Perk #1

* Let your creativity loose on a pumpkin.  Get out a knife and get carving.  It doesn’t matter what face you choose, the act of carving a pumpkin stimulates the creative right side of your brain, which is responsible for feelings of playfulness.

Need inspiration for carving ideas?

Go to ThePumpkinFarm.com

Perk #2

Dressing up for Halloween is not just for the kids.  You can release tension by wearing a costume yourself.  Dressing up for Halloween  has been proven to help adults de-stress by letting them reveal other sides of themselves that are normally stifled.  What a great way to be a superhero or a vampire, for a day, without worrying about looking silly.

Perk #3

You can rekindle romance with a horror flick.  Watching scary movies with your loved one revs up the relationship even more than watching a romantic movie.  Getting scared together pumps up the adrenaline and triggers the same brain chemicals that are released when you first fall in love, thus renewing your passion.

I love Halloween. Today for you Coffee Break readers, I  have two fun Halloween recipe ideas using refrigerated crescent roll dough  and refrigerated breadstick dough.  Couldn’t be simpler. And oh so cute!  Impress your family with these simple and fun ideas.

If you missed last week’s recipe for  Creepy Eyeball Treats, check them out.

Witches Hats

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Separate dough.  Shape each piece into a long triangle.Place 1 salami stick piece along base of each dough triangle.  Partially roll up dough to cover salami and create brim of hat.
3. Place 4 pepperoni halves on top part of each hat.
4. Place on ungreased nonstick baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown at edges.
5. Warm sauce in microwave.  Serve witches hats with warm sauce for dipping.

Breadstick Broomsticks

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough and divide along perforations. For each broomstick, shape breadstick into 8X1-1/2-inch strip; twist one end for handle. Cut 5 or 6 slits (2 inches long) into opposite end; separate dough at slits for straw.
2. Place about 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets and bake 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs & Toads in a Blanket
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

Do you know who we owe this great (often misquoted…does bubble, bubble toil and trouble ring a bell?) Halloween diddy to??? It’s none other than Mr. William Shakespeare.

I love the month of October…the crisp air and crunchy fall leaves…the pumpkin patches and corn mazes…the apple scented candles and Fall break at school.

But most of all, I love dressing up for Halloween, and most years you’ll find me in some variation of a witch costume. I think my witch thing started just after I was married, when I dressed up as a witch out of desperation because we were struggling newlyweds and the only costume-y thing I owned was a witch’s hat. I won a witch cackling contest that year and the rest, as they say, is history.

Luckily, I live in a place that seems to embrace my witchy side. This past weekend an estimated 10,000 witches gathered for Witches Night Out at Gardner Village in West Jordan, Utah, for two nights of spell binding fun. Did you catch that number? Ten thousand ladies willing, dare I say even excited, to dress up as witches and go out proudly into the public and parade around cackling with wicked glee.

I was one of those witches. So were 4 of my 5 daughters. I have trained them well, have I not? (The 5th one was not able to come along because of a silly thing called higher education.)

Check out those pink fur boots.

This is what I want to be when I grow up…

So get your inner witch on this Halloween…I dare you!

And I’ll leave you with this -

Act IV, Scene 1 from Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

.

Three Scottish witches are going about their business—tossing poisoned entrails, eye of newt, toe of frog, and such, into a cauldron—while awaiting a visit from the man they said would be king: Macbeth. “Double, double toil and trouble” is part of the refrain to their demonic incantation… The collective memory has clouded somewhat; often, this refrain comes to mind in the jumbled form “Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.” The witches are actually trying, with their spells, to pile up toil and trouble until they “double”—yielding twice the toil and double the trouble for Macbeth, presumably. enotes.com

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break and Happy Halloween!

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Witches Hats & Breadstick Broomsticks
• Halloween Month: Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs & Toads in a Blanket
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is roasting the pumpkin seeds after my family carves their pumpkins. It’s a delicious and healthy treat that everyone will love.

How to Roast Pumpkin Seeds

1. After you remove the seeds from the pumpkin ( the ooey-gooey best part of carving pumpkins, in my opinion) rinse pumpkin seeds under cold water and pick out the pulp and strings. Do this right away before the pulp dries.
2. Place the pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet, stirring to  sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Sprinkle with salt (garlic salt and seasoned salt are also delicious options) and bake at 325 degrees F until toasted, about 25 minutes.  Stir seeds about half way through cooking time.
4. Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Disgusting Deviled Egg Eyeballs

Ingredients:

• 6 hard-boiled eggs
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• Pinch of salt
• Green and red food coloring
• Sliced black olives
• Toothpicks

Directions:

Peel the cooled hard boiled eggs and slice them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the yolks and mash in a bowl. Mix in the mayonnaise, mustard, and salt. Stir in a few drops of green food coloring.

