Happy Halloween! Hot Chocolate For You!

Hi, Creative Friends-

First, today is National Chocolate Day! Happy best day ever to all the chocoholics out there. Second, Halloween is Monday and you are trying to come up with ways to celebrate both the love for chocolate and Halloween, this week’s post is for you.

Make Halloween Delicious And Joyful With These 3 Creative Ideas…

1. Cheers To Chocolate Chaud: What is a better way to bring the love of chocolate, Halloween, and fall together than whisking up a warm and sweet cup of comforting hot chocolate? Molly J. Wilk Pastry has a perfect, yet simple recipe for Chocolat Chaud which makes a great way to sip away two delightful holidays.

2. Hey, Halloween Hot Dog!: This one is more trick than a treat but this recipe for Halloween Finger Hot Dogs is a delicious, joyful, and gross way to celebrate Halloween. Pair this devious dinner with a Chocolate Charcuterie Board which is easy with these instructions from Taste Of Home.

3. Devil’s Food Delight: If you are a cake lover and creating the perfect chocolate cake recipe is always a challenge, Alton Brown’s Devil’s Food Cake is the best! It’s moist, delicious, and brimming with chocolate. Make a few white chocolate ghosts and feel the Halloween chocolate joy that abounds from the sweet creative fun!

Drop me a message and let me know what you are working on or what kind of treats or tricks you will make to celebrate chocolate and Halloween!

Also, thanks for reading along. This newsletter takes some time to pull together. Consider showing your support by forwarding it to someone who might need some inspiration or buying some of my artwork at INPRNT or Society 6.

If you are seeing this newsletter/blog for the first time and want to keep seeing content subscribe here.

Keep going, creative friends!

xoxo,

Andra

Black Cat Cookie Recipe From Land O’ Lakes

Hi, Creative Friends-

Halloween is quickly approaching. Are you ready to make Halloween the most Spooktacular and exciting day ever? Well, that kind of enthusiasm might be overkill but let’s…

Make This Weekend Exciting With These Creative Halloween Ideas…

1. Black Cat Bake-Off: Baking up something sweet for a holiday is always exciting. Whipping up a batch of “Black Cat Cookies” from Land O’ Lakes is a simple and fun way to get excited about the spookiest and sweetest holiday, Halloween! And can anyone think of a better use for candy corn? Nope.

2. “BOO!” For You!: Have you ever “BOOED!” a friend or neighbor? Giving and getting a “BOO” is a great way to keep the ghostly spirit of Halloween alive. Just purchase and print out the “You’ve Been BOOED!” bundle, add your own packaging, as well as treats or tricks and then quietly drop the bundle at a friend’s door! Being “BOOED!” is a great way to spread the excitement of Halloween!

3. Costume Conundrum: If stressing out about a Halloween costume is making things bleak, try one of these "95 Easy Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas” from Good House Keeping. The idea of having a costume ready before Halloween sounds pretty exciting and will make the weekend Spooktacular!

Drop me a message and let me know what you are working on or how you will make this weekend exciting with some Halloween fun.

Also, thanks for reading along. This newsletter takes some time to pull together. Consider showing your support by forwarding it to someone who might need some inspiration or buying some of my artwork at INPRNT or Society 6.

If you are seeing this newsletter/blog for the first time and want to keep seeing content subscribe here.

Keep going, creative friends!

xoxo,

Andra

This post contains affiliate links.

Oh hey little vampires. It's the Saturday before Halloween, and hopefully everyone is busy doing last minute party touches and finalizing costumes. As with any holiday, there are always traditions. Every year at halloween, I make one thing that has been a tradition for the last 12 years. It's Shoo Vampire soup. With 5 whole heads of garlic, it is bound to ward off any and all vampires. However, it's one of the finest soups every created and it has become a tradition in our home. 

