How could we not celebrate one of the best times of the year, this weekend marked halfway to Halloween! And Disney loves to celebrate Halloween just like me so here are some of their top picks:

Halloween DIY: Create a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’-Inspired Candy Pouch. Designer Brittany Ungvarsky, out of her absolute passion for Halloween, skillfully created an easy no-sew DIY featuring the Pumpkin King and his queen! Everybody scream! Download the Halloween Candy Pouch template and DIY instructions to get started.

Here are a few more of DIY projects: 

• Create Your Own Disney Halloween Pumpkin 
• Design a Disney Haunted Mansion Butler Costume
• Make Your Own Madame Leota Crystal Ball

#DisneyMagicMoments: Favorite Recipes for Your #Halfway2Halloween Celebration

INGREDIENTS
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
ICING
• 2 egg whites
• 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Black food coloring paste

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in medium bowl
   and whisk until combined. Set aside.
2. Combine butter and sugar in bowl of electric mixer and beat
   until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Add flour mixture in
   three parts. Once dough comes together, cover bowl with
   plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 400°F.
4. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness.
   Using round cookie cutter or an overturned cup, cut dough
   into circles about 3 1/4 inches in diameter. Place cookies 1
   inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool
   completely before icing.
   FOR ICING
6. Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer; whisk until
   frothy. Add confectioners’ sugar a little at a time, until thick
   but still spreadable.
7. Place 1/3 of icing in a separate bowl. Add black food coloring
   paste to reserved icing and stir until color is uniform.
   FOR DECORATING
8. Decorate cooled cookies by covering with white icing and
   letting it dry (placing cookies in the refrigerator will speed
   up this process).
9. Place black icing in pastry bag or a plastic resealable bag and
   cut off a tiny bit of the corner to create a very small hole.
   Use black icing to draw eyes, nostrils, and stitched mouth
   on each cookie.

Pumpkin Beignets

Ingredients

Pumpkin Beignets
1/2 tsp. dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup hot water
1 egg
2 tbsp. vegetable shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
vegetable oil, for frying

Maple Glaze
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup powdered sugar

Directions

Pumpkin Beignets
Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve. Let stand for 5 minutes. Combine flour, pumpkin puree, sugar, heavy cream, hot water, egg, shortening, and salt in a large bowl; stir in yeast mixture. Mix dough just until combined and smooth. Let dough rest in bowl, covered with a clean kitchen towel, 30 minutes. Transfer dough to a well-floured surface. Pat to about 1/4-inch thickness and cut into 2-inch squares. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free area, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Heat three inches of vegetable oil to 350°F in a deep, heavy pot over medium-high heat. Fry beignets until golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes, turning as soon as they brown on one side. Remove with tongs or a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.

Maple Glaze
Combine butter and maple syrup in a medium microwave-safe bowl. Microwave until butter melts. Whisk in powdered sugar until smooth. Drizzle warm beignets with maple glaze and serve immediately.

The Evil Queen’s Mini Poison Apple Pies Recipe

Ingredients
1 can whole berry cranberries
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup water
3 tablespoons sugar
2 store-bought pie crusts
Large, round cookie cutter (3-4 inches)
Mini pie or muffin tins
Toothpick
1 tablespoon coconut, grapeseed, or olive oil

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, mix cranberries, apples, water, and sugar together.
2. Cook until slightly bubbling, stirring occasionally.
3. Allow to sit in the refrigerator to solidify for at least 4 hours.
4. Once your pie filling is chilled, preheat the oven to 350° F.
5. Use cookie cutters to cut into your pie crust, and line your baking tin with half.
6. Fill each pie crust with your cranberry apple pie filling.
7. Eyeball the poison apple design and use a toothpick to cut out the shape on your other pie crusts.
8. Place on top of each of your pies, and lightly brush with oil. Bake for 30 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Create a Special Candy Apple

