Halloween Fail

As you know, I like to plan things and be well prepared. But sometimes Murphy's Law has it's way and there is nothing you can do about it. 

It started at 8:30am. I drove my boyfriend to work. It was bad enough that he had to work on Halloween, but after I left him there, I found out that his co-worker was two hours late. So my boyfriend ended up standing outside in the rain. FAIL

While he was sulking in the rain, I was making my big push toward health and physical fitness by taking advantage of my first day of gym membership. But when I got to the gym, there was no parking anywhere. FAIL

Then I spent the afternoon scouring the grocery store and the mall for pieces for my costume and ingredients for my Halloween cookies. With all my success and excitement, I came home to "Oh crap! I messed it up." Yes, my boyfriend messed up his Halloween costume by trying to use bathtub caulking as fabric glue! Goodbye costume idea #1. FAIL

Later we came up with another brilliant idea. All we had to do was burn a shirt with an iron. But the iron wouldn't burn my boyfriends shirt for the costume idea. What!?! Seriously, a Nonburnable cotton shirt? Who's heard of that? FAIL

While he struggled against the cotton menace, the cookies I made came out came out wrong. What I thought would be cute little sandwich cookies turned out to be huge cake sandwiches. Martha really let me down this time. I tried to save them with artful decorating, but instead of a witches hats, they looked like traffic cones. FAIL

7:53 came. We had no costume. No motivation. No energy.

Everything about the day was a complete and utter disaster.

And then it hit us:

Did I mention that the car was out of gas, he forgot his wallet, and I left my jacket at home?

FAIL - FTW!

Food Friday: Halloween Goodies

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. I love creating costumes and baking delicious treats. The past two Halloweens I have made Martha Stewart cookies--Lady Fingers and Candy Corn cookies. Martha has so many delicious and fun Halloween recipes. And this year I simply can't decide what to make.

I've narrowed it down to four options based on my ability to make them the day of Halloween, the ingredient list and ease of eating while partying. At the moment I am leaning towards the Wicked Witch Cupcakes, but the other three recipes look so darn good. I wish I could make them all.

Please help me choose! Below you can see the photos and links to the recipes. Either comment or vote using the nifty poll. And if you hate all of these options (and you are attending Nikki's party) then please tell me what other treat you'd like me to make. Thank you for your help friends! 

1. Wicked Witch Cupcakes

2. Halloween Whoopie Pies

3. Jack-o'-Lantern Tarts

4. Brownie Bits

Halloween Costumes: Robert Palmer and Backup Dancer

Last year was a great Halloween. My boyfriend and I went to my good friend Nikki's Halloween party. She is awesome and her party was so fun. We had a great time eating and drinking with friends and there were lots of laughs.

We decided it was more fun to create a costume together and in a moment of sheer brilliance (aka me wanting to dance to 80's music) we decided to go as Robert Palmer and his back-up dancer.

Most of the costume was easy to put together from our closets. Which gave us more time to track down a wig and make a guitar. We put off buying the wig so the store only had white oness-- we spray painted it brown. The guitar was really fun to make and we are so proud of our creation. Most people think it's real at first glance but it's all cardboard. :)

For those of you too young to know who the heck Robert Palmer is check out the video.

Halloween Costumes: Chili Pepper

Me: What should I be for Halloween?
Mom: A chili pepper.
Me: ???
Mom: because you're hot! *hysterical laughing*

It took some convincing but my mom finally wore me down. The costume actually turned out pretty cool even though some people thought I was a Christmas stocking.

Now I have to figure out what to do for this Halloween. Any ideas?

Halloween Costumes: BATMAN!

I think this is my all-time favorite costume. I am a huge Batman fan, especially 1960's Adam West Batman. It's so campy and fun.

My first year of college I decided to dress up as Batman. My mom and I made the costume together on the weekends (she did most of it). During this time I tried to get a friend of mine to dress up as Robin but he always said no. Finally--two days before Halloween--he agreed. Which sent me scrambling around Claremont to make his costume. It turned out pretty darn good for last minute work.

We got a lot of compliments and I had a blast running around like Batman for a night. It is one of the sillier things I've done in my life.

The costume has been put to good use too. I believe a total of 4 people have worn it over the years. It's a crowd pleaser.

Have you ever dressed up like a superhero for Halloween?

Food Friday: Lady Fingers

These creepy treats were a big hit at my first DC Halloween party. The guests either made an audible sound of disgust or happily munched on them throughout the night. Those that were brave enough to try them discovered that they are quite delicious.

