Inexpensive Halloween Costumes
Welcome back!
My sister and I getting ready for Halloween
I grew up in a lower-middle class home. We had the basic necessities but extras such as store bought halloween costumes were something that we just didn’t buy. Don’t get me wrong, there were a few time when we were able to do that. However we found that usually the quality wasn’t very good and the costumes did not last very long. My mother decided to instutue a new costume policy in our house, we had to make our own costumes. This may sound cueul but actually it was a blast! My sister and I were discussing this recently and she said, “half the fun was seeing who could be more inventive…and usaully i would lose.” Some of my happiest memories were putting together our costumes.
My sister and I would brainstorm for weeks about what we wanted to dress up as for Halloween. Once we had decided what we wanted to be, we would set to making our costumes. We would usually go the thrifts store and find pieces that would work for our costumes. The thrift store always had wonderful surprises for us. From there we would raid our closets and our mother’s closet. We could usually put together a costume for under $10. My mom would do our make-up to go along with our costumes. We would have so much fun that our friends soon joined in as well, and stated making their costumes too.
The funnest part of Halloween was making my costume with my sister. We always had so much fun.
Some of our thrift store costumes included:
A Geisha- made with a silk Japanese robe found at the thrift store
A 1950’s Woman- Made with a vintage dress and jewelry from the thrift store
A witch- Made with a black dress that we shredded ends of.
Fall (the season)- Made with sprigs of fall leaves from the dollar store
A mouse- Made with an old gray terry-cloth robe found at the thrift store, and a pair of store bought mouse ears.
Cleopatra- A large white sheet draped across like a Egyptian dress bought at the thrift store.
Martha Stewart.. This is reality calling!
Photo from Flickr
I have been a Martha Stewart fan since I was a teenager. My mother and sister used to make fun of me for my Martha Stewart obsession. I have always admired how she has such attention to detail and makes sure that things are done properly. I do recognize and always have, that she tends to go a bit overboard on some things. I have been a loyal reader of her magazine and I used to watch her show on NBC. I bought her products and I was even going to go to a book signing.
As the recession hit, I continued to watch her show. She had on guests like Jim Cramer who was talking about stocks and the stock market. While this is helpful to some, it is not helpful to all. While the rest of the country geared up for the recession, to me it seem as if it was business as usual at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. I watched her show to see if she would have money saving tips for the average American household, but I never saw anything of the sort. Eventually I got fed up and just stopped watching her show. Last week I read an article that said that viewership was down for her show. I was not surprised.
My annoyance did not stop with her television show either. I continued to read the magazine but I soon found myself feeling betrayed. I felt like the Martha magazine was targeted to a different audience, one that had not been effected by the recent recession. Recipes and crafts in the magazine still required pricey ingredients and pieces. While she talked about the recession did she actually realize what the average middle class household was going through? The final straw for me was a piece about what every woman should have in their closet. While the pictures were beautiful, the clothing was outrageously priced.
I eventually started reading the magazine Real Simple. I like this magazine because I feel like it has the same quality as the Martha magazine but that it is more accessible to the average middle income house hold. They too have their out- of touch artciles too, but not as bad.
Even though I have been annoyed by Martha Stewart’s constant bragging about the vacations she goes on or the show about designer dresses, I do not hate her and I occasionally do watch her show. I just wish that she would realize that we aren’t all millionaires and target her show that way. I bet if she did, her ratings would go back up.
The Art of Canning
Harvest fresh from the Garden
One weekend not to long ago I received my first lesson on how to can tomatoes. I have always been interested in the process but I have never had the chance to learn until now. My mother-in-law called me one Saturday and asked me if I would like to learn how to can tomatoes from their garden. I am always up for learning new things, especially if it was save me money down the line. So off I went to learn how to do it.
The process was relatively simple. Here is a quick breakdown.
1. Wash your tomatoes in a cold water bath to wash off dirt. Inspect them for holes, mold and anything else that you would not want to eat.
