No-Bake Pumpkin Pie

This is the recipe that initiated my love affair with pumpkin. It's oh-so easy and delicious, so if you're suddenly invited to a holiday gathering and need to whip up something in a hurry, the 20 minute prep time is perfect.

Gather together the following ingredients:
1 can pumpkin
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 box vanilla instant pudding
1 large carton cool whip
1 prepared pie shell, baked or graham cracker

Mix together everything but the cool whip until creamy. Fold in 1 cup cool whip and beat until fluffy. Pour into the pie shell, and top with the rest of the cool whip. Allow the filling to set in the fridge before serving.

Creamy Pumpkin Bars

This is an easy recipe that my mom fixes every fall, and boy does it go over well with the kids! Here's what you'll need:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup oil
1 can pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped nuts

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon.) In a large mixing bowl, cream together the pumpkin, eggs, and oil with the sugar. Once you've reached a creamy consistency, gradually beat in the flour mixture, stirring well and scraping the bottom of the bowl with your spoon or spatula. If you'll be serving guests who don't like nuts, set them aside and sprinkle them over the frosting on one half of the bars rather than mixing them into the batter.

Pour the batter into two greased 9x13-inch pans and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Allow them to cool before frosting.

Now, you can either use the frosting recipe from the pumpkin cake (posted yesterday) or here's another variation for your culinary enjoyment:

Beat together one 8-ounce package of cream cheese, 6 tablespoons softened butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of milk. Once creamy, gradually add in powdered sugar and continue beating until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.  Frost the pumpkin bars when they've cooled and sprinkle with chopped nuts -- if you like that kind of thing. Serve these at your autumnal gatherings, and watch them disappear like ghosts at sunrise!

Easy Does It: Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Last year around Thanksgiving I was in the mood for some pumpkin-y desserts and needed to bring something to contribute to the Thanksgiving dinner at the home of my husband's grandparents. I often substitute pureed fruit (particularly applesauce) for the oil in cake mixes, so I thought subbing some canned pumpkin was worth a shot. Little did I know that the shot would go over with such a big bang.

This is possibly one of the easiest pumpkin recipes I know, if for no other reason than that it's basically a boxed cake mix with some pretty easy cream cheese frosting. All you need is a box of yellow or butter cake mix, eggs, a can of pureed pumpkin, some pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon and nutmeg with a pinch of ground cloves), a package of cream cheese, and some powdered sugar.

For the cake, substitute the canned pumpkin for all of the oil and half of the water that the mix calls for. (For example, if the box says to mix 1/2 cup of oil and 1 cup water, you'll use 1 cup of pumpkin and 1/2 cup of water.) You'll also want to add 1&1/2 - 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice (or an equal amount of mixed cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny bit of ground cloves.) Add the recommended number of eggs, and bake at the temperature and duration stated on the box. I usually make two 9-inch cake rounds so I can stack them on top of each other and layer some frosting in the middle. Yum!

The cream cheese frosting is ridiculously easy. Take 1 package of cream cheese and place it in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Now take 4 cups of powdered sugar and little by little add it to the cream cheese as you're mixing it with your mixer.  Add about a teaspoon of milk to help make it creamy and voila! A light and fluffy frosting that goes oh so well with your moist and spicy pumpkin cake!

To make a pretty cake, allow the layers to cool completely (I often put mine in the freezer for a couple of hours) and level off the top of one layer before frosting. For a cute garnish, place a candy pumpkin on the top, or for something more formal, try a small gourd with some fresh autumn leaves. (Washed first, of course!)

Start the Morning Off Right: Pumpkin Muffins

My mom directed me to this pumpkin muffin recipe the other day, and I was so intrigued by her exclamations of rapture that I just had to try it out for myself. As usual, I adapted the original recipe a bit to suit my own tastes, but I'm pretty sure the end result would suit anyone who enjoys a little pumpkin spice in their day. I literally just made these this morning, and they took almost no effort and only about 10 minutes of prep time. Here's what you'll need:

1.5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 can pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I substituted applesauce and got really moist muffins)
2 eggs
1.5 tsp pumpkin spice (if you don't have any, substitute a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a tiny pinch of cloves)
1.25 cups sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon + 1 Tbsp sugar

Preheat your oven to 350. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; set aside. In a larger bowl, mix the pumpkin, oil, eggs, pumpkin spice, sugar, baking soda and salt until smooth. Add the flour mixture at intervals and mix until blended.

Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl.

