Song of The Day:

Squeeze - Up The Junction

Trick err TREATS

Mummy Dogs

Ingredients

32 Hillshire Farm® Lit'l Smokies®

1 (8 ounce) can refrigerated crescent dough rolls

Mustard or ketchup, if desired

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Unroll dough, separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal.

With a knife or pizza cutter cut each rectangle lengthwise into 8 strips making a total of 32 strips. Wrap one strip of dough around each Lit'l Smokies® stretching dough slightly to look like bandages, leaving tip exposed to create face. Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 12 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Draw features on tip of Lit'l Smokies® to create face. Serve with mustard or ketchup, if desired.

Spider Cheese Ball

Ingredients

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 tablespoon finely chopped pimento1 tablespoon finely chopped green pepper

1 tablespoon finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans

Directions

Combine the cream cheese and Cheddar cheese in a bowl; use your hands to mix together. Add

the pimento, green pepper, onion, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and salt; mix, and shape

into a ball. Spread the pecans onto a plate. Roll the cheese ball in the pecans until evenly coated. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Serve with your choice of crackers. Pipe cleaners can be used to create spider legs.

Finger Cookies

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup whole almonds

1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel

Preparation

Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.

Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.

Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25

minutes. Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of

red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Witches’ Hats

Ingredients

1 tube orange or red decorating frosting

• 48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Granulated sugar

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2. Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar and flatten; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately press a chocolate into center of each cookie; cookie will crack around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Pipe a frosting band and bow around base of each kiss with orange frosting.

Skeleton Cupcakes

Ingredients

Chocolate Cupcakes (boxed cupcake mix to be easy)

1 stick (1/4 lb.) unsalted butter

1/2 cup shortening

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

20 brown M&M's

1 long strand black licorice

25 white mini jellybeans

10 mini chocolate cupcakes

1 (9 oz.) box chocolate wafers

Preparation

Beat together butter and shortening for 2 minutes. Slowly beat in confectioners' sugar. Add vanilla and salt; beat for 1 minute. Mound 1/4 cup frosting in center of top of each larger cupcake.

For faces, add M&M's, pieces of licorice and halved jellybeans (see photo).

For hats, dab frosting on mini cupcakes, invert and stick to chocolate wafers. Put one on each icing mound.

Bat Bites

Ingredients

1 (4 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

8 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup pesto

2 tablespoons coarsely ground black pepper

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

8 pitted olives, sliced

32 peppercorns

32 triangular blue corn chips

Preparation

Mash together cream cheese, goat cheese and pesto. Chill for 40 minutes.

Shape mixture into 16 2-inch balls, about 1 heaping tsp. each. Roll in black pepper and poppy seeds to cover. Press two olive slices into balls for eyes and place peppercorns in centers for pupils. Insert chip on either side of ball for wings; serve.

Halloween Mud Cups

Ingredients

2 Packages of Chocolate Pudding Cups

1 package of Oreos

1 Package of Gummy Worms

1 Package of Plastic Cups

Preparation

Start layering Chocolate Pudding and Crushed up Oreos until a little below the tip of the cup then place gummy worms on top

Eyeball Punch

Ingredients

1/2 pint blueberries

1 qt. water

Yellow food coloring, optional

1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup fine sugar

1 cup orange liqueur

1/4 cup raspberry liqueur

2 (750 ml) bottles dry Champagne, chilled

2 lemons, thinly sliced, for garnish

Preparation

Place 1 blueberry in each compartment of iceball tray. Mix 1 qt. water with few drops of food coloring. Fill tray; freeze.

Combine lemon juice, sugar, and orange and raspberry liqueurs in a nonreactive pitcher; stir until sugar is dissolved. Chill, covered, for 1 hour.

Pour lemon juice mixture into punch bowl. Add Champagne and stir to combine. Add lemon slices and frozen blueberry eyeballs to bowl. Serve in stemmed glasses.

Hope you're Boo Bash is a winner with these treats! If you enjoyed these Trick err TREATS let me know!!

Song of The Day:

Snow Patrol- Open Your Eyes

Trend Tracker:

A Shady Situation: But The Future's Looking Bright

The whole retro influence is still hanging in there. Sunglasses with classic frame styles, bright colors and multi flash lenses continue to be popular. From what I can see, people are willing to wear flashier attention grabbing styles and are using sunglasses more as a style accessory than protective eyewear.

As for styles, we see a move towards more moderate frame sizing, still inspired by retro periods, but with a more modest finishing approach. Fit and functionality will continue to become more of a theme as consumers seek to purchase fewer pairs and demand a longer lifespan – both in style and durability.

On the style side look for more solid, sellable silhouettes with modern details, accents and twists. Retro styling and aviator styling never seem to die out. Oversized frames are still good sellers, but the mid sized trend is growing.

Recipe of the Day:

Quick and Healthy Breakfast Burrito

INGREDIENTS

• 2 corn tortillas
• 1 tablespoon salsa
• 2 tablespoons shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 slices of turkey bacon

• PREPARATION

• Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium heat, add egg substitute and cook, stirring, until the eggs are cooked through, about 90 seconds. Divide the scrambled egg between the tacos.
• 1. In a second pan cook the turkey bacon until lightly blackened.
  2. If you want you can heat the tortillas in a pan as well. It gives them a little crunch!
  3. Add the cheese, salsa, and turkey bacon on top of the eggs inside a tortilla.
• If you make your own salsa it's healthier for you:

• Pico de Gallo Salsa Recipe

  Ingredients: - 4 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped - 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion - If you like a little spice: 2 chile peppers, mild or hot, seeded and finely chopped (I use a jalapeno) - 2 tbsp chopped bell pepper - 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves (no stems) - 1 tbsp fresh lime juice - salt and pepper, to taste

  Directions: In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients.

