Squash substitute

So very unfortunately, we had to have the Halloween party a couple of days after Halloween this year...so what you say...well it seems that there is not a pumpkin to be found after 12 midnight on the 31 October....obviously they all turn into something else.  

So basically i was panicking and had to come up with a compromise!  It's actually not such a good compromise as you might think....butternut squash is ROCK SOLID and extremely hard to carve, I was sure I was going to lose a finger or two.  

 But at least the "pumpkin" brownies were able to be made...and they actually tasted no different!  YUM as always.  And it looks scary enough, if perhaps a little rigid.  It is really hard to carve curves into solid marble...or indeed butternut squash.

Carved Capsicums?

Sorry about the awful title!

So I had a bit of an issue with the decorations as you'll see in the next post, and had to resort to using odd vegetables as my decorations!! I didn't get great pics of these, so i apologise but the little orange peppers actually looked really cool as mini pumpkins!!

 

I wish i'd got a photo with their hats on!!

  

They were the perfect size for tealights too!!  Might even do these next year!

 

Halloween Cupcakes

So i didn't think that orange and black cake would look particularly appetising so I decided to stick to colouring the icing for the Halloween party cupcakes. SuperD had recently bought me a fab pressie of some icing cutters in the shape of little flowers etc so I got a chance to use them!  

I always think the modern cupcakes are a little heavy on the icing, making them too sweet...but that could just be me....anyway, i decided to stick with just the flowers rather than placing them on buttercream or icing or anything, and they were perfectly balanced - in my opinion anyway!

Toffee Cake Pops

So this was a new thing, Toffee Cake Pops, as an alternative to Toffee Apples......because, who really wants to eat an apple at a party???   Like...Come on!! The recipe I got from the website Home of Fabulous Cakes, the woman whose company made the royal wedding cake this year.  They're lovely....but, piece of advice - perhaps don't make them if you'll be in the vicinity of any diabetics...THEY ARE SWEEEEEEEEEET!!  (shudder from the sugar-high...or "shiver-high" as we call it in Ireland)

Get your 80s on!

So i'm loving the italian films from the 70s and 80s at the minute, we watch a new one every night over dinner and a glass of wine... the style is fabulous!  One of my favourite actors is Jerry Cala', for the awkward situations that he gets himself into and his hilarious catchphrases.  Reminded me of a while ago when i made one of his catchphrases into a tshirt for my gorgeous nephew...so i decided Rocket needed one too!

It translates roughly as "cool, double cool, cool with bows on!" - umm...it loses something in the translation i think...lol!!

Catherine wheel cookies

So i has to rustle up some new-ish Halloween goodies for the party, you know something that i hadn't made before...so this might be stretching it but i went for Catherine Wheel Cookies....ok so theyre not very firework-y looking....but they're Halloween coloured!!!

 Made with a basic butter shortbread recipe.  

6oz plain flour

4oz butter

2oz sugar

15mins @180 deg C

Split dough in two, add orange to one (or red and yellow, which is what i did) and black colouring to the other.  Then roll out into rectangle shape and lay own on the other...then roll up into a sausage and slice to form your cookies!

Love it Loud!

So I think Rocket really must be a fan of italian rap music, the reason being that he lives by the motto of one particular song ....so in the spirit of Articolo 31...

...i give you piu' volume!!!

Danny the Scamp

So Rocco-the-Rascal wouldn't be complete without his partner in crime and mischief, his "big" cousin Danny-the-Scamp (as his mamma poog calls him).  This time with his neater blonde hair but with equally uncontrollable arms and legs, ready to shoot out and grab anything within a 5 metre radius.  I made them into fridge magnets for Grandma's fridge so she doesn't miss them too much at the weekends when they're not with her...ahem...fat chance of that!!!

Rocco the Rascal

So with all the little felt characters i've been making in hospital, it only recently occurred to me to make a personalised variety.  Complete with spiky blonde hair and crazy moving arms and legs, i give you Rocco-the-rascal , as his zia poog calls him!

 

baby braces??

No, they're not in fact!!  They are more strings for the dummy/pacifier/soother/life-saver.  Rocco likes to suck and chew them so much that I need to keep replacing them, and replacing the poppers...how does he manage to break them every time??  He has no teeth yet??!!