ghostly pumpkin brownies

so i think i got the halloween bug cuz

eek!

i just wanted to make some brownies out of a simple box mix 

to fix my chocolate craving and look...

why i think there's a monster in my kitchen!

whew!

with a little mixing i think i got that monster outta here.

besides, it's still september and i should still be making fall goodies and such instead.

so i'll just pour that silly monster into a pan and bake as directed...

and think i'll add some mini m&m's while i'm at it...

and add some almond bark for more sweetness...

hey!

wait a second!

did my spatula just turn into a m-m-monster?!?!?

cuz my brownies look awful strange!

well, there are like, white blobs on my brownies?!?!

and oh my goodness i think those white blobs grew eyes and wait...!

what the heck is that monster spatula doing now?

AIEEEEE!

my brownies are haunted!

that's ok. i got this and can still sweeten them up with some m&m's.

aha so there!

friendly ghost pumpkin brownies.

made by me and my monsters.

imagine all the possibilities you can do with a blank slate brownie.

it's almost scary!

pumpkin patch 3-D picture frame

happy 1st day of fall everybody!

it's the season for all things pumpkin.
pumpkin bread, pumpkin lattes, 

pumpkin waffles, pumpkin pancakes, 

pumpkin cookies, pumpkin cake,

pumpkin kadoodles (whatever that is),

and of course,

pumpkin pumpkin...

just google search it and you will have a gazillion pumpkin recipes that you will never ever complete if that's what you wanna do.

so in choosing a pumpkin treat to do,

i stayed away from food this time and 

made a pumpkin patch picture frame instead:

it totally came out not looking like 

what i had envisioned at all, 

which is a good thing cuz my vision for it was a little clouded.

thus the reason for the lack of supplies in the following pic,

as i, as usual, winged it:

i got these wooden balls at home goods for the simple fact that i found them utterly cute.

my daughter says i am a weirdo and 

i must agree. lol

i think they are vase fillers but i am changing them to pumpkins.

by painting them as so:

of course you can use wooden beads that you can get at any craft store if you don't get these.

one usually paints wooden beads by sticking a skewer in the hole while painting but these balls had no hole so i just held them instead and washed my hands afterward.

no worries about the spots where your fingers are though, as that can easily be fixed later.

anyway, while the beads/balls dry,

grab some green paper clips or floral wire and do this:

put those aside and hot glue your pumpkins in random order or whatever order you like on the wooden frame then finish painting those bald spots and allow to dry.

then add your paper clip "vines" with more hot glue.

now you need leaves.

i hunted for leaves in my overcrowded craft room and found a tiny leaf hole puncher but i didn't like that idea too much as i wanted something "sturdier".

and that's when i went to my kitchen and found these that i got at jo ann's:

aren't they lovely?

in my craft life, i choose to use sprinkles for anything, not just for baked goods.

i figure i have sprinkles in my cabinet that are 99,000 years old and they still look brand new so these should hold up.

just grab some hot glue and place randomly on the vines.

next, add some personality with a black paint marker.

now all you need is a pic to complete your project.

or a cute fall printable like the one here that i used.

and there ya have it.

so there is my official contribution to the internet pumpkin world.

now if you have a picture of a pumpkin eating a pumpkin pie, 

then you will be ahead of all things pumpkin...

:>O!

mini caramel apple fudge sticks

well, i guess it's fall season.

crisp leaves,

cooler temps,

pumpkins galore.

but...

not around here in florida.

we have 

green leaves,

hot temps,

and summer heat galore.

so yesterday was summer.

today is summer,

and tomorrow will be summer.

summer summer summer.

ugh. ugh. ugh.

well, this fall girl will have to make up for the heat with a caramel apple treat.

but not just any caramel apple, 

let's make it with fudge ok?

and let's make 'em mini to boot:

yes you are seeing that right.

that's fudge.

and not an apple at all.

it just takes a few ingredients 

and freezing and decorating.

here we go:

the only reason i used caramel condensed milk is cuz my regular kind were expired...

since january 2016...uhoh!

so i had this caramel one that was still good 

and i said a caramel apple prayer that it would work.

let's look:

so like it says above, all you have to do is nuke the milk and chips together at 30 second intervals and stir til melted.

and yes-put that small bowl of 

80% melted caramel fudge on the side.

you'll see why in a sec, so don't mind the 

chips in there that still need melting.

so for the rest of the fudge, 

melt that completely and,

i was quite tickled when i colored the caramel red, 

thinking i was gonna get a funky color 

but yahoo it worked!

so next,form into mini apples,

or mini blob thingies pretending to be apples like i did:

freeze these blob apples for about an hour til nice and firm.

now it's time to mess with the 

small bowl of caramel and melt til smooth,

take your blob, 

dip it as shown, and place to dry.

you'll have to move quickly when you grab your apple 

cuz the warmth of your hands can make indentations.

no worries if it does, 

just cover with more caramel as shown below 

and add the details.

and there ya go.

mini caramel apples for summer fall season

in miniature size so you don't have to worry about waste.

(cuz goodness eating a real caramel apple fills you up 

doesn't it? or at least it does for me and i never finish it unless i share)

but no sharing will be needed here, 

well, at least for one apple eating.

unless of course they give you a quarter...?

(lol just wanted to show you the size of these)

happy apple season everyone! :)