Salted Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake

 

I had a request to do a blog post about this cheesecake because the kids think it just delicious!

I found the original recipe for this decadent cheesecake in a Paula Dean Cookbook, but for time and convenience sake, I made a few small changes to make it lots easier.

For one of the changes, I use a pre-made graham cracker crust and I use a bottled caramel sauce instead of melting caramels. 

I also add a little vanilla. We just love our Homemade Vanilla. 

Halloween Costume Ideas #4

Well, here we go again!
It's everything fall and pumpkin at our house this time of year and we're busy trying to get all the decorations set up for our annual Halloween Party. We encourage everyone to come in costume (but it's not mandatory) and surprisingly, many people create homemade costumes, which I love.

My kid's costumes have been DIY for years and even before the term DIY was invented. Now that they're grown, they're carrying on the homemade costume tradition.

Halloween Apothecary Bottles

It's October and Halloween is almost here! 

Every year we host a Fall Party, put up lots of decorations, bake everything pumpkin and even dress up in costumes. 

The first week of September we had an Under the Sea Baby Shower and I used small glass bottles to make favors for that party and had about a dozen little bottles left over.

I decided to use the extra bottles to make these apothecary bottles for a Halloween display. 

 

More Halloween Costume Ideas

My son Daniel as a ninja, early 1990s

It's nearly Autumn and October. Yeah!!

The weather has been cooler here during the day and chilly at night which to me is just wonderful. And we're already seeing the edges of leaves beginning to change color. I am in the mood for everything pumpkin and even found a pumpkin salsa! 

We have an annual Fall Party and dress up in costumes every year which is always lots of fun, I think this year is our 11^th or 12^th consecutive annual party! 

Fall Leaf Place Cards

Fall or Thanksgiving Place Cards made with leaves.

I use the few days leading up to Thanksgiving to pre-bake desserts, dry the bread crumbs for stuffing, set the table and multiple other tasks to cut down on the work load on Thanksgiving Day.  

One of the things I made ahead is place cards.  I started using place cards a few years ago more for fun than actual assigned seating.

Along with these leaf place cards another of my favorites for fall is my Scrapbooking Place Cards.

These leaf place cards take only a few supplies are easy-peay to make and look beautiful on the table.

Supplies Needed:

Thanksgiving Place Cards

Place Cards Using Scrapbooking Paper

First, for those of you who have never used them before, you may be wondering what exactly is a place card?  

A place card is a card or something similar bearing a person's name and used to mark their place at a dining or meeting table.

It’s really anything you wish to use with a name tag on it, placed on the table for assigned seating. 

The placing of the place cards are usually never set in stone at my house. As guests arrive they like to rearrange where they and others are sitting.  Some guests wish to sit next to other guests (or far away from them), so they just move their place card. 

My kids like to keep their personalized place cards as a keepsake each year and we have fun making them. 

Some years I purchase place cards and just embellish them, but most years I make them myself.

Fall Decorated Christmas Tree

Decorating a tree for Autumn or Halloween

I got the idea for this tree a few years ago after seeing one in a home I was visiting.  I loved it!

I took the idea home with me, changed it a little and made it my own.

I have a bay window in my kitchen and since purchasing our farm, have had a Christmas tree in that window decorated for Christmas to match my kitchen.

I started out with the 3 foot tree for an autumn themed tree for October and have since purchased a 4 foot tree to hold all the wonderful fall and Halloween decorations I have found.

Halloween Costume Ideas, Part 2

This is the second blog post on Easy Halloween Costume Ideas.
Click here for the first blog post:  Halloween Costume Ideas, Part 1

Army costumes and a football player

Who doesn't love fall and Halloween? Around our house, we get really excited thinking about the coming pumpkin recipes, fall leaves, corn stalks, stews, college football and all things autumn. We even have an annual Fall Party. 

When the kids were little I made all their costumes.  Most years the costumes were made by hand and accessories purchased to go with them.  As they got older I started creating some of the costumes from clothing I found at thrift stores or second hand stores, then made or purchased the remaining items needed. 

Was I especially crafty?  No, not especially, not really.  I taught myself as I went along, learning from a lot of mistakes.  Looking for parts and pieces to use for Halloween costumes made it much easier and saved lots of time and sewing.

Pumpkin Martini

Hosting a frightfully fun Fall or Halloween party this year?  Since pumpkin has long been a favorite for fall, why not serve a pumpkin adult beverage?

I served this at our annual Fall Party and it was a hit. This could also be served to guests before Thanksgiving dinner.

This Pumpkin Martini is ideal for autumn, but is delicious any time. It blends the flavors of vanilla with pumpkin and spices, and has a maple and graham cracker rim to push this drink into taste perfection.

Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin beer...... the recipes are endless.  And now that it's finally pumpkin season here's a pumpkin drink recipe, yea!
Another reason to celebrate Autumn!

