Spooky Jack O Lanterns and a Good Night!

The boys carved their own jack o lanterns this year...I helped with the lids, and they did the rest. We roasted the seeds and ate them all! They were nice big, plump seeds and so crunchy and good. I always love freshly roasted pumpkin seeds.

Here's Benjie cleaning out his pumpkin....


And here's the spooky result:
Count Spook-yala!

Here's Jonah carefully working on his...

And the masterpiece!

Jonah named his "Spookily"

We had a grand time trick or treating with our friends the Smecks...unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that night! We ate chili, Mexican chicken stew, cheese dip, chocolate cupcakes and chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Our favorite Halloween menu! We've trick or treated together for at least 9 years now!

I hope you've enjoyed the Haunted Hamlet this fall. It'll be going to bed now, but there will be periodic posts on Great Pumpkin Day, which is the 30th of each month. After all, we do have Boo!Bash3 to plan! Don't forget to check out Scarecrow Soup for all of the November doings of the Miller clan!!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

More Boo!Bash2 pics!

This just in! More Boo!Bash2 pictures!



This was hysterical...and the runners-up in the couples costume contest (Mummies and Daddies division!)...a hunter and a white tail deer, complete with the white tail!!

And, the winner in the couples division...the newest bride and groom! This is my brother Mark and his new wife, Laura! Congratulations on winning, the contest and each other!! What a way to spend your honeymoon!!

The prettiest witch I've ever seen! And a pretty good looking shepherd, complete with lamb! Sorry this is so dark...

The Whoopie Cushion won the individual costume contest...but the sock monkey was a riot!! Too funny!!

Hannah, Billy Ray and Ellie May!!

The Flintstones (see below) won the group award, and Jacob (the younger Joker) won the Teenage Werewolf division. Thanks again to everyone who came and dressed up, and a special thanks to Mom and Dana (aka Grandmother Joker and Ellie May) for sending the pictures I missed!!

Boo!Bash3 is already in the works! Planned for the Saturday before Halloween, it is going to be bigger and better than ever!! Mark your 2009 calendars! (Stop laughing, Michael, or I'll tell everyone that you are Fred Flintstone! )

I'll post pictures from Halloween night this weekend!

Happy Haunting!!

Cathy

Success!

Boo!Bash2 was a big success. We had around 45 attending, most in costume, and what costumes they were! Oh! My! Here's a few pictures...I didn't get any of the decorations, duh! I was so busy putting them out I forgot to document them. And, I didn't get any of the Johnson family, the Carter family and the newest bride and groom, Mark and Laura, so if you attended and took pictures and got any of the ones I missed or the decorations, email them to me and I'll do another post. They all had great costumes...and we didn't get pictures of them. But I know one of you did, so please? Please??



We had candy bars and cavemen, sock monkeys and whoopie cushions...

Fred and Betty and BamBam were here...no word on where Wilma and Barney were...

A couple of sweeties and their dad...

Father and son farmers....

Spiderman and his mom...

Whoopie!!

Candy bars.....

A pair of Jokers...

Hanna Montana and Billy Ray....

And an unlucky skier...

Thanks to everyone who showed up and participated!

I'll have a couple of more posts this week, hopefully with more Boo!Bash2 pictures and then one for Halloween...then I'll put this blog to bed except for monthly Great Pumpkin Day updates...but keep an eye on Scarecrow Soup! We've got Thanksgiving to plan! Yay!

Have a great Halloween week!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

Boo!Bash2 final countdown!!

Tomorrow is the big day! Todd the Weather Man (who was filling in for Melinda the Weather Lady) says that at kick-off time for the Razorback game the temperature should be about 53 degrees, dropping into the 40s during the evening. Since we're kicking off the party at the same time, I figure that's what we can expect, too! Perfect!!

We are having roasted hot dogs, nachos, toasted marshmallows (s'mores anyone??), cupcakes, cookies, candy, candy, candy...and to wash it all down, iced tea and water, iced lemon cider (oohh..me and Benjie LOVE that stuff!!), hot apple cider, hot coffee and hot chocolate. To dress up the hot drinks I have caramel syrup, pumpkin spice and caramel apple creamers, whipped cream, marshmallows, ghost shaped Peeps and cinnamon to sprinkle on top, as desired. Good stuff!