Today's project is to create a tradition of your own for Halloween. Carve a pumpkin, make a special recipe or listen to a spooky sound track. Whatever you do today make it human and alive. It's the only way to to keep the vampires away well at this tasty soup "Shoo Vampire Soup" adapted from "Halloween: The Best Of Martha Stewart Living."{affiliate link}

Shoo Vampire Soup
serves 8 to 10

5 small heads of garlic (yes, heads of garlic
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large leeks, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced, well washed
1 bunch fresh thyme
8 springs fresh flat leaf parsley
2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-ince dice
4 fourteen-and-a-half-ounce cans low sodium chicken stock or 7 cups homemade chicken stock
1 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Snipped chives, for garnish

Step 1: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap 3 heads of garlic in aluminum foil; roast for 45 minutes. Let cool, halve crosswise, and squeeze garlic from cloves. Reserve garlic puree, discarding papery skins. Peel remaining 2 heads of garlic.
 

Step 2: In a 6-quart stockpot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add leeks and garlic cloves; stirring frequently cook until translucent but not browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Tie thyme and parsley into a bundle with with kitchen twine and then tie to the pot handle. Add herb bundle to pot along with potatoes, stock, and garlic puree. Raise heat to medium; simmer until potatoes are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Discard herb bundle. Using an emersion blender, {affiliate link} blend soup until smooth. Stir in cream; season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
 

Step 3: Serve soup in bowls; garnish with Parmesan and chives.

Well, have fun today and see you tomorrow Draculas!

Oh hey. The countdown begins. It's just 3 more days until Halloween. We have created so much over the last few weeks, what's left? During the days leading up to Halloween, I tend to avoid the gross stuff like blood, skin and bones. It give me the creeps. My personal preference is to stick to the candy, costumes and fun decorations. Anything else is just too scary for me. 

However, today is an exception. Today's project is take something good and make it gross. When I say good, I mean something you find delicious. Create gross today. Here is a great example. Some people love a good old fashioned hot dog. With a little swipe of a pairing knife, the hotdog goes from hotdog to hands down the grossest meal ever. To be perfectly frank, these hot dogs are downright disgusting.

If you need more inspiration, just Google "gross halloween" or don't because it's gross.

Well, I'm off to whip up some soup to shoo away the vampires. Don't get too grossed out and see you tomorrow creepy crawlies!

Hey Sweet Stuff. What Halloween wouldn't be complete with out bowls of sugary goodness? Yes, we are talking candy today. Today's project is pretty simple and downright fun. First let's hear from you. What's your favorite Halloween Candy? Tootsie Rolls? Bottle Caps? Pixie Sticks? Snickers? Candy Corn? Smarties? Dum Dums? Watchamacallits? Airheads? Blow Pops? Whoppers? Peppermint Patties? Reese's? Twizzlers? Starburst?

If you are having trouble coming up with your favorite, take this mindless and ridiculous quiz "100 Best Halloween Candies. How Many Have You Had?". For the record, I scored 289th out of 43,193 people. I am finally in the 98% percentile in something! I'm going to celebrate and have some Fun Dip.

The second part of today's project is to create a bowl of perfect Halloween candy fit every trick-o-treater. Go out today pick up up a couple of bags of your favorite treat. Then display the candy in the finest cauldron available. Be ready to dump big heaps into every kids pumpkin bucket. Well, and maybe eat a few pieces or ten today for yourself. It might even take you you back to the days of being a little ghost or goblin and remind you of excitement felt at Halloween.

I'm off to conjure up some last minute costume ideas. See you tomorrow Sweet Tooth!

Hello Halloween party goers. The ghoulish festivities are a little more than a week away. Some of us might be attending or throwing a Halloween party soon. If you are anything like me, I never know what to bring to a party. I always want it to be over-the-top fabulous but I usually end up in the kitchen hating myself for volunteer to bring an 7 course dessert menu complete with hand rolled pirouette cookies. In short, I get a little over zealous with perfection.

Being perfect can feel like burring yourself alive. One can just keep digging into expectations so grand the only way to dig out is to succumb to defeat. Today's project is to create something imperfect and creepy in the kitchen. Go ahead and buy the grocery store cupcakes or cake mix and just jazz them up with some cookie crumbs. Pick up a package of hot dogs and make them look like gross bloody fingers. Dump a bottle of juice in a punch bowl and call it a party. Create perfection from less expectations.

In the spirit of being buried alive, I bought some cupcakes, frosted them, thew on cookie crumbs and dropped on a gummy eyeball. Creepy and easy. Nothing buried alive over here and no tears in the kitchen when the witch cauldron soufflé didn't rise in the oven.

In short, just enjoy the Halloween party and see you tomorrow party zombies!