Eagles NFC East Pumpkin -Contest Entry

We decided to have a pumpkin contest at the office this year. It was the first time so nobody knew what to expect, but the rules were 'anything goes'. After kicking around two traditional Holiday icon ideas for a while I woke up Monday morning and knew exactly what I'd do...

HA, Go Birds!!!

I tied for 1st Place🎃

I hope you all had a fun Halloween! Now, let's grab whatever marked down candy we might need for holiday baking season...

Have a great weekend:@)

Philadelphia Eagles Pumpkin & Free Stencil

My son had a volunteer pumpkin vine grow out of his compost bin this year. It was a very happy plant:@) He ended up with 15 pumpkins ranging in size from cantaloupe to about 10" round. Unfortunately the vine died before they all had a chance to get orange. But I saw an opportunity to carve an Eagles Green Jack-O-Lantern:@) What I didn't realize was, just how hard the green makes it to see the little dots to follow the outline of the design...

The pumpkins:

Never afraid to share a bloggy blooper... I had some carving issues, and the cheap little plastic etching tool was not a good idea after all. Wish I borrowed some of my son's wood working tools, they would have gone through the pumpkin like butter...

But warts and all,

the Philly Boo Crew approves:@)

Another logo option, as I was looking around I found some free stencils provided by the Eagles themselves HERE... There are small, medium and large sizes. All you need is a printer, or as I've done many times. simply place a piece of paper over your computer screen and trace the pattern. 

Happy Halloween Season🎃

Halloween Tiered Tray 2025

I changed out the Tiered Tray for Halloween. Lots of orange, black, and pumpkins. Just a mish-mash of odds and ends for some holiday fun:@) I still have to say, this $12 Aldi tiered tray is a great size! A reasonable price and it has turned out to be one of my favorite year-round areas to decorate. 

New table runner from Amazon, 

love it:

The left side is a pack of tray decor from Aldi. I think the cat has a lot of character:@) Thrift store candy corn tree and jack-o-lantern tea light. My son cut me a couple circles of wood from a tree he cut down, they make great risers for tray items.

And my tray still has to be functional... Salt and pepper grinders, food picks, napkins and a little candy bowl. Luminara wanna-be pilar candle $1 from thrift store. Even if nothing else is lit, I usually have this flickering away:@)

Small Fenton hobnail glass vase, my neighbor was doing a little purging and asked if I wanted it:@) It's holding the food picks.

Cute even if not fully lit and on a diet:@)

Happy Halloween Season🎃

Halloween Char-BOO-terie Board

Can you believe it's already October this week? This is just a silly post to remind everyone to pick up whatever you see early, things sell out fast and retail is ~swiftly~ moving right into the Christmas season. My Char-BOO-terie Board was inspired by the fun mini green cheese balls UTZ put out this year. Then I saw the Ghost Peeps, yep... I spent a weekend grabbing whatever I saw that might work for a Halloween charcuterie. Mostly single serving Walmart or Dollar Tree size packs of goodies because I wanted to make a smaller board. I like that the arm almost splits the board into sweet and savory sides...

The fun green cheese balls...

Boopie glass adds a little height to the tray:

Ham, cheese, and Ritz cheese mini crackers to dip in that Aldi Pumpkin Maple Spread:@)

May we serve you?

Skeleton hand adds a little texture:

My best tip: Never pour directly onto your tray/board. Always place things, that way crumbs don't end up all over the board. It will look neater. Trust me...

As the lights go down and it begins to get dark out...

The ghosts are coming to life...

Spooky stories anyone?

My Pinterest Boards:

Halloween Food here

Charcuterie for All Seasons here

All of them here

• Walmart: Utz green cheese balls, mini Halloween pretzels, pepper jack cheese, ham steak, and Reese's pieces. The funky food picks came from there many years ago.
• Dollar Tree: Skeleton hand serving utensil, Mini Ritz cheese crackers, ghost Peeps.
• Aldi: Pumpkin Maple Spread. The little ghost dish was a part of a tiered tray decorating set. It's cute but I was disappointed to see that it isn't food safe.
• Pumpkin tea light is from an outlet store. I just wanted to share the idea that a little light does help bring the board to life:@) Any tea light will work, I initially bought silver glittered ones at Dollar Tree but then saw the pumpkins.