We're having a costume contest with a written ballot and a ballot pumpkin (rather than box) for voting...cute little winner's badges and bags of candy for the little goblins who will all be winners, no doubt!

My brother Michael made the ballots, and they are cute! I'll post pictures Sunday!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Fall Tour of Homes

I love fall decorations and I usually do much more than I've done this year. And, I do plan to do a little more, but I'm waiting until closer to the Boo!Bash2, which is only 11 days away! I'll try to post more photos when I get it all done. But, in the meantime, here's a quick tour of what I have gotten done.

I'll start my tour in the kitchen. This is one of my favorite pieces of furniture, and a favorite for decorating as well! I made the banner from scraps of other projects and really did it just for fun, but ended up liking it, especially on this cabinet!

Here's a close up of the top...the copper piece that the pumpkin is sitting in was from Hobby Lobby, on clearance for $2. It was not copper, but I spray painted it and added the feathers you see at the bottom of the pumpkin. I love how it looks with my copper chicken basket.

These are permanant residents in what I call the "chicken coop". It's a yard sale find that I bought a couple of years ago for $10. I have paint to paint it white and chicken wire to go in the doors, but as of yet I haven't managed to get it done!

I change the tapers in this white candleabra often. Most recently, it held gold tapers and an amber colored ornament hanging on it...but I changed it for Halloween. I'll put gold back in for Thanksgiving, then switch to cranberry red for Christmas. After Christmas, it's back to black to match the toile curtains!

The chicken coop.

Here's my Halloween tree...a little different this year than in years past, and it looks prettier in person than in these pictures...I bought a bunch of foam masks and glittered them up....

This turquoise feathered mask came from New Orleans!!

The Halloween Tree!

These hydrangeas came from a bush in my brother Michael's back yard...they were fresh in this picture.....

And here's some of them after being dried. This is my mantle in the living room.

More pictures coming soon! Be sure to check out everyone's homes in the Fall Tour of Homes!

The links are in the post above this one!

Thanks a lot for looking!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

Edited to add: Ok, for some odd reason this posted wrong...I'm sure it was nothing I did...well, it really probably was, but I have no idea what. So, anyway, the links for the tour are in the post BELOW this one instead of above! Also, the spacing is weird...so please forgive me, just enjoy the pretty pictures everyone has posted!!

Virtual Fall Tour of Homes

It's today!


Here's the bloggers who've chosen to participate in our tour:
Our first stop is at Carrie's home.
Next up is Linda who always has the cutest things on her blog.
Be sure you check out Jessica's ghost ring...too, too cute!
Next we stop by Leann's Fall Festivities and see what she's been up to.
Jack Frosty is next...
And here's what Starflake has for us to look at...
Natalie has some things for us to see, too...
And another Cathi has joined us!

Check out Ginger's Great Pumpkin Day blog for her cute decor!

And, if you check out the post below this one, you'll find my home!!

Thanks so much for everyone who has participated. Don't forget that we'll be doing a Christmas tour in December, hosted by Pumpkins and Reindeer!

Enjoy!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

It's This Thursday!

It's this Thursday, October 16! I chose that date because it's a significant one to me and I can remember it! I'll be posting links here for you to visit others' beautifully decorated fall homes! I am very excited about this...and if you want to participate, here's how you can do it! It's not too late!

*Leave me a message on this post and give me the link to your blog.
*Take the logo above and on Thursday, post it and pictures of your fall decorations-inside, outside or both-on your blog.
*Thursday morning I'll post all the links and we've got ourselves a virtual tour of homes!!

And yes, you may use pictures from last year or any other year that you choose. You can show strictly fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving or a combo of all of it...whatever you like!

I am so excited about this! I hope you will leave me your link and join in the fun. Even if you choose not to participate by posting pictures, come back Thursday and see the way everyone has decorated their homes for the harvest season.