Halloween candy apple tutorials to celebrate #Halfway2Halloween links below:

• Mickey Pumpkin Candy Apple 
• Witch Minnie Candy Apple
• Mickey Ghost Candy Apple
• Poison Skull Candy Apple 
• Apple Pie Candy Apple

It’s Almost Friday which means we need to find something that goes good with wine or a beer! Who doesn’t love having a small appetizer with a drink before dinner. Another recipe card from http://www.stonewallkitchen.com yum:

Ingredients

• 5-ounce block of firm Feta cheese
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• 1/2 cup small green or Nicoise olives
• 1/4 cup Stonewall Kitchen Herbes de Provence Dipping Oil

Directions

1. Cut feta cheese into 1/2-inch cubes.
2. Combine Feta cheese cubes, lemon zest, olives and Herbes de Provence Dipping Oil in a small bowl. Cover and marinate several hours, or up to overnight.
3. Skewer marinated Feta cheese cubes and olives onto toothpicks. Drizzle with marinade and serve.

Don’t Forget The Dipping Oil

Herbes de Provence Dipping Oil

Well It’s almost here pizza Friday yesssss! So needed something great to have along your appetizers and drink here you go:

Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup eggplant, 1/2-inch dice
• 1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup Stonewall Kitchen Classic Pizza Sauce
• 2 Tablespoons Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
• 2 Tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 12-inch pre-baked pizza crust
• *Parmesan cheese wedge

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add diced eggplant and mushrooms, sauté until tender. Add the Classic Pizza Sauce and Kalamata olives.
2. Spread sauce over pizza crust. Run a vegetable peeler down the side of a Parmesan cheese wedge making large cheese curls. Spread curls over top of pizza. Bake according to package directions until the crust is cooked and the cheese has melted. Sprinkle basil leaves over pizza before serving.

Classic Pizza Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 (16-ounce) ball purchased fresh pizza dough
• 1/4 cup Maple Bacon Onion Jam
• 12 ounces shredded Gouda cheese
• 5 slices cooked bacon, chopped
• 3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup Arugula or baby spinach
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
• 2 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Stretch pizza dough to 1/4-1/2-inch thick round and place on a pre-heated pizza stone or pizza pan. Working into formation.
3. Layer the dough evenly with Maple Bacon Onion Jam and shredded Gouda cheese. Top with bacon pieces, and crumbled blue cheese.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown. Top with arugula, tomatoes and pine nuts. Cut and serve immediately.

Don’t Forget The Jam

Maple Bacon Onion Jam

I love checking out new recipes but I especially like when you can still pick up the old school recipe card from the market! It’s the best a recipe and shopping list how can you go wrong. Picked up a few recipes cards from http://www.stonewallkitchen.com check it out:

Ingredients

• 1 large bunch arugula, thoroughly washed and dried
• 1 Belgian endive, washed and sliced
• 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, slivered
• 3 Tablespoons fresh chives, minced
• 4 ounces goat cheese

Directions

1. In a large bowl, toss together the arugula, endive and sundried tomatoes.
2. Add dressing and toss until lettuce is coated.
3. Place onto individual serving plates and sprinkle with fresh chives.
4. Slice goat cheese in 3 slices and place on top of greens and endive
5. Top with dressing.

Try Either Of Their Dressing

Olive Oil & Balsamic Dressing

Classic Greek Dressing

For those of you that didn’t catch this recipe when it was posted on every website as who doesn’t love the coffee cake from LAUSD!! I remember it was the only thing I ate at school, a while back my son got hold of the recipe only to lost it. So here it is:

Ingredients:

• Bakers’ flour – 2 ½ cups
• Brown sugar, packed – 1 cup
• Granulated sugar – ½ cup + 1 tbsp
• Salt – 1 tsp.
• Nutmeg – 1 tsp.
• Salad oil – ¾ cup
• Cinnamon – 1 tsp.
• Baking soda – 1 tsp.
• Baking powder – 1 tsp.
• Egg – 1 (large size)
• Buttermilk – 1 cup

