No Tricks Just Treats

Need a quick, super easy, delectable Halloween treat?  

Here ya go!

Seriously.  I made these in less than an hour.  

All you need:

Mason jars and lids

Free cute jar label from Lauren McKinsey Designs 

Ribbon

and some kind of treat. 

I attached a cute little tag, but really isn't needed if you deliver in person.

My treat just happened to be... 

Soda Cracker Candy

35-40 soda crackers

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped walnuts (if desired)

Other toppings if desired

Line a 15"x10"x1" (jelly roll) baking pan with foil and coat with non-stick cooking spray. Place crackers in rows on foil. In a saucepan melt butter; add the brown sugar and bring to a boil. Boil for 3-4 minutes. Pour over crackers and spread until completely covered. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven.  Sprinkle chocolate chips over hot cracker/candy mixture. Spread chocolate. Add nuts if desired. Drizzle white choc on to (if desired)  Cool completely in refrigerator until chocolate is hard; remove candy from foil and break into pieces.

And there you go!

Another cute treat just for you...

An adorable Cabbage Patch Kid! 
(Little CeCe's trick-or-treating costume)

A Very Happy Birthday To YOU!

Rootbeer Floats and a Cute One Year Old!

Last week my daughter invited lots of adoring friends and family (including ME) to her sweet little ONE YEAR OLD's birthday party. 

Kendall was adorable.  The decorations were fun and fabulous.  The birthday treats were delicious.  And the cake...another beautiful creation from our favorite cake lady. 

Party dress and a book.  Just waiting for the big event!

IBC Rootbeer, ice cream and the SMASH Cake.

Simple is Sweet.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Tis the Season!

Pumpkin CHOCOLATE Chip Muffins

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1-16 oz can pumpkin

1-1/2 cup vegetable oil (or part applesauce)

Beat until smooth.

3 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. salt

Combine and add to pumpkin mixture.

Stir in 1 to 2 cups semi-sweet choc. chips.  Fill muffin tins (or cups).  Bake 400 degrees for 16-20 min.  

Cool.  Enjoy.

All Eyes On YOU! Primary Program Thank yous

Primary Sacrament Meeting Program...successfully complete!  

Our Primary Children did such a spectacular job with their parts, and especially the singing for the program.  We thought they deserved something fun to celebrate their hard work.  Because...ALL EYES WERE INDEED ON THEM!

Found this cute monster tag at Bloom Designs and tweaked it just a bit.

If you would like to print your own, just right click and save this picture and then print!

Added the googly eyes.

Using toothpicks made it much easier to adhere the eyes with glue.

Awesome, fun tags!

Filled a fun treat bag with favorite goodies.

100 bags with tags, somewhat quick and easy.  The googly eyes were the most fun to assemble, but took a bit of time.

We have the greatest children in our Primary.  

We're glad 

ALL EYES WERE ON YOU!

Panzanella

I have a really delicious recipe for you today! My friend, Nita made this for me years ago when I was at her house for dinner. I was obsessed with it, but she is a gourmet cook so I was a little hesitant. I got the recipe from her that day but never made it! She has made it a few more times over the years and each time she makes it I think how I have to try making it myself. Let me tell you, it was so easy!

The recipe is from Ina Garten. The link and even a video how to is located here in case you want to check that out. I left the capers out in mine because, capers? come on....that's way too fancy. And instead of champagne vingear which was $10/bottle I used white wine vinegar. tasted the same. Give it a try- It's so good!
Note: When I make it again I will brown the bread cubes a little longer because they got soggy really fast. 

Panzanella
by Ina Garten
Ingredients
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 small French bread or boule, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 red onion, cut in 1/2 and thinly sliced
20 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons capers, drained
For the vinaigrette:
1 teaspoon finely minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup good olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large saute pan. Add the bread and salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently, for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned. Add more oil as needed.

For the vinaigrette, whisk all the ingredients together.

In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, red onion, basil, and capers. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Serve, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Red & White Pasta

My friend, Nita made this for me and my family when I sick a few months ago. It was so delicious! 

I had to share!

Ruby's Red & White Pasta

1/2 cup butter

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb Penne pasta

1 jar spaghetti sauce

shredded mozzarella

Start cooking pasta. In seperate pan, melt butter on medium/low heat

 when melted, add cream cheese and garlic powder. whisk together, stir in cream and bring to a boil. Decrease heat and simmer, stirring often . Simmer 5-6 minutes. Remove from heat and add Parmesan cheese. 

 Drain Pasta and spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce into 9x13 pan. Mix white Alfredo sauce with drained pasta. Put in dish on top of spaghetti sauce. Spread a thin layer of spaghetti sauce over pasta. Sprinkle Mozzarella, the spaghetti sauce again and then more mozzarella.

 Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake until cheese is fully melted and cheese is bubbly. 

 Enjoy!

So Long Summer-Street Tacos

We managed to slip in a quick trip to So. Cal before school started up again.  There is nothing so wonderful as sun, sand and surf!  We experienced it all!

Growing up at our house my mom used to have Taco Night.  We all looked forward to taco night because we all loved our mom's tacos.  My sister, Carri has taken that recipe, added a little Southern California flair and come up with her version of Street Tacos!  

After a day at the beach Carri treated us to these savory, crunchy, Cali fresh tacos.

Carri's Street Tacos

1 doz corn tortillas

1 lb. seasoned meat (hamburger, chicken, fish)

vegetable oil (for frying)

shredded lettuce

shredded cheese

sour cream

tomatoes

avocados

salsa

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan till hot.  Spoon seasoned meat into tortilla shell.  Carefully lay one side of tortilla in hot oil till desired crisp, then flip to other side.  Make sure you are allowing the shell only in the oil.  Place on a paper towel plate to soak up some of the oil.  Continue this process until tortilla shells and meat are combined.

Let cool slightly, then add your favorite toppings.

(Carri seasons her fish with Teriyaki sauce)

So Long Summer!