Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Small Plates - November 6, 2009

MUCHO NACHOS - Can you guess what I'm craving today? Nachos. Probably because it's National Nachos Day and recipes for the stuff are popping up all over. I'm still a basic nacho girl: chips, refried beans, cheese (monterey jack and cheddar), jalapenos and sour cream. I'll add some guacamole if I have it but I don't crave it on my nachos. And when I make nachos they have to be "individual"...meaning that each and every chip has beans, cheese, a jalapeno slice and some sour cream. I hate getting an order of nachos and only having the good stuff on the top layer of chips.

NACHO SOUP - I made Nacho Cheese Soup before, but it was made with canned soup. I'm thinking I need to find a good recipe that uses some fresh cheese. Any recipes you can recommend?

EVEN HOCKEY PLAYERS LIKE NACHOS - "Take some nachos, take some Coke and enjoy the game". To find out which hockey player made that comment go here. 

FAVORITE NACHO QUOTE - "When you are a man, sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room. It's for fun." Okay technically it's not about Nachos but it does come from the movie Nacho Libre!

NACHO FANDOM - There are several blogs and websites out there devoted to all things Nacho. Check out Nachos NY (they have info about nachos in other cities too) or Enjoy Nachos. 

HALLOWEEN REDO - Finished off all that Halloween candy yet? Still have a ton left and have no clue what to do with it? I have two options for you. First, how about a Halloween Candy Pie? Though my first thought was "ewwwww", my second thought was "I so need to try this next year!". Yeah, that's it, I can go trick or treating, house to house telling folks they need to give me candy so I can make a pie. I'm sure there's a costume for that. You can check out the pie on Cakespy's wonderful site here . The second idea for that leftover candy came via a Facebook conversation between my cousin in Texas and some friends of hers. Seems the thing to do is have your kids pick out 25 pieces of candy, set that aside and use it sort of as an advent calendar treat for the days before Christmas. Gives a place for the candy to go instead of in the garbage (or your husbands tummy!). Great way for the kids not to be upset because they don't get to eat all their hard earned goodies right away.

UPDATE: Noble Pig posted a recipe for Halloween Candy Vanilla Bundt Cake using leftover candy. Check it out here. Gotta try to make this next year (unless I can find someone who will donate their leftover Halloween candy this year!).

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Halloween - October 31, 2009

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Have a great Halloween or the pumpkin gets it! Wait, the pumpkin already got it. And I have the guts to prove it. All I have to do now is roast those pumpkin seeds (Simply Recipes has a how-to here).

May your kids get lots of candy tonight (that they share with any and all adults which is what I'm hoping Mr. L's Godson and his sister do). May your house not be toilet papered, egged, or soaped. May all your neighbors be home answering their doors with their houses decorated. And may you all have a wonderful Halloween.

Halloween - October 30, 2009

If you haven't already checked out Extremepumpkins.com you need to. He posts amazing pumpkins on his site (and he has several books out you can find here and here). But this post isn't about pumpkins. It's about Candy Corn.

See, I have this love/hate relationship with Candy Corn. I don't think I really like the taste. It's all waxy and sugary...but I eat it. By the handfuls. If there is a bag of it or a bowl of it, I will just eat and eat and eat until it's gone. Dangerous stuff. I thought I might have to make a smaller version of this Candy Corn Extreme Pumpkin next year. They said it took three or four bags of candy corn to make. I'm assuming it will take about seven bags for me, since I'll probably be eating most of the decoration before it makes it onto the pumpkin. 

Now if you look around the internets and food blogs you will find a TON of recipes that either require the use of Candy Corn or mimic the look and taste of Candy Corn. I have a feeling next year will be the "Candy Corn" year at our house. Check out of a few of the recipes available:

Candy Corn Cordials from The Food Network

Candy Corn Cookie Bark and Candy Corn Cookies from Recipe Girl

Candy Corn Crackers from Better Homes and Garden

Sparkling Candy Corn Cookies from Lank O Lakes

Candy Corn Parfaits from Joy of Baking

Candy Corn Cupcakes from Megan's Munchies

Chocolate Candy Corn Truffles from Sunset Magazine

Halloween Candy Corn Pizza from Oprah

Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats from Kelloggs

Candy Corn Latte from DaVinci

Candy Corn Mousse from The Runaway Spoon

Candy Corn Champagne from Pocket Cocktails

Candy Corn Shooters from The Nest

Candy Corn Cereal Treats from Baked Perfection

Candy Corn Jello Bundt from The Food Librarian 

Vegan Candy Corn from The Urban Housewife

Candy Corn Snack Mix from Taste of Home

And if you've made some Candy Corn treats, why not make these cute little Candy Corn Bags from The Crafty Crow to put them in!

