Monday, October 31, 2016

Monster Cookies


Zoulah wanted to do one more last minute Halloween post.  You could whip these up before you could whip these up in a hurry!

It is just a five  ingredient cookie, and would make good use of those eyeballs you have sitting around your cupboard.


Monster Cookie Recipe


1 box Cake mix
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
Candy Eyes
Purple Food Coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Put all ingredients, except coloring and eyes, in medium mixing bowl and mix well.
Form dough into tablespoon-sized balls and place on cookie sheets.  Bake for 9 minutes in oven.  Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes.  Then remove and cool on cooling rack.


Zoulah thanks you for visiting Red Couch Recipes during Zoulah's season!

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Black and White Halloween


Dear Red Couch Readers, Zoulah put together this elegant tablescape for tonight.  Zoulah loved doing a fancy table, she is just not all kiddy-fun for Halloween. 

Trick or Treating night is coming soon.  I loved it when my children were little.  It was such a magical night.  They were so enthralled with their costumes, and so excited to go out.  The Trick or Treat sign was bought at Tai Pan Trading. 

Just a white and black theme tonight.  The black napkin holders were bought on my only visit to the famous Christmas Tree stores back east.  I initially thought of using them for Christmas (Santa's belt).  I bought 12 of them, as they were a quarter a piece.  Each plate has a decorated royal icing cookie -- Zoulah and my favorites.


Another sugar cookie we made.


Just another view of the napkins.


Just slip a few spider rings on the candles for a fun and festive look.


A close-up view.


Individual candles light up the table even more.


Of course there is a little candy on a Trick or Treat Table.


Spider web glasses, as well as clear bubble glasses add shine to the table.


Zoulah loves the paper straws -- especially the Halloween ones.


Zoulah thanks you for dropping by our Balock and White Halloween Table.


Some of these cookies were sent off to our daughter Tati who is serving a Spanish speaking mission for our church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Ft. Collins, Colorado mission.


Ta-Ta for now!



Posted with Tablescape Thursday.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Jaunty Jack Tablescape

 


Welcome to Zoulah's Jaunty Jack Tablescape.  Zoulah had fun putting this together.  We love pumpkins at Halloween, and we especially love Jack ' O Lanterns.  I don't remember carving them as a child, but I surely have carved a lot as an adult. 

The table is built upon the Jack ' O Lantern salad plates in the picture above.  I think I have about a dozen of them, and they were bought at Harmon's grocery store (Utah), for about a dollar.  They just make me smile.

I think one of the first Halloween decorations I bought was this ceramic jack.  I have moved easily half a dozen times since I bought it, and it has survived.  It was bought  at a drug store in California.



Zoulah and I love straws for the holidays, they just sort of "jack" things up a notch.  Zoulah asks if you get the funny she made.



If you know me, you will know that I have a lot of dishes, and a messy garage full of them says Zoulah, but I have rarely paid a lot for them.  The napkin rings were from Wal-Mart on clearance, and the napkins, in that bright, vibrant hue, were from K-Mart..  The Jack lights were from Target, on clearance.  Zoulah and I used to haunt Target for their post-Halloween sales.

A jack is placed by each placesetting.  This little guy was bought at the Dollar Store.  The white salad plates and chargers were a gift from my sister Jacqueline, and the bubble glasses were a gift from my other sister Jean. 


Zoulah loves it when it starts to get dark, when there are lights on the table. 


One of my favorite things to do is to eat by candle light or by lights on a string.  I like to sit and look at the faces of those sitting around the table that I love.  Their faces glow, and my heart is warmed by them.  Alas, right now the chicks, save one, has flown the coop, so those memories are even more precious.

The glittery table scatter glows in the night time.



Zoulah says BOO!




Zoulah says she loves you for coming by the Red Couch!

Monday, October 17, 2016

Bookie Cookies: The Day the Crayons Quit Cookies


Dear Red Couch Recipes readers   So I am calling these "Bookie Cookies" because I made these cookies  to go along with a book.  Okay, so Zoulah is  throwisng a fit because this is not a Halloween post, but I wanted to show you these cookies I made for our grandkids.  They live in Pennsylvania, and we don't see them that often, so every once in awhile I like to send them a package.  This time I sent them the book "The Day the Crayons Quit." and these cookies to go along with it.  I am a sucker for good and humorous children's book.  It was a perfect gift for our oldest grand daughter who started kindergarten this year. 

If you haven't read this book, it is a scream!  Each of the crayons writes  their owner Duncan with a complaint,  Black wants to do more than outlining.   Yellow and orange are fighting about which one is the true color of the sun, and beige, well you will have to read the book to find out about beige's funny complaint.