Spoon the mixture into the center of the egg halves. Place a slice of olive on top of each half. Dip a toothpick into red food coloring and then use it to draw lines on the eggs to give a bloodshot look.

Don’t they look disgustingly delicious?

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Toads in a Blanket

Ingredients:

• baby dill pickles
• cream cheese
• sliced salami
• toothpicks

Directions:

Cut the pickles into fourths lengthwise, so the pickles are slightly larger than the salami slices.  Spread a thin layer of cream cheese on a slice of salami, wrap around a pickle slice and secure with a toothpick.

Be sure to check out these other Liz and Kate Halloween Ideas:

• Halloween Month: Creepy Eyeball Treats & Monster Mash
• Halloween Month: Witches Hats & Breadstick Broomsticks
• Disgusting Worm Salad
• How to make Disneyland Gourmet Caramel Apples

*Enter a comment at the bottom of this or any other post, and be automatically entered in this week’s giveaway!

Disgusting Worm Salad

by Whitney Hancock

These edible worms are a BIG hit for our Halloween Dinner. The first time I served these up the kids really freaked out. My daughter couldn’t even look at them at first, but after some coaxing and a little good natured teasing, she ate one. Then much too her surprise, she liked them.

We think this post from a few years back is worth a Second Glance, especially since it’s spring break and we’re off frolicking with our kids. Enjoy!

Ahhhhh…spring break is finally here. Seems like we’ve been waiting for it since the day after school began last year.  A break from the routine of alarm clocks, bed times, endless homework, car pools, nagging.   I am as excited as the kids are.  It’s hard work to parent school children.  A lot of stress.   A lot of responsibility.  A lot of effort trying to  keep up with the  perfect parents who are probably busy trying to keep up with a whole other set of perfect parents.  It’s a vicious cycle…one from which I am ready for a break.  I went to bed last night with “visions” of  relaxation, going to the park, eating sand coated sandwiches  at the reservoir,  soaking up the first glorious rays of the summer soon to come.

It seems that my ‘visions” were slightly off, as I am now, on the first afternoon of spring break, staring forlornly out my window at snowflakes. Three inches of snowflakes to be  exact, and I fear there is more to come.  How could this happen?  How could Mother Nature be so cruel as to  single-handedly destroy MY spring break?  MY time to sit outside and read a frivolous paperback while the kids frolic. There will be no frolicking this week, only whining bored kids and a frustrated mom.  Snow has long ago worn out its welcome.  That happens at about the same time as the after Christmas sales wind down.  I have lost  count of how many times I have already heard today, “Mom, what can I do?”  It’s the same phrase I’ve been hearing for the past 3 months.  I want to say, “Go outside and frolic in the sun!”  Oh, wait a minute…there is no sun!

Thankfully, there is a little angel in the form of a 9 year old girl, who lives down the street.  She came over minutes ago to rescue my son from the gloom and doom pervading  my home.  They are now outside in full winter gear: snow pants, puffy coats, snow boots, hats and gloves.  I’m not joking! If I didn’t know better, I would think it was the middle of winter, not the first day of spring break.   I can see them playing outside in the snow.  Their cheeks are rosy.  They are laughing, throwing snowballs and generally having a great time.  Dare I say they might be frolicking?

Maybe I should take a lesson from the kids.  Maybe it’s time to roll with the punches, even if the punch means one more blast of winter.  If a couple of 9- year-olds can do it, so can I.

I say if  Mother Nature can break the unspoken spring break rule  of warmth, sunshine, and frolicking, well then it’s high time I break some rules as well.  Drastic measures are now called for.  I am now putting on a Michael Buble Christmas cd  in an attempt to lift my spirits.  This will mean breaking my set-in-stone Christmas music rule.   (I made a rule years ago that Christmas music could only be played from Thanksgiving Day until New Years Eve in an attempt the keep the music “special”. ) Strains of  “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” are now flowing through my house. Liz suggested presents and Santa cookies might be in order.  I say “Let’s not go nuts, here.”  Perhaps Liz does not realize what making sugar cookies entails. I mean it is Liz we’re talking about.  She’s probably on a first name basis with the employees at the local bakery, so how could she know!