By the way...we'll be doing this in mid-December too for Christmas decorations...details of that will be coming soon on Pumpkins and Reindeer.

BooBash2

The party is only 2 weeks away! Can you believe it?

We're working feverishly to get everything ready. The menu has slightly changed, due to unforeseen circumstances! We'll have roasted (or grilled) hot dogs, nachos, toasted marshmallows, cupcakes, cookies and, of course, candy. To drink I'm planning iced tea, cold lemon cider, hot apple cider, coffee and hot chocolate.

I'm hoping we can have a hayride, like last year. And, of course, the costume contest. Categories are:

*Little Goblins (under 12 years of age)

*Teenage Werewolves

*Silly Singles (adults whose costumes are not part of a couple or group)

*Mummies and Daddies (costumes are a couple-the wearers don't have to be!!)

*Group Hug (3 or more costumes designed to represent a group)

It is going to be so fun...sure hope the weather cooperates, since it's outside in the backyard! If it rains, we'll do it Halloween night.

If you are coming, please call me and tell me. We're asking our guests to bring some things, so if you didn't get the email and plan to attend, call me and I'll share with you what we need!!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

The date is set!

The virtual Fall Tour of Homes will be right here, on Thursday, October 16. Everyone will probably be pretty well decorated for fall and/or Halloween by then. Just leave me a message or a personal message over at Magical Holiday Home and I'll include you! Feel free to take this picture and use it on your blog...I'm trying to figure out how to make it a logo, but we may just have to use it like this for this year.


This is going to be fun! Be sure to jump in...just take pictures of your home decorated for fall and post them on your blog the day of the tour. Then, I'll link all the bloggers who have left me a message to mine, VIOLA! a home tour!!

Virtual Fall Tour of Homes

If you want to participate in this, just leave me a message on this or any upcoming posts and give me a link. Then, on the designated date, I'll post the links to your blog, and you post pictures that everyone can "tour"! Fun, huh?? I'm working on a little logo to post, so be watching!

I have a poll up over at Magical Holiday Home, so if you have an opinion about the date, hop over there and vote! It's looking like the majority are voting for mid-October, mostly so that we can showcase our Halloween decor, as well! The poll closes Sunday, September 14, so get going!

I'll post the date here Monday, September 15!!

I guess I'd better get busy decorating! Don't want to be left out!

Pictures!!

Here's a few little crafty items I've been working on...nothing earth-shattering, but it's kept me off the streets!


I had a bunch of gold and silver metallic cones that I'd purchased from the Dollar Tree, with every intention of using them on a Victorian tree...and I still plan to do that sometime. But after making a few cones from a Gooseberry Patch pattern using scrapbook paper, I thought about those and how cute they would be in some cute paper..so I took one apart and made a new, smaller pattern with the sweet little star on top. Then I found some leftover goldish colored paper and those sunflower stickers in my paper craft box, and VIOLA!! A fall looking cone for hanging on a fall tree or to present full of Harvest Yummies!



Then, I got the idea to do one to look like a candy corn...

Then, inspiration struck again...and a candy corn banner was born!

And, finally, here's my favorite one so far....just a simple little Autumn banner, hung on my corner china cabinet, with fall leaves and raffia....

And my early fall centerpiece...the glass pumpkin will soon hold candy corn (the real stuff) if I ever remember to buy it at the store!

Notice the cut out leaf table runner? End of the fall special at Kirklands last year...$5! Whoo hoo! I wish it was a different color-say a deep pumpkin-but, hey-$5!! I'll live with it!

And what, you may be asking, are Harvest Yummies? My name for a very simple snack mix of salted peanuts and candy corn! I keep a jar of it made all fall long..and for fall parties I've been known to pack it into waffle ice cream cones and wrap it up with plastic wrap and curling ribbons and put them in a pretty bowl or basket for take home favors.

So that's what I've been up to lately! And you?

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

No Pictures Yet...

I just haven't had time to get pictures made! But I plan to this weekend.