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Halloween - October 29, 2009

I heart Not Martha. Who else would come up with this hand to serve for dinner? And if you go here she will show you step by step directions on how to make this meat hand. She even gives you several different versions to make! Yes, I guess the Mummy Meatloaf from yesterday was a bit too tame for some of my readers. The Phantom sent me this link from Food Network Humor which shows many different ways to serve up meatloaf on Halloween. None of them look half as appetizing as the Mummy Meatloaf. In fact, even knowing they were edible, some of those dishes I wouldn't even serve my cat!

Do check out the Not Martha blog for more ideas. She has links to Halloween recipes, costumes and all sorts of Halloween goodness! Check out Not Martha here.

Halloween - October 28, 2009

There are so many great bloggers out there posting amazing food they have cooked up for Halloween. I'm bummed that I didn't have time to link to them all or to try out some of their ghoulish treats. But I admit, I'm a bit candy overloaded right now and Halloween is still a few days away. That's why when I saw this meatloaf I decided it had to be made even if it's not in time for Halloween.

There are cupcakes out there that look similar and you can find directions for them here, here, here and here - all different degrees of difficulty and flavors. A Google search will give you many options for mummy cupcakes.

But this? Meatloaf? Sigh, speaks to my Halloween heart.  You can find the recipe for this on Epicurious here. I'm thinking any meatloaf recipe would work though. I am having a bit of a problem with finding the pasta (it's pappardelle which I may have to order as I can't find that size at any of my local stores. Okay, yes, I could make my own pasta, but get real, this is ME trying to make this). The eyes are made out of  slices of a Mozzarella ball and some olives. Seriously cute. And perfect to disguise meatloaf for kids that may not be inclined to eat it in the first place. 

Halloween - October 26, 2009

These days, Halloween decorations go up on websites and in stores during the month of August. Which means most of the good stuff is already gone by the week before Halloween. GrandinRoad is a great source of cool Halloween decorations. They carried a lot of the Martha Stewart stuff you saw in her special Halloween magazine. Alas, most of the stuff is already sold (they had these awesome inflatable black cats for your lawn at one point...I think they still show up on the main page but you can no longer buy them). But GrandinRoad does have a few interesting things currently on sale.

Behold Hagatha the Halloween Witch. She's currently on sale for $49.50 (she was $99). Still pretty expensive but she looks divine. I want to dress as her next Halloween. Hagatha is 14"H x 9-1/2"W x 9-3/4"D. She's just the kind of decoration I like to have around my house during the season. For more information on Hagatha go here. 

GrandinRoad also has this cool flag which would look great hanging off my porch if I was going to have a party at my house this year:

You can find information about all the cool stuff GrandinRoad has on sale for Halloween here.

Halloween - October 25, 2009

Back in the day, men always wore ties. Businessman, doctors, husbands at the grocery store. Then the 80-'s hit with skinny ties and well, even I wore ties (I know there is some evidence somewhere which I hope will remain uncovered forever). And then there was Cuz...who even wore ties water skiing.  It used to be the easiest gift to give any man on gift giving occasions because ties were the norm and "funny" ties or ties that were a little offbeat were considered par for the course.

Somewhere people must still be wearing ties. And I think a Halloween tie worn the week before Halloween appropriate. Tie Guys has the coolest Halloween ties. From something simple covered in pumpkins or candy corn to more outrageous ties with graveyards and skeletons. To check out all their Halloween ties go here.

If you are looking for a tie with any sort of animal, celebration, holiday, political bent...pretty much you name it, the TieGuys will have it. Check out their website here.

And just a reminder. I do not get paid to link to any of the sites or products on this blog. Nor do any of the sites solicit me. I have friends who send me links, I find links on other sites or I come across them through research. Should I receive free products or am contacted directly by a company I will let you know.

