WEEK ONE
Movie: Gnomeo and Juliet
Dinner: Monster Burgers
Treat: Caramel Corn
These burgers turned out pretty cute and tasty too.
That night we had shakes for dinner and Audrey shared some with her dad. So cute!
It worked out that we watched our movie on the same night we had the dinner and treat. Ever since she first saw the DVD in stores Audrey has been asking to watch Gnomeo and Juliet. Finally we put it on our Blockbuster queue and got it just in time for our first movie night. While we watched we ate some yummy homemade caramel corn.
WEEK TWO
Movie: The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (we just watched the Ichabod part)
Dinner: Chicken Cordon Bleu Mummy
Treat: Caramel Apples
I saw this mummy in a magazine and tried it. It was a surprisingly yummy dinner and the kids even liked it with the roasted red peppers.
I made caramel apples, on my own, for the first time ever that night. I helped my friend Kristen make some once in college. She was having trouble getting her caramels to melt because they were rock solid. I helped her out and the resulting apples looked delicious but were so hard they'd break your teeth. They clinked when you banged them on the counter. It was a pretty funny night. These apples turned out much better, even though I did forget to buy some popsicle sticks and had to use forks because I only had two lollipop sticks left.
Audrey finally figured out how to eat hers and did a pretty good job of polishing it off during the movie.
They were a bit messy and gooey, but oh so tasty.
WEEK THREE
Movie: Blackbeard's Ghost
Dinner: Scary Face Sloppy Joes
Treat: Pumpkin Cobbler
We made something similar last year and they were so easy and Audrey liked them so much that I had to do them again.
Matt made a slight modification to one of them.
He's such a boy.
I regret that I never took a picture of the pumpkin cobbler. It was easy, delicious, and perfect topped with vanilla ice cream.
As to the movie, I have to say that we have the greatest four year old. She has no problem watching old, non-animated Disney movies with us and even enjoys them. I love it! I don't think that I had ever seen Blackbeard's Ghost before, but it was a blast for Matt to watch again. He said they rented it a lot when he was a kid.
WEEK FOUR
Movie: Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Dinner: Pepita Chicken Sliders
Treat: Halloween Pudding
These little pumpkin seed encrusted sliders turned out to be pretty good. I loved the tiny Sara Lee buns I found for them!
I had to take a picture of the macaroni and cheese I made to go with the sliders. It's the Martha Stewart recipe and turned out pretty gooey and flavorful. It was my first time making mac and cheese from scratch. The kids wouldn't touch it, but Matt and I loved it! I think my favorite part was the crunchy breadcrumb topping.
The night we carved pumpkins I whipped up a batch of my family's favorite chocolate pudding and then made some orange whipped cream.
Voila! Halloween pudding!
Matt and the kids gobbled it right up.
WEEK FIVE
Movie: Hocus Pocus
Dinner: Dinner in a Pumpkin, Roasted Brain Bits, and Crunchy Bones
Treat: Vampire Bites
For Halloween night I wanted to do something special and hearty for dinner. I got this recipe from my niece Jennifer a couple of years ago and have been wanting to try it. Last year I bought all of the ingredients except the pumpkin and planned to make it right after Halloween. But when I went to the grocery story a day or two after the holiday I was disappointed to find that all of the pumpkins were gone. This year I was prepared and made sure I bought one just the right size when they were on sale, before Halloween.
You fill a pumpkin with a ground beef and rice mixture. Then you put it on a baking pan in the oven for an hour and a half.
It comes out looking like this. A little darker and softer but still a nice bowl.
You just stick it on your table and scoop out the goodness. It was a perfect pre-trick-or-treating meal.
To round out the dinner we had Roasted Brain Bits (roasted, spiced cauliflower).
I also served some Crunchy Bones (breadsticks).
The best part about cooking your meal in a pumpkin is that the pumpkin cooks right along with it. You can scoop it out and eat it as your vegetable. To be honest, I did not think I would enjoy that at all. It sounded kind of gross. But I gave it a try with a little butter and lots of salt and it was fantastic! I loved it! If you like squash or spaghetti squash you would like baked pumpkin. It didn't taste like pumpkin at all. It had a mild squash flavor and was creamy, despite the stringy look. Yum!
I know it's a little silly to serve dessert on Halloween night, but I had to. I made these Vampire Bites with a cookie crust, cream cheese layer, cherry pie filling, and crunchy almond topping. We all enjoyed one and then I sent my little trick-or-treaters out to beg for candy!
We watched Hocus Pocus after we put Truman to bed that night. It's a cute movie, but it's been a long time since I've seen it so I had forgotten about some of the stuff in it. It's nothing bad but it is a bit too mature for a four year old. It will be several years before I let my kids watch it again.
OTHER TREATS
Candy Corn Cupcakes
Halloween Popcorn
During the month I made a couple of other things that I gave away to friends and the sisters I visit teach.
I got the recipe for these candy corn cupcakes last year in a Fred Meyer mailer. I wanted to make them then, and even bought some candy corn colored sprinkles at Target, but ran out of time.
This year I made sure we had time to make them.
So cute and so yummy. See the layers? This batch really puffed up so the orange layer is a little thinner than it should be.
They were even cuter once I got those sprinkles I bought last year on them. I almost forgot them!
I also tried this popcorn that turned out quite well and was quite simple.
It was a fun month. But it was a lot of work and I'm kind of glad it's all over. Now I just have to focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas and then I'll be home free. For awhile.
