Is Your Table Dressing Up this 31st?

Halloween is swiftly approaching!  Are you looking for quick, easy, and economical ideas for your Halloween party?  Moi aussi, mes petits potirons!

I suppose you could say that I have too much free time on my hands, because I find myself in my spare time cutting out bats and spiders from construction paper for my walls and our Halloween tree.  There is something very zen about cutting bits of paper or really, anytime you delve into making crafts from your childhood.  My preschooler (Glue Stick and Googly Eye Expert) and I have had a great time working together on our decorations while listening to Halloween music.  

Cash in One's Chips with Panache/Ganache

This is another recipe from the previously reviewed book Sprinkle With Murder. This recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes.  I was making this for a coworker's birthday and knew 12 would not be enough so I doubled the recipe.  I ended up getting 36 cupcakes from that.  

I only made a single recipe of the chocolate ganache.  That was a very good thing since it was more than enough.  You could even halve the ganache recipe and probably still have some leftover.

There are no in process photos but here are some of the finished product. These cupcakes are very rich and decadent. I baked them in the Reynolds Staybrite baking cups in a muffin tin.  I found I had to adjust the baking time by adding a couple of minutes.  The Staybrite are foil lined and heavier than normal liners. The packages says you don't even need a muffin tin, they can be placed directly on a baking sheet.  

I found the recipe to be accurate and easy to follow.  There is some planning ahead involved since you need the butter and eggs to be room temperature.  The ganache needs to cool to room temperature also but you can let that sit while the cupcakes cool.  

Now I just need to find something to do with the leftover ganache, that is other than just eating it with a spoon.  Yum.  Recipe's after the jump. 

The Whole Kit and Caboodle

I like cooking with my granddaughter and we usually make things such as brownies, cookies, and cupcakes.  I have been looking for an alternative to the sweets and this summer we made a lot of smoothies. Recently when I was at Harris Teeter I saw this cheese making kit.

The container says you can make a pound of mozzarella using only the kit and one gallon of milk in under an hour.  The kit will make up to four pounds of cheese.  I thought it sounded different and fun.

 

Click on the label above for

complete details and instructions.  

In the container you will find instructions, a thermometer, plastic gloves, a package of citric acid, a package of “cheese salt” (I think it is just coarse salt), and a rennet tablet.  

Be sure to thoroughly read directions before you begin.

There is Not a Day That Goes By

...that I do not think of some sort of aspect of farming.  

Is it ancestral voices calling or merely a fixation?

 

I was delighted to learn that one of our new volunteers, Kathleen, has a small farm on which she raises free-range chickens.  I asked if I could purchase eggs from her and did not flinch when she quoted the price of $5.00 per dozen.  I expected it.   

Southern Adventures Continue Every Day

 
How appropriate that my introduction to Dean Faulkner Wells would come in a copy of Southern Living Magazine. 

The back issue of the all things southern periodical contained the introduction to Every Day by the Sun by Ms. Faulkner-Wells. She, as of January 2010, is the sole surviving link to the great southern novelist William Faulkner. Being on a southern adventure of my own, immediately I requested the library to order the book for the system.
 

The first chapter poignantly is also the first chapter in her young life up until her mother’s remarriage.  The book begins with the death of her father Dean Swift Faulkner, the youngest of the Faulkner brothers, who died in a plane crash in 1935. Brother William had supplied the plane and flying lessons in order to help the younger Faulkner get a job. After the fatal barnstorming crash he carried out a life-long devotion to his niece. 

Put 'Em Together and What Have You Got?

 

Ponchatoula Strawberry Cupcakes.  Bibbidy Bobbidy Boo!

You'll find this magical cupcake recipe from yesterday's post after the jump.

Good Ole Southern Comfort Foods & Cocktails

"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." Catherine Douzel.

Grab a copy of Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose and head to the back porch with your favorite southern beverage. Settle in a nice shady spot to savor the good ole southern comfort foods and cocktails offered up in this book.