Special Post - Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween!

Cheese Skull

Remember how much fun I told you I had at the Halloween party last year? Well this year, my friends had a party at their house again and we had even more fun than last year.  And as creative as the food was last year, it was even more creative this year!  As far as costumes, I was an evil doll (think Annabelle), the bf was Alan from the Hangover, the hosts were a witch, a clown, and an ebola victim.  There was also Cruella Deville, and her husband was the masked man.  We had a kitty, Flo from Progressive (with her husband, Jake from State Farm - hilarious!), gangsters, and a Duck Dynasty cast member.  I am always so impressed with the things people come up with!!!

Pumpkin Vomit

Brownies

For food I made a cheese ball (in the shape of a skull!), that had dried beef and horseradish, something I've never made before.  My friend's (the masked man) makes a great cheese ball this way and I wanted to try it myself.  It wasn't as good as hers, but it was deemed pretty delicious by the masked man, which was a great kudos!  I also made brownies, which I tried to decorate in a spooky theme but next year I have to revamp the decor.  LoL, it came out very childlike (but the brownies - box mix - were scrumptious!).  My last contribution was snakes in a sawmp, gummy snakes soaked in sour apple vodka - creepy (and strong!).  We had pizza again, this time without the ghosts, but still yummy.  The breadstick bones were just as delicious as last year and got devoured by the end of the night.  New were sandwich rings... Yum!  We also had caesar salad.  Our gangster girl made a cheese and meat dip and had it looking like a pumpkin threw it up.  Creative and delicious!  Definitely one of my favorites.  She also made deviled eggs, some with bacon on top and some with olive "spiders".  There was a jello mold in the shape of a skull, Zombie eyeballs and toes (crockpot meatballs and lil smokies), toe cookies, taco dip with a spider web topping (made from sour cream), and puppy chow with fingers in it.  We drank a lot of apple pie (adult beverage) made by the ebola victim - I cannot tell you how amazing this drink is!  There were some rowdy round of Catchphrase, boys vs girls.  A great music playlist interspersed with horror movie clips.  It was a great time and I wish I could do it all over again this weekend!!! I hope everyone has a safe and happy Halloween today!

Bread Stick "Bones"

"Snakes in a Swamp"

"Toe" Cookies

Pizza

Pizza

Deviled Eggs

Zombie Eyeballs and Toes

Sandwich Ring

Jello Skull

Desserts

Table

Spooky Spider Taco Dip

Sandwich Ring

Puppy Chow

We Made Room For Dessert 18 - Lemon Quick Bread

We made room for dessert this week! And it's another quick bread!  We all know by now I am not a good baker, but if there is one thing I am not bad at baking, it's a quick bread (i.e. banana bread, zucchini bread, etc).  This week I have been craving a lemon quick bread my mom used to make.  So I made it and here's the recipe!

Lemon Quick Bread

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• zest of 1 lemon 
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Topping:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lemon, juiced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a loaf pan (I just used cooking spray).
Combine eggs, sugar, oil, and zest until very well blended.  Sift in flour and baking powder, and slowly stir in.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour, or until toothpick comes out clean (note, I start checking at 45 minutes and every 5 minutes thereafter).
Meanwhile, combine sugar and lemon juice over medium heat and let simmer until sugar is dissolved. 
Also, combine cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice.  Refrigerate.
When bread is done, poke holes in bread an pour lemon juice/sugar mixture over it while bread is still warm.  Let bread finish cooling.  Serve with cream cheese mixture.
Enjoy!!!

Shrimp Creole - Home Cooked Recipes 54

Shrimp finally went on sale!  I am excited about this because we ate shrimp all the time last year, but for some reason shrimp was extremely expensive this year and it's rare that I purchase it because of the cost.  Wanting to try a new recipe, I looked at my Pinterest boards and saw a couple recipes I had pinned for shrimp creole.  Here is my version!

Shrimp Creole

Ingredients:

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (thawed if frozen)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced into rounds
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 8oz can tomato sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs creole seasoning
• 1 tsp Adobo seasoning
• salt and pepper
• hot sauce (I used Louisiana Crystal)
• Worcestershire sauce
• olive oil

***1 cup of white rice cooked in 2 cups water to serve shrimp over

Directions:

Preheat your oven's broiler for 10 minutes.  Toss shrimp with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Spread onto a baking sheet and broil for 10 minutes.  Set aside. Meanwhile, cook rice.
In a large saute pan, cook onions, peppers, and carrot in a couple tablespoons of olive for 5-10 minutes until tender.  Then add garlic and saute for a minute until fragrant. Add in spices and worcestershire, stir to combine for 1 minute.  Add in tomatoes and tomato sauce and simmer sauce for 15 minutes.  Add shrimp in and season to taste with hot sauce.  After 5 minutes, take off heat and serve over rice.
Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Bacon Meatloaf - Home Cooked Recipe 53

This is not my mother's, or doubtfully your mother's meatloaf.  This is a rich, decadent meatloaf.  Not for the faint of heart.  Definitely not on a diet plan. This is an indulgence dish, but one that is amazing.  Filled with Umami (the "5th" taste, that is neither sweet, salty, sour, or bitter, but something beyond), this meatloaf is a savory taste you won't soon forget.

Blue Cheese Bacon Meatloaf

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef (only paid $2.49 as it was on sale)
• 8 oz crumbled blue cheese (I got this at Aldi for $1.98 - a steal!)
• 4 oz bacon, cooked and crumbled
• Soy sauce (just to drizzle over the top)
• 1/4 of a red onion, diced finely
• 1 egg
• 2 slices white bread, torn in to small pieces
• 1/4 cup milk
• Salt and pepper
• ***Onion powder
• ***Garlic powder
• ***Adobo seasoning
• *** = optional seasoning, but it is what I used, just a dash or two of each

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375.
Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place rack on top.  Make a square piece of foil, about the size of the meatloaf you're making.  Place in center of rack.
Soak your bread in milk for about five minutes.  While waiting, dice onion and beat egg.  After bread has soaked, mix in onions, egg, and spices.  Mix well.  Add meat and combine thoroughly.  Let meat rest for at least 30 minutes.
Form meatloaf and place on foil square on pan.  Make a well in the center.  Fill with 1/2 the blue cheese and bacon.  Close meat around cheese and bacon mixture.  Drizzle soy sauce over the top of meat loaf.  Top with remaining blue cheese crumbles.  Bake for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and let rest 15 minutes.  Slice and serve (I served mine with mashed potatoes and honey glazed carrots).
Enjoy!