Fill muffin tins to 3/4 with batter, then sprinkle the tops with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. I have a cinnamon/sugar grinder that I use for cinnamon toast and things like that, and it works great for these muffins. Bake the muffins on the center rack of your oven for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Allow the muffins to cool a bit before removing them from the tin. Serve with fresh coffee or chai tea lattes--perfect for these chilly autumn mornings.

Spooky Party Invitations

I'm always looking for creative and unusual ways to personalize party invitations. I thought it would be fun to give this year's Halloween party invitations a little spooky timbre. The invitations themselves are made of orange cardstock and tracing paper (a great inexpensive substitute for vellum or parchment.) I brushed up on my Gothic calligraphy and included the necessary information (date, time, location, and R.S.V.P.) in a less-than-ordinary style.

Watch out for the Great Pumpkin next week! I'll be doing an entry each day with a different pumpkin-themed recipe!

Halloween Drink Charms

I made these Halloween drink charms in preparation for our Halloween party this year. It was surprisingly simple to do, and only took about 45 minutes to put them all together. Here's what you'll need to do it yourself:

2 packages of picture frame charms (I found these for half price at Hobby Lobby)
1 small spool of medium-gauge metal wire
an assortment of colored beads
set of fine-tipped markers (I used Sharpies)

First, remove the blank paper from the back of the photo frame charms. I drew a series of spooky pictures on each piece of paper--skull & crossbones, black cat, witch hat, pumpkin, ghost, broomstick, tombstone, coffin, crescent moon, bat, spider, and spider web--then replaced the paper in the frame. (Another idea would be to write the name of a different kind of poison on each charm.) I then threaded each charm onto a piece of wire along with some decorative beads to help make each charm a little easier to recognize. To finish off, you'll want to curve the very tips of each wire with some needle-nose pliers. Now you can hook each charm around the stem of a glass or the handle of a tankard! The unique pictures also give your guests something to talk about if you're inviting a set of people who may not all know each other.

Office Chair Makeover

This is my office chair....

... beautiful, isn't it?

Alright, let's be honest. I don't know anyone who genuinely likes the way their office chair looks. Unless they're sitting in an executive's office, they're not designed for looks. But this one was just an eyesore in my otherwise cute and feminine home office. I've been racking my brain for months trying to figure out how to "fix" it. I've made slipcovers for chairs before, I've recovered cushions and even couches. But this was almost an engineering challenge.

Then in a moment of inspiration I discovered that the back panel of the chair pops out of the plastic frame when the bolts in the frame are unscrewed. Suddenly the skies opened up, a beam of light shone down from the heavens, and a voice like thunder said, "Let there be cute office furniture!" And it was good.

So here's what I did: remove the seat cushions from the bottom and back of the chair by unscrewing any screws holding the cushions to the frame and popping the cushion out of the plastic frame. Using a spray primer specifically designed for adhering to plastic, spray the frame of the chair evenly and completely. Once the primer is dry, spray the frame with spray paint in the color of your choice, again making sure it's designed for adhering to plastic, and that you cover the entire surface evenly.

While the spray paint is drying, stretch your fabric over the cushions and staple in place on the reverse side with a staple gun (if you don't have one, you can purchase one for about $10 at most hardware stores and Walmart.) Work on securing opposite sides and pulling the fabric tight before each staple. This way the fabric stays centered on your cushion and it won't bunch up or wrinkle.

Once the paint on the frame is dry, reattach the cushions with the screws and pop the back panel back into the frame. For a little added durability you may want to spray some varnish on the frame before reassembling your chair.

This is my made-over office chair....

... isn't it beautiful?

No-Sew Halloween Costumes

Need a costume for the upcoming Spookfest, but don't want to invest time and money into making one yourself or buying one off the rack? Here are a few creative options for those looking to scare up some off-the-wall Halloween apparel.

The Mad Scientist:  This is quite possibly my favorite Halloween costume to date. All you need is a button-down shirt, dress slacks hitched up to your armpits, some glasses with the bridge taped, and a bunch of random Post-It notes. Mess up your hair like you haven't washed or combed it in weeks (you've been too busy working on your secret formula to worry about personal hygiene!), put on the glasses, hitch up your pants, and if you've got one, don a bow-tie. Write yourself a bunch of Mad Scientist to-do lists on the stickies, like "Dig up cadaver", "Brush teeth", "Work on secret formula", and "Try to take over the world", then stick them all over your clothes. To really go all out, put on mismatched shoes and socks, untuck one side of your shirt, and button the shirt one or two button-holes off. I got the inspiration for this costume when I found a white lab coat at a thrift store, so if you have one or know someone who does, that really pulls the whole ensemble together (and if it's not the right size, that's even better!)

