Bubbling Cauldron

I really love this dip - it's great served with bread, pretzels or Fritos and it's really fast to make.

Ingredients

1 lb Velveeta
2 cans (15 oz each) black beans, well drained
1 cup medium or hot salsa
1 can (4 oz) diced jalapeño peppers, drained (optional)
1 loaf round marble rye bread, unsliced
Pretzel rods

Directions:

Melt cheese in medium saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Stir in beans, salsa and jalapeño peppers, if desired. Carefully cut center out of bread, leaving 1 1/2-inch shell. Cut bread center into pieces for dipping.

Reserve 1 pretzel rod. Arrange remaining pretzel rods on serving plate to resemble campfire logs. Place bread cauldron on pretzels; fill with cheese dip, allowing some to spill over top of bread cauldron. Arrange reserved bread pieces around cauldron. Place a pretzel rod in cheese dip, serve immediately.

Serves 20

*I thought for sure I had a better picture than this, but I can't seem to find it. Next time I make it I'll update the picture :)

Pumpkin Pancakes with Hot Cider Syrup

Eating a stack of pumpkin pancakes at IHOP last Saturday inspired me to try making my own at home. I also had a little nudging from my 5 year old - he's been bugging me to make some almost nonstop.

After a quick search on tasteofhome.com, I found this recipe that looked promising. I just have to say, Look out IHOP - my pumpkin pancakes are better! The kids went back for seconds and then thirds; I couldn't ask for anything more than that. :)

Ingredients:

Hot Cider Syrup

3/4 cup apple cider or juice
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

In a large saucepan, combine the syrup ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes or until slightly thickened. Let stand for 30 minutes before serving.

For pancakes, in a large bowl,combine the dry ingredients In another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, milk, pumpkin and oil until smooth. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. In a small bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form; fold into batter.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto a hot griddle (I didn't grease mine). Turn when bubbles form on top of pancakes. Cook until second side is golden brown. Serve with syrup.

I added a scoop of whip cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon to my pancakes. Delish! This is now officially a family favorite!

Syrup makes approximately 1 cup. Batter makes 15 pancakes.

*The syrup never did thicken for me, but it was so good I didn't really care :)

Abracadabra Hats

I'm a huge fan of Halloween, so the second those cute little holiday recipe magazines hit the stands, I'm buying them up! I found this recipe a few years ago in one called "Halloween Food, Fun and Crafts". Again, this isn't the greatest picture, but I hope you get the idea.

Ingredients

I package (8 oz) crescent dinner rolls
1/2 tsp dried basil
16 pepperoni slices
2 cups pizza or marinara sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Separate dough and place individual pieces on work surface. Gently shape each piece into long triangle. Sprinkle triangles evenly with basil.

Cut pepperoni slices into crescent shapes using a small cookie cutter or knife. Partially roll up bottom of the triangle to create the brim of the hat.

Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, warm pizza sauce in small saucepan over low heat. Serve hats with sauce for dipping.

Serves 8

Creepy Hands

I thought I'd start off the month with a fun Halloween idea. You'll have to excuse the terrible picture - I took this a couple of years ago and wasn't nearly as good with the camera as I am now ;)

This isn't a new idea, so it's likely that you've seen these before, but I think it's a lot of fun for kids. I made these for Andrew to take to his preschool class on his sharing day and it was a big hit.

All you need is some plastic skeleton hand bags - I always find mine at the dollar store, some candy corn and popcorn. I use a Whirly Pop to make my popcorn; it's easy, fast and makes a ton of popcorn all at once.

First, put the candy corn in each finger (I used 2 per finger) and then put the popcorn in. It's a little tedious, but I found it worked best if I filled the fingers with popcorn individually and then then hand. Tie off the bag with some ribbon or twist ties and you're all done!

Chicken Spaghetti

My mom has made this since I was a kid; I'm pretty sure she got the recipe from a neighbor. I didn't like it much then, but now I love it! So even if it sounds a little weird, give it a try. It's really yummy!

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, stewed with 2 bay leaves and 1 chicken bouillon cube for each cup water used
1 lb Velveeta Cheese, cubed
1 (10 oz) can tomato soup
2 cans Mexican stewed tomatoes
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 small onion, diced
1 lb spaghetti


Directions:

Cook and cool chicken. Reserve broth. Saute onions in butter until tender. Add tomatoes, soup and cubed cheese. Stir over medium heat until cheese is melted. Add cubed chicken and simmer while noodles cook. Cook spaghetti in reserved chicken broth, drain, then put back into pan. Pour sauce into pan with pasta and toss until coated. Heat through to allow the sauce to thicken and serve. You can also bake the pasta in a 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes rather than heating on the stove.

Serves 6