Happy Thanksgiving

Just thought I'd share my famous Thanksgiving appetizer that the kids look forward to every year.  The original idea came from Family Fun, but I've expanded on it over the years.  The base is simply a sugar pumpkin because I thought it was the perfect size.  Skewer some olives and tomatoes, (the olives were a BIG hit with Ava's class!) add carrots and cucumbers with toothpicks.  The head is an orange baby bell pepper and the waddle and feet are a cut red one.  The beak is a carrot attached with a toothpick and the eyes are olives that I cut in half.  Serve with ranch dip!

While we're all stuffing ourselves, I always like to sip on something festive!  This year I decided to go for a spiced cider cocktail.

Fill a shaker with ice.  Pour in 1 ounce Spiced Rum, 1 ounce Cinnamon Schnapps and 4 ounces of apple cider.  Shake and pour over ice.  Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Happy Thanksgiving!

DIY Cake Stand

I love to entertain and will jump at any chance to host a party!  Part of what I love about parties is decorating and presenting the food in creative ways.  Anyone who knows me well, knows I have a dish, plate or tray for almost every occasion!  My cabinets are completely full!!  When it came time to throw my daughter's birthday party, I knew exactly what theme and colors I was going with but fell short on a few items I wanted.  I 'm constantly surfing the web and have come across many sites with directions for making your own cake stands so I figured why not?  Well, let me tell you, it was so easy and so cheap I will definitely be making more!

Just go to the Dollar Store and purchase these

The glue came from Michael's Crafts (I used a coupon!)

Glue the candlestick to the dish and let the glue dry over night

Either leave as is, or simply paint it with the spray paint of your choice

It's that easy to color coordinate for any event!  I think this could become addicting!  

I used this one for some cookies

*Please note that these are not food safe because of the paint.  Simply use a doily, clear plate or in this case, paper plate on top.  As you can see, I didn't just stop at the cake stand.  The candy/cookie jars are simply a glass and candlestick!

HAVE FUN!

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donut Holes

I'm still on my pumpkin kick and don't plan on ending it any time soon!  There's just nothing like the taste of it mixed with all those spices.  I love the way the house smells too while they're baking.  Yes, I said baking, because these donuts are baked not fried!  These babies are so good, you may want to make a double batch because they seem to disappear quickly!

Donuts

1 3/4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)

1/2 cup milk

Coating

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

2/3 cup sugar

2 Tablespoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 24 cup mini muffin tin with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and spices.  In a separate bowl, whisk together oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk.  Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just combined.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  I used a small scoop

then bake 10 -12 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, melt butter in one bowl and combine sugar and cinnamon in another bowl.  Remove muffins from oven and cool until able to handle.  Dip each muffin in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar to coat.

YUM!!

*These are best dipped and coated the same day because they can get soggy.  I really wouldn't know though, because they they all went!