I was inspired by Sweet Amb's crayon cookies, and then added some personality to the crayons with their little faces



I was inspired by Sweet Amb's crayon cookies, and then added some personality to the crayons with their little faces.

Hope you liked them!

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

The Cats Take the Hat Halloween Tablescape


Zoulah welcomes all you Halloween lovers to her "Cats Take the Hat Tablescape."  She wants to point your attention to the cat with the hat, who very much looks like our Wolfay, on the couch with the hat in my blog header.  Thanks to Linda for the Halloween header -- just like magic my header appeared for Halloween.  She is a wonderful Blog Fairy.

In our home, cats really do  "Take the Hat!"  We have been the home of many strays over the years, and we are down to just one cat, named Wolfay.  We had a health scare with him this year, but he survived, for which we are grateful.


Just a little detail of the hat that Zoulah bought last year.  "Candlesticks make excellent witch hat holders, says Zoulah.


Flanking the end of the table are Zoulah's cats Frick and Frack.



To start the tablesetting, Zoulah used these darling cat placemats.


Then she placed an orange dinner plate and a black salad plate, both of which she bought at Tai Pan Trading for a dollar or under.



The little rectangle bakers are great for soup or individual meat loaves, or CANDY!  These little bakers were bought at Michael's a few years ago.


Each place setting gets two glasses.  I love the contrasting colors.


The pumpkin napkin holders were bought several years ago at Wal-Mart.


Just another happy view.


Zoulah wants to let you in on a "leetle" secret!  Yes she does.  The tablecloth is actually a former curtain, washed of course, but it makes a great tablecloth.

Just another couple shots of the cats standing guard.



A few more touches to the table -- little votive holders and the sparkly orange and black garland.


Every table needs a little bling.


Here is a sampling of Zoulah's work through the seven years she has been casting magic in her Bewitchen Kitchen.

This is Zoulah's latest creation -- Spiced Up Halloween S'mores Bars.


Zoulah loved having you here, she is glad to take over for a little bit, because the owner
of this blog hasn't been doing her job lately!  Come back later for Halloween fun!

Posted with Linda's Halloween Tablescapes
Posted with Tablescape Thursday



Monday, October 10, 2016

Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars


It was just innocent at first, I came across the recipe for Smore's Cookie Bars at church; we all baked them for the men at church for Father's Day.  I should have known, Miss Tina, the lady we got the recipe from is a very good cook, and she always finds the best S'mores recipes.



I mean I don't even like the kind of S'mores that you eat as you sit around the campfire.  Chocolate and graham crackers yes, but no thank you on the burnt marshmallows!  Then when we were in Pennsylvania at our son's home, and we were talking about desserts -- as we always do -- they had been making them too, but as a pie.  We all agreed that the graham crackers in the crust made these bars special. 



So naturally, Zoulah wanted to put her spin (some might call it magic) on things and make them Halloween-y, and we loved them even more.  In fact our daughter said, we would never make them again without the spices.  Ooh-la-la the chocolate and the spices taste sooooo good together.

So here goes the recipe.

Halloween Spicy S'mores Cookie Bars


1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 2/3  cups flour
1 1/2 cups crushed graham cracker crumbs -- about 1 sleeve and use cinnamon ones for an extra punch of cinnamon-y goodness
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Orange food coloring
Hershey Chocolate Bars -- 24 snack-sized bars
1 container of marshmallow fluff -- not marshmallows

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 pan.  Cream together butter and sugars until light.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmegs.   Add orange food coloring if desired -- use about 1/2 teaspoon gel coloring.  Add to butter mixture and mix at low speed until combined.  Divide dough in half and press half of dough into an even layer on the bottom of prepared pan.  Place chocolate bars  over dough.  Spread chocolate with marshmallow fluff.  Wet your hands or use a wet spatula to ease in the spreading of the fluff.  Next, put the remaining dough on top.  This is easiest if you sort of flatten small shingles of dough and lay them out piece by piece.  Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool completely before cutting.  I like to cut them in 3 by 4 squares, so about 9 to a pan.

Thanks Tina for the original recipe, and thanks Zoulah for adding some Halloween magic to it.  I am sure there is an original source, but I do not know it.

Use 2 Packages of 12 Pack Snack-Sized S'mores Bar (or the equivalent)


Take a Deep Breath of the Chocolate Goodness

I know I am supposed to like European chocolate better, but I love Hershey's chocolate bars, especially with almonds in them!


The Bars Laid Out on the Bottom Crust


Marshmallow Fluff


Pat the Cookie Dough for the Top Crust in Thin Shingles and Then Piece it Together


The Bars Waiting to be Baked


I hope you make a batch soon.


Zoulah thanks you for stopping by!




Engageya