Eyes and Ears For Supper Tonight, Thank You!

I found the best dish for Halloween, this is too gross, and it is not candy or appetizers. It's an actual meal! I was browsing through sites looking for fun ideas, print outs for the kids, a game or three and came across this recipe on fabulous foods.com. This is the spookiest dish I have come across, the most inventive as well. Top notch Mr. Mark Hill, I will definitely be making this. Happy, Scary Halloweeeeen!!


"Eyes and Ears Pasta for Halloween

By Mark Hill
Posted October 10th, 2008


Ingredients: To Make the Ears:
1 1/4 cup cake flour (not self-rising)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large egg yolks
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup water
3 drops Red food coloring

To Make the Eyeballs:
1 1/2 pounds of Ground Chicken or more
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper (white if you have it but black will do)
1/8 teaspoon
garlic pitted medium green olives
pitted medium black olives

To make the Blood/Sauce:
1 small jar marinara sauce (or your favorite homemade recipe -- see Related Recipes below)
red food coloring


Instructions: To Make the Eyeballs:
Dump the ground chicken in a mixing bowl, add the spices, and mix well. Make little balls of chicken about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place on a cookie sheet. To make the iris of the eye, take a green olive and cut in half and remove the pimento if you bought that type. To make the pupil, cut a black olive into small pieces. Now insert the black olive piece into the half of green olive. Stick the green olive onto the ground chicken eyeball. When you cook the eyeballs, you do not want them to brown, so steam them. Steam the eyeballs just like you would steam vegetables. It should take about 20 minutes over medium heat.

Prepare the Ears:
Roll out the dough on a floured counter with a rolling pin. The dough should end up about 1/8 inch thick. Cut out round pieces of dough using a glass about 3 inches in diameter. Cut a small hole in the middle of the 3 inch piece of dough to form the ear canal. Roll up the edge of the round piece of dough and form into an ear shape. It helps to have a picture of an ear since you cannot look at your own. I put my ear on the copy machine and made a copy.

Put the finished ears on a dishtowel and let dry overnight if possible. If you do not have time, an hour or two will suffice.

Cook the ears in boiling water and 1 tablespoon of olive for about 2 minutes or until they float to the top of the water. Drain the ears in a colander.

To Make the Blood:
Simply take a small jar of spaghetti sauce and mix in some red food coloring.

Assemble the Dish:
In a slow cooker or serving dish, pour the "blood" into bottom. Arrange the cooked "eyes" and "ears" and you're done. This dish can be easily reheated in a microwave or keep it warm in a slow cooker set on warm for the length of your party. "

Get Attached to the Tree Before You Get To Cutting

We have a huge Catalpa tree in our yard that was threatening to fall on to the little house on our property. The tree Y's off somewhat close to the base about five foot up the trunk and it was starting to split. The outcome of that section breaking off would mean the end of the house. So my husband was sitting on the porch staring at this massive tree trying to figure out how in the world he was going to get up high enough so the branches wouldn't land on the little house or the porch.

He had just gotten a bunch of screw in tree steps from a freind down the road. So I suggested that he used those. He slowly looked at me and said "I think that would work. I can't believe that I never thought that before." So motivation achieved he went to the building and got out the bag of screw in tree steps, found his repeling harness, and some roap. And away he went tying his self of as he climbed. It took an hour to get the stairs installed and making his way up the tree around 60 foot in the air. After descending he got the chain saw and away he went. It took no time to get back to the top and the job was done safely.

As he worked his way from the top he would just unscrew the step and throw it down to me. There is no way that he could have done the job without those. He did such a good job the I think I'm going to attempt the tree growing over our house now.

Small Savings Add Up, Part 3 - Make Your Own Refried Beans

My family and I love eating Mexican dishes which of course means, refried beans! My husband cannot do without them when he is eating Mexican food. Always on the look out for ways to save money and eat healthier (no preservatives or organic), I looked up a lot of recipes for refried beans. Lard, or bacon fat did not appeal to me at all. There were a lot of recipes with tons of spices, this or that. I had no idea how complicated making refried beans could be!

Well, that's not for me at all, I'm not into cooking in the first place. Then there was recipe for slow cooker refrieds. Ahh, right up my alley, no soaking the beans all night or anything. So I looked over several recipes and came up with this one. It vegetarian as well. It is so easy, five minutes and your done!

You save alot of money for a much healthier food. Of course if you want to you can make this all organic as well. No preservatives, always a plus. For the cost of one can of refried beans you can make the equivalent of 6-8 cans of beans. Left over beans can be canned or froze in dinner sized proportions freezer bags. So you will have some ready for the next meal! Always awsome.

3 cups of pinto beans (some people prefer black beans)
9 cups of water
1 onion
3 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
2-3 cloves garlic (minced or crushed)

Let this cook in the crock pot for eight hours. Strain the beans of liquid, save the liquid to add later. Using a hand masher or mixer mash the beans, onion and all, adding the strained fluid to get whatever thickness you want. They taste even better after the next day.

