This past weekend, we hosted our Third-Annual Pumpkin Carving party for our friends and their kiddos, and tried out a bunch of fun new recipes. (If you’d like to see previous years pics, here are the posts from 2015 and 2014!)
Our snacks included (from left to right in the top photo):
- Rice Krispie Pumpkin Treats
- “Hot & Creamy Bones” aka Cream Cheese & Pepper Jelly
- Fall Flatbread Bites
- Caramel Apple Nachos
- 7-Layer “Cobweb” Dip
- Fudge Brownies w/ Candy Corns
Want to remake some of these classics? Here are the recipes:
The Rice Krispie treats were super easy. Just follow the standard recipe, but add 3 drops of orange food coloring. Once they’re about halfway cooled (about 15 minutes), roll them into balls and add a green candy for the stem. We used green apple Jolly Rancher bites. You can add jack-o-lantern details with an edible gel pen if you like.
Even easier! Let 2 packages of cream cheese come to room temperature, then place it on a piece of plastic wrap. Using a second piece of plastic wrap on top, mold it into your desired shape, then transfer to a serving dish. Next, cover with your favorite pepper jelly and add crackers.
These fall flatbread bites were DELICIOUS. I originally got the Pin-spiration for these from a recipe on the Table for Two blog, but edited the recipe to suit my own tastes.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
- On two cookie sheets, let your frozen puff pastry dough thaw for about 20 minutes. Unfold, cut into square-inch pieces (about 16 per sheet) and spray with cooking spray.
- In a saucepan, add 2 tbsp butter, then 1 medium, thinly sliced white onion and cook over medium heat. Season well with salt and pepper. Stir every 2-3 minutes. After the onions have begun to carmelize (15 minutes or so), add 2 more tablespoons butter, 1 tbsp sugar, and 1 granny smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into small cubes. Add 1/2 tsp dried thyme and 1/2 tsp dried tarragon.
- Cook for about 10 more minutes, before removing from heat. Spoon the mixture over each piece of puff pastry.
- Top each bite with a nice amount of shredded gruyere cheese. Bake for 25 minutes, then serve immediately.
Another recipe that came from Pinterest – this one came pretty directly from Butter With a Side of Bread. One quick note though; the apples absorbed both the caramel and the marshamllow fluff. So while they were totally delicious, they weren’t quite as beautiful as the ones she has on her blog.
This is basically just your standard issue 7-layer dip. Mine contains refried beans, seasoned ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and guacamole in layers. Then, I made the cobweb using sour cream; just make concentric circles, then using a toothpick, drag back from the center of the dish to create the swooping look. Cover the toothpick lines with additional sour cream, and then rim the dish with sliced olives and tomatoes.
So there you have it. It was a great party! And just look at some of the resulting jack-o-lanterns:
And those were only about half of the great creations made by our guests. It was a fantastic night, and we can’t wait until next year.
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