Halloween - October 8, 2009

Stephen King looks like such a nice man doesn't he? Who would think that he would be able to scare the living daylights out of people!

As I've mentioned before on this blog, I used to be a big fan of horror movies. Spent many a day watching Creature Features and any horror movie (good or bad) that was on TV or at the movies. But I was never into horror books until I read my first Stephen King book. The Stand. Started the book and literally did not put it down until I was finished with it (and its one big ass book). I remember the exact moment I finished The Stand. I was living with my Grandma in Davis at the time and I remember how the light was shining in the room, how I wished the book would continue on, and how I wished I didn't dream in vivid detail and amazing technicolor. And I remember thinking "Grandma don't sneeze, please don't sneeze". And to this day sometimes I just like to spell out "M*O*O*N".

Hate the movie The Shining, but the book scared the crap out of me. I was up at a boyfriends parents summer home in the Lake Tahoe area. We were "out of season" which meant that most of the homes around were shuttered. We even remarked during the day how eerily quiet the place was. I started reading the book while there was still light downstairs in the living room. By the time I finished the book I was upstairs with all the lights on curled up next to my boyfriend so close I was surprised he could still breathe.

And then there was IT. What probably got me most about that book was that in the middle of reading it, the person I had borrowed it from took it back. So I was stuck with that "what the heck happened and please don't get me anywhere near a clown" until I was able to buy my own copy (which for a variety of reasons didn't happen for several months). 

Though I enjoyed various books of Kings (other favorites are The Dead Zone, The Green Mile, Danse Macabre, The Talisman) it was some of his short stories that got me the most. To this day I can't sleep with the closet door open, nor can any part of my body be outside of the bed frame (and if you've read the stories you will know exactly what I'm talking about). And then there was the cigarettes...shudder...yeah, his short stories are the scariest.

At one point I was one of those that would be at a bookstore the morning a new Stephen King novel was released. And I remember spending many a night discussing the various themes and stories of various King novels over beers with friends. And then...I think after reading Tommyknockers which didn't scare me in the least...Stephen King stopped being 'it' for me reading wise (no pun intended). I can say, that even though I have read other horror novels over the years, Stephen King to me is still the master, the one who can turn everyday folk into making my skin crawl.

Sometimes I miss a good scare. It's probably why on Halloween I don't dress up in cute outfits. I want to have warts and bad teeth and look gross over the cute little fairy or sexy kitten. I want people to jump out of dark corners, play scary music out of their windows. Besides. It's usually the folks that look normal that are the ones that turn out to be serial killers. Nah, I want to be scared. Halloween should be all about the scare (and the candy of course). 

Stephen King has a pretty cool website. You can check it out here. You can find information about future work (a new book called The Dome is coming out next month), appearances by Mr. King, some cool interactive stuff (try The Office) along with information about the band he plays in and various charities he's involved with.

I think this Halloween I need to find a good horror novel to get completely scared over. I just need to make sure my husband won't be upset that every light in the house will be on.

Halloween - October 3, 2009

I'm a big candle fan so I always notice candles that are in unusual shapes. These crow candles from Pottery Barn would go perfect with my stuffed crows. Yes. I have stuffed crows. I've been known to carry a stuffed crow around with me while trick or treating with the kids. A crow in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. If you think that's perfectly normal I'm sure you wouldn't mind the the neighbors with a keg of beer in the baby carriage. Lets just say we are a strange and happy group on Halloween.

Candles can be found here. $10 a candle.

Halloween - October 2, 2009

I thought these were totally cute and might have more options than what they were originally intended for. These hanging glass bats and pumpkins are shown as chandelier drops, but since they have a little magnet on the end, you can pretty much attach them to anything metal.  Ballard Designs , which sells these, also sells Orange Pumpkin Chandelier Shades so those, with these drops, would make a pretty decoration over a Halloween dinner party table. No Halloween dinner party this year, the Godkids are still young and we spend the evening with them and their parents trick or treating. However, once they are grown and no longer do the Halloween night stuff (sniff, that will be such a sad day) I plan on holding regular Halloween dinner parties where decorations like this would come in handy.

Selling for $39.99 you can find the drops here and the chandelier shades here (the shades sell for $16 for four).