Monster Toes

Every year my family has a costume party for Halloween. The kids and adults alike dress up and it is always tons of fun! Everyone keeps their costumes a secret until the party when we get to see who everyone is dressed like. A prize is given for best costume, but even better than the prize is the glory of getting to rub it in everyone's face the rest of the year that YOU WON!! And of course, any time our family gets together there is food involved. These are the cookies I am taking tonight. Super easy to make and the kids love them!

You will need the following:

*Melt your bark in a microwave safe bowl stirring often

*Add in a few drops of green food coloring

*Dip the Nutter Butters into the melted bark. You can either dip the entire cookie, or just the top. I just did the top.

*Cut the DOTS candies in half and put a half of candy at the top of each cookie while the bark is still wet.

*I had my lovely husband, Jason, help me because my hands were a mess!

*Now just let the cookies set out until the bark hardens and that is all there is to it!

Pork Chops with Cranberry-Apple Stuffing

My husband, Jason, loves pork chops! When we first got married, I wanted to make sure that they were something I could make well. I enjoying cooking for my family and making them their favorite things. Well, after 8 years of marriage our traditional pork chops with mashed potatoes and gravy sometimes get a little old. I made this recipe up using what I had on hand and mixing together several different recipes I found online. While Jason may still like his traditional pork chops best, I will definitely add these to our meal line up! Oh, keep in mind that I cook for an army so this makes a LOT! Feel free top cut the recipe in half if need be. Here is what you will need:

*Preheat oven to 450 and grease a 9x13 pan

*In a large bowl mix together: 2 boxes stuffing mix, 1 cup applesauce, 1 cup water, 2 tbsp melted butter, 2 stalks of celery diced, and about 1 cup of craisins. Mix well.

*Spread stuffing mixture in your greased pan

*Lay pork chops on top of stuffing mixture

*Top pork chops with salt and pepper

*Bake for 35 minutes or until pork chops are cooked through. Serve with a veggie. Yum!

Halloween Bags

Ok, I admit it, I actually made these trick-or-treat bags for the kids last year! But the time of year seemed right to post them on the blog. I am really, really bad at explaining my sewing because I just kind of make it up as I go. These bags are pretty simple though. Just sew up 3 sides of a rectangle and add a handle! I love that the kids can re-use these every Halloween. I also used some paint and put their names on the front!

Apple Pie with Homemade Crust

There is absolutely nothing better than apple pie made from fresh apples from the orchard! Even better is a homemade crust. We went to the pumpkin patch with the kids today and I knew I wanted to get some apples for a pie. I got Fuji apples because they are my favorite and I used my grandma's pie crust recipe, it turned out super yummy! Here is what you will need for the crust:

*In a large bowl combine 4 cups flour, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp salt. (I put in just a little extra sugar because I like a sweeter crust.)

*Cut in 1 1/2 cups butter flavored shortening with a fork.

*In a measuring cup, measure out 1/2 cup cold water. Add to it 1 egg and 1 tbsp vinegar. Mix together and pour into dry mixture.

*Mix wet and dry ingredients with your hands and form into a ball.

*Go ahead a preheat the over to 475 and grease a pie pan.

* Here is what you will need for the filling:

*Peel, core, and slice about 8 cups of apples. Cover in 2tbsp (more or less) of lemon juice.

*In a small bowl combine 1 cup sugar, 1/4 tsp sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp flour.

*Add to the apples and mix well.

*Split your pie dough in half.

*Roll out half of the dough and line the pie pan with it.

*Pour in apple mixture.

*Roll out the other half of the dough and place on top of apples.

*Seal edges and cut vents in top of crust.

*Sprinkle top of dough with sugar so it will be nice and crispy when it is done.

*Turn oven down to 450 and out pie in for 15 minutes (Make sure you put your pie on a cookie sheet in case any filling leaks out while baking.)

*Turn down to 375 and bake for 60-75 minutes

*Let cool and enjoy!

*So good! Totally worth the time and effort!