Halloween

Trick or Treat: Caramel Apple Cocktails

/ Fiddle Dee Dee / Leave a comment

Happy Halloween!

Things are a little different this year without the kids at home for this fun holiday. Trick or Treating went by the wayside years ago, but you’re never too old for a bonfire or holiday themed food with teenagers.

But here we are; our first empty nest Halloween!

And Audley and I plan to treat ourselves!

One of my favorite fall highlights is apple season. This year I didn’t get to pick my own, but I still made a trip up to my favorite north Alabama orchard with Momma. Crow Mountain really has the best apples!! It’s always fun to decide how to use them, and this year I changed it up from dessert to a delectable and over-21 grown-up Halloween treat ….

Caramel Apple Cocktails

The ingredient list is short: large apples (I love a Granny Smith) that you’ve hollowed into a “glass”, melted caramel to rim your apples, apple cider (try to find local), Crown Royal Vanilla, Ellington Reserve Salted Caramel Whisky (use airplane bottles), and brown sugar.

Wash and dry your apples, then slice the tops off and hollow out the inside of the apple. Don’t go all the way to the bottom or your cocktail “glass” will leak. I used a spoon for hollowing out the apple.

Rim the edge of your apple with melted caramel. Since you will be working around juicy apples, this works best when spooned around the edge. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Also sprinkle a little brown sugar inside the apple.

To mix the cocktail (for 2) heat 5 ounces of apple cider, then add 1.5 ounces of the caramel apple whisky, 1 ounce vanilla Crown, and stir. Pour into the apples you’ve made into glasses.

Pour into the apple glasses, garnish with a cinnamon stick and enjoy!

These take just a few minutes to prepare; keeping you in a Halloween frame of mind while toasting an empty nest!

And don’t waste your apple! When you’ve finished your drink, slice the apple to eat for a spiked caramel apple treat!

31 Days of Movies for October

/ Fiddle Dee Dee / Leave a comment

Hello October!

Are you as excited for this new month as I am?

There is something special about the “Ber” months, especially October, November and December. It’s almost magical. My vibe, mood and attitude all improve which prompts me into celebrating all the little things this season has to offer …. even with an empty nest!

This attitude goes back a long way; 48 years to be exact.

When your Momma is a Halloween baby magical fun is always around the corner.

One of my favorite October traditions is 31 days of movies that are perfect for keeping your spirits up and setting the mood throughout the month. This isn’t Freeform’s let’s show the same movies over and over list, this is a movie a day that you can enjoy with your love, kids, neighbor’s kids, or while enjoying “me time” wrapped up in a patchwork quilt with a gourmet coffee you whipped up.

From traditional classics to a few shivers here and there, this 31 days of spirited thrills will have you excited for Halloween Night!

1. It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

2. Hocus Pocus

3. The Goonies

4. The Haunted Mansion

5. Private Eyes (a classic with Don Knotts!)

6. Edward Sissorhands

7. Beetlejuice

8. The original Ghostbusters

9. Practical Magic

10. Sleepy Hollow

11. Disney’s Halloweentown

12. Casper

13. Nightmare Before Christmas

14. Disney’s Ichabod Crane & Mr. Toad

15. ET

16. Addam’s Family

17. Hotel Transylvania

18. The Ghost & Mr Chicken (another classic)

19. Bewitched (with Nicole Kidman … cheesy but cute!)

20. Mr. Mom (1983 … just go with it)

21. Harry Potter (marathoning is highly recommended)

22. Monster House

23. The Original Friday the 13th

24. Wizard of Oz

25. Pirates of the Caribbean (believe me, it fits)

26. Twilight (Are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?)

27. Sweeney Todd

28. The Corpse Bride

29. Scooby Doo (the movie)

30. The Mummy

31. Interview with a Vampire

I could go on, but if these don’t add magic and a little shiver to your October, it’s probably not your season! Obviously not all of these movies claim Halloween. The idea is to set a mood and this list will do the trick!

Many of the listed movies have sequels, so marathoning on the weekend is perfectly acceptable!

What’s your favorite October movie? I would love to hear from you!



Apple Cider Cupcakes

/ Fiddle Dee Dee / Leave a comment

My sweet Momma is a Halloween baby and turns 70 today!

We celebrated big over the weekend with lots of family, food and of course yummy cupcakes!

I was looking for some inspiration for cupcakes when I happened on a recipe where you replace milk used in most cake recipes with apple cider. That sounded like the perfect seasonal recipe so I adjusted the recipe to fit what I needed, gathered together eggs, flour, vanilla, apple pie spice, etc…. ad got to baking!

I loved how the cupcakes turned out and they were so moist! Honestly using Apple cider was a fantastic call! The fact the cider was fresh from Crow Mtn Orchard nearby made it even better!

I used a basic decorators buttercream icing tinted with Wilton gel colors for decorating.

Momma loves seasonal flavors and this was a great way to utilize her favorite!

Let’s not talk about the candles… seriously y’all , sometimes you have to improvise.

Here is the full recipe you can print for Apple Cider Cupcakes

BTW…. If you aren’t a fan of icing, serve these babies up hot with butter. Yep, they make fantastic muffins, too!!

Happy Halloween Y’all!

Skipping Halloween

/ Fiddle Dee Dee / 5 Comments
I wasn’t going to decorate for Halloween.  
I REALLY wasn’t going to decorate for Halloween.
I was just going to skip it this year.
I started telling myself this back in July.
We had swim regions.  We had band competitions.  We were going to the October race in Charlotte.  We are never home.
Then October rolled around.
I saw cute little things in the stores.
I discovered really neat things on Pinterest.
And then other bloggers began posting their fun Halloween decorations.
And then there was this ….
“But Momma!  You always make the holidays so fun!  Why are you ruining it this year?!”
 
So I did this in the kitchen….
Hot Drink bar … coffee, tea and assorted creamers and sugar

 
And this in the dining room….

 

 

 

My Halloween Tree decorated with Christopher Radko’s Shiny Bright ornaments.

 

 

Simple touches on the bar cart
And yet another little vignette for the living room.

 

And then I decided since they really are too old to trick or treat that they needed this …..
Not healthy I know….
And this…
And this nacho cheese dip isn’t better.
And topped it all off with this …..
I REALLY want to dive right into this!
You can make your own Witches Hat Cheeseball as well…..
Ingredients:
2- 8 oz. packages of Philadelphia Cream cheese, depending on the size that you want (It just tastes better)
3/4 cup chopped pepperoni
1 cup shredded, sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 Tablespoons Liquid Smoke
Mrs. Dash Taco seasoning
Blue Tortilla Chips, crushed
Corn Tortilla Chips (1/4 cup crushed, the rest for dipping)
Directions:
Combine the first five ingredients and shape into a cone for the top of the witches hat (or a pumpkin even … it’s very versatile) leaving enough of the mixture to create the round base as well.  Gently roll the top in blue tortilla chips, leaving the bottom uncovered so that you can dip it in the crushed corn chips that will make the band of the hat.
Use the remaining corn chips for dipping in the cheeseball.
So much for skipping Halloween!
Here’s wishing you a very Happy Halloween filled with many delightful treats!