Monstrously Good Stuff!

Happy Halloween, people!

I get really excited about this holiday.

And yesterday I danced to the Time Warp in the kitchen as my 17 year old daughter watched in horror.

It was so wrong but it felt so right.

I love scarring scaring my children.

Speaking of that 17 year old daughter...

in less than 2 years she will be going to college!

So, I've been checking out some cool college campuses online.

And I soooooo want to visit Rhodes College in Tennessee!

It is Gothic architecture at it's finest and I would give my right arm (Zombie reference) to see this one in person!

Doesn't this look like a scene out of a Harry Potter movie?

 via

This is the library at Rhodes College.

LOOK AT THOSE WINDOWS!

via

Buckman Hall

I think I would be so fascinated by the beauty of this school that it would be impossible to get any studying done!

And I would probably go around with a British accent and refer to people as Muggles while trying to cast spells with my closest friends whom I would call Ron and Hermione.

Even if those weren't actually their names.

 On to more immediate matters...like Halloween!

This will be the first year that my daughters will NOT be Trick or Treating.

They are going to be candy passer outers!

(Which sounds a bit like people who eat candy and then pass out but it's not.)

We make treat bags because it's easier than standing there with a giant bowl of candy while the kids rummage through.

It's not a garage sale, kid!  Just grab a handful and move on!

Anyway, my son and I put the treat bags together yesterday afternoon.

 AND...

My husband helped him carve his pumpkin.

Which already had a rotten butt when they bought it.

And it leaked it's rotten butt slime on my entryway floor.

 But it still had one good side so they carved it and it's pretty good.

He was working on something like this:

But wanted something a bit more 'unexpected' so he went with this instead:

TOTALLY NAILED IT!

I spent part of the afternoon making Monster Cookies!

They are sort of like Frankenstein's monster in that they are made of a bunch of stuff that you throw into a bowl.

Monster Cookies
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup M&Ms
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like MINI chocolate chips)
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oatmeal (not instant) 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper.

In large mixing bowl combine eggs and sugars.  Mix well
Add salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter.  Mix well.
Stir in M&Ms, chocolate chips, baking soda and oatmeal.  Mix well...again.

Drop by tablespoons or scooper, 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake 10-14 minutes or until lightly brown.
Let sit about 3 minutes to cool before removing to plate or wire rack.


Eat as many as you can before children arrive home from school!

Once you have made yourself sick eating as many cookies as you can, you will likely have some leftover because it makes a whole bunch!

You can eat them for breakfast the next day because they have oatmeal in them and that makes them practically a health food!

Or, you can wrap up a few in festive boxes to give as gifts!

 Or, if you prefer to share in single cookie allotments and keep more for yourself,

you can wrap them like this:

 (Those are CD/DVD sleeves by the way!)

Hope everyone has a safe and Spooktacular Halloween!

And don't forget to check every piece of candy for razor blades because apparently it's really easy to hide razor blades in candy.

If any of these show up in your stash, save them for me!

Because they are expensive.

À la vie et à l'amour

-Cortney