Pumpkin Keychains for Meals on Wheels

I made 50 of these little beaded pumpkin keychains for Meals on Wheels. They were a lot of fun to make!

I made them whenever I sat down to watch television.

I ordered a 50 pack of little pumpkin key chain kits from oriental trading and each kit came with the cord, keychain loop and beads.

Each kit also came with an instruction sheet.

Aren't these cute? Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Nuts

I make these nuts every year right before Thanksgiving. Since they are made with a Pumpkin Pie Spice they are perfect for a Thanksgiving party favor or hostess gift.

They are so easy to make and can be packaged in jars or cellophane bags.

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

3 tablespoons of water

2 cups lightly salted peanuts

1 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 cups walnuts

2 cups pecans

2 cups cashews

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of sugar

3 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

1 tablespoon cayenne pepper

3 teaspoons salt

Note: just use 10 cups of your favorite nuts ( you might want to omit the cashews and use almonds instead).

Directions:

Line 2 large cookie sheets with foil and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a very large bowl whisk the egg whites and water until the mixture is frothy.

Start adding the nuts into the bowl and toss until all the nuts are coated. Then add the sugar, pumpkin pie spice, cayenne pepper and salt to the bowl and stir until the mixture is combined.

Divide the mixture on to the 2 foil lined cookie sheets.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes - stirring every 10 minutes. 

Let the mixture cool and package it into jars or cellophane bags.

Some dried cranberries would look nice sprinkled into the nuts. I think I will try the dried cranberries next year.

While the nuts cooled - I punched out some brown circles and wrote my labels.

Using double stick tape I adhered the labels to the top of the jars.

The final step is to tie the jars with a pretty piece of ribbon. The nuts can be used in a salad, on oatmeal or ice cream. They also make a great snack!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin Butter

This is how I decide to make a recipe. I am browsing in Williams Sonoma and I pick up the Pumpkin Butter that they sell. Hmmmm.....I bet I could make this. So I come home and Google and Pinterest until I find a recipe that I have all of the ingredients sitting in my cupboard or fridge. Many of the Pumpkin Butter recipes that I found called for apple juice. I did not have any apple juice. Then I found this recipe that called for orange juice. I had orange juice! Bingo! And before Thanksgiving I always have cans of pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Who doesn't?

 The blog that I used for this recipe is Less-than-Perfect Life of Bliss.blogspot.com. This blogger even included some labels that you can download and print out!

So my cute labels are also courtesy of this generous blogger.

I downloaded the black labels from the Less-than-Perfect website and cut them out and glued them to an orange and white polka dot paper and then glued them to a white scalloped card stock.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup orange juice

1 cup brown sugar

4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 - 15 ounce cans pure pumpin

4  - clean 8 ounce jars 

Directions:

In a medium saucepan heat the orange juice, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice until the mixture comes to a low boil. Whisk constantly so that the mixture doesn't scald.  Once the mixture has thickened add the pumpkin and reduce the heat to low. Heat until all of the ingredients are mixed well and heated all the way through.

Let the mixture cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Then scoop the pumpkin butter into the jars. Put the lids on the jars. Tape the labels on and add the ribbon right before giving out the Pumpkin Butter.

These Pumpkin Butters will stay fresh in the fridge for up to three weeks.

What an easy recipe! This would be a fantastic Thanksgiving party favor or hostess gift. This Pumpkin Butter can be used on toast, english muffins, with Thanksgiving leftovers or even warmed up a little and served over ice cream.

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Nuts

This is such an easy recipe! These nuts would make a great Thanksgiving party favor or hostess gift. They would be perfect to serve on the cheese platter with some dried fruit.

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons water

6 cups of assorted nuts (i used.......

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Cover two baking sheets with foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Beat egg whites and water in a large bowl until the mixture is foaming. Add the nuts and stir to coat. I used walnuts, almonds and cashews.

Combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt.  Pour the sugar mixture into the bowl and stir until everything is coated. Divide the mixture on two baking sheets. Spread out the nuts so that they are in a single layer.

Bake the nuts for 20 to 25 minutes. Let the nuts cool to room temperature and place them in a jar or tupperware.

 I  packaged mine into little jars for party favors.

I found these small jars at Target.

Using some brown and orange paper - I made little labels.

Then to add that little extra touch - I tied the jars with a sheer orange ribbon. I am actually bringing these to a birthday party tomorrow. But they would make cute Thanksgiving party favors - or to put them in a larger jar and present it as a hostess gift.  They sell mason jars at Target, hardware stores and some grocery stores.

