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.

Tasty Gluten-Free Recipes...

I've been trying to eat gluten-free lately (at least, when I'm at home I do), and when I heard the name of this recipe from Canelle et Vanille, I was stoked: Gluten-Free Yogurt, Walnut, Apple, Olive Oil Cake. Sounds so scrumptious!

The unfortunate thing is that it is meant to be a wheat flour cake, but it has a variation to use all-purpose gluten-free flour and xantham gum instead of wheat flour. I think I prefer to know what goes into my food, and using a generic gluten-free flour mix doesn't appeal to me. Maybe I'll have to experiment once I'm back home (I've been saying that about a lot of things).

I also want to try this gluten-free zucchini-banana bread. Yum!

My Obsession with Gluten-Free Cookies, or I'VE COME UNGLUTENED

I have a problem. I can't stop making gluten-free cookies from my friend MiaHalf's recipe's here. They are ridiculously freakin good to eat.

This is a problem for the following reason:

It's easy to convince myself they are healthy since they contain no wheat or white sugar, and are rich in nuts and fruits. They still contain sugar in the form of molasses or honey. Probably more than I should be ingesting when I convince myself that these cookies constitute a meal.

Unfortunately, I also have several friends and co-workers who don't or can't eat wheat due to allergies or disease or just diet choice, so I tell myself I'm doing something nice for them. However, I usually eat most of the cookies myself.

The ones pictured above were a slight variation on the apricot almond cookies, using dates instead of apricots. These were my boyfriend's favourite.



My favourite are these molasses macaroons. My last batch burnt a little :( They are not as sweet as normal cookies, and the bonus is that they have nutritional value (other than just sugar). This results in them actually making you feel full, so there's no chance you'll eat a whole bag of them and still feel hungry. Their affects on my figure remain to be seen...