Halloween...Hooray!

Yes, I know it's only October 2nd. And Halloween isn't until October 31st. But in our house, Halloween is a whole month. I absolutely love it. I love this whole season, as a matter of fact. My oldest girl's birthday is in mid-September, and from planning her party through the end of the year, I so enjoy the baking and the colors and the smells and the sounds and the seasons and the holidays. So today, I started cookie season in our house with some Halloween cut-outs. The recipe I use has been passed down from my grandma to my mom to me. And it's the best. So sshhh. I'll share it with you.

Cut-Out Cookies
3/4 c shortening
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
Cream shortening and sugar. Mix in eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl, blend together flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir dry ingredients into sugar mixture.
Chill at least 1 hour.
Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time, cut, and place on ungreased baking sheet.
Bake until set but not brown (6-8 minutes) at 375 degrees.

I figured I'd start with witches hats, pumpkins, and houses. I just bought some new Halloween cookie cutters (skull, gravestone, and cat) and can't wait to use them, so I'll be making some more cookies soon.
Let the cookies cool completely, and then frost and decorate.

I usually use a basic confectioner's sugar icing on these, but this time I used chocolate frosting for the hats and orange fondant for the pumpkins (haven't done the houses yet).

So, happy Halloween-Season, and welcome to Fall Baking!!!

"Martian"-mallows

Yesterday, I took a little trip to the Sweet Factory. Mmmm. I picked up some goodies to make some alien popcorn balls ("Martian"-mallows). This morning, we made them. So cute!
I'll share the popcorn ball recipe at the end, with the changes I made so it is not SO sticky. The faster it dries and sets, the easier it is to decorate.

Let's take a closer look. Marshmallow eyes (with pupils drawn on with a food marker), green apple licorice antennae, and gummy grapefruit slices for feet!

The kids, however, couldn't wait for decorating, so they ate all their pieces separately :)

Popcorn balls:

3/4 c light corn syrup

1/4 c margarine

2 tsp cold water (if you are using the typical food coloring liquid, replace water with food coloring. If using gel, still use water also)

2 5/8 c powdered sugar

1/2 c marshmallows

Heat all ingredients in a large pot over medium heat. Once melted and blended, stir in approx. 2 bags of plain, popped popcorn.

Decorate! You can use extra sticky goo scraped off the pan to glue on decorations.