I did a tiny bit of fall decorating today. I put out a copper tray with a candelabra with fall colored gold candles in it, a glass pumpkin that will hold candy corn if I ever get to the store to buy it, and surrounded the whole thing with a faux bittersweet garland. It's just a tiny bit of fall...but it's so refreshing to look at it. It's like the pumpkins...it gives me hope!!

Pictures soon, I really, really promise!!

Happy Haunting,
Cathy

And the crafting continues!

I am working on several things to show you soon. I am finished with an autumn banner, but I haven't photographed it yet. I also am working on a glitzy glammy "Harvest" banner that I'll use on my double kitchen windows. I have the cutest little bitty "Boo" "banner" done...not sure you can call it a banner, it's kind of different...but, again, no pictures yet. So, today at the Haunted Hamlet I'll be:

*finishing up banners
*photographing banners
*loading photos from camera onto computer
*posting pictures of above banners

Lynn says I make a list for everything, and I hate to prove him right, but, there you have it! And, the odd thing is, he says it like it's a bad thing. Strange, huh? Men are so weird.

So, hopefully late today or tomorrow, I'll show you some stuff!!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

A little fall on our front porch!

Here's the first fruits from our pumpkin patch!! Our neighbors, Keith and Debbie, went down to the farm on Saturday and brought these back to the boys! Aren't they great?? Even though it's too early to really decorate for fall, I just love looking out the door and seeing these babies! It won't be long now!!

And hop over to Scarecrow Soup and see what other fallish fun I've been up to!!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

Halloween crafting.

I'm just crazy about vintage Halloween decorations. I would love to stumble upon a whole box of them in some little flea market somewhere! That would be such fun!

I am working on invitations and decorations for the Boo!Bash2, and I want it to have a definite vintage angle...I'm loving this piece of art:

Wouldn't it look just wonderful printed out onto cardstock, all glittered and gleaming? Can't you just see it? It would make a great Halloween card, invitation to a party (Boo!Bash2?) or as a part of a banner. I am crazy about this one! You'll likely see it again in another form pretty soon!

I have a few more things done, but I haven't taken pictures of them yet...still tweaking a few of them. My favorite is an "Autumn" banner that I did with construction paper and letters that I already had...plus a little raffia and a fall leaf garland. Look for a picture of it soon.

Great Pumpkin Day will be next weekend, and I plan to have a few crafty things to share!

Can't you just smell the changes coming in the weather? It's still pretty warm and humid here, but it's way cooler than normal, and it has me excited for fall! Next weekend is Labor Day, so that means fall is closer than ever! Oh, yeah, baby!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

A (Vintage style) Banner Day!

I got the idea the other day to make a vintage style pennant banner for the Boo!Bash2 decorations. So, I got into my paper crafts box, dug around a little and here's what I found that I thought I might could use:

Orange and black construction paper, with an old fashioned feel to it..sort of faded looking, not bright orange and black-black, but like it was old and had been around a while. I actually think it's because it's cheap construction paper, but hey-whatever works!


I also had some black stick on letters..some silver cupcake liners, and a glue stick!



So, I made a pattern that looked about the size I wanted the pennants to be, and got busy....

I made some black ones and embellished them with orange...

And some orange ones, embellished with black!

And here's the final result! I want to foofify it with some raffia and orange ribbon, but this is the basic banner! And, yes, the "b"s are missing...I tore one and glittered the other before we (Benjie and I) decided we didn't like the silver glitter on the silver cups...so I have to get two more "b"s. But, what do you think otherwise? You really can't tell from the picture, but the bottom of the top piece and the top of the bottom piece are fringed a little...they really stand out in person, but it didn't photograph well.

Not bad for an hour's work and on-hand supplies, huh? By the way, it says Boo!Bash. I may add another pennant on the end and put a 2 on it, but probably I'll just leave it like it is and re-use it every year! I really like the way it looks!

What do YOU think about it?