2. Boil your washed tomatoes for about 2 minutes or until the skin starts to peel.
3. Peel the skin off the tomatoes, cut into medium size pieces and put into a bowl
4. We choose to leave the seeds in our tomatoes so we simply mashed them with a potatoe masher.
5. We made sure to boil our Mason jars and lids prior to starting this process- This is VERY important.
6. We filled each jar, leaving about 1/2 inch unfilled at the top.
7. We submerged each jar in boiling water, using a canning pan, until each jar made a “pop.” You must wait until you hear the “pop” noise to know that the jar is sealed. Do not store jars that do not seal as the contents will spoil.
I had a lot of fun learning how to can tomatoes. I think I may actually do it again in the future. If you are interested in canning, I would picking up a book on how to do so at your local library. The process may look overwhelming but it is actually pretty easy. Happy Canning!
Affodable Halloween Menu That will be Sure to Spook Your Guests
I love Halloween, it is my favorite holiday of the year. This year I decided to host a halloween dinner in my home. My goal was do throw my party as inexpensively as possible. I scoured the internet religiously for ideas for my spooky menu. I finally figured out what I am going to serve, and I will share it with all of you.
As a rule, I do not serve “gross” food. I came across many recipes that were so unappetizing that there was no way that I would ever eat it, such as kitty litter cake. (which looks like a box of used kitty litter) So without further ado here is my Spooky Menu.
Appetizers
Deep Fried Blisters with Blood Dipping Sauce (Deep fried ravioli with marinara sauce)
Crushed Mummy Brains with bone shaped bread (Garlic Hummus and pita bread cut into the shape of bones)
Steamed Maggots (Gnocchi thats been cooked)
Pumpkin Cheese ball with crackers
Moldy Monster Brain Dip with skin pieces to dip (Spinach dip in a hollowed out bread bowl, using the innards of the bowl for dipping)
Dinner
Roadkill Spaghetti Sauce on a bed of worms (Marinara with meat on top of linguini)
Poison Leaf Salad (Basic salad with many colors of lettuce leaves)
Garlic Bread
Dessert
Pumpkin Pie with whip Cream on top
Chocolate worm Mousse
Recipes
Deep Fried Ravioli
This Recipe is super easy and looks like it was very difficult to make.
1 package of pre-made ravioli with cheese filling
1/2 cup of milk
1 cup of Italian Bread crumbs
3 cups of oil heated to 350 Degrees
Simply dip each ravioli in the milk, then into the bread crumbs and then into the oil.
Make sure to coat each ravioli completely with bread crumbs.
When you fry your ravioli do not crowd them in the pan. they cook for about 3 minutes. Make sure to watch them. They will need to be flipped half way through frying.
Place the ravioli on paper towel to absorb excess grease when done.
Steamed Maggots
1 package of pre-made gnocchi that just needs to be boiled
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup of olive oil, heated over medium flame in a frying pan
3/4 cup of parmesan cheese (optional)
Boil the Gnocchi according to the directions on the package or when they begin to float. Scoop them out of the pan and put them into the hot frying pan with oil. Fry the Gnocchi for 1-2 minutes. Add red pepper flakes and cheese. Place a toothpick in each piece of Gnocchi and arrange on a creepy platter.
Pumpkin Cheese Ball
1 store bought cheese pall
2 olives that have been cut width wise (eyeball Shape)
1 slice of red pepper, cut into a jack-o-lantern mouth shape
Push olives into the cheese ball to make eyes and red pepper to make the mouth Add crackers.
Moldy Monster Brain
1 Small to Medium Sized Bread Bowl
2 cups of Spinach Dip (I buy mine pre-made from the store)
Hallow out the bread bowl, reserving the inside. Scoop the dip into the bread bowl. Tear the reserved bread into dipping size pieces. You can make a face on the bowl like the cheese ball above.
