{ Sweet Sixteen meets Halloween }

Sweet Sixteen... aww...

We've all seen the movies, the birthday girl all dressed up like a princess or a movie star. Sweet and adorable decorations lined the tables and the room. Pinks & purples, and prettiness.

Precious right?

My niece's birthday party is tonight- and how sweet is it going to be?

NOT SWEET, that's how sweet.

Following in the footsteps of her older sister, she too, is having a Spooky Sixteen. Gross foods, disgusting decorations. It's all so.... special. mmmhmmm... That's my girls.

My laundry list of items included:

Caludron Cakes and Butterbeer

Blood Bites

Giant Bat Droppings

Licorice Wands

and the Pièce de grossness: Blood Clot Brain Cakes. 

Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

You want more info?

Really?

REALLY?

m’ok, then.

You can find the link to Caldron Cakes and Butterbeer here. 

Blood Bites (aka Red Velvet Cake Balls) are here. 

Giant Bat Droppings, well, these are simply a batch of brownies rolled into balls and dipped in chocolate. No need to add any icing or anything. I usually undercook my brownies so they are a LITTLE gooey, by about 3 minutes.

Licorice Wands- Twizzlers dipped in chocolate with sprinkles

and Blood Clot Brain Cakes. 

I found these on Pintrest a few months ago and pinned right away. 

Niecey was all excited about these. Have I mentioned she's pretty gross ;) A zombie loving, black wearing, gothic lolita obsessed girl. But, she's pretty cute, so I guess we'll keep her.

Find the original post here at Annie’s Eats. 

Other items on the menu:

"Man"wich (uh.. it's Manwich)

Frankenweenies (hot dogs)

Brains on Toast (our favorite appetizer that my mom makes, and yes, it's SO healthy ;)

Zombitables (veggies for the non-brain eating zombie)

Cheesy Toes (cheetos)

Crisped Critters (potato chips)

Swamp Goo (chip dip)

Cauldron Brew & Skin of Newt (Salsa and Chips)

and a few other disgusting things I can’t think of.

Or choose not to, take your pick.

Of course I made lil name tags too.

Actually, I still have several of those to finish, and cut out, and fold…

I'd better do that now, or they'll set the wolves on me. No, seriously, these people are way into Halloween. 

They may have rented some.

Is the moon full tonight? Perhaps I should be a little worried about that.

uh...yeah, I gotta run!

Tina

Shared at Gooseberry Patch  
Shared at Susie QT Pies Scraps of Life 
Shared at Everyday Mom's Meals 
Shared at Hugs & Cookies XOXO

{ Caramel Corn Deliciousness }

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm………………..

Caramel Corn.

Right?

You know that’s right.

From fall through Christmas, caramel corn is one of my favorite treats.

It also makes great gifts. You can dress it up with nuts (if you are so inclined, which I am not) and drizzled chocolate too (I'm always so inclined to chocolate though).

Mmmm… If I do any of that this season, I’ll be sure to post it up.

Cause you wouldn’t want to miss that, would ya?

From the time I was young, my mom and I have made this caramel corn. She had a large roaster and we’d put 1/2 the corn in the bottom, and 1/2 in the top.

We’d spread the kitchen table in wax paper awaiting the finished product.

I could never resist taking a taste of it fresh out of the oven, still gooey.

And burn myself every time.

But not anymore. Because I’m a grown up and I know better.

*ahem*

Yeah.

This recipe is seriously easy. It just takes a little time to complete.

Here’s what you need:

Caramel Corn

1 cup butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 teaspoon baking soda

7-8 quarts popped corn

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F.

Combine everything except the soda and popcorn in a pan, and heat over medium.

Bring to a boil

Boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat. Add in the baking soda. 

I always enjoy how it fizzles up.

Stir well.

In greased baking pans (I use a roasting pan and 13x9 cake pan) pour mixture over the popped corn.

Now, many caramel corn purist will insist that you must use oil popped or air popped corn. I disagree. You CAN use microwaved popcorn. Normally, I would use a popper, but mine broke and I wasn’t buying a new one for this. Color me cheaps, but the Bean is currently a brace face, and shouldn’t be eating popcorn (which is his most favorite snack on God’s Green Earth), so, no new machine for us. I bought the 94% fat free microwave popcorn and popped it up. It was about 3.5 bags to get the right amount. Just try to pick out all the unpopped kernels first!

Worked splendiferously.

Now, slowly pour, stirring as you go.

Coat as evenly as possible.

Then, pop into oven. Stir every 15 minutes for one hour.

Turn out onto wax paper and let cool. If you have any large clumps, break when cooled and dry.

Store in airtight container or ziploc bags.

After that- the hard part begins.

You know, the part where you have to not eat your weight in it.

Good luck.

It’s not easy.

Trust me.

While I found this online by Paula Deen, this is the same recipe I’ve been using for as long as I can remember. 

My mom found it in one of those Church Cookbooks, you know the ones I mean. The ones where everyone sends in their favorite recipes.

No, I don’t remember who’s recipe it was, sorry. I’ll just say ‘thanks, Random Caramel Corn Lady, ‘preciate it’.

Tina

shared on wonka wednesday @ Hugs & Cookies XOXO for 10/26/11 
shared at Passionately Artist on 10/ 27/11
Shared at Gooseberry Patch 
Shared at Everyday Mom's Meals