As you have probably guessed this is a Martha Stewart recipe. The cookies were very easy to make, basically your regular sugar cookie recipe that you then shape like fingers. The fingernails are almonds dyed red and an egg wash gives it that embalmed look.

If you are looking for other spooky treats check out Martha Stewart's Halloween Central. I think I'll try my hand at some goulish cupcakes this year.

What are you favorite Halloween treats?

Happy Friday!

Halloween Costumes: Glinda

Before The Little Mermaid came along there was the Wizard of Oz. I remember watching the movie with my mom and brother. I loved Glinda. Her beautiful sparkly pink dress was just the kind of thing I loved as a kid. Actually...I still really love it.

I was only four but I remember putting this costume on and thinking that it was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen. My mom told me that I literally wore it out. I would dance around the house in it for months after Halloween.

I'm pretty sure the bright pink cheeks were my idea.

What do you remember about your first few Halloweens?

Halloween Treats: Caramel Apples

Last weekend I had a serious craving for a caramel apple. They are my favorite Fall treat. I usually get one at festivals or fairs but last Saturday I just could not wait. I found that Caramel Apples are surprisingly easy to make.

1. Purchase a bag of caramel candies and apples of your choice.
2. Push a popsicle stick into the center of the apples.
3. Chill apples.
4. Unwrap candies and place in a saucepan with 2 tbs water.
5. Stir candies over medium-low heat until melted.
6. Dip apples in caramel and spoon caramel over the top of apples as needed.
7. Let excess caramel drip off apples and scrap off the caramel on the bottom of the apples.
8. Place on greased baking sheet.
9. Chill finished apples for 15 minutes.



I decided to roll a couple of mine in mini chocolate chips. The combination turned out to be too sweet for me but it makes for a nice effect. Peanuts, crushed cookies and other toppings can also be used.

The caramel candies I bought included a recipe for caramel apples on the package and popsicle sticks. You can also make your own caramel but that is a much longer process that I simply was not up for. Make sure to buy smaller apples too. It is easier to coat smaller apples and they can then be cut with an apple cutter very easily.

Mmmm....I think I'll have another one right now.

Halloween Costumes Through the Years: Ariel

I have always loved dressing up for Halloween. In the next two weeks I'll be sharing a few of my favorites.

I absolutely love this first costume. When I was 5 I saw The Little Mermaid at the movie theater and fell in love with Ariel. It was a given that I would be Ariel for Halloween. My mom made this costume for me. Isn't it amazing!?


This Halloween I went trick-or-treating with my brother and my cousin. The three of us were having a great time going house to house. Towards the end of the night we came to a house with a scarecrow sitting in a chair in front of the garage. The boys thought the scarecrow was a real person and I was sure it was not. My brother dared me to smack the scarecrow. Since I knew it was fake I marched straight up to it and hit it as hard as I could across the face. Ooops! The scarecrow stood up and chased the three of us to the street. We screamed the entire way. Lucky for us he was a forgiving guy and only scared us. I will never forget that Halloween.

Come back throughout the next two weeks for more costumes, Halloween treats and the reveal of an extra special alligator costume!

Food Friday: Angel Food Cake

When I asked my co-worker what type of dessert she wanted for her birthday she jokingly said "fat free." At first I laughed and then I thought "why not?!" I had never made angel food cake and it is a delicious fat-free dessert so I went for it.

Angel Food cake has a very simple ingredient list; egg whites, powdered sugar, granulated sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla and flour. It makes it a perfect cake to easily whip up.

However, it can seem a bit daunting to make when you read the directions. There are a lot of tips on how not to screw up, yet it feels like the recipe is asking you to.

My oven is still not working so I baked at a friends house. Lucky for me not only does she have a working oven, she also has a stand mixer. The mixer made it much easier to make the cake. It took a long time to beat the egg whites to the right fluffy consistency. I am so glad I didn't have to do it by hand.

The cake turned out really well. It only took about 35 minutes to bake and it was light, fluffy and moist. Everyone in the office seemed to like it but it was a little too sweet for me. If you like Angel Food cake though you should try it out. It tastes way better than the ones you buy at the store.

I used a recipe from Better Homes and Gardens but Martha Stewart has a recipe for Lemon Angel Food cake that sounds like a winner.

Overall I'm glad I tried something new but I think I'll be making something more rich for the next office birthday.

Happy Friday!