🎃Stock up now folks, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Easy Pumpkin Maple Meatballs -2 Ingredients

I don't think these Pumpkin Maple Meatballs could get any easier folks. Your favorite frozen meatballs, a jar of pumpkin maple spread from Aldi (or any store that has something similar), and a slow cooker. I used my Little Dipper Crock Pot and about half a jar of the jam. Only two ingredients Lynn? Ok, if you'd like to add a little something else... How about some pumpkin pie spice. Or dare I say... Maybe a few shakes of hot sauce? But honestly, my crew says it was perfect as is. And I mean the whole crew this time! This is a nice sweet seasonal treat perfect to snack on after leaf raking, a trip apple picking, or pumpkin hunting at the garden center. 

And of course it's great for... 

Football parties:@)

How to make a Barbie Crock Pot here.

Let's change up our hosting routine and try something new while the pumpkin flavors are available! Maybe even tuck a jar away for Thanksgiving... Just a thought.

The Aldi jam I used:

As a point of reference I used 14 bite size meatballs and half of a 12.5 oz jar in my Little Dipper Crock Pot. There was room for a few more meatballs.

Pumpkin Maple Meatballs

1. 1 lb+ frozen cooked meatballs
2. 12 oz jar Pumpkin Maple Spread
3. Place meatballs in slow cooker, cover and cook on high for an hour.
4. Pour jam over meatballs reserving a few tablespoons to stir in before serving. 
5. Turn temp to low, place paper towel under lid, and cook for about two more hours or until heated through. (My Little Dipper is only one temp, I use at least 2 1/2 hours).
6. Stir in reserved jam. 
7. Stir and serve with fun food picks. 

🍁🏈Enjoy a snack and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Fall & Football Tiered Tray

It's football season folks! Popping in with my Fall and Philadelphia Eagles Football Tiered Tray. I picked up a new white rectangular tray from Aldi. It has lots of room for decorations and I love it on my table! Topped it with cute items gathered at various stores over the years, a crafted thing here and there...

And yep, a sign that says "Eagles Fans Only"-ha. 

Here's hoping it's a great season:@)

***GO BIRDS***

Have a Happy Day🏈🏈🏈

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls with Marshmallow -Breakfast Danish

I wanted to try something new, yet easy, for breakfast... These Pumpkin Crescent Rolls with Marshmallow made a nice Sunday breakfast pastry:@) I even assembled them on the parchment lined baking sheet making clean-up a snap. Simply smear the pumpkin mixture all over the roll, add a few mini marshmallows, roll up, sprinkle with some sugar and spice, and bake. Pour a strong cuppa and breakfast is served. Thinking holidays? Use colored sugar or switch out the sugar/spice topping for a glaze for a fancier presentation. This is a nice way to use up some leftover pumpkin puree.

Tip: I made these in my traditional oven. If you have access to a convection oven, I feel crescent rolls get even flakier in a convection oven.

Have a little pumpkin mixture leftover? Add to a coffee cup, pour in coffee, sweeten with some of the sugar/spice, whipped cream topping is always nice, and enjoy a cup of pumpkin spice coffee:@) Don't want the puree in your cup? Add pumpkin to the filter in the basket of a drip coffee maker.

Pumpkin Crescent Rolls with Marshmallow

For each 8 count tube of crescent rolls:

1/2 C pumpkin puree-may have a little left over

up to 1/4 C brown sugar-I used half

1 tsp pumpkin spice

24 mini marshmallows-more if desired

Cinnamon or pumpkin spice and sugar for tops

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix pumpkin, sugar and spice.
3. Unroll dough, spread pumpkin mixture all over dough.
4. Add three mini marshmallows to widest end and roll up into crescent shape.
5. Place on baking sheet and sprinkle top with sugar spice mixture.
6. Bake at temperature and time recommended on package.
7. Remove from oven and let sit on baking sheet for a couple minutes before serving.

