A Pumpkin Carving Monster Bash

On Tuesday I had an intimate group of friends over to carve pumpkins... which turned me into a Halloween-theming machine! I started off with a CD and then went crazy with themed food.

First things first: The Spook-tacular CD

The following is the playlist from my party. I feel works for any Halloween-ish occasion:

1. Bobby Pickett - Monster Mash

2. The Eagles - Witchy Woman

3. The Ghostbusters Theme

4. Harry Potter Soundtrack - Something Wicked This Way Comes

5. Herman's Hermits - Love Potion No. 9

6. Hocus Pocus Soundtrack - Come Little Children

7. The Munsters Theme Song

8. Ray Stevens - Flying Purple People Eater

9. Ray Stevens - Witch Doctor

10. Rob Zombie - Dragula

11. Rockwell ft. Michael Jackson - Somebody's Watching Me

12. Michael Jackson - Thriller

13. Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp

14. Thomas Dolby - Blinded Me with Science

15. Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper

16. Hocus Pocus Soundtrack - I Put a Spell on You

17. Beetlejuice Soundtrack - Shake Senora

18. Beetlejuice Soundtrack - Day Oh

19. The Adams Family Theme Song

20. Rihanna - Disturbia

I must say this just added to the fun of carving a pumpkin. My parents even borrowed it when they had friends over for dinner. Adds a little somethin' somethin' thats a little unexpected I think.

On to the food:

Mini Mummy Pizzas

These bad boys are so worth it. They were a HUGE hit and delicious as well. I took english muffins, spread some pizza sauce on them, place olives for eyes and strip a string cheese stick across to make the bandage effect. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and voila! a spooky tastey treat!!

Next is one of my personal favorites, brie with brown sugar eaten with apple slices: The Halloween twist was shaping the brown sugar into a jack-o-lantern. Wow just looking at the picture is making my whole mouth fill with saliva... OK moving on...

Mini Caramel Apples

Super easy. I just used a melon baller to get a bitesize apple, dipped them in caramel and rolled them in nuts. Used half of a bamboo skewer for the stick and put them in cupcake cups! They were the perfect size and very good!!

Beverage of choice: Monster Brain Punch (seen here with a pleased party guest)

1 ounce berry blast sherbert, 1 liter ginger ale, 1 bottle of champagne and BAM... weird looking but mighty tasty!!!

I also made mummy turkey hotdogs which entailed stripping Pilsbury dough and wrapping them around hot dogs (which were turket to appease our non red meat eating guests). After baking them I cut them in thirds and drew faces with mustard :)

I also made puppy chow (aka muddy buddy mix) directions on the back of a Chex cereal box and added candy corn to keep it within the theme.

We of course baked the pumpkin seeds after gutting our pumpkins. I like to put salt and a little cumin on it and bake at 350 for 25 mins. However sugar and ground cinnamon make for a sweet twist on an old favorite.

After indulging in some Halloween inspired dishes we got down to business:

My sister (on the right) and I getting the seeds out of our pumpkins. She was really serious about it... me, not so much.

Look at that concentration... if I only put half that amount of effort into finishing college...

As for the pumpkin carving itself we produce some fine looking jack-o-laterns worthy of anyones front porch! (Sorry for the blurry pics!)

My brother-in-law went for a the scarier sides of things:

He free-handed it! Now thats talent!

Kate went for a pirate ship (she thought her son would appreciate it the most):

It took a very long time because of all the intricate detailing but I think it came out brilliantly!!

My pumpkin was also child friendly. Its Mickey Mouse holding a pumpkin!

Not my usual choice in pumpking I admit, but I just could not resist the adorable designs Disney put out for Halloweens this year!

Alyssa also dabbled in the Disney category. This Finding Nemo pumpkin was a lot of work!

The technique is called etching and Martha Stewart swears by it. It is where you don't actually carve all the way through the pumpkin. Instead you scrape away until only a light layer of pumpkin is left - thin enough to be translucent. It produces beautiful pumpkins but I warn anyone feeling ambitious enough to attempt it - it is TIME CONSUMING!!

Last but not least, my sister's pumpkin:I give her credit here for two reasons 1. she free-handed her design and 2. she was bold enough to try something different. It may not be the most intricate but geometric shapes are still a fun time. Bless her little heart.

So there you have it! The perfect pumpkin carving party complete with theme music and food that is fun for all ages!! Some may scoff that Halloween and dress-up are for kids but I don't were ever to old to carve pumpkins. Hoping your holiday is filled with ghoulish amounts of fun :)

Stay Spooky - Christine

Ghosts and Ghouls

With Halloween coming up, I'm sure everyone has their share of parties to go to, or, like me, are throwing one yourself. My roommates and I are planning on clearing out our basement and having it down there (our basement is horribly creepy), and while we are on a college-budget, we still want to be able to have our party stand out among the many other parties that will no doubt be going on around campus.

While some of the things are going to have to be store-bought (spider webs and whatnot), I think there are a bunch of things we can make ourselves to save us some of our hard earned cash (and making our alcohol budget a little bigger doesn't hurt either).

Here are some of my finds when searching the internet for some ideas...

You can buy the labels here, or you can try your hand at photoshopping your own.

Bakerella has some great treats you can make as well, and they're pretty simple to make.

I just can't get over the little ghosts!

If whole cupcakes are more your thing, she has some ideas for them as well..

And last but not least, signature cocktails are a great way to make a lasting impression on everyone who comes to celebrate with you. Here's some I found...

Blood Red...

Or the traditional black and orange...

