Friday, September 20, 2013

Halloween games ... online fun!




The weather outside this weekend is going to be gloomy and lots of rain. Instead of listening to the "I'm bored" ..... "There's nothing to do" ... "Can we do something fun"
Take a look at this list of  some fun online games for the kids.
I've compiled a list of online sites and games with some fun things for the kids to play on a cool fall rainy day.
They might keep them out of your hair for at least a few minutes :)
Set them up with the games .. grab a cup of coffee and enjoy the few moments of quiet time!





**Parents - Please look over the pages before your child plays the games. I have not personally played each game and do not know the rating of them all. 
We at Holiday Cafe are in no way affiliated with these pages. This is just a collection of links of fun pages to visit for Halloween fun.


 
 GamesGames.com - 67 FREE Halloween games to choose from

 
Kaboose Fun School - Printables, Jokes and games

The Kidz Page - Puzzles, games coloring pages and wallpaper

A Game.com - 61 FREE Halloween games. Zombies, pumpkins, vampires and more

Will add more links as we find them :)

Have fun!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Pumpkin crazzzy! Yummy Recipes!



WOW! I've never really seen a food go from a yummy thanksgiving dessert pie to the basis of just about EVERYTHING that is sold during the fall season!
The pumpkin craze is so over whelming. You can get it in your coffee, you can have it for breakfast, you can make breads and cookies and pies and cakes... oh my!

Now don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin bread warm with a little butter .. Mmmm
I am half a fan of pumpkin pie. I love the middle but hate the way the crust tastes on a pumpkin pie.
I can not adjust to the flavor of it in coffee. Working in a popular coffee shop for a year, I saw how CRAZY people become when the pumpkin flavor comes out for the season. Its kind of insane LOL
Well I saw this today on the target website while I was browsing ....
Have ya'll tried these ?? Im kind of leary I think but might have to pick them up just to try. If anything the colors of them will look good in a candy dish on the kitchen table :)
I personally think they have taken this new food fad to the extreme. But I guess what ever makes them the big bucks they run with that.

With that said I DO have a few favorite pumpkin recipes I would love to share with all of you. Regretfully it wont be a pumpkin pie recipe, I just dont make them since I only eat the inside :P

Here are a few of my favorites....

Pumpkin spice cake w/ apple cider glaze!!

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees
*grease and flour 9x13 pan

Ingredients for cake
(Just TWO ingredients for cake)
1 box yellow cake mix
1 15oz. can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
Mix the 1 ingredients in a bowl well til just incorporated. The mixture will be thick almost like cookie batter. pour into prepared pan and spread to the edges evenly.

Bake on 350 for roughly 30 - 35 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean (baking time may vary depending on your oven)

While the cake is baking prepare the icing

Ingredients for icing
1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
2 TBS. apple cider
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
Mix all 3 ingredients together to a thin glaze. Pour the glaze over the cake while it is still hot.
*I poked a few holes all over the cake with a skewer so the glaze soaks down into the cake itself.
Let cook .. and enjoy :)



Moist Pumpkin bread






*Preheat oven to 350 degrees F .
*Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2/3 cup water
3 cups white sugar
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger


In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.