If you enjoy this 153 calorie breakfast tell me about it!

Quote of the Day:

A little rebellion now and then … is a medicine necessary for the longevity of life!

Song of The Day:

Major Tom- Shiny Toy Guns

Guilty Pleasures

For centuries, guilt and pleasure have been spoken in the same sentence. I know this may sound like an oxymoron, but human nature actually desires guilty pleasures whether they are hidden snacks in a closet or secretly fulfilled fantasies in a club bathroom. So, what makes something a guilty pleasure?

”A guilty pleasure is defined as something that would ruin us if our friends knew about it.”-MissKendy

A guilty pleasure focuses on this indulgence of something

that is detrimental to our health, well being, assets or all of the above. Then, because it is something we know we shouldn’t do or don’t need, we tend to hide or downplay our indulgence in front of the people we know, thus the guilt.

“A guilty pleasure is something you enjoy even though you know it’s bad for you.”-Stephen Wong

Pleasure is the other half of this idiom because it is something that either we enjoy or is an escape from our ‘normal life’. An enjoyable escape is a pleasure.

Guilty pleasures are the little things that make life feel just a wee b

it better. Of course, they're also the things you're not supposed to do or like. But, if these pleasures make us happy, what do we have to be guilty about? The indulgence or the inconsistency?

Sometimes a guilty pleasure can create a balance in your life to help keep you sane. At times, giving in to guilty pleasures without recourse may ruin elements of your life. With the former situation you can enjoy and escape with the pleasure, yet the coinciding guilt will act as a buffer to keep you sensible and in touch with reality. Take for instance, the person who indulges in a whole tub of ice cream or 3 double cheeseburgers because they are having a bad day. Is it healthy? Not at all. Do they do it every day? No! The guilt of this inconsistency of indulgence is what keeps them in check. In the latter situation of what a guilty pleasure can do to you; you can either be overcome by the guilt or by the pleasure and lose your soundness of mind.

There is an endless list of possibilities that could be guilty pleasures. Some, indulging in fattening desserts, lying around for a whole week doing nothing but sleeping, others, playing video games when you should be doing something more productive. Depending on an individual’s morals and standards, something that is a guilty pleasure for one might not be a guilty pleasure for another. However, the factors that define a guilty pleasure are as follows; anything that you enjoy and use as an escape from reality but that is unnecessary and possibly harmful to health, assets and/or well being.

They’re the things you shouldn't like, but like anyway. Something that you love to do, but you just cannot admit that you do it. A usually secretive, sick and twisted activity/hobby that someone does, and knows they shouldn't and feel downright ashamed for. Sadly, we all have them, including me.

Here’s a list of my top 10 guilty pleasures (Don't Judge Me):

1. Britney Spears- I would rock out to her any day, bald, va jay jay spread or carrying a python around her neck.

2. Lauren Conrad- I find here inspiring and want to read her Hollywood gossip books someday.

3. McDonalds Cheeseburgers when I'm lazy, running late, or just hungover.

4. Tween Novels: The Twilight Saga, and Harry Potter

5. Disney Movies, I’m such a sucker for them, but how can you blame me, fish that can sing, and hyenas that can dance, it doesn’t get better than that.

6. Pop Culture: I hate to admit it but I’m a sucker for Hollywood gossip. I’m always down for the juice! Plus it’s always nice to know they buy Cheetos and fast food like you too!

7. Dancing and Singing in front of the mirror, sometimes it’s ok to laugh at yourself when you pretend to be a rockstar!

8. Spending hours looking at celebrity street style, it inspires my wardrobe: Fav's Lindsay Lohan, Taylor Momsen, Nicole Richie, and the Olsen Twins.

9. Chick Flicks: Titanic is a classic as far as I’m concerned, perfect rainy day movie of all time, and I don’t mind a little Leo.

10. Being a complete dude: cracking open a cold beer and unbuckling my pants after a long day at work, who says ladies aren’t aloud to be a little vulgar??

I know trash television isn’t on my list but honestly I’m not a big fan of shows like Jersey Shore or Teen Mom, but I know a lot of you are…

I dished my dirt and I want to know about yours.

What are your guilty pleasures and do they really make you feel guilty for enjoying them? Share your favorite secrets!

-Inspiration from Buckytat-

Recipe of the Day:

Asparagus and Goat Cheese Quesadillas!

So Simple so Delic!

I had them for dinner tonight!

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 pound fresh asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 Corn or Flour tortillas (*I Like Corn!)
• 4 ounces herbed goat cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook the asparagus, stirring occasionally, until tender and lightly browned. Season with salt and pepper, and remove from heat.
2. Spread one side of each tortilla with 1/2 the goat cheese. Place 1/2 the asparagus and 1/2 the cilantro on each tortilla, and fold tortillas in half over contents to form quesadillas. Brush the outsides of the quesadillas with remaining oil.
3. Place the quesadillas in a skillet over medium-low heat, and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until lightly browned. Cut in half and garnish with cilantro to serve.

It only takes 10 minutes to make and is only 285 calories per serving!! Let me know if you tried this recipe and how you liked it!