First, on the topic of baking, my friend Alisa - you know, the one who taught me how to make a fondant cake - and I are having a major problem at the moment. The problem is that she saw my video about Jell-O Worms, and decided to try making them herself, and instead of ending up with a single sad, limp (and blue) half-maggot, she ended up with this:
Gang's all here.
AUGH Halloween photos are the best. These were taken at a neighboring town's pre-Halloween event over the weekend; the town closes down Main Street for a few hours in the early evening so all the local businesses can hand out candy to the kids. When our friends who live in the town suggested we come by and join them for some strolling and Snickers-collecting we said sure, obviously, because it sounded adorable. It ended up being a little more like a Yo Gabba Gabba concert on steroids (if you've ever been to a Yo Gabba Gabba concert you know exactly what I'm talking about, and what I'm talking about is hysteria), but even though negotiating those crowds with a stroller and two massively over sugared children wasn't exactly my idea of a relaxing Sunday afternoon, it was still...
...yes...
Over the years my Halloween fails have been epic, and last weekend was no different.
OK, so Saturday night may not have been my finest parenting moment. My friend Erin - whose son and daughter are the same ages as my own, and who are very close with our kids - told me she'd heard about a haunted house that a family had set up in their home a couple of blocks away, and asked if we wanted to come check it out with them. It was starting up after Goldie's bedtime, but I asked Indy if he wanted to go and obviously he was all "SPOOKY STUFF?!?! YEAH!" So once night fell, we paused Ghostbusters (which, as a sidenote, gave me a super-fun opportunity to explain to my son exactly what people are doing when they show their middle finger; thank you Ghostbusters), put on Jedi robes, and headed out.
And then what happened was that I maybe possibly traumatized my child for all eternity.
"Would you like a bloody slug?"
Come on, how cute are these guys?! I'm aware that the name "Bloody Slug" is mildly unappetizing, but let me assure you: these are suuuuuper delicious and will be consumed within seconds by the children in attendance - so if you want one, trust me and move quickly. (And yeah, they're essentially sugar bombs, but whatever, Halloween is like a Defcon 1 high-fructose disaster anyway. Might as well not fight it.)
So what these are, essentially, are cake pops made with extra frosting so that they sort of collapse on themselves and don't hold on to the exterior coating as well (thereby letting the color of the cake show through). And when the color that's showing through is red and the overall effect is that of a melty, ghost-ish, vaguely slug-like creature, there you go:
Um this blanket is SO COZY.
Because nothing says "Halloween Weekend" like...Christmas stockings (seriously though, the Christmas stockings are super cute).
November 1st - a.k.a. the day when the plastic spider rings and "Mommy's Little Pumpkin" onesies get moved out of stores in anticipation of endless aisles of glow-in-the-dark Santas and mountains of cinnamon-scented pinecones - is nearly upon us, so if you'd like to start extra early this year, go ahead and take 15% off of anything in our Holiday Shop using code JUMPTHEGUN through 11/1.
Oh hey, come on in.
Here we are again: Halloween weekend. (Or, pre-Halloween weekend. Could we please all agree that Halloween should fall on a Saturday one hundred percent of the time so that none of us have to deal with convincing four year olds high on Sugar Babies and mini Snickers that no seriously, it's time to go to bed?)
Aaaanyway, if you're having a Halloween party you're probably having it this weekend, so I wanted to share some shots of my son's (spooky) 5th birthday party, along with a few activity and recipe ideas.
Important information: this jacket exists.
A few days ago, Kendrick looked over my shoulder at an email I was sending and said, "Excuse me. Are you working with a company called ROCKETS OF AWESOME?"
Why yes. Yes I am. Because sometimes the gods smile on you.
Us being excited. (Or, OK, me being annoying and Erin being tolerant.)
I have been excited about other projects I have worked on. This is the most excited I have EVER BEEN. And lest you think this is an exaggeration, let me just say:
YAAAAAA!
I have turned into a person who fondants. It is, for real, one of the most fun evening activities ever, especially if you make a friend or your mom do it with you and drink copious amounts of pinot grigio while mushing icing into the shape of spiders.
I am aware that this looks impossible. Trust me, I have in the past found it to be so. Except at this point I have tried it a couple of times, and oh:
Possible.
The other day I was at Children's Storytime at the library, and I ran into my friend Brianna, who was there with her niece (who happens to be Goldie's BFF). I mentioned that we were throwing Indy a "spooky party" for his fifth birthday, and she said "OH. You have to make worms!"
Apparently there is a recipe all over the Internet that explains how one can pour raspberry Jell-O into bendy straws, and somehow end up with worms.
WORMS.
