Dark chocolate candy corn bark

My friend is having a Halloween party tomorrow night... perfect time to try out a new dessert.  I got this idea from Pinterest, but changed it up to make it my own.

18 oreos (broken up)  I tried to find Halloween Oreos, but couldn't, then I went with generic brand instead
1 cup of pretzel sticks  (broken into pieces)
1 cup of Candy Corn
4 Large bars of Hershey's Special dark chocolate
1 TBS of butter
Halloween sprinkles

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Spread broken cookies, pretzels and about 3/4 cup of the candy corn onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Melt the chocolate bars in the microwave with the butter... 30 seconds, then stir, 30 seconds, then stir, 30 seconds, then stir. until melted and smooth.

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly.  Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the chocolate while it is still wet. Do not let it harden. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces - it's really rich. Makes around 20-24 pieces. Store in air tight container.

lame halloween parties

Baby Jaden and I had a fun filled Halloween event-type of day.  We went to a party at our Gym (LAME)... went Trick-or-Treating at Bashas (LAME) then went to a Halloween carnival at a party mansion (LAME) So here is to hoping that the upcoming Halloween events are better.

On a more exciting note, Jaden gave me a REAL kiss today for the first time... Maybe one of the BEST things that has ever happened to me.  I love that little guy!!!

7 steps

Baby Jaden took 7 steps today... I can't believe it!  He is sooooo cute!  He also LOVES to sit in the dishwasher... my future little chore baby!

Caramel Apples

I love anything dipped in chocolate... bananas, apples, fruit, fingers... whatever!  I also LOVE anything with sprinkles, So today's craft is caramel, chocolate, sprinkle apples.  Keep in mind that I am a rookie at this type of stuff, and they don't look THAT great, but they were delicious!  I was pretty proud of myself because I made the caramel from scratch... the old me would have just bought some caramel apple kit.  The caramel was easier than I'd expected...

caramel
2 ½ cups packed brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
½ cup butter
1 can sweetened condensed milk
A few drops of vanilla
In a saucepan bring brown sugar and corn syrup to a boil, stirring constantly. Add butter, cooking until completely melted. Add sweetened condensed milk and vanilla, bring to a boil. Boil for at least 3 ½ minutes stirring constantly.
When it’s ready, immediately take the caramel off direct heat, and pour into a separate bowl. Allow to cool, stirring occasionally. When cool enough, dip cold apples into the caramel, allow to drip for a few seconds to allow excess caramel to drip off, set on wax paper (I made the mistake of using foil... rookie remember) in a refrigerator until completely set.

Next I put one bag of the darkest chocolate chips I could find: Ghirardeli

in a squeeze bottle with a Tablespoon of vegetable oil and microwaved it for one minute... stir, then another minute, stir, and then 30 more seconds, stir.

I held the apples over a bowl as a squirted the chocolate all over the caramel covered apples, then immediately sprinkled the apple... I don't know about where you live, but here in AZ, I can't find Halloween sprinkles to save my life... the bakery's all have them for their donuts, cookies, etc, but they don't sell them...hmmm, so rainbow will do

Then I placed them all in the fridge to set.  DON'T put them in the freezer (not that you would, but I did on my first try and it ruined them all!)

Slice and enjoy!

First Day

I am soooo excited to be starting a Blog.  At first I was like, "When am I going to have the time?  I have a 10 month old baby boy - who by the way took 7 steps in a row today-  and I don't even have time to shower, let alone blog."  But once I really committed, I decided that I do have time, and will only need about 30 minutes a day for this blog and I will delete 30 minutes of Facebook time, which I normally do after Baby Ting goes to bed.

So after a few days of thoughts about how I want to become more creative, and cook home made meals for my family, and after really being inspired by Pinterest... Baby Ting fell asleep early tonight (6:30) so I knew tonight was the night to START!  I am PUMPED! 

So today is Wednesday, so My weeks of fun will always begin on Wednesdays and end on Tuesdays.  P.S. Wednesday is also my cleaning day... Today, per my hubby's request, I did the bathrooms = )

Week 1: Crafty Week
Since it is the week of Halloween, I thought this would be perfect.  A year from now when I AM Super Mom, I will be posting about making Baby Ting's costume, but since this is just day one (literally) I tried something much simpler.

Home Made Puffy Paint:
I had to start simple, and it doesn't get much simpler than this:
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup water
10 drops of food coloring

I wanted to do this so I could Puffy Paint a pumpkin -instead of carving-
I will carve when the baby is older, plus this will be fun to put in the scene for all of the fun pictures I want to take of my little Halloween sweetie.
FYI: Halloween is my FAVORITE holiday!