Howling Easy Halloween Treat Pedestals

 

Zoulah howls out a warm Halloween welcome to Red Couch Recipes where she has been a lazy kitchen witch, but an energetic crafty witch. 

 

Zoulah's green flesh is turning a bit red because these little pedestals are so easy, she didn't know whether they were worth a post.

 

 

 

You just take a candlestick from your local thrift or dollar store and spray paint it.  You will need to paint it two coats.

 

 

Any candlestick will do,....

 

 

 

After the paint is dry, you glue, E-6000 works well, little plates on the top of the candestick, and voila! 

 

 

Zoulah was happy to find these little plates at K-Mart.

 

 

Then she took a little glass bowl and a candletick......

 

 

and she made this cute little candy jar.  The candy jar is filled with Candy Corn M and M's....Zoulah loves them!

 

 

 

Zoulah thought it needed a little bow on it.

 

 

 

Then she took another candlestick and used a large dinner plate....

 

 

So as you can see, she went to town making pedestals, and now she is going to have to host a Halloween party or two so she can use them!

 

She was inspired by the hostess the BargainBound Blog.  Zoulah found her pin on Pinterest.  She shopped thrift stores and made cute containers for a candy bar.  Her site also looks like she has a lot of other great stuff. 

 

 

 

Zoulah thanks you for stopping in at Red Couch Recipes.

 

Posted with the following parties:  Savvy Southern Style, Wickedly Easy Halloween

 

Zoulah's Candy Corn Wand Bouquet

 

 

 

Zoulah cackled loudly as she thought up this new craft for Halloween!  She loves candy corn, and she especially loves to craft with it.  This year, she decided to take the quintessential Halloween candy -- candy corn, and make some Candy Corn Wands.  She loves how the candy corn colors burn so brightly!  She loves how the spheres can be made up so quickly.  She loves that she can eat and craft at the same time!

 

 

Materials for Candy Corn Bouquet

 

Candy Corn -- 2 bags made the three wands

Hot Glue

Styrofoam Balls -- They came in a package of six)

Wooden Dowels -- You can find them at Wal-Mart in pack for $1.00)

Ribbon

 

Zoulah just placed a bit of hot glue on the end of the dowel and then inserted it in (about 1 inch) into the styrofoam ball.  She let it dry, then she began to glue candy corns on the styroforams in concentric circles.  After all the cany corns are glued on, then Zoulah tied on some cute ribbon, then placed the wands in a little pitcher.  She anchored them into the pitcher with a bit of oasis.

 

 

 

 

Then add some cute ribbon and arrange in a pitcher or container.

 

 

Zoulah promises you this bouquet will brighten any area.

 

Zoulah placed her wands in a little milk pitcher.

 

 

 

She thought all the candy corn looks great on the buffet.  Zoulah loves vibrant color!

 

Zoulah thanks you for dropping by Red Couch Recipes!

 

 

 

 Posted with the following parties:  Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Market Yourself Monday, MM, WOW, Wickedly Easy Halloween Ideas



Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake

 Welcome  to Zoulah's third annual Bewitchen Kitchen!  Zoulah edged me out of kitchen and for her first offering of the year she made a non-Halloween item. GASP!!  Well, Zoulah is a practical witch and when we ran across some bargain raspberries recently -- ninety cents a clamshell -- she knew exactly what she wanted to do with some of them.  We had been served this cheesecake at my mother-in-law Geniel's home, and we loved it.  Zoulah loves it because it is a light cheesecake and she loves the little raspberries embedded in the cheesecake.

 

  

 

 

Instead of a wedding cake, we served cheesecake at our wedding many moons ago, and we ate leftover cheesecake for a long time after the wedding.  Funny, I have never loved cheesecake like I used to...LOL, but I do love this kind of cheesecake.  Because we had so many raspberries, 24 clamshells, we adapted the recipe and drizzled raspberry sauce over the cheesecake.

 

Raspberry Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

Recipe adapted from Food.Com (Miss Erin was the contributor)

 

Cheesecake Recipe

1 chocolate graham wafer pie crust or 1 graham cracker crust

6 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh raspberries of 1 cup frozen raspberries

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. With mixer, beat cream cheese until fluffy, and gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Then add egg, lemon juice, and vanilla, and mix well. Arrange raspberries on bottom of cookie or graham crust. Slowly pour cheese mixture over raspberries. Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool.

Glaze Recipe
2 ounces semi-sweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream

To make glaze, in a small saucepan over low heat, melt 2 ounces of semi-sweet baking chocolate with 1/4 cup whipping cream. Cook and stir until thickened and smooth, and remove from heat. Drizzle chocolate on cooled cheesecake.
 
Raspberry Sauce Recipe
Take raspberries and puree in blender. If using the 12 ounce package of frozen raspberries, unthaw first. Add some sugar to taste, from about 1/4 to 1/2 cup, and about 1 tablespoon of corn starch. Place berry puree in small saucepan and on medium heat bring to a boil. Remove from heat. If you want seedless sauce, place berries in a wire sieve and put a bowl underneath sieve. With a spoon or spatula, push puree against the sieve and continue doing so until the seeds are mainly dry.  Drizzle sauce on cheesecake

Zoulah's Notes:

We made her own graham cracker crust in a springform pan. 