Combine the first six ingredients. Mix until crumbly. Reserve ½ cup of the above for topping. To this add the cinnamon. Combine the last four ingredients and add to the first mixture. Blend together, but do not over-mix. Put in a greased 9” x 13” cake pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon crumb topping over the top of the batter. Bake at 350 to 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Have you ever started getting ready to try out a new recipe and realize you don’t have all the ingredients! Well I am sure that happened to many people these last two months. And to make matters worst going to the store didn’t help because most everyday items were out of stock what to do? That is why you have substitutes and sometime the sub is actually healthier or better tasting than what you really needed:

1. Butter Substitutes

Butter has been flying off the shelves in many grocery stores, but there are a few possible substitutes. Different ones are better suited for different applications.

If you’re baking cakes, cupcakes, or sweetened breads, you can use unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana. For applesauce, replace half the amount of butter called for with applesauce — for instance, if the recipe calls for one cup of butter, you’d use a half cup of applesauce. For mashed banana, use an equivalent amount. 

Plain Greek yogurt can also be used as a butter substitute. Just like applesauce, you want to use half the amount of butter in the recipe.

If you’re baking something that requires liquid butter, your best bet is to substitute another type of oil, like coconut or canola. Coconut oil is generally substituted on a one-to-one basis (one cup of coconut oil for one cup of butter), whereas with liquid oils, like canola, you’ll want about ¾ of a cup for every cup called for.

For cookies and other recipes that require creaming butter and sugar, you’re going to want a solid fat. Vegetable shortening is a good option, and it has a much longer shelf life than butter.

2. Egg Substitutes

Another fresh ingredient that can be hard to get a hold of these days, eggs can be subbed out for a variety of alternate ingredients — many of which are the same as the ones used to replace butter.

Unsweetened applesauce, for instance, can also be used for eggs; use a quarter cup of applesauce per egg. Mashed banana can also stand in for eggs, in the same quarter cup per egg ratio. You could try other pureed fruits as well. 

In cakes, cupcakes, and quick breads, try mixing a teaspoon of baking soda with a tablespoon of vinegar to replace one egg. 

In brownies, cookies, and pancakes, three tablespoons of a creamy nut butter, like peanut or cashew, can replace a single egg.

3. Milk

One cup of whole milk can be traded for a half a cup of evaporated milk plus a half a cup of water. If you can find only skim milk, add two tablespoons of melted butter and otherwise use a one-to-one ratio. 

4. DIY Buttermilk

A recent craving for real Southern cornbread had me searching high and low for buttermilk. It wasn’t at my local grocery store, but fortunately, it’s an easy DIY.

All you have to do is put one tablespoon of distilled white vinegar or lemon juice into a single cup of regular milk. Let the mixture sit for five to ten minutes, and voila: a cup of fresh buttermilk, ready to go.

5. Cream of Tartar

Despite its name, cream of tartar is actually a powder used to stabilize egg whites for meringues, among other uses. 

If you’re using it for that purpose (in other words, while beating egg whites), you can replace it with two teaspoons of either distilled white vinegar or lemon juice for every teaspoon of cream of tartar the recipe calls for.

If you’re using cream of tartar in baking, you can sub in baking powder — since baking powder is actually a combination of cream of tartar and baking soda anyway. This works best in a recipe that already calls for baking soda, and you’ll want to use 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder for every teaspoon of cream of tartar.

6. Baking Powder

If you don’t have baking powder, on the other hand, and you do have cream of tartar, you can DIY this ingredient by adding together a quarter teaspoon of baking soda, a half teaspoon of cream of tartar and a quarter teaspoon of cornstarch to equal one teaspoon of baking powder. 

7. Cake Flour

Think you need to run out and buy fancy cake flour to bake a cake? Think again. Regular, all-purpose flour can be used instead; just use ¾ of a cup plus two tablespoons of cornstarch for every cup of cake flour called for.