I think chocolate chip cookies are a suitable substitute, and perhaps I can find some hidden for a rainy (snowy)  day dollar store treasures in a closet somewhere.  Maybe we’ll even blow up a beach ball and toss it around in the snow.   It’s spring break, after all…might as well have some fun frolicking!

-Kate

Since April Fools’ Day is coming up in a few days, we decided this post from two years ago is worth a Second Glance...

It’s finally here.  The day when I get to release my pent up immaturity…the day when it’s perfectly acceptable for me to feel mischievous and sneaky…the day when I get to be all the things I try to teach my kids not to be.

I must confess, when I was writing yesterday’s ridiculous story, I kind of creeped myself out.  Talk about a prank gone awry.   I’m still paying for that one and will be for many, many more years. Just kidding about the whole awry thing.  It’s a prank that went wonderfully right.  (See yesterday’s post)

Anyway, here’s my prank for this year. I decided to play is safe and work with food.   It’s a TV dinner of a drumstick, mashed potatoes & gravy, peas & carrots, corn on the cob, and a brownie with sprinkles for dessert, all in a disposable store bought foil tray.  Here’s the catch…it’s all made of cupcakes.

Here’s how I did it…

Brownie – It’s just a cupcake frosted in chocolate swirled frosting with sprinkles on top.

Peas & carrots – It’s a cupcake frosted in green frosting.  The peas are green runts and the carrots are orange starbursts cut into 4ths.  Just place both randomly on top of the frosting.

Mashed potatoes and gravy – It’s a cupcake frosted with white frosting with a dip in the middle like real potatoes would have. .  The gravy is caramel ice cream topping.  The butter is a yellow starburst.

Corn on the cob – This is 2 cupcakes frosted with yellow frosting.  The kernels are various yellow Jelly Belly’s placed in rows.  The butter is another yellow starburst.  Finish off with corn picks in the ends.

Drumstick – This one is a bit more tricky, but still doable.  Put a donut hole on top of the cupcake then cover the cupcake top & the donut hole with the frosting, filling in the spaces.  Then cover the frosting with crushed graham crackers.  The bone is white chocolate.  Just melt some white chocolate chips in the microwave and put into a zip lock baggie.  Cut off one tip of the bag and squeeze the melted chocolate onto waxed paper in the shape of a bone.  Once it cools,  just stick it into the cupcake.

Have fun fooling your family with this one!

Also, check out this other fun April Fools’ Day Food Prank:

More April Fools’ Day Food Pranks

- Kate

Here’s my story from last years Festival of Colors!

I have survived yet another splendid celebration of the arrival of spring at the Festival of Colors, just down the road at the Hare Krishna Temple, right here in good ol’ Spanish Fork, Utah. What started out 15 years ago as a small gathering consisting of a couple of Krishna devotees, a handful of Indians, and sprinkling of BYU college students, has now turned into the largest celebration of the Hindu Holi (Festival of Colors) in the United States. Attendance this year was expected to reach 30,000.

The festival even hit the big time with major media coverage this year  from the big guys at  Reuters (Jim Urquhart) and msnbc.

On this cold, snowy March day, young and old alike, and every age in between, gathered to welcome spring and to spread peace, love and happiness to the world.

The day started out cold and snowy as the first festival goers arrived at the Krishna Temple at about 9:30 A.M.

By 10:30 the grounds surrounding the Krishna Temple were filled with a bright, shiny, and clean crowd, ready to celebrate.

At 11:00 A.M. sharp, after some live Krishna rock music, a group reciting of the Hare Krishna mantra (the largest ever in the U.S.), and a quick countdown from ten, the colors were thrown.

...and the world became colorful!

In India, Holi announces the arrival of spring and the passing of winter. The festival breathes an atmosphere of social merriment. People bury their hatchets with a warm embrace and throw their worries to the wind. Every nook and corner presents a colorful sight. Young and old alike are covered with colors.~Sri Sri Radha Krsna Temple

The festivities continued with the Krishna version of a Woodstock-esque concert, complete with crowd surfing and much merriment.

Before long, the hill full of snow quickly turned into a muddy slide and a few just couldn't resist the lure of the slippery mud.