Sleepy Hollow, New York

Autumn weekend in Sleepy Hollow, New York

From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by name of Sleepy Hollow ... A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.

—Washington Irving, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

It's nearly autumn and time to start planning a few weekend trips for Fall Festivals, haunted houses, pumpkin picking and peak leaf-color drives.  I am a fall fanatic, I just love everything autumn.  So of course Washington Irving’s book The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of my favorites.

Halloween Costume Ideas

Halloween Costumes: Part 1

Who doesn't love fall and Halloween? 

Around our house, we get really excited thinking about the coming pumpkin recipes, fall leaves, corn stalks, stews, college football and all things autumn. 

We host a Fall Party every year and encourage everyone to come in costume, it's great fun. 

We also wear our costumes to Fall Festivals and our local Circleville Pumpkin Show, no really, we do.

Every year since the kids were little,  I have made their Halloween costumes, and every year I started in August. 

Now I know some people are not very organized, or don’t want to think about Halloween costumes in August.  But for us we have found it is less stressful to decide on a costume in August. We then spend the next few weeks gathering together the needed items or props.

Building A Scarecrow

Scarecrow at a festival in New Jersey

A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin usually in the shape of a human. It is dressed in old clothes and placed in gardens or open fields to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from feeding on recently sown seed and growing crops.

As its name suggests, it’s supposed to scare away crows from the field or garden.
Mostly they're for decoration, I think.

The first scarecrows in recorded history were made by the Egyptians along the Nile River to protect wheat fields from flocks of quail.  
Egyptian farmers put wooden frames in their fields and covered them with nets.  The farmers hid in the fields and scared the quail into the nets. 

Fall Barn Party

Ideas for a Fall Party
Although we have been spending 12 hour days working on our new little farm, we decided to go ahead with our annual fall party.

We had very limited time to prepare and it would be a rush job, but we decided to have the party outdoors and in our barn.
Top of my list for a fun party?  Encourage everyone, including adults to come in costume.




We sometimes have a best costume contest with first place prizes for adults, teenagers and small children Everyone votes, then places their votes in a jar.  The votes are then tallied and special prizes handed out.

Mini Pecan Pies

One of our favorite Holiday desserts, either for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is pecan pie! About 3 years ago I decided to use the same pecan pie recipe I always use, but with a twist: as mini or individual pies! Most years I use a ready made pie crust, (I’m all for ease and time saving methods), but this year I decided to make the crust from scratch.

Either way, these are delicious and much easier to wrap, store and freeze after all the guest have headed home. And the best part? I can just reheat one and add my favorite topping!

I like the Karo Syrup Classic Pecan Pie Recipe, but you can use your favorite recipe with similar results.

Tasty Cranberry Sauce

Well it's that time of year to dig though all my recipes, try to find the best ones to make for Thanksgiving Dinner!

I keep notes each year of recipes used and food prepared in the past.  I also pencil in tips to myself such as "fantastic" or "this was really yummy" or "not so good".

We have all the traditional food: Turkey, dressing, yams, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, etc. And I always have cranberries. But each year it seems many dinner guests do not like cranberries, and won't even try them!  So in recent years I have been experimenting with different Cranberry Sauce recipes and came across this one in 2007. It was a big hit that Thanksgiving and all the years to follow. I hope you enjoy it!

Thanksgiving On Friday?

Table set for Thanksgiving dinner

Thinking of the Holidays coming up, Thanksgiving in particular, and I am quite excited.

I love this time of year! We don't always, but often, share our Thanksgiving Dinner on a day other than the actual Thursday.

Why, you ask?

I am selfish!

We don’t like to share our family and friends with their other friends and relatives! Seems if I have our dinner on the actual day that has been set aside, I must share my guests, them staying only an hour or two, then off they run to visit someone else on their list.

If I have our dinner on the weekend before or even the Saturday after Thanksgiving, my guests can come early, help with the cooking or just sit and enjoy the aromas and conversations before dinner. There is also no need to run off so quickly after eating, and many times we have had our guests spend the entire evening with us or stay the night.

All of which I think is the real meaning of Holidays, spending time with our loved ones!

Day Of The Dead Bread

Day of the Dead Bread

So I get an email from my nephew-in-law Ben, saying he made "Day of the Dead" bread and had an extra loaf and would I like one.
Well as some of you may know, bread is my friend. I was super excited but hadn't opened the email until late in the day so had to wait an entire (eternity) day to pick it up.

Let me give you a little info on Ben: He is a wonderful cook, has his own cooking website and is a great photographer. I had, up until trying his home baked bread, only salivated over his dishes via his website.Anyway, I arrived at his and Jon's house to pick up the bread yesterday and upon entering his house immediately became brain dead.Yes that's right.
Upon viewing the wonderful little loaves of bread my hands began to shake and my mouth watered against my will.  Heaven!