October

Tomorrow is October first! During the month of October I am going to post tons of easy Halloween ideas and some pink recipes - to help remind everyone that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

So get ready for a lot of wonderful, yet simple ideas.

French Toast Kabobs

This is a really easy recipe and looks really special.

You can use frozen or homemade french toast. I used the Trader Joe's French Toast.

Ingredients:

French Toast
Pineapple chunks
Strawberries
Powdered Sugar
Skewers
Maple Syrup (on the side)

Make the French toast. Cut the toast into four equal pieces. Not slice each of these pieces in half.  Now thread a few pieces of toast on the skewers and alternate with pineapples and strawberries. Then sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with a small bowl of maple syrup on the side.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Comfort Food......Baked Apples

Baked apples are really easy to make. This is my own special recipe.

Ingredients:

4 apples (Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith)  Note: in the photo I used Fuji apples
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
3 tablespoons flour
5 tablespoons butter (cold and diced)
8 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
pinch of cinnamon and nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off the apple. Use a melon baller to scoop out the core and extra area.

Rub the exposed apple flesh with lemon juice. Stuff the scooped out areas with walnuts and raisins.

Mix the flour, butter, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Now pack the apples with the flour mixture. Place the apples in a baking dish and drizzle with water.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the apples are tender.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

Baked apples..... so comforting.

Tennis Treats

I am Captain of both the PAC SUN  tennis team and the USTA tennis team (don't even ask - why?) So I always make little treats for the tennis team each week/match.  Every so often I can't make treats because I had to make 35 Pilgrim Hat cookies or 35 Heart shaped cookies on popsicle sticks for Christian's class. So this week I made both my treats for Thursday (PAC SUN) and Friday (USTA) today on Tuesday. I feel so organized.

So for the Thursday match I made a little Fall Trail Mix with peanuts, candy corn, fall colored m&m's and yogurt covered pretzel balls.

And I tied the cellophane bags with yellow polka dot ribbon and orange rick rack. I think this looks very Autumn.

For the Friday match I packed cellophane covered blueberry muffins and small packages of pretzels. I like to package something for breakfast like the muffin or perhaps a granola bar.

I had some cellophane bags in pink and red stripes. I used white satin ribbon, pink sheer ribbon and baby red rick rack.

I think they both came out really cute. I might even post these pictures on my tennis blog.

Christian's After School Snack

When Christian comes home from school he always wants milk and cookies. Preferably homemade chocolate chip cookies. People always ask me my recipe and I tell them I use the recipe on the back of the Nestle chocolate chip package.  You know the recipe your mom used!

Pasta Salad

This is a wonderful pasta salad that can be used as a side dish or light main course.  In fact I served it for lunch today.

Ingredients:

12 ounces of spaghetti, broken in half, cooked and drained
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, finely chopped
3 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups of broccoli florets, chopped
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 small can of sliced olives (optional)
1/2 jar Salad Supreme
8 ounces of Italian salad dressing

Mix all of the ingredients in a large bowl and let refrigerate overnight.

I like to wash and chop the vegetables while the pasta is boiling. Then I just throw everything in my bowl and toss. This only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish.

Chocolate Dipped Mint Milanos

Mint Milanos are Christian's favorite cookies. Today I was making a big tray of red, white and blue cookies to bring to a BBQ. And I thought  "Why not fix up some Mint Milanos?

So I found some blue chocolate tabs in the cupboard (probably left over from the fourth of July) and some red sprinkles. I laid the Milanos out on some parchment paper and started dippind and sprinkling.

I think they came out super cute. I know I really need to start focusing on my photography. Maybe it is my camera? No, it's me!

Will Work for Chocolate.....Covered Strawberries

Yum! I love chocolate covered strawberries. So I double dipped the strawberries in white and dark chocolate.

Pick out the best looking strawberries - wash and place with the stem side down to dry. Make sure that the strawberries are completely dry, otherwise the chocolate will not adhere in a smooth manner.

Once they are dry - place them on a large piece of parchment paper and place a toothpick in the center of each stem.

Melt white chocolate using your favorite method either in a double boiler or microwave.

Now they are ready to be dipped in chocolate - first dip in the melted white chocolate. Using the toothpick to pick up the strawberry - and swirl in the white chocolate. Give the strawberries  a little shake as you withdraw it from the chocolate. Let the white chocolate totally harden. Then dip in the dark chocolate. Once the dark chocolate has hardened you can remove the toothpicks.

Chocolate dipped strawberries are best if they are eaten within 24 hours.

They have the greatest flavor when they are served at room temperature.

Chocolate covered strawberry etiquette:

Strawberries may be eaten whole - grasp on to the stem and eat the strawberry in a few bites and leave the stem on your plate