Eat well and Have a Happy Day:@)

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

I thought it might be fun to a add a little fall flavor to my favorite Ghirardelli cookie recipe, and these Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies disappeared pretty quickly. How much pumpkin spice to use? Well, say it with me now... You know your crowd. Love pumpkin spice? Add 2 tsp. Spice mix a little old? Add 2 tsp (and please replace it. I feel pumpkin spice loses it's potency a lot faster then other spices). Otherwise, cut back a bit to just add a hint of warmth. This is really just a nice excuse to whip up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, and in my world that's comforting, and never a bad thing:@)

Want to really amp up the flavor? Use all chocolate chips then add a drizzle of melted white chocolate to the tops. Immediately sprinkle with pumpkin spice while it's still wet so the spices stick.

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 C butter, softened
3/4 C sugar
3/4 C brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 - 2 tsp pumpkin spice
2 1/4 C A/P flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)
up to 2 C of chocolate chips-I mixed white and semi-sweet

1. Cream butter and sugars.
2. Add eggs, vanilla, pumpkin spice, mix well.
3. Add flour, baking soda and salt (if using). Mix until just incorporated.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Drop by tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets, about 2" apart.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown.
7. Remove to cooling rack.

Enjoy a cookie and 

Have a Happy Day:@)

Savory Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chip Dip

This Savory Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chip Dip was different and a good way to use up some leftover canned pumpkin. It seems that unless we are making a pie, recipes don't use a whole can of pumpkin puree. While this calls for storing the dip in the refrigerator until serving time, I do recommend bringing it out a little early to allow the cream cheese to soften a bit for dipping potato chips. And we do want hearty chips with ridges:@) Recipe is easily cut in half.

Leftovers? 

Great schmeared on a bagel:@)

Savory Pumpkin Cream Cheese Chip Dip-from here

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 C shredded cheddar

1/2 C pumpkin puree

1/4 C pecans, toasted and chopped

4-6 strips of bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled

3 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix everything together, can use electric beater or spoon.
2. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
3. Serve with chips.

Let's use up all that extra pumpkin, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

October 1st at Cousin Rube's Farm -Barbie Diorama

As with most nurseries, early fall is all about pumpkins at Peace and Pancakes Farm. It also means cooler weather and heartier appetites for the -all you can eat- pancake breakfasts on the weekends:@) This helps draw in big crowds as everyone stops by to pick up their prized pumpkin, and anticipates Rube's Halloween decorations and events. Barbie decides she'd like this huge beauty for the front yard...

So the guys rolled it onto a blanket to carry it to the Jeep... And Ken thought he was only going out for a nice breakfast:@) He sure hopes someone is around to help unload it when they get home😉

Jack-O-Lanterns have a long history and have been carved from many things. I've included a little background below... One of the guys grew habaneros and brought some of the peppers into the office. This lone little orange one was left on the counter in the kitchen, so I brought it home to draw a silly face with a Sharpie, and knew it would be a great size for some Barbie pictures:@)

Looks like two pumpkins are coming home after all:@)

Barbie says, 

that's one spicy jack-o-lantern😂

Wikipedia:

A jack-o'-lantern (or jack o'lantern) is a carved lantern, most commonly made from a pumpkin, or formerly a root vegetable such as a mangelwurzel (beet), rutabaga or turnip. Jack-o'-lanterns are associated with the Halloween holiday. Its name comes from the phenomenon of strange lights flickering over peat bogs, called jack-o'-lanterns (also known as, will-o'-the-wisps). It is suggested that the name also has ties to the Irish legend of Stingy Jack, a drunkard who bargains with Satan and is doomed