My little ghouls just love Halloween. The spookier the better. They get their love of the macabre honestly, from their mama. Check out the list of eats I have compiled and make a couple for your Halloween party or just for fun!

Dead Man’s Fingers

Very ghoulish and very easy to assemble.

Poison Apples

Perfectly safe to eat…or is it?  Braw-hah-hah-hah!

Pizza Mummies.

Keep it simple by adding a little extra cheese and halved olive eyes to bagel bites.

Spider Web Eggs.

For an extra-grim presentation, serve with gray sea salt and leave a few shells scattered about the tray.

Buried Alive Muffins

How adorable are these?  Just buy these little baby arms at your local party store and insert into your muffins or cupcakes.

Ghostly Pancakes.

Treat the kids to these on Halloween morning.

I Scream Sandwiches.  Get it?

Ice cream won’t suit every location on Halloween but it will sure cool us Floridians down after trick or treating.

Black & Orange Butternut Squash Pasta.

Going a bit gourmet with this one.  I have never seen black linguine but until now I never had a reason to look.

Vampire Cupcakes

This vampy white delight bleeds when you take a bite. The kids will love it!  These cupcakes are pretty time intensive but if you have the patience and baking ability, they will surely be a Halloween party hit.

Super Creepy Skull Cake.

Okay, this was made by a specialty bakery but I had to include it because it’s just so awesome.  Here is a another skull cake mold that will work and take the level of baking difficulty down a few notches.

Written by Lea Barlow • 2 Comments

By now you know I am a sucker for face products. So it should come as no surprise that I recently picked up the latest under eye concealer by OLAY. I actually really needed a new concealer. Seriously!  You see, it’s the time of the month where I look like death warmed over no matter what I do. My tinted moisturizer just wasn’t helping much with my massive dark circles. I have been using the Total Effects eye cream for 3 days now and here are my thoughts:

1. It’s expensive for a drugstore product: $19.99 to be exact.

2. I thought I would need to pick my shade but not so. It’s a ‘one size fits all’ eye cream.

3. The applicator is larger than you would think and pretty cheap feeling and looking considering the price.

4. It claims to be a ‘line and dark circle minimizer’ and does just that. I thought the peachy color would be an obvious mismatch for my skin but it blended right in. I didn’t even have to use my finger to smooth the color. It faded my dark circles and really did minimize my fine lines with no left over greasy feeling.

Final Thoughts: If you are in the market for a new under eye concealer, give it a shot. It comes in a little higher than other drugstore products of the same ilk but is definitely more than half the price of any department store cream. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

I could wear this ensemble designed on PiperLime by Rachel Bilson every. single. day. The first reason I love this look so much is that you do not have to wait until it is 40 degrees outside to wear booties like you do with the higher, more traditional boot. The second reason this look rocks is because you more than likely have 75% of this ensemble in your closet already. The only two items needed are the hiker booties and a new bag!

My first pick is the Bright Actress Bootie by Kenneth Cole. Unfortunately, these seem to be largely out of stock (at least right now) in the sand color so here is my second choice…

This Kelsi Dagger bootie is almost just as cute. It is going to have to do. Besides, the $110 price point is reasonable.

Complete the look with this beautiful tote. I just can’t decide if I like it is the ‘desert’ color or ‘forest’…

With my birthday coming up I will need to make this decision soon.

Which one do you like better?

Written by Lea Barlow • Leave a comment

Stuffed Baby Pumpkins

Creative, healthy and so adorable! A great recipe the whole family will enjoy.

4 ounce(s) sweet Italian sausage

1/2 cup(s) chopped onion

1  (1 1/2-pound) pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1/2 cup(s) chopped Granny Smith apples

1/4 cup(s) white wine

1 cup(s) Israeli couscous, cooked

1/4 cup(s) dried cranberries

1 tablespoon(s) extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon(s) fresh thyme

1 teaspoon(s) fresh oregano, chopped

1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

1/4 teaspoon(s) fresh ground pepper

4 small (1-pound) pumpkins, hollowed out

Make the stuffing:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Decase and crumble the sausage meat and place it in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook the sausage until it is almost done — about 8 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan, increase heat to medium, and add the onion and 2 cups of the chopped pumpkin. Sauté until the pumpkin begins to soften — 5 to 7 minutes. Add the chopped apple and sausage and sauté for 3 minutes. Add the wine, cook for 2 minutes, remove from heat, and set aside. Combine the couscous, dried cranberries, olive oil, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add meat mixture to the bowl and toss to combine.

Bake the pumpkins:

Evenly fill the hollowed-out pumpkins with the stuffing mixture and place the pumpkins in a shallow baking dish. Cover the dish with aluminum foil, bake for 25 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for 10 more minutes. Serve immediately and enjoy.

*Happy Friday!*

Written by Lea Barlow • 1 Comment