Halloween Marshmallows

Two years ago (where does time go?) we had quite the stash of marshmallows for some reason and I decided to get creative with some of the huge campfire marshmallows left over from the summer.  We had so much fun with it, that I thought I would share some old pictures with you.

A Wilton food writer marker turned marshmallows into ghosts and mummies.

The kids and I melted some orange and green Wilton candy melts to cover a few marshmallows.

The green candy coated marshmallows became Frankenstein's monster with a little help from black icing, white frosting, and chocolate chips.

I think the cracked look makes him look just right.  It wasn't intentional!

I'm sure you can guess what became of the orange coated marshmallows....

our very own pumpkin patch!  

(The stems were created with green Betty Crocker cupcake icing - the kind you squirt out of the can.)

It seems like we were just talking about back to school stuff, and it's already time for Halloween fun!  Do your kids trick or treat?  What will they be dressed as this year?  We have a grim reaper (yikes), a spiderweb queen, and a ladybug, plus one teenager who stays home and hands out candy so that Mom and Dad can trick or treat with the kids for a bit.

What is your favorite Halloween book for kids?  We are big fans of Natasha Wing, and we like her book, The Night Before Halloween.

It has trick or treaters, spooky, but not too spooky, creatures, and a fun, rhyming Halloween twist on The Night Before Christmas.  Check it out and let me know what you think!  

Pirate Fun

We had so much fun with The Pirate Girl's Treasure, An Origami Adventure, by Peyton Leung and Hilary Leung.  The pirate girl heads out on a quest to claim the mysterious treasure left for her by her pirate grandfather.  She has quite the adventure full of obstacles like a mountain, lightning, a shark attack, and more.  The book is fun, but we loved that the last few pages include directions to retrace the steps of the pirate girl's adventure in origami.  

The book was perfect for our small celebration of  Talk Like a Pirate Day.

We didn't have a special snack this year, but way back in 2009, I made a pirate muffin tin lunch.  I have to do this again!  I feel like I was so much more creative then; I have been slacking.

Our muffin pan was transformed into a pirate ship. On the top left there is a pirate walking the plank (fruit leather), there are wooden legs (pretzels) in the top middle, and crackers for Polly in the top right. On the bottom left there is a Jolly Roger grilled cheese sandwich (I cut it freehand so it's not perfect), the bottom middle cup is filled with emeralds (peas), and the bottom right cup has rubies (strawberries) and sapphires (blueberries).

The Apple Pie Tree

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall is a fun book that follows each season of an apple tree as it grows leaves, blossoms, and apples.  When the apples are ready to be picked, it is time to make an apple pie!

Instead of making apple pie, we made apple pie dip.  Oh my, this is SO good!  You can find the recipe on the Family Fun magazine website.  Click on that link now and get this recipe because you will want to serve this at your next party or social event.  Really, it's that good!

Of course you need something to be dipped into this deliciousness.  The recipe called for using tortillas, but we used a Pillsbury pie crust instead.  I just unrolled the crust, brushed on melted butter, sprinkled on cinnamon and sugar and then used our fall cookie cutters to cut shapes from the crust.  Then I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes.