Happy Halloween!

Ah, Halloween. I love thee greatly, but I sadly had little time for thee this year.

Most of my Halloween projects this year were taken from amazing projects found online. I made a pair of sock zombies following Becky Stern's tutorial on the Craft Blog:

I gave one to a friend as a thanks for taking care of our cat when we were out of town and kept the other for myself. The socks I used have had holes in them for ages, and I actually was using them to clean the kitchen for the last little while. I love the fact that even rags can be reincarnated as awesome zombies!

I also made these amazing chocolate tree cupcakes from Cheeky Kitchen. My boyfriend makes amazing chocolate cake, and these were no exception.

I was hoping for the icing to be as orange as Brooke's, but I ran out of red food colouring, so they were a little pale.

The trees were easy to make. My only beef with them is that they get soft at room temperature. Instead of letting them harden on the table, I put them in the fridge and they were hard when I checked back about 15 minutes later. But they started to droop when I stuck them in the cupcakes and let them sit for a few minutes. Granted, my friend's apartment where I put them together is always a little on the warm side.

I wanted to bring the cupcakes as a gift to thank them for hosting the party, but we also traditionally bring them booze to stock their tiki bar (yes!), so I made some Irish Cream as well. I forgot to take photos of the bottle I gifted to them, but luckily, I still have some leftover for myself!

There are numerous recipes for Irish cream online, and the one I use has been tweaked a little, but is basically the same thing. Let me tell you, it is delicious (and easy)! Here's how it's made:

Ingredients:
-1 cup whipping cream
-1 300 mL can sweetened condensed milk
-1 cup Jamieson Irish Whiskey
-1 tsp instant coffee crystals
-2 tbsp chocolate syrup
-1 tsp vanilla flavouring
-1 tsp coconut flavouring

Directions:
Throw all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high for 20 seconds. Done!

This recipe will make roughly 3.5 cups of Irish Cream, and should be stored in sealed containers in the refrigerator. You may need to shake it a little before pouring. I think it can be kept for a couple of months, but honestly, I've never had it sit around quite that long. Best enjoyed on its own over ice.

If you prefer stronger Irish Cream, you can add more whiskey, and it will probably store longer that way. I think the alcohol threshold for preventing the growth of bacteria is around 20%, meaning your Irish Cream would have to be half whiskey and you'd be able to store it on the shelf instead of the fridge, but that would probably be a bit too strong... Also, don't take my word on the storage thing.

Here's a photo of our Margot and Ritchie Tenenbaum costumes, sadly missing the signature fur coat (it was way too warm in there for fur). Last-minute, but fun costumes nonetheless.