 

 Zoulah wants to thank your for hanging with us a "SPELL" at Red Couch Recipes!  Zoulah promises a little craftie next to brighten up your Halloween home.

 

Posted with the following parties:

 

Weekend Wrapup 

Zoulah's Top Ten Halloween Posts

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes where Zoulah is poised to make her third debut at her Bewitchen Kitchen at Red Couch Recipes!  Before she does, I wanted to share with you her 10 most popular posts  from the past two years.  For those of you new to Zoulah's escapades, you need not fear, she is a family friendly witch!


If you haven't met Zoulah before, I would like to introduce you to Zoulah.  This is Zoulah, Boulah, born on Halloween many moons ago.

She has a twin sister named Beaulah who resides at the home of my sister, hostess of the blog Purple Chocolat Home.  Sometimes they get on their "zoom brooms" and get  together and make some Halloween kitchen fun.  Of course, Zoulah and Beaulah's favorite holiday is Halloween!

 

This is Beaulah's home for Halloween 2010.

 

 

This is Zoulah's Halloween Home for 2011 because those  "durn" Red Couch Children ate her 2010 home....it makes the saying "eating you out of house and home" come true!  Sadly, a new home must be built for Zoulah when she comes out of her annual post-Halloween retirement this year.  Yes, you guessed it, she is homeless again....Drat, those Red Couch kids ate her house again.

So without further ado, I would like to share with you her Top Ten Halloween Posts!  By clicking on the title, you can be linked back to the original post.  You can also see Zoulah's other 30 or so Halloween posts by clicking on the label Halloween on the sidebar of my blog.

#1 -- Zoulah's Witch Shoes

Although Zoulah tried to wear these shoes, these are made to hold sticky and sweet Halloween treats.  So easy to make and so fun to receive.

 

#2 -- Halloween Candy Skewers

 

Zoulah adapted this idea from Dillon, of Dillon's candy bar fame.  Dillon put candy on small skewers for drinks.  Zoulah is not a drinking kind of witch, so she adapted. 

 

#3 -- Candy Corn Cookies

Zoulah loves this concept.

#4 -- Candy Corn Spheres

We all love the look of these Halloween Spheres.  So easy to make and a good use for candy corn.

#5  Candy Corn Tablescape

This was such a fun table to put together for Zoulah.

#6 -- Licorice Caramels

The Red Couchers have been making these caramels for years!

#7 -- Zoulah's Pet Glo-Mo's

One of Zoulah's favorite kitchen activities to do with your "little monsters."

#8-- Brown Sugar Shortbread Stamped Cookies

A favorite shortbread recipe that Zoulah's owners use all year round.

# 9 -- Mummies with Moldy Dressing

The Red Couch family just made this last night.  The Red Couch Mom can't keep herself out of the dressing.  Zoulah likes to paint her teeth with it!  All right, so these really aren't mummies...they are Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls with a Creamy Cilantro Dressing!  Sometimes Zoulah tries to be a scary witch...with little success!

# 10 -- Halloween Yarn Spheres

Yarn Spheres are so fun to make with kids and is the only craft to make it on Zoulah's Top Ten....well, she only has a  " Bewitchen Kitchen,"  Zoulah throws a few spheres around the Red Couch home and around a Halloween table for a bit of fun.

Thanks for dropping by Zoulah's Top Ten Posts!

She has lots more more tricks up her sleeves this Halloween season!

 Zoulah can't wait to be cookin."

Flavorful Slow Cooker Chile Verde

 

Welcome to Red Couch Recipes where we are easing into fall with a simple recipe for Pork Chile Verde 

 

I do so love making something yummy in the crock pot and letting it simmer all day!  It fills the home with such delicious smells and takes some pressure off when it is dinner time.  I have made chile verde using fresh tomatillos, but in my area, finding good tomatillos can be difficult so I came up with simple recipe.  I love the bold, rich flavor of this chile verde.   We usually serve it in bowls over steamed rice

 

Recipe for Chile Verde

 

1 to 1-1/2 pounds of pork.  I used boneless pork ribs, cut into 1-inch or so pieces You can use any cut of pork, but cuts such as sirloin will not be as tender.

2 cans (14.5 ounce) cans of mild green chile enchilada sauce

1 can (14.5 ounce) mild Ro-Tel or Ro-Tel substitute

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup minced cilantro and cilantro reserved for garnish

Sour Cream for Garnishing

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

 

Heat crock pot to low.  Place all ingredients, except for reserved cilantro and

sour cream in crock pot and cook forapproximately  6-7 hours.  Serve over streamed rice.

 

Red Couch Notes:  If you want a thicker Chile Verde Base, you could add some corn starch.

 

Wal-Mart was out of Ro-Tel the day I made the Chile Verde and, oops, I didn't have any Ro-Tel in my food storage!  The Wal-Mart version of diced tomatoes with green chiles was fine.

 

 

 

Crock pot cooking can take the "deer headlight in the eyes" look away when you think, "I need to come up with something for dinner," and then you remember that there is something yummy cooking in the crock pot.

 

Thank you for dropping by Red Couch Recipes!