Really, if you're already covered in a rainbow of colors, what's the harm in adding a little mud, right?

I can guarantee many a Facebook profile photo was changed to became much more colorful by the end of the day.

There were even some celebrities joining in the hoopla.

“The color, noise and entertainment that accompanies the celebration of Holi bears witness to a feeling of oneness and sense of brotherhood. The festival brings home the lesson of spiritual and social harmony!!” ~ Sri Sri Radha Krishna Temple

Here’s a progression of shots, taking you all the way from just before the throwing of the colors, through the throwing, the quick build up of pink haze, and finally, the colorful afterglow, all within a time span of 5 seconds.

Five second time progression at Colors Festival

Take a quick scroll

My family joined me for the celebration this year (well, all except for my husband who had to work and doesn’t exactly enjoy sucking in colored powder, anyway).

A great day was had by all. After several showers, I think we’re all clean and good as new and counting down the days until next year’s celebration.

This is for Julie…it’s not very fancy, but it has worked fine for me. I just have a clear filter on the lens (which is a MUST). You can get one at any camera store. I cover my bag in plastic because as you know, that powder gets everywhere. And then I put my camera inside plastic by cutting a hole in the end just big enough to fit over the lens snugly, and I leave the back end open to put my hands through and to see in the eye piece. If you have a raincover, that should work. Hold your camera close to your body to protect it when you’re not shooting. I usually wear an open jacket or open button up shirt and kind of hide the camera underneath to keep some of the powder off. Also, the best place to shoot to be able to get the whole effect of the throwing of colors is on the deck, off to the right or left side. Even with all these precautions, your camera will still get powder on it. A careful cleaning afterwards should do the trick. Hope you get some great pics and have tons of fun at the festival this year.

~Kate

~Kate

Enjoy your Coffee Break!

Why is it that you people get to have all the fun?!?! It really does look like a great day, Kate. My question is this: Will you still be digging the colors of the rainbow out of your ears at Christmastime?

We’re just lucky, I guess. No purple powder in my ear this year, thank goodness. After two days of blowing my nose, that is also now clear. The clothes even came mostly clean, well, except for my 10 year old son’s pink shoe laces.

Other Festival of Colors stories here, here and here.

(Or perhaps you’d prefer this meal featuring GREEN chicken or this GREEN breakfast idea.)

Today is St. Patrick’s Day. As you probably know, I’m all about the holidays. I like to have a reason, any old reason, to take what could be an ordinary day and turn it into a celebration. In my house, there are no little holidays, and St. Patrick’s Day is no exception.

When my kids were really little I tried making a traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. That did not go over so well. I soon learned if I was going to have some St. Patrick’s Day fun, AND expect my family to eat, I was going to have to try a different approach.  That’s when my green meals began. We’re talking entire meals of green food, here. If you’re going to do it, you may as well go over the top, right?

Over the years, news of my green food shenanigans spread to  my children’s friends who would just happen to be over to visit at dinnertime. Thanks to this green food, for at least one night a year, I get the Cool Mom Award. I couldn’t quit this tradition if I tried. My children won’t let me.

So here is the dinner I’m serving tonight: green noodles with green alfredo sauce, green salad with green ranch dressing, green rolls, sliced green kiwis, green jello with green cool whip (not pictured), and green sprite (also not pictured).

The key to success in making a disgustingly green St. Patrick’s Day meal is GREEN FOOD COLORING. Practically any food can be made green, but it works especially well with foods which are light in color.  Just use your imagination. Green food coloring is your best friend on this holiday.

For the green noodles and green alfredo sauce I just boil the noodles in water with a generous amount of green food coloring. As the noodles cook, the green soaks into the pasta. Then, just add some green food coloring to you favorite homemade (or bottled) alfredo sauce.

Stunning, right?!

Add a quick little green salad with green food coloring mixed into the ranch dressing.

A green roll is always a nice touch. You can usually find green bread products in the bakery of your grocery store on St. Patrick’s Day. If you want to take it a step further, mix some green food coloring into some butter to add to the rolls.

Cut some delicious naturally green kiwis.

Now just add some green jello and green whipped topping and mix some green food coloring into any light colored beverage and you’re all set to go. Easy peasy, right? Now go impress your family and friends. I dare you!

Check out my other St. Patrick’s Day meals here and here.

Kate

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Oh yeah, and don’t forget to wear green. You don’t want to get pinched!

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