Sweets & Spooks
- bethchartnett
- Nov 6, 2015
- 3 min read
A day that centers around free candy?
I'm into it.
Not only is Halloween filled with delicious treats, it signifies the start of the glorious holiday season, an excuse for all the warm drinks and ooey gooey pies your body can handle (and then some). All I want right now is my hands in a pair of mittens wrapped around that signature red cup from a certain coffee chain... but I get ahead of myself.
This past Halloween was one for the books. It was certainly helped by the fact that it not only fell on a Saturday - hello, sleeping in! - but also fell on the day before we set our clocks back -hello, extra hour of sleeping in!
Despite the ability to get some extra sleep, I woke up at the crack of dawn thanks to my internal alarm clock, and got my workout in at the barre to make up for the candy consumption to come. Emily and I have taken a particular pride in our Halloween-inspired barre costumes these past years. We are just a couple of gals who can't get enough of a good pun. Last year, we donned vests and put our water in cocktail shakers to be "barre-tenders." This year, we found ourselves "behind the barre."
We were pretty proud of ourselves, and loved that our instructor, Brittni, was a barre-bie. Puns, puns, puns; I love puns!
After some oatmeal and good ole fashioned Halloween cartoons -Disney's Halloween Treat and Casper's Halloween Special for the win - Matt and I made our way to my parent's house to prep for JM's annual Halloween Spectacular. Nobody throws a party like JM; I look forward to the pizza and traditional Soulja boy dance every year. My mom puts her heart and soul into making sure everything is perfect, and it always is. I mean, look at these:
Cute, right? All we did was cut bananas in half and add chocolate chips for eyes. For the oranges, just dice up a little bit of celery for the stem and viola! Healthy Halloween treats! Trust me, there was plenty of unhealthy items that went right along with that. We all had our fill of treats, including the staple trick or treating around the neighborhood, and stopped the dancing long enough to snap a group photo.
One of the highlights of the day was being able to share the day with my sis, brother-in-law, and little Jamison, celebrating his very first Halloween... and in style.
Stay Puft Marshallow Man for the win.
Matt and I rounded out their 80s costumes with our Back to the Future-inspired get up. Matt made that time machine in two days.
Last art project I worked on I never turned in... he is the one that makes all my Pinterest dreams come true.
We kept the partying going with a stop at Jessica and Zack's annual All Hallow's Eve bash. More sweets, and jello shots!
There was some sort of an apple cider situation going on with one of those, and I was all about it. With a few games of cornhold mixed in, I might as well have been back in college. Their parties never disappoint.
As we head farther into the holiday season, with more parties and get-togethers abound, I wanted to share a quick and easy (and healthy!) appetizer that has some seasonal flair - this one is once again from the cookbook, Seriously Delish, by the amazing Jessica Merchant. Do yourself a favor and check out How Sweet Eats, the most glorious food haven on the interwebs.
The Autumn Crostini from her cookbook is easy to whip up and presents an explosion of delicious fall spices. It's a palate and party pleaser. Grab a whole wheat baguette and slice it up thin. Line up the pieces on a cookie sheet and place it in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Flip them over and bake for another five.
While the bread is crisping, grab a mixing bowl and combine 4 oz of marscarpone, or ricotta, with two tablespoons of pumpkin puree, 1/4 teaspoon salt and nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Set aside. In a skillet, toast 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped hazelnuts, pecans, almonds, pick your poison.
And now assembly! Just layer the bread with some spread, a sprinkle of nuts, and a dusting of sage. It's quick, easy, and delicious.
I'm putting on my mittens for another sweet recipe from Seriously Delish, Oatmeal-Apple Butter Squares, a tasty treat for my road trip up the coast this weekend. More on the blog next week!
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