Don't forget to save some nuts for yourself because they are really yummy!

Pumpkin Pie Granola

I love making granola - it is so easy to make a huge jar of granola. It can be served over ice cream or yogurt. I like to eat it on top of fresh fruit.

Pumpkin Pie Granola would make a perfect breakfast for Thanksgiving morning.

Ingredients:

5 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1/3 cup wheat germ

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 canola oil

2/3 cup pure canned pumpkin

2 tablespoons water

1 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine oats, walnuts, pumpkin pie spice, wheat germ and coconut in a large bowl. Add the maple syrup, water, oil and pumpkin. Stir until everything is moist. Cover a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes - remove from oven and stir with a spatula.

Bake for another 20 minutes and remove from the oven. Stir with the spatula again.

Bake for another 15- 20  minutes until everything is toasty and brown. Remove the granola from the oven and stir in the dried cranberries.

Once the granola is cool - place it a large jar or tupperware. This granola would also be cute in individual jars to give as gifts. A pumpkin sticker would look adorable on the jar label.

Pumpkin Pie Sugar Scrub

This is a wonderful gift idea especially at this time of the year - when we are dry and itchy. A scrub helps exfoliate and moisturize our skin. This scrub is made for your hands or body - not your face.

Fortunately this scrub can be made with ingredients that you probably have in your pantry. But remember you might need to replenish some supplies when it is time to bake.

Ingredients:

4 cups of brown sugar
2 cups of white sugar
5 tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups of olive, sesame or canola oil

You will also need little tins, labels and orange ribbon.

Directions:

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Using a spoon place the scrub into to the little tins and pack the scrub down with the back of the spoon.

I bought the little tins in the wedding section at Michael's - they were $19.99 for 28 tins but I had a 50% off coupon so I only paid $10. Use your coupons ladies!

The scrub smells really yummy while you are combining all the ingredients.

This recipe filled twenty-three of the little tins.

What a quick project!

Then I just hand wrote some little labels. Note: the little wedding tin kit came with the oval labels.

Using some orange ribbon (see if you have any left over from Halloween) you can tie a little bow around your tin or use a tiny strip under the label.

Use this method if you want to stack the little tins or if you happen to be short on orange ribbon.

The bows would look cute as a place setting party favor or as decorations on your Thanksgiving table.

This is such a fun and simple project - your kids can help make this with you! I am going to bring a few to my hairdresser today.  Her hands must get really dry this time of the year.

Note: If you use this scrub in the shower - the shower can become a little slippery. Rinse the bottom of the shower really well and be careful!

Remember to be Thankful!

Mini Pumpkin Pies

I made these little mini pumpkin pies. They were very easy and fun to make. I adapted this recipe from my idol/hero Bakerella.

Ingredients:

2 refrigerated ready-to-roll pie crusts
1 egg white
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

Pumpkin shaped cookie cutter
Mini muffin pan

1/2 cup chocolate morsels
re-sealable plastic bag

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use the cookie cutter to cut 12 pumpkins from each pie crust. You will need to roll the pie crust out a little thinner so that you are able to cut 12 pumpkins.

Press the dough shapes into a mini muffin pan - alternating cups.

Apply egg whites to the top edges of each pie crust.

Mix the cream cheese, sugar, canned pumpkin, eggs, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice together until throughly combined. Spoon the mixture into each pumpkin-shaped pie crust. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Remove pies to cool and repeat the process with the next pie crust. I was able to roll out the scraps and made about 34 mini pumpkin pies.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and spoon into a plastic re-resealable bag. Twist the bag so that all of the melted chocolate is in one corner. Make a tiny snip in the chocolate corner and drizzle over the pumpkins and draw faces.

A very cute Thanksgiving dessert!

Pumpkin Oreo's and Marshmallows

Today I made some pumpkin Oreo's and Marshmallows! A fun treat and easy treat to make. No baking involved.

Aren't these adorable? I just dipped the Oreo's in the orange candy melts that you can buy at Michael's or any party store.

While the orange tabs were melting.......

I found some black icing, green Tic Tac's and broke some pretzels.

Then I set out the Oreo's and marshmallows on parchment paper.

Once the Oreo's were dipped in the orange chocolate - I immediately added a green Tic Tac or broken pretzel for the stem.

When the orange candy coating has completely dried - add the face decorations with black icing.

On the marshmallow once the orange candy coating is dry - you can make the face decorations and tie a little green bow to add a little color.

If you want to put these treats into little plastic bags - they need to dry overnight. So that the icing faces don't get smudged.