younger kids will dip pretty much anything into hummus.
18. Apple Bulgur (did you know bulgur has the highest amount of protein among cereal grains?)
19. Maple Nut Oatmeal
20. Baked Apples
    
21. Banana Carrot Muffins (sneakily used by moms for decades to sneak in fruit s and veggies!)
22. PB&J Waffles
23. Little Pocket Buffet - Buy a small muffin tin. Put veggies, dips and cheese cubes into each “pocket.”
24. Scrambled eggs with “blood” (ketchup) If you can stomach it, my daughters thought it was “REALLY gross” which to a preschooler means it must be eaten. Which means they’ll also love…
25. A Spider Sandwich - Cut a PB sandwich with a round cutter and stick pretzels in for legs.
26. Berenstain Bears Breakfast Oatmeal
    
27. Grilled cheese and egg sandwich
28. 1 Cup Strawberry Shake Smoothie - Mix 1 cup milk, 1 banana, 1 cup yogurt and 1 c frozen strawberries in a blender. Serve with a straw. Kids think everything is better with a bendy straw.
29. Egg Muffins - Not McMuffins, but rather eggs mixed with ham, cheese and veggies and baked in a muffin tin. Portable and quick for the whole family.
30. Ramen Noodles - My daughter loves this for breakfast. Toss the flavor packet or use very little as it’s high in sodium. Stir in leftover chicken or shrimp and toss with a some shredded skim Mozzarella or light herb cream cheese. Add milk to thin if necessary.
31. Apple Smilies
32. Butterscotch Banana Bread Waffles (freezable)
33. Granola bar
34. Banana Oatbran Muffins (freezable)
35. Breakfast cookie - Not for everyday but better than nothing on really rushed days. (freezable)
36. Shaped Pancakes - Coat a metal cookie cutter generously with non-stick spray. Pour pancake batter into the cookie cutter. When set, remove the cookie cutter and flip. Another way to jazz up pancakes is to “draw” with the batter. Put the batter into a squeeze bottle and let the kids draw letters or shapes. If you want to “etch” onto a pancake, squeeze out a little batter in a shape or letter; let it cook for a minute then top with more batter. When you flip the pancake, there should be a darker shape where you “etched.”
37. Egg Salad Bagel - Use half the egg yolks and light mayo. Serve on toasted bagel.
38. Waffle puzzle - Cut the waffle into uneven pieces and let the child put it back together.
39. French Toast Rollups - French toast for on the go. Cream cheese adds calcium and protein.
40. Grilled Peanut Butter sandwich
41. Breakfast Burritos - Make on the weekend and freeze. Microwave for 3 minutes. (freezable)
42. Ancient Scrolls - For your budding archaeologist, spread peanut butter over a tortilla or whole wheat flatbread. Let the children “write” text with Alpha-Bits cereal. This one’s a big hit in the kindergarten set.
43. Nachos and Fruit Salsa
44. McD’s style Egg Muffin Sandwich
45. Peanut Butter “Sundae” bar -Spread peanut butter on whole wheat bagels and provide bowls of cut bananas, mini marshmallows, cubed apples, honey, raisins, grated carrots and maple syrup for topping.
46. Pretzel kabobs - Let your little one thread Cheerios on mini pretzel sticks and dip into yogurt.
47. Berry Berry Smoothie
48. Peanut Butter Noodles - Mix a little peanut butter with HOT water and a touch of brown sugar. If your kids are older, add soy, rice wine vinegar and hot chili oil. Toss with whole wheat pasta.
49. Scrambled Tofu…Yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but if you don’t tell, they won’t know they’re not eggs. Serve with ketchup.
50. Amish Baked Oatmeal - If your kids like oatmeal cookies, they’ll love this. Cheap, healthy and a pan will last all week.
51. Hot Brown Rice - Mix cooked leftover rice with a little milk, cinnamon, brown sugar and raisins. Heat.
52. Waffle “French Toast” - Make a batter of eggs, milk, cinnamon, sugar and vanilla, dip waffles, coat in cornflake crumbs and bake at 375 for 10-12 mins.
53. Banana “Pudding” - Mash a very ripe banana and stir into applesauce with a bit of vanilla yogurt. Toddlers especially love this when they make it themselves.
54. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup smoothie
55. Hash - Cut up some leftover baked potatoes then fry them with a leftover meat.
56. Yogurt and granola “sundae”
57. Cereal Trail Mix - Mix cereal (great for the last of the box) with nuts, raisins, seeds and anything else your kid likes in a Ziploc bag.
58. Peanut Butter Banana shake
59. Pizza Rolls - Put pizza sauce, cheese and cut up veggies between two crescent rolls and pinch closed. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. (freezable)
60. Applesauce “Soup” - Stir cut up fruit and nuts into applesauce
61. Cinnamon Apple Quesadilla
62. Country Cottage Cheese - Mix apple butter with cottage cheese.
63. Hard boiled eggs
64. Spinach Cheese Casserole - Bake on the weekend and enjoy throughout the week by heating and topping with salsa or spaghetti sauce for teens, ketchup for little ones.
65. Waffle Egg Sandwich - Toast two whole wheat waffles, top with egg and cheese
66. Checkerboard Sandwich - Spread one slice of light wheat bread with peanut butter. Spread a slice of white or dark whole grain bread with cream cheese or , for a treat, marshmallow cream. Slice sandwiches into 9 pieces by cutting into thirds length wise and width wise. Flip over every other piece to show the darker size of the bread. If you trim the crusts (which is de rigeur in the toddler set I know), it will look neater.
67. Breakfast Rockets
    
68. “Painted” toast - Mix a little food coloring into several bowls of milk. Give the kids a CLEAN paintbrush and let them “paint” their toast before eating.
69. Fruit skewers - Thread cut up fruit on skewers and serve with cream cheese mixed with peanut butter and milk for dipping.
70. Toffee Cream of Wheat
71. Pizza Omelette - Ok, on this one, you need to be comfy making an omelette. If you are, before folding your omelette, fill with diced bell peppers, cheese and tomato sauce. If you’re not, throw these into a pita and nuke it for about 15 seconds to melt the cheese. I won’t tell.
72. Fruit and cheese
73. Ham and Cheese Bagel - Grill on your George Foreman or Panani press.
74. Steel Cut Oatmeal cooked overnight in the Crockpot
    
75. Banana Dog (banana dog (peanut butter, a banana, and raisins in a long whole-grain bun)
76. Fruit and Cream Cheese Sandwich (use strawberries or other fresh fruit)
77. Nutty Breakfast Rolls
78. Ham and Tater Tot Casserole…Ah, tater-tots…a kids favorite potato.
    
79. Blender Breakfast
80. Mini Waffles
    
81. English muffin topped with honey, cinnamon and granola
82. Whole wheat toast with flavored cream cheese - Make your own. Stir in preserves, maple syrup, cinnamon, peanut butter or Nutella into softened light cream cheese.
83. Pita Melt - Put thinly sliced turkey or ham with cheese in a pita and microwave for about 1 minute
84. Fruit Salad - Cut up seasonal fruit and toss with yogurt thinned with a little milk.
85. Green Eggs and Ham - Use a little green food coloring as you scramble the eggs.
86. Banana “Buttons” - Cut slices and sprinkle with a little brown sugar.
87. Waffle Sandwich - Make your waffles portable.
88. Muesli
    
89. Fruit “pizza” - Top a whole wheat tortilla, waffle or bagel with fruit yogurt and sliced fruit
90. Breakfast taco
91. Peanut Butter Oatmeal Balls
    
92. Grilled cheese on whole wheat
    
93. French Toast Sticks - Kids love finger food. (freezable)
94. Whole grain toast with peanut butter and apple or banana slices
95. Chocolate Monkey Smoothie
96. “Lunchables” Breakfast - Leftover meat thinly sliced with cheese and whole wheat crackers
97. Bacon Hashbrown Rollups
98. Kids Favorite Breakfast Bars
    
99. Grilled Cheese and Bacon on Raisin Bread (It strangely works.)
    
100. Leftovers (Do you really think the breakfast police will arrest you if you don’t eat “breakfast” foods?)

Whew!  That should hold you for a while.  Let me know what other ideas you have.

Blessings and health!