Audrey Hepburn:  You can be Audrey two ways: As Jo Stockton in "Funny Face" or as Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." To be Jo Stockton, just grab some skinny black pants, black flats and a black long-sleeved or 3/4 sleeve shirt. If your hair is long, just pull it back in a ponytail. Spend the evening talking about how you don't care about modeling, you're only using it as a means to come to Paris and meet your favorite philosopher. For Holly, put on your favorite black dress, some black heels, a set of pearls, and some black elbow-length gloves. Wear your hair in a 1960's updo if it's long, and make sure you wear your huge white sunglasses! For a little added color, make yourself a long-handled cigarette filter out of some modeling clay and puff on some candy cigarettes all night long.

The Half-time Flasher:  Wear a trench coat over some shorts and a t-shirt or other top that isn't visible when the coat is closed. Put on some tennis shoes and socks so that it looks like all you're wearing is your foot gear and the trench coat. When people ask you what you are, tell them you're a flasher and open up your trench coat suddenly (as though you're some sort of exhibitionist!) I'm still trying to figure out a way to trigger a camera flash every time the trench coat is opened...

The Butcher, Baker, and Candlestick Maker:  This is a great option for a trio of friends or parents and a child. The butcher can wear a white shirt, half-apron, and carry around a plastic cleaver and a rubber dog toy in the shape of a steak. The baker could wear an apron and carry around a tray of cookies or cupcakes; and the candlestick maker could carry around a series of candles of every size in their pockets.

Zombie Bridesmaid:  Who doesn't have an old bridesmaid's dress lying around that they're never going to wear again? Pull out that hideous monstrosity, add a few extra rips in it, smear on some fake blood and paint yourself gray.

Vincent Van Gogh:  Break out your artist's smock, even if it's still your dad's old shirt covered in paint, put on some ugly pants, and bandage your ear. Walk around with your paint brushes in your mouth and your palette on your thumb.

What have been your favorite costumes? Feel free to include ones you've made or ones you've purchased.

Perfect Potato Soup

By popular demand, I'm posting my family recipe for potato soup. Today seems a good day for it anyway, at least around here... it's foggy and cold, and a nice thick hot soup goes down into the soul on a day like this.

Start with the following ingredients:
6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sour cream
2 cups milk (evaporated milk makes a richer soup)
1 Tbsp parsley
2 cups potatoes, diced and boiled in 2 cups water until tender (I use the diced frozen hashbrowns)
1 can cream of chicken soup
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion in light oil until tender. Add this to the potatoes while they're boiling. Let the potatoes cook until half the water has evaporated, then add the soup, milk, and sour cream. Bring to a boil and add bacon crumbs, salt and pepper, and parsley. Simmer for a few minutes before serving.

To make it a cheesy potato soup, add 8 oz. of Velveeta or other cheese when you add the cream of chicken soup and milk. We top off each bowl with some shredded colby-jack and some hearty whole-wheat crackers.

This is also a great soup for a weeknight, because it only takes about 30 minutes to whip up!

Staying Flexible: Tips for Sewing Elastic

There's a surge in sewing around this time of year, primarily due to mothers taking their children to pick out Halloween costumes, discovering how ridiculously expensive they are, and vowing to make said costume themselves. Since these costumes are usually only going to be worn once, there's not much point in sewing them to be fitted, inserting zippers and buttons and such, so elastic waistbands rule the day (or night, as the case may be.) Unfortunately, working with elastic poses its own unique set of problems. So in the spirit of Halloween I'll don my super hero cape and save the day with some tips to help your elastic projects turn out to be as magical as you imagined!

#1: The most important thing to remember about sewing elastic to a garment is that you MUST stretch the elastic over the garment while you're sewing it. Otherwise you'll end up with elastic that wants to stretch, but fabric that has nowhere to go. If you don't stretch out the elastic, you may as well have not sewn elastic at all.

#2: Use a good quality thread in a cotton/poly blend. Lower quality thread or thread you've had sitting around for 10 years is more likely to bunch, fray, and jam up your machine, causing you way more stress and headaches than saving an extra $2 on thread is worth.

#3: Instead of sewing with a traditional straight stitch, use a multi-stitch zig-zag, standard zig-zag, or honeycomb (smocking) stitch. These stitches will give you both added durability and inherent stretchiness.