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

Fall Crafts chat

Today in the chat room, we talked about fall crafts. Ginger has some great links and ideas for us. Check out the message boards over at Magical Holiday Home tomorrow and she'll have a summary of the chat. It was really fun, lots of folks showed up to discuss rag garlands, paper banners and various other fall crafts.

I'm currently working on a banner for the Boo!Bash2. I thought I was going to have make a trip to Hobby Lobby to get some paper for this project, but I dug around in my paper box and found some construction paper, of all things, that is exactly what I have in mind for this project.

I'm not giving any secrets away just yet, but you should know that it involves construction paper, raffia and cupcake liners! Stay tuned...more to come soon!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Fall, Family and Friends

I got a new Gooseberry Patch cookbook...well, new to me, anyway. It's Fall, Family and Friends, and it's a goodie. I bought it off of Amazon, and I only paid a little for it...maybe $6 or so..I really can't remember. But I do love it already!

Here's a few little goodies from it:

*Kids will giggle over the floating "hands" in their punchbowl. Rinse out a pair of vinyl gloves and fill with water. Tie the ends tightly into knots and place in the freezer. When frozen, cut off the knots, remove the gloves and place the icy "hands" in the punch!

*Slip a dress and apron on your scarecrow this season and she'll be an instant hit as a scarecrone!

*Use cookie cutters in leaf, pumpkin or ghost shapes to cut out biscuit dough...a dinnertime surprise!

Plans for Boo!Bash2 are progressing nicely. I'm still working on invitation ideas, and Jessica over at MHH had a great suggestion for a pumpkin contest. She said that she used to attend a party where the hostess invited guests to bring a carved pumpkin for judging. Doesn't that sound like fun? I'd thought about that last year, except that I was thinking we'd carve the jacks at the party, then judge them. I wasn't sure we'd have enough pumpkins last year, due to the late crop. However, we would have, as it turned out. My handy-dandy pumpkin growing brother, Mark, delivered a trailer load of hay, pumpkins and gourds the night before the party! This year the crop should be earlier, due mostly to the efforts of Keith and Debbie, our neighbors who helped get them planted. Thanks!

I am soooo ready for fall. Melinda the weather lady says it's going to be 102 degrees today, and 101 tomorrow. Highs for the upcoming weekend are predicted to be around 90 degrees. Who would have thought that 90 would be welcome!

Here's a recipe from the new GP book...I haven't tried it yet, but it sounds yummy!

Old Fashioned Kettle Corn
2 T. sunflower oil
1/2 c. unpopped popcorn
1/4 c. raw sugar
1/2 t. salt

Place first 3 ingredients in a hand cranked popcorn popper. Cook popcorn mixture over medium high heat while turning the crank. Alternatively, cook popcorn mixture in a large stockpot with lid, shaking to pop corn. Once kernels begin to pop, reduce heat to low and continue cranking or shaking until popping stops. Place popcorn in a large bowl, sprinkle with salt. Makes 12 cups.

I made a huge batch (a garbage bag full) of popcorn last year for the party, and I'm planning on that again. I served it in a huge orange bowl, with a scoop and a stack of brown lunch bags for folks to scoop up their own. I think I'll add a bowl of kettle corn this year. It's one of my favorite things to get at Silver Dollar City, and I'd love to make my own.

More details as they happen!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Happy Great Pumpkin Day!

Only 2 more until the Big Day!! Wow! Gotta get going!

Today's agenda is to work on those invitations! After making a guest list, I realize that hand-crafted cards with vintage appeal for 100 people is not going to happen! I would need about 30 or so invitations, but still waaaayyyy out of my area of expertise, not to mention patience! So, it's back to the Word document/Office Depot idea. But that's ok...it'll be cute!

Over at MHH's forums, we've got a discussion going on fall decorating. Check out the great ideas those folks have for a festive fall home.

I am planning on hosting on this blog a virtual Fall/Halloween decoration tour of homes! Won't that be fun? I'll set a date, around the end of October, probably, and link the blogs of everyone who wants to participate to this one. Fun, huh? This idea came out of a forum discussion at MHH, but it's not limited to members. If you want to participate, keep your eyes peeled for the date to send me the links and a photo, and I'll set you up! (We'll also be doing this on Pumpkins and Reindeer for Christmas!)

