Crispy Halloween treats!

This is a recipe and how-to for Halloween tortilla crisps. They are very inexpensive, fun, and easy to make, not to mention very yummy! This recipe calls for:

-10 six inch flour tortillas
-1/4 cup melted butter
-1/2 cup sugar
-1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
-a cookie sheet ( I used more than one)
-cookie cutters in Halloween shapes, or a template traced onto wax paper, cut out the pattern and use kitchen scissors to cut out the shapes from the tortillas.

- Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter, put into bowl with basting brush. Mix cinnamon and sugar together, put into a bowl.

Using cookie cutters, or a template begin cutting your shapes out of the tortilla's, depending on the size of your cookie cutter you should be able to get several out of one tortilla. You can use the scraps too, they won't be as pretty but they'll taste as good!











After shapes are cut out, brush melted butter onto both sides, then sprinkle one side with cinnamon sugar mixture. I recommend doing this on a cooling rack over a plate, it's less messy and you can reuse the cinnamon sugar that falls onto the plate.


Place shapes onto cookie sheet(s) and bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool for about 15 minutes. Give them away as a Halloween treat to family and friends, or keep them for yourself to enjoy!

Halloween Lanterns

These are Halloween lanterns, or luminaries some call them, made out of soup cans and coffee cans...if you can find any tin coffee cans since they're gone to plastic. They look great out among the Jack-o-Lanterns on All Hallow's Eve, lining the walkway to your house, or even in a window. You'll have to excuse my poor excuse for a picture, but I don't have the best digital camera. For my lanterns I used one small, I suppose you'd call it standard size soup can, and two larger, coffee cans. You will also need a hammer, an awl, a towel or bag of rice, and spray paint or oil-based enamel paint. Here's the how to-


1. Start by taking the label off the empty can and cleaning it out well.

2. This is the time to draw a pattern on the can if you wish with a marker, or you can freehand it later.

3. Fill can with water and and put in the freezer to well... freeze! This is so the can is easier to work with and won't collapse while you are punching it full of holes.

4. After a day or so, ( I think mine took about that long to completely freeze) take can out of the freezer , steady the can on a towel, or a bag of rice, and begin punching holes in the can with the hammer and awl.

5. After you are finished place the can in the sink, let the ice melt and the water drain out. Dry the can.

6. Paint the outside of the can if you wish with spray paint or oil-based enamel paint, I chose to use spray paint for mine. If the holes in the can get blocked with paint, clear those holes with a toothpick while the paint is still wet. I painted the inside of my cans yellow as well to help reflect the light from the candles inside.

7. Add a candle, or those new battery operated flame less candles and enjoy your new Halloween lanterns!

Domokun invades! Plus coming attractions...

Finally after spending years in Japan Domokun has finally made it big in the states! I have been a fan for a couple of years but it was hard to find anything Domo related in the U.S until recently when Target started selling school goods featuring the friendly brown creature. Now Target is using Domokun as their new spokesman for their Halloween line, that makes me happy! Coming tomorrow a great Halloween inspired project. If I had to give a hint I'd say it will get glowing reviews...stay tuned.

A tribute to Paul Newman

In case you had not heard, which might mean you are cut off from the world entirely, Paul Newman died last weekend of lung cancer, he was 83. Paul Newman was more than just a pretty face and a great actor. His co-owned food company Newman's Own donated over 220 million dollars to charity as of 2006, and in 1988 he co-founded The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a summer camp for seriously ill children. The camp serves 13,000 children a year, all free of charge. Newman was also a founder of the Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy (CECP), an organization of over 175 CEOs and corporate chairpersons determined to raise the level and quality of global corporate philanthropy.

I have always admired Paul Newman, for many reasons, but one thing in particular will always stick in my mind. In an age of Hollywood hookups, scandals, and affairs, it was refreshing to read a quote from Newman from Playboy, when asked if he was ever tempted to stray from his wife Joanne Woodward he replied "I have steak at home, why go out for hamburger?". Paul Newman was many things, he was an actor, a humanitarian, a political activist, and an environmentalist, he was a man we should all strive to be more like. A man who cared for his fellow human beings, animals, and the environment and gave freely to their causes. He will be much missed and my heart goes out to his family and friends.

Spanish Coffee Cake

Here is a quick recipe for Spanish Coffee Cake, I've been baking it since I was in grade school. It's the perfect breakfast for cool fall mornings, and it is simple to make. This recipe is from my great aunt. You will need the below ingredients and an 8 x12 pan, plus the usual measuring cups, spoons and cooking utensils.

-2 and a half cups sifted flour
-1 cup brown sugar
-3/4 cup white sugar
-1 tsp. cinnamon
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. nutmeg
-3/4 cup vegetable oil
Mix all these ingredients throughly, then remove 3/4 of a cup for the topping, set aside.
With the remaining ingredients add:
-1 tsp. baking soda
-1 tsp. baking powder
-1 egg
-1 cup sour milk ( mix1 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice with milk to sour it.) ((I don't recommend using the milk that has been sitting in the back of your fridge for a month! ))
Mix all ingredients together, beat for several minutes. Pour into pan, sprinkle topping that has been set aside on top and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me! Today, October 2nd is my 25th b-day. Now I'm not quite sure how to feel after my Mother told me 25 is a special milestone birthday, "afterall, you're going to be a quarter of a century old!" Thanks Mom, now I feel old. Tomorrow I plan on posting my first project here, I promise it will be a good one, I'm hoping at least one of my two readers will enjoy it.

The making of a mascot

I know that right now I probably have two readers, and one of them is my brother, but hopefully soon things will pick up...right? Anywho, regardless of my readership, I am proud to present this blog's mascot-the angry pincushion! Think about it, you'd be a little angry if people were sticking you with pins all the time... I know I would be. He doesn't have a name yet, I think Mr. Pincushion might suffice, for now anyway.