#4: If you're still having trouble with thread breaking or jamming your sewing machine, try loosening the thread tension. If that doesn't work, check to make sure your bobbin is threaded correctly and loaded right-side up (if it's loaded upside down, the bobbin won't turn properly and can cause all sorts of problems clogging up the gears.)

#5: It's not you, it's your machine. If you haven't already, read your sewing machine's user manual carefully. Many manuals contain helpful hints for your machine's specifications and features. This will help you get a clear picture of exactly what your machine can (and can't) do. If your machine is an older model and you don't have a manual for it, you can download one for free from www.retrevo.com.

Quick and Simple Drywall Repairs

I know a lot of women who get intimidated by just the thought of doing any kind of home repairs themselves, and then I know a lot of women who love to tackle these kind of things themselves. For those of you in the first category who would like to move to the second, a few tips on drywall repairs could be your ticket to a successful transition. How you go about fixing your drywall (or sheet rock, or gypsum, as it is also called) depends on the extent of the damage, so we'll look at the repairs based on just how badly your wall has been injured.

Tiny holes, like those caused by screws and nails from holding up picture frames, and shallow scratches from the wall being grazed by moving furniture, can be easily repaired with just some spackle and a putty knife or your fingers. I actually kind of enjoy repairing these types of drywall problems because it's so ridiculously easy. (And when I use my fingers to apply the spackling compound it's almost like being back in kindergarten with the finger paints. Who doesn't miss that?) All you have to do is clean the area of the wall with some mildly soapy water, let it dry, and then apply the spackling compound to the hole or scratch. I just get a little on my finger and smear it into the hole, trying to make the seam between the spackle and the existing drywall smooth. If you can't get it smooth while the spackle is still "wet" don't worry about it. You can always sand it smooth after it dries. And if you're worried about how to tell whether dry enough to sand and/or paint, there are even types of spackle that change color from pinkish-purple when wet to white when it's dry. It really doesn't get any easier than that!

Small holes and dents that are the size of a dime to around the size of a silver dollar (and that don't puncture completely through the drywall) should be repaired with drywall "mud" and then sanded down when dry. Depending on how much repair work actually needs to be done, you can purchase mud in a pre-mixed or powdered form (to which you add water and mix yourself.) For the first-timer, the pre-mixed is probably your easiest solution, as is "hot" mud (which can be sanded and painted while still wet, since the "drying" process is actually based on a chemical reaction and not on exposure to air.) This saves you a lot of time and hassle. If you buy the pre-mixed mud, simply open the tub and stir a little (not too much, or you'll make it bubbly) get some on your drywall knife (which you can pick up along with the mud at your local hardware store) and smooth it onto the wall, taking care to fill the hole, dent or scratch completely. Drywall mud does shrink as it dries, so if you overfill the hole a little, you'll be happier with the results. Now, unless you have a ridiculously smooth, steady hand at this, you'll need to sand the repair to make it a smooth transition with the rest of your wall. Be forewarned! Drywall dust is bad for you and your vacuum! When you sand it, wear a dust mask, and don't use your normal home vacuum to collect the dust (breathing in drywall dust can cause damage to your lungs, and the tiny particles can clog the motors of conventional vacuums.) Use a shop vac if you have one, or very carefully sweep the area once you're done. If the wall is in a room with carpet, lay down a drop cloth or some newspapers before you get started. This stuff can be messy!

Anything larger than a silver dollar, that punctures your drywall completely, or leaves voids in the drywall (like a door handle that punches through the drywall when someone swings the door open too hard) will need to be taped, mudded, and sanded, possibly even patched with drywall if the hole is larger in diameter than drywall tape is wide (about 2 inches.) If you've never repaired drywall before and you're facing this type of damage, you may want to consider hiring a professional, or finding someone with experience to show you the proper steps. If taping is all that's needed, you can fill the hole with hot mud, place the drywall tape over the mud, and then re-mud over the tape, pressing firmly with your drywall knife or trowel. If you need to patch with extra drywall, you may need to anchor the patch to a stud with drywall screws if it's too large to be anchored with just the mud and tape. You'll need to measure the area that needs to be patched, then cut your patch so that you leave about a 1/8 to 1/4 inch gap surrounding it between the patch and the existing drywall. You'll then mud the gap, tape it, and mud again. As with the smaller repair, use caution when sanding and cleaning up the drywall dust.

Once you've completed your drywall repairs, just prime and paint over your repairs for a beautiful, seamless finish on your wall! Pat yourself on the back for a job well done, and go buy yourself some new shoes with the money you saved doing it yourself!