This is from an old magazine (Good Housekeeping, 2004!) and this is exactly how I'd like my outside doors to look for the party! Isn't it beautiful?

Have a great Great Pumpkin Day!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

GPD post 2!

So, I'm thinking that I'm going to try to work on those invitations for the Boo!Bash2 on Thursday. I have no clue what I want to do just yet, so between now and then I'll try to figure out how many invites I need, and that will determine what kind I make! If I have a whole bunch to make, I'll do a document in Word, frou-frou it up with clip art and email it to Office Depot to print in color on orange paper. If I only have to do a few (less than 15, say) I may try to get a little more creative. We'll see...last year we had 60 folks and I didn't send ANY invitations, just phone calls, emails and word of mouth!

Off to make my guest list! Might as well get that done, huh? Then I won't have to do any housework if I'm "busy" doing other vital stuff like a guest list for a party 3 months away!!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Great Pumpkin Day

Thursday will be Great Pumpkin Day, which means a fun filled day of Halloween planning! I was scheduled to leave for a trip that day, but due to circumstances that really tick me off, but I can't control, I'm not going, so I'll be here!

I'm not really sure what I'll do on Thursday, but I'll think about it today while I'm clearing and cleaning the laundry room (yuck, yuck and more yuck...hot and dusty job!) and report back later. If I work really hard today and tomorrow getting regular work done, then the rest of the week I can do Halloween stuff and finish up Christmas in July in style!!

So, until then..

Happy Haunting!!

Cathy

Proof Postive

That fall is coming! I found these on my walk today!! There's hope!!

Halloween Countdown

Ginger has just announced over at Magical Holiday Home that the Halloween/fall party countdown will start September 21. For those of you who don't know how big of a geek I am...I love to count down stuff!! I mean I love it! I even create my own countdowns, things like "VBS countdown" for preparing for Vacation Bible School, kids' birthdays and of course, any special activities we have planned far enough in advance to count down!

So, visit over there and see if you want to participate! It's fun!

I'm planning on making and sending invitations for the Boo!Bash2! this year. Stay tuned for details!!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Ghost Host

During the afternoon Halloween party planning chat today, we discussed the Ghost Host decoration. I want to do this in our front yard this year. We are planning a virtual project for several to make one at the same time and post our progress on the boards!

FamilyFun.com has the original directions, plus lots of other cool stuff. Click here for more haunted fun!

Ghost Host

craft materials:

*6 dowels

*small white garbage bags

*newspaper

*masking tape

*old white sheets

*string

*black permanent marker

Time needed: under 1 hour

1. First, find a good location for your gathering of ghosts. They look especially good when circling a central pole, such as a tree or lamppost. (I plan to use the sycamore tree in our front yard...)

2. Next, cut your dowels to the height you'd like your ghosts to be. We've seen them in every size, from toddler height (quite cute) to larger than life (quiet spooky). Remember, the larger the ghosts, the more sheets you need to use.

3. To make a ghost head, stuff a white garbage bag or paper bag with crumpled newspaper or leaves to the size you like. Push one of the dowels into the bag, then wrap masking tape around the neck to secure it. Repeat for the rest of the ghosts.

4. Drape a sheet (or half a sheet, if you're making small ghosts) over each head and tie a piece of string around each neck. You may need to experiment with cutting your sheets to the right size. (In the picture they used a queen sized sheet for each ghost and rounded the bottom edges to the desired length).

5. Use permanent black markers to draw a face on each ghost.

6. Gather your ghosts around the tree or pole...with a foot or two around each one...and push the dowels into the earth so that the sheets touch the ground. Angle the ghosts so that they are leaning slightly backward, then knot the corners of the sheets together as if the ghosts were holding hands.

That's it. Very cute, very easy...now to haunt..er..hunt down some queen sized sheets!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

Halloween Menu and a Reminder...

...not to forget the Halloween party planning chat over at My Merry Christmas, hosted by Ginger, on Sunday. Scroll down a couple of posts for details, or go to MHH and click on the forums and check it out. It'll be fun, no doubt!

Here's my menu for Halloween night. We have the party on the Saturday before Halloween to allow those little trick or treaters to still hit the neighborhoods for their waaayyy more than recommended amount of candy! For the past several years, our friends Eddie and Melissa and their son, Cameron, have joined us for dinner and trick or treating. We have pretty much the same menu every year...I've thought about changing it, but fear a mutiny if I do. So, here's the usual menu. I'm planning the same this year.

Tamale dip and tortilla chips
Salsa and chips
chili with all the fixings...Fritos ( a southern staple!), cheese, sour cream, onions, jalapenos
Cornbread muffins and crackers
Iced tea, sodas and hot cider (weather permitting..sometimes its' dang cold on Halloween, other years we trick or treat in shorts!)
Double Chocolate Ooey Gooey Cake with vanilla ice cream


Tamale Dip
2 lb. package Velveeta cheese spread, cut into little chunks
1 large can tamales, unwrapped and coarsely chopped
1 can chili, whatever flavor you prefer, either with or without beans
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup jarred salsa

Put Velveeta, tamales and chili in a large bowl. Microwave for 3 minutes on high power..stir. If it's too thick, add about 1/4-1/2 cup milk and stir again. Add spices and salsa, stir to combine and microwave another 2-3 minutes, stirring about half way through. Serve with tortilla or other chips.

I like to make this in the microwave and then put it in a crock pot to stay warm. I love this stuff, and it's even meaty enough to stand alone as a meal...although Lynn doesn't think so!! Not very healthy, obviously, but, hey-it's Halloween!!

Happy Haunting!

Cathy

GPD coming up soon!

I am planning to take a short hiatus from Christmas in July planning and work on Boo!Bash2 a little more. I still haven't decided on prizes for the costume contests...any ideas?? It needs to be fairly generic because I don't know if it'll be man, woman, boy or girl that wins...or any combination of that. We had several divisions last year...Best Costume-child division (individual); Best Costume-adult division and Best Couple (doesn't have to be an actual couple, just the costume needs to be a couple...is that clear as mud?). We ended up with a group award as well..my brother and his brood came as the entire cast of Annie, remember? Their pictures are on the side bar...can't miss them!

So, if you have any thoughts about this, leave me a comment and give me some help. I also want to get those pillows done this month. Since I'm leaving for Chicago for a Jewels by Park Lane convention on July 31, I'll have to use the 13th as my Great Pumpkin Day this month! And that's next week!

I got a new Gooseberry Patch catalog yesterday and found a fabulous fall runner in it. I believe that I can make one very similar, if not just like it...take a look!

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy

Halloween Party Planning chat

Ginger over at Magical Holiday Home is planning a chat on Sunday, July 13 to discuss Halloween party planning. If you want to participate, just click on the link above and scroll down a bit to the story on chats. She describes what steps you must take to participate. If you've never chatted before, you should give it a try!! It's lots of fun...and I know the holiday crazies that participate will have fabulous ideas and tips! Since I'm in full party-planning mode, I'm excited to see it on the schedule! I can't wait!!

The picture above is our back porch decorated and ready for last year's Boo!Bash! It was a huge hit, so we've decided every year, the Saturday before Halloween, is Boo!Bash! day at the Miller hamlet!!

Happy Haunting!!

Cathy

Double Chocolate Gooey Cake

This is one of my favorite desserts to make for Halloween. This recipe is from Paula Deen of Food Network. Boy, is it good! And gooey!!

8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted, plus 8 more tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted, plus additional butter, for greasing pan
1 (18.25-ounce) package chocolate cake mix
1 egg, plus 2 eggs
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 1 stick melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside.

In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 1 stick of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Stir in nuts with a rubber spatula. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.




This is really good, but be careful not to overcook it...then it's still good, just not gooey. And, trust me, it's better gooey!! This is yummy served with a little whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Oh, yes!!

Happy Haunting!
Cathy