8. Vanilla Beans

Vanilla beans are downright expensive and hard to find in the best of times. You can sub in two and a half teaspoons of vanilla extract for each bean.

9. Baking Chocolate/Cocoa Powder

Chocolate is medicine in our book. If your recipe calls for an unsweetened baking bar you don’t have, you can replace it with three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa plus one tablespoon of unsalted butter, vegetable oil or shortening per ounce.

On the other hand, if you’ve got baker’s chocolate but not cocoa powder, you can use an ounce of the bar per three tablespoons of powder in the recipe — so long as you reduce the fat in other parts of the recipe by a tablespoon (for instance, the butter).

10. Yeast

Last but not least, the thing on everyone’s bread-baking mind. Unfortunately, you can’t really replace yeast outright with a different ingredient.

But different types of yeast can be subbed in without much damage. For instance, a quarter-ounce envelope of active dry yeast can be replaced by:

• 2¼ teaspoons rapid-rise yeast
• ⅓ of a 2-ounce cake yeast

If you’re not familiar with infused water, it’s any water flavored with fruit, vegetables, herbs, and spices. The added ingredients can add a nutritional boost—for instance, revving up your metabolism—but the main beneficial ingredient is water.

Ingredients

For All Options:

• 5 cups water
• 1 cup ice cubes optional

For Strawberry, Basil and Lemon:

• 1/2 cup strawberries stemmed and sliced, fresh or frozen
• 5 large fresh basil leaves torn
• 1 lemon thinly sliced

For Honeydew, Cucumber, and Mint:

• 1/2 cup honeydew cubes
• 1 cucumber thinly sliced
• 10 fresh mint leaves torn

Blackberries, Orange, and Ginger:

• 1/2 pint blackberries
• 1 orange thinly sliced
• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger peeled and thinly sliced

Blueberry, Lemon, and Rosemary:

• 1/2 pint blueberries
• 1 lemon thinly sliced
• 4 sprigs fresh rosemary

Pineapple, Coconut, and Lime:

• 1 cup pineapple chunks, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup coconut chunks, fresh or frozen
• 1 lime thinly sliced

Watermelon, Kiwi, and Lime:

• 1 cup watermelon cubes
• 1 kiwi diced or cut into circles
• 1 lime sliced into circles

Grapefruit, Pomegranate, and Mint:

• 1 grapefruit thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
• 10 mint leaves torn

Mango, Raspberry, and Ginger:

• 1 mango peeled and cubed
• 1/2 pint raspberries
• 1 (2-inch) piece ginger peeled and thinly sliced

Apple Cinnamon Detox

• 1 apple, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 cups or more of ice, enough to fill a pitcher halfway
• Enough purified water to fill a 2‑quart (½-gallon) pitcher

Strawberry Lemon Basil Detox

• 1 cup fresh or frozen strawberries
• ½ lemon, sliced
• A small handful of basil, 6 to 8 leaves, scrunched in your hand (to release the aromatic oils)
• 3 cups or more of ice, enough to fill a pitcher halfway
• Enough purified water to fill a 2‑quart (½-gallon) pitcher

Grapefruit & Rosemary Detox

• ½ unpeeled grapefruit, sliced
• 2 to 4 sprigs rosemary
• 3 cups or more of ice, enough to fill a pitcher halfway
• Enough purified water to fill a 2‑quart (½-gallon) pitcher

Instructions

1. Place the grapefruit and rosemary in a pitcher and top with the ice (this will keep the fruit submerged).
2. Fill the pitcher with the purified water. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours so the flavors can meld.
3. The flavors will continue to develop over time. As you drink the detox water, you can continue to add water to the pitcher until the fruit no longer infuses the water with flavor.
4. Note: Rosemary also works well with pears. Swap out the grapefruit for 1 thinly sliced pear (my favorites are red pears).