Once you try them let me know how you like them. They sure pass the test for my family, these will be the only refried beans we eat for now on. You can also see the way small savings add up in part 1 and part 2.

Small Savings Add Up, Part 2 - A Use For Those Boxes

My three year old LOVES to paint. I think it is wonderful, creatifity. The only problem with little ones who like to paint is the mess. They do not understand that applying globs of paint and smearing it around can eat through even thick paper, which is not the cheapest by the way. Well, it is one more expense that I could live without. So I have found an easy solution. Boxes, yes, so easy.

Cereal boxes, soda boxes, cracker boxes, even baking soda and corn starch boxes and yes occasionally a beer box. They can take all the paint, water and smashing that any young child will more than likely do. My own son like to smash the paint brush and create designs that way. What ever floats his boat. It gives a second life to the empty boxes and if you want you can recycle them afterwards.

Another little trick I've discovered is to use a muffin pan for his paint. They are big enough dishes that he doesn't spill the paint likehe would with the little paint holders that you can buy from the store. I use two for water and the other four for which ever colors he so chooses. Using this methos there is really no mess, save for the occasional drip. The boxes are big enough that he doesn't get paint on the table, so when he is done all I have to do is clean up the muffin pan and brush. It can't get more simple than that.

I store all the ready to use box "papers" behind my bread box and most of the time you can't even see them. Ready to use, it is so simple.

For more way that small savings add up you can check out part 1 and part 3

Ahhh! Hornets!

I've been run out from one of my favorite locations. My darn clothesline! There are European hornets swarming everywhere. I tried to be brave and started from the furthest end, but after I got five feet closer, they started to pay attention to me. So I had to flee the scene and take my left over clothes to the dryer. Man, where are these things coming from? We have noticed that we've been seeing a whole lot of hornets this year. Usually there are just a few sightings, but this year they are everywhere. They keep getting in the house and since my husband is allergic (and scared) he takes our son and runs. Mama is left to do the killing. Which, if they will stay still long enough you can kill them with Lysol. You just have to spray them really good. Same goes for wasps. I'm guessing there is a hornets nest somewhere. I haven't even taken the clothes from the line yet. What to do... a little research of course.

Traps are useless, the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the nest. This is football shaped, getting up to sizes bigger than a basketball and made from chewed wood. This is done best when it is completely dark, as the hornets will be sleeping. There will be a few on guard so you still need to be careful. If you choose to spray the nest then spray on the outside of the nest and move it quickly into the hole. This is the part where you run and tell your helper to turn the flashlight off because the emerging Hornets will immediately go for the light. You may want to remember this if you have your cars headlights on as well. I thought it was funny that one website suggested wearing long sleeves and pants to help the person killing the hornet nest feel more at ease. Ya, that's going to stop any stinging!

Wait till the next day and see if there is any activity. There may be some survivors that where out last night or newly hatched hornets that didn't get killed the previous night. If you see any than wait for night and spray again. There can be up to 300-400 hornets to a nest by fall. Luckily all but the fertilized queens will die when winter comes. So if the nest isn't in a bad location, like near your clothesline, you can leave the hornet's nest alone. Hornets don't reuse the nest the next year, so you can hope there isn't another built by your house.

Hornets are actually beneficial insects killing a lot of insects that we consider pests. Stings from a hornet contain less poison than a one from a honey bee. But the poison from a hornet contains a chemical called acetylcholine that stimulates pain nerves, making the stings more painful. At least the males don't sting! Their only purpose in life is to breed... This is were the jokes come in. If you want to keep the nest to show to all your friends there is some information about it on this website.

When you have a nest around here is what Wikipedia says:

"Hornets, like many social wasps, can mobilize the entire nest to sting in defense: this is highly dangerous to humans. The hornet alarm pheromone is used to raise alarm of nest attack, and to identify prey, for example bees [7]. It is not advisable to kill a hornet anywhere near a nest, as the distress signal can trigger the entire nest to attack. Materials that come in contact with pheromone, such as clothes, skin, dead prey or hornets, must be removed from the vicinity of the hornets nest. Perfumes, and other volatile chemicals can be falsely identified as pheromone by the hornets and trigger attack.

Actions to avoid
-Disturbing a nest (including vibrations and loud noises)
-Being within a few meters of a nest
-Disturbing or killing a hornet within a few meters of a nest
-Blocking the path of a hornet
-Breathing on the nest or hornet
-Rapid air movements "

So I'm glad that I didn't try to be brave and go on about my clothesline business.

Ghost in the Yard

Halloween, my absolute favorite Holiday. I decorate most everything for Halloween. These simple to make ghost are nothing more than gallon milk jugs with the label peeled off, a trash bag and some black yarn. Why pay money for ghost to stuff with newspaper (and you can always see the newspaper through the plastic) when you can use stuff from around the house. Make what ever kind of face you want with a permanent marker and there you go.

I have the milk jugs upside down and grab the corners from the inside of the bag, tape them to the milk jug. I do this after I have poked the holes and put the yarn through the jug.

They are fun for my son to help make and gives some spirit to the yard. Happy Halloween!