When I was in fourth grade, my cousin and I had a Halloween party for some of my neighborhood friends and I, and we made a hand for our punch bowl that was like the one in the picture above. It's actually really simple to make! You just need a disposable glove, a rubber band, and some water. Wash out the disposable glove so there isn't any dust or anything in it, fill it with water, tie it off with the rubber band and freeze. If you're feeling really creative, you can throw in plastic spiders and creepy bugs for added effect.

If you're having your own party, good luck! If you're simply attending a few, I hope you have a great time and a great costume!

Eat, Drink and be Scary,
Corey

Flu and the City

I have the flu. Of course it would strike me at the very beginning of flu season. Ridiculously just like me. SO after coming home sick from work for the second day in a row (you have to give me credit for continuously trying) I came home and popped in a DVD that I have actually been putting off watching... Sex and the City. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it also tears me up a bit. So for whatever reason, today I decided to pop it in.



It is an excellent movie. And on so many levels, so many people can relate to it. Somewhere in the movie Carrie describes herself as "an emotional cutter". Those words could not describe me more. I give chance after chance to people and continually get stomped on by bad guys. I will let them back into my life before the old wounds have even begun to heal.

As much as I relate to the character of Carrie, my friends have always pegged me as a Samantha. Always. Now I am no where near as bad as she is, but I am fun-loving to a certain degree. This has always bothered me a bit, because I so long to be a Carrie. As fate would have it, I was sent this via email today. Its a quiz that tells you what percentage of each character you are... genious! I guess it hadn't much occured to me that we all have a little bit of each of them in us. ( I am 40% Carrie and 40% Samantha by the way... a perfect combo if I say so myself). And now that I think about it, all of my friends have a little bit of each in them as well. A vixen, a believer, stubborness and a little prim and properness. The mix makes life more interesting. So my advice to you is to take 5 minutes out of your day ladies, and take the silly quiz. And celebrate the fact that you're a little bit of everything... and it all rolls into the fabulousness that is you.

Hope You Get a little "Carried" Away ;) -Christine

Hot Messes in Little Black Dresses

Its beginning to be that time of year... the time where family and friends come together for food and fun. There are just dozens upon dozens of reasons to celebrate in the next couple months.

So you're planning on hosting a party... you've planned out the menu, the guest list, the table settings... or if you're like me you skipped all of that and put the most important thing first: what you're going to wear! My favorites are always bright colored printed dresses with a fabulous pair of heels, but there are days when I look at my overly stuffed closet and scream, "I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!!!" Once I've calmed myself down I realize that there is a weapon in my closet that is always ready to to go into cocktail party battle... the little black dress. Now you may not have just one (I myself have four) but ladies, if your closet lacks this sure-fire fallback, I implore you to rush right out and find one. May I suggest visiting Nordstrom's website and peering through their "little black dress" shop. They have hundreds by all kinds of fabulous designers in all kinds of fantastic styles.

Now that you know what you're wearing, we simply must accessorize. It is very, very important to not just have your black dress but to make sure there's an extra little BAM in there that keeps all eyes on you. And this fall there are tons of fun options to spice up your little black dress.

My fav accessory to pair with a black dress at the moment is a pair of peacock feather earrings:

Perhaps feather earrings aren't your thing. How about a fantastic pair of textured tights?

I am also loving the headbands that have become so popular this season:

There is always the safe option of a necklace or regular earrings but these just add a little somethin' somethin' to any outfit. And the best part? All the accessories above are from Forever 21 (or For Love 21, which is there AWESOME accessory-only store... check it out) and are under $10. No need to break the bank to look fabulous people!! And if all else fails... distract them with another kind of little black dress:

life's too short to blend in, xx Christine

Wine Bottle Wrapping: Not To Be Confused With Rapping Wine Bottles

I love dinner parties. Love them. I mean, what's not to love?! Friends? Good. Food? Gooood. Wine? Gooooooood! And I know I'm not the only person who shares this sentiment. Everyone loves dinner parties. Even the friend nobody likes enjoys a good dinner party from time to time.

So I was sitting here today reminiscing on dinner parties. Why? Maybe it was because my stomach was grumbling and causing pains in my sides. Maybe it was because I was also thinking if my roommates would judge me for ignoring the hunger pains and instead uncorking the red wine I bought yesterday. Either way - I starting thinking about the gloriousness that is dinner parties. (There's a point to this post, I promise)

The last dinner party I went to was quite impressive. It was held at my friend's apartment by she and her boyfriend, and it was seemingly choreographed to a T. During cocktail/hors d'oeuvres, he made sure we had full glasses, while she made sure the conversation kept going.

The one thing by the end of the night that stood out was that at dinner, they wrapped the wine bottle with a napkin. This is a bit old school, and most people don't bother anymore. I think that's why it stuck out to me. I know that the true purpose is to make sure you don't get any drops of red wine on your tablecloth (or your guests laps), but it is a great way to cover up that great tasting wine that only set you back $6! Your guests think you splurged on a delicious wine, you saved a few pennies and no one is the wiser. (This is saying of course, you didn't buy a wine that tastes like it's been poured on the ground, mixed with dirty rain water and then re-bottled).

So I started the research so that the next time I throw a dinner party, I, too, can impress the masses. I image people will cheer and chant my name, to which I will act embarrassed and plead them to stop, stop while secretly hoping they continue for much, much longer.

Wow.. got lost in my dreams of grandeur for a second.

I'm back.

Anyway, travel over here for a great explanation (complete with pictures!) of how to make your wine bottles as classy as you are.

Peace, Love and Wine Bottles,

Corey