The Black Horse Cafe

Halloween Menu

2007-10-16T08:44:00.000-07:00

Is Halloween dinner a "frightful" proposition for you? Are you thinking of having people over but don't have a clue what to make? At our place, we try to scare up a delicious, fun meal that is so simple, the kids can help make it! Here's our spooky Menu for this year:

Mummy Toes
Pigs in a blanket

Worms 'n Guts
Al dente spaghetti noodles chopped into small pieces, and mixed with our own home made spaghetti sauce

Cheese Filled Jack-o'-Lantern w/ fresh green peppers
(Cheese and Bread Ring)

Googly Eyeballs
Green Olives with pimento!

Peanutty Halloween Cookie Pizza

Soda for the kiddos, and favorite cocktails for us!

Recipes
Mummy Toes (recipe and photo above courtesy Pillsbury Halloween Cookbook, Oct 2007 edition)

24 cocktail size hot dogs
1 can Pillsbury refrigerated cornbread twists
2 TBSP Old El Paso cheese and salsa dip or ketchup
24 sliced almonds, if desired

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cut a wedge into the end of each cocktail hot dog to look like a toenail. Unroll dough, seperate at perforations into 8 breadsticks. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each breadstick into thirds, making 24 pieces. Wrap one piece of dough around each hot dog to edge of toenail. (Bottom edge) Place seam side down on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 3 minutes. Fill each toenail with 1/4 tsp dip or ketchup. Insert almond to look like toenail. Serve warm.

Tip: To easily fill toenails with dip or ketchup, use a resealable food storage plastic bag with the corner snipped off. Pipe filling into toenail through snipped corner.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 pound hamburger
2-3 cloves garlic
4 shakes dried oregano, or more to taste (can also use Italian Seasoning if you prefer)
1-28 oz can tomato sauce

Brown hamburger in deep pot. Crush garlic and add to browned beef mixture with oregano. Stir. Cook approximately 1 minute. Add can of tomato sauce, bring to a slow boil. Turn heat to low, cover, and allow to simmer while your spaghetti noodles are cooking, or about 5-10 minutes. Serve over hot cooked spaghetti!

Cheese Filled Jack-o'-Lantern (recipe courtesy Pillsbury Halloween Cookbook, Oct 2007 edition)

8 oz block Colby Cheese
6 TBSP butter or margarine, melted
1/2 tsp garlic powder ( I will probably just use fresh crushed garlic as my hubs is allergic to garlic powder)
3 cans Pillsbury Golden Layers refrigerated flaky original biscuits
7 slices (1/2 oz each) American Cheese
1 red or orange bell pepper
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Heavily grease 12 cup fluted tube cake pan with shortening. Cut Colby cheese into 30-1 inch cubes. Mix melted butter and garlic powder in small bowl. Using 1 can at a time, wrap one biscuit around one cube of Colby Cheese, forming a ball shape, pinching tightly to seal. Dip entire ball in garlic butter. Place in pan, continue with remaining biscuits.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until top is golden brown. Immediately turn pan upside down onto heatproof serving plate. Top with American cheese slices, cover with pan. Let stand 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Cut eyes, nose and mouth from red bell pepper, place on cheese to make Jack-o'-lantern face. Place small glass in center opening of jack-o'-lantern: fill glass with bell pepper strips. Slice to serve, or pull apart. You can serve this with pizza or spaghetti sauce for dipping!

High Altitude: Bake 40-45 minutes.

Peanutty Halloween Cookie Pizza (recipe courtesy Pillsbury Halloween Cookbook, Oct 2007 edition)

1 roll Pillsbury Create 'n Bake refrigerated chocolate chip cookies
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup Halloween colored candy coated chocolate candies
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/4 cup vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting (from 1 lb container)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 inch pizza pan with foil; grease foil with shortening. Break cookie dough into 2 inch pieces; arrange evenly in pan. With floured fingers, press to form crust.

Bake 16 to 18 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Use foil to lift crust from pan. Carefully remove foil from crust; place crust on serving platter or tray. Spread peanut butter over crust. Sprinkle with chocolate candies and peanuts.

In small microwaveable bowl, microwave frosting uncovered on high 10 to 15 seconds or until thin enough to drizzle. Transfer to small resealable food storage plastic bowl. Cut small hole in 1 corner of bag; drizzle over cookie pizza. Cut into wedges or squares.

Tip: Up the Fear Factor, and pipe the frosting in a spider web design

Decorations:

To make a ghostly looking table, place a pumpkin in the middle of your table. Spread a white table cloth over the table and pumpkin. Tie the sheet at the bottom of the pumkin to resemble the head of a ghost. Leave the rest of the sheet draped across the table to serve as your tablecloth. Draw a face on the ghost head with marker, or glue or velcro on a face using felt scraps, paper cutouts, candy, or whatever you want! Put some lit taper candles in spooky holders, and have some cute Halloween paper products to use to set the table. This is VERY easy, and there is not much cleanup...just toss your used dishes after everyone's done eating! You can leave your table set up all night...it's perfect decor for Trick or Treating!

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

2007-11-05T08:46:00.001-08:00

This is a recipe I found in Taste of Home's 2001 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes. It was submitted by Kathy Gallagher. It's a simple, delicious recipe that is so wonderful to have cooking away in the crockpot when you get home from a busy day. I like to serve this with either hot cooked white rice and steamed broccoli, or egg noodles and corn, or green beans.

Chicken in Mushroom Sauce

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 cup (8 oz) sour cream
4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled

Place chicken in a slow cooker. Combine soup and sour cream; pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours or until chicken is tender. Sprinkle with bacon.

Yield: 4 large servings, or 8 small servings.

Homemade Pizza

2007-11-21T09:11:00.000-08:00

I LOVE homemade pizza. It's so easy to make, way cheaper than buying it, and it's just DELICIOUS to boot! Here's my recipe!

Pizza Dough

1 cup warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 TBSP olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 cups flour

Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar together in mixing bowl. Allow yeast to "proof". (Basically, just leave it alone for approx 10-15 minutes, until the yeast gets all foamy looking and spreads out over the surface of the liquid.) Add the flour, salt and olive oil. Mix with a dough hook in a blender until dough is well mixed, or mix and knead by hand until dough is smooth and elastic. Grease a bowl with some olive oil, place dough in it, turning once to grease the top of the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled...I put it in my oven with the oven light on but no heat other than that. This usually takes 30-45 minutes. Punch dough down, then remove, and roll or press into pan(s) of your choice. Prick the dough all over with a fork. I use a 1/2 sheet baking tray, and this recipe makes a hand tossed type of crust. If you like thin crust, or are using a round, smaller baking tray, then feel free to divide this single recipe in half.

If I am planning on making two pizzas, which I pretty much always do, I double this recipe, and divide it in half.

Here's a picture of what the prepared dough looks like prior to baking:

After you have your dough in the pan, bake it on the lowest rack in a 450 degree oven. I like to bake my crust so that it is not totally done, just has a very light brownish color to it. You really need to just keep an eye on your dough...for my recipe, on my pan, I bake it for about 10-15 minutes. If you are using less dough, thinner dough, a smaller pan, etc, your times will vary. Cooking the dough prior to topping it will help your pizza cook evenly, and ensure you don't have any sort of uncooked crust. (YUCK!)

Pull your crust out, and top it with some pizza sauce. (Our favorite is Hunt's Pizza Sauce.) Sprinkle as much cheese as you would like on top of the Pizza Sauce. Use any type of cheese you like...we generally use mozzarella and cheddar, or a Mexican Blend for our pizzas. Top with anything you would like. Us...we're all about the pepperoni. (Although I now use Turkey pepperoni instead of the real stuff!) This particular pizza I baked has the turkey pepperoni, black olives, and green peppers, Other popular toppings around here are double cheese, ham and pineapple, pepperoni and bacon, hamburger, bacon, mushroom and green pepper, etc. Go crazy! Put on whatever you like! Put your creation back in the oven, and bake until your cheese is melty and bubbly, and your crust is fully cooked. If you like crispy cheese on top of your pizza, feel free to broil the pizza for a minute or two at the end. WATCH IT CLOSELY. No one likes burnt pizza!

Remove from oven and enjoy!

Back in the Saddle!

2008-12-05T18:52:00.000-08:00

So, after not blogging for a very long time, I have decided to start again. There have been many changes in my life in the past year or so, and while some of them have been not so great, some of the changes have indeed been good for me and our family. I'm at a point again where I feel the need to write, as this can be quite a little therapeutic tool for me...so hope to see you back here again sometime soon! Thanks to all my friends who have asked me why the heck I stopped, and when I was going to start again...it means a lot to me that people even give a rip!

Whoo-Hoo!

2008-03-31T06:40:00.000-07:00

Canadian Women's Curling Team Wins World Championship

And here's a video!
Canadian Women's Curling

Water, Water, Everywhere...

2008-03-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

In places that it shouldn't be! Yep, on Friday I discovered a "bubble"...a BIG "bubble" in between my paint and drywall. And then very quickly discovered that it was from water....'cuz I'm just clever that way. Oh, well sure, there MAY have been a few obvious clues... like, say, the wet carpet, sagging drywall, and an ominous dripping sound, but really...I AM sharp enough to figure out that squishy "bubbles" really don't magically appear on my walls for no good reason!

Anyhow, long story short...we are now missing a bunch of drywall, part of our ceiling,and we have fans and dehumidifiers running non-stop. Sterling fixed the leak and removed drywall, Servicemaster came out and sprayed everything down with anti-microbial stuff, tested everything, removed more drywall, brought in huge fans, and basically made our lives much easier. They'll be back Monday to check everything out. And then...the fun begins with drywall people, etc.

Thank God for insurance! And insurance agents who TAKE CARE OF THINGS at 4 PM on a Friday instead of just leaving for margaritas and mojitos!

Tribal Belly Dance..

2008-03-12T06:54:00.000-07:00

So, I've had some questions lately about the styles of belly dance I have taken up. It's actually called tribal belly dance, but we also do some tribal fusion belly dance, which basically means the tribal style is heavily influenced by another style of dance. I'm sure this is clear as mud to y'all..so, just for you, I've put a You Tube clip here of one of the girls in my troupe performing last year at our annual "Night at the Casbah" performance. You'll see what I mean about the Tribal Fusion..obviously this dance is heavily influenced by Spanish sources. Since I just started recently, I am not going to be in the show this year, but hopefully next year about this time I will have a video of ME on here! (I can always dream, right? HA!)

Night at the Casbah 2007

Here's another example of tribal belly dancing:
Heavy Hips Tribal Belly Dancing

And, last but CERTAINLY not least...check this out....I think this gal is totally awesome!

Rachel Brice Drum Solo

The FLU...

2008-02-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

has raised its mallet-like head in my house. And hit me with it. HARD. I spent all day yesterday in bed...poor Kiernan spent the ENTIRE day pretty much hanging out in my bed with me, watching various videos on our little portable DVD player. I did a lot of sleeping, or trying to sleep, because, really, the little blue dog that so fascinates Kiernan is truly capable of melting MY brain. And frankly, my head hurt enough already...thank you very much!

I am feeling a LOT better today, although I am definitely not 100%. I think a lot of my recovery is due to Makeshift Mama's Cold Remedy. Check it out!

FLU..

2008-03-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

is BAD. I am still feeling totally horrible, although, on a happy note, I do mostly have my voice back. As long as I don't talk too long, cough too much, or try to talk loudly. Which, pretty much means...yep, you guessed it...the voice is still not around too much!

Sounds like me.....uhh, at least some of it...

2008-02-29T08:12:00.000-08:00

What Erin Means

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.

You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.

At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.

You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.

You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing.

You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long.

You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.

You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.

You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

WOW! This gal is brave...

2008-02-26T05:58:00.000-08:00

Proposal Goes Bad

I'm not sure what my fascination with You Tube is this week...but whatever, it's a blog post!

So, apparently You Tube has lost its fascination for me! Hello, random quizzes!

2008-02-29T08:18:00.000-08:00

You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.

Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.

If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.

Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.

The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.

Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.

If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.

Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

More of Africa...from Sara Groves

2008-02-24T07:07:00.000-08:00

I Saw What I Saw

Uganda 2008

2008-02-22T07:10:00.001-08:00

(You may have to click the space above this message on the left had side to get the widget to pop up, and you may have to click "read" twice to get the listings of bloggers participating in this program.) Compassion International sent this bunch of bloggers to Uganda to blog about conditions in Africa as well as the relief efforts brought about by Compassion International through child sponsorship. PLEASE take a moment and read some of these blogs....all of them truly are great, and will make you really stop to think about what our responsibility is to others on this planet. The bloggers are back now, so scroll through their blogs to see their blogs written on location in Africa. It will break your heart...and hopefully start you thinking about what you can do to help.

FUNNY!

2008-02-22T07:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Ken sent me this you tube video on my facebook account! I thought I'd share it with you!

What Were They Thinking?

Yummy Hamburger Soup

2008-02-22T07:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, I LOVE hamburger soup. There's just something about it that makes it seem so "homey". It's awesome to have a pot of this simmering away on the stove for dinner on a busy winter night. I like to serve mine with fresh bread or biscuits...or, sometimes, to make Sterling really happy, cheese toast!

Here's the ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
4 cups water
1-14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 medium carrots, sliced into thin rounds
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed into small chunks
1 medium to large onion, chopped into small pieces
1/2 cup chopped celery
4 beef bouillion cubes, or equivalent amount of beef base
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 cups or more of sweet frozen corn

In a large stockpot, brown beef and drain well. Add all ingredients except for corn, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or so, until your potatoes and carrots are fork tender. At this point add your corn, and cover and simmer for about 10 minutes until the corn is cooked.

Eat and be REALLY happy!

The 30 Day Sex Challenge...

2008-02-20T10:09:00.000-08:00

Oh yes, it's true. Now even the church is telling all us married people to get busy!

30 Day Sex Challenge

Maybe this could be the cure for the "Februaries" I've been experiencing? It's possible if I can stop laughing long enough I MAY find out.

I told Sterling he'd someday find some meaning in religion!

Speaking of chocolate...

2008-02-19T07:53:00.000-08:00

Here's a recipe form Sandra at "Full Bellies, Happy Kids" for a dessert that looks AWESOME. And totally NOT in my Points range for the day:( (Scroll down the page until you get to "Triple Chocolate Mess".)

Triple Chocolate Mess

A DNA Test May Be In Order....

2008-02-11T17:01:00.000-08:00

because my daughter actually said to me today, "I don't like this cookie...it's TOO chocolatey". I looked at her and thought...WHAT? Who is this kid? Certainly she CAN'T be my daughter! 'Cuz the great craving/love/desire/addiction to chocolate runs strong through my family. Even in the guys. Oh yes, it's not just us ladies, the men are affected too. Just ask Kiernan....who is already the world's youngest hot chocolate junkie. Or my grandpa who LOVES chocolate, and is the happiest guy in the world upon receiving a nice box of chocolates for his birthday/christmas/valentine's day/whenever. It's a serious genetic inheritance. Of course, I guess Kamryn COULD take after her daddy...who really doesn't care much about chocolate, but the whole IDEA of it just leaves me shaking my head in absolute disbelief.

Good thing she looks just like I did as a kid, or I would be SERIOUSLY concerned.

Ahhh...the problem is...

2008-02-10T17:38:00.000-08:00

FIXED! Yay! I never did get an email back from said internet security company yet, but wonder of wonders, blogspot addresses are again coming up as normal blog pages. WHOO HOO! This whole thing was FREAKING me out! So, back to your regularly scheduled blogging!

I've been tagged....

2008-02-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

by Heather over at Life As We Know It. Yes, it's a "6 Things You Maybe Don't Know About Me" meme....and since I don't have a ton of friends who I really KNOW who blog...don't worry, I'm not tagging anyone else! But, hey, if you're reading, and you want to....consider yourself tagged. Just link back to me and leave me a comment somewhere telling me you did it, ok? Here goes:

1. I'm Canadian. Nope, I'm not a US citizen, although I am a legal permanent resident.
2. I paid an enormous amount of money and jumped through approximately 400 hoops to become a legal resident of the United States. I can honestly tell you that immigration paperwork is confusing and EXPENSIVE.
3. While I love the United States, and realize it has been VERY GOOD to me and my family...I still miss Canada.
4. I also miss perogies, cabbage rolls, ketchup chips, Smarties, coffee crisps, our family farm, seeing my parents and sisters whenever I want to, horses, ski-dooing, tobogganing at Durston Hill, ice fishing, ice cold apricot brandy that has been chilled in a snowbank beside a roaring fire, moose meat, curling, Clear Lake, the Duck Mountains, Riding Mountain Provincial Park, and the Boulevard bar packed full of people I know. And some I wish I didn't.
5. I LOVE to fish. Immensely.
6. I despise beer. Even the Great Canadian beers...unless they are mixed 1/2 and 1/2 with tomato juice. Then...beer's pretty awesome!

Swimming Lessons!

2008-01-30T10:04:00.000-08:00

Okay..so here it is..the beginning of the blended blog I talked about. ( The Life I Choose and The Black Horse Cafe together in one place.) Now, the Black Horse Cafe is not just recipes...but also chatter and the odd retail jewelery thing for sale. Let's see how this works out!

This week I started taking Kiernan for "Mommy and Me" swimming lessons. Yep, I did. And while Kiernan is LOVING the whole experience, right down to his overwhelming JOY that he gets to wear his "wimmin' suit", I have to say I am a bit more subdued. Yes, the lessons are great, it's FUN to get in the pool with Kiernan and watch him do amazing things....but all that is sort of diminished because....I have to wear a "wimmin' suit". And I am not joyful about it at all. Because, sad as it is...ummm...after giving birth to my two wonderful children, let's just say that parts of my body that started out in a northern country of origin have now moved SOUTH. Way south. Like to Cuba south. And that doesn't even cover the fact that many of those country body parts have grown. A lot. It is a frightening fact. Frightening enough that the old Beachbody DVD's have been fired up and I have been motivated to actually exercise...because really...side boob is not my friend! Nor anybody's for that matter!

So, in the spirit of trying to reduce afore-mentioned "side boobage"...here's a link to Makeshift Meals, for some awesome looking vegetable soup. I'm making some today!

Makeshift Mama's Vegetable Soup

Corner Gas

2008-02-05T12:40:00.000-08:00

A clip of my favorite Canadian show...now being shown here in the US on WGN. It is my desire to get you all hooked!MUUAAAHAHAHAH!

Corner Gas clip

I really miss small town Canada!

Another day...

2008-02-01T06:58:00.000-08:00

Another swimming lesson. And another wimmin suit. GAH!

New Year, New Blog!

2008-01-21T19:40:00.002-08:00

Hey there! Get ready for some NEW Black Horse Cafe...with recipes, the latest on the family, and JEWELERY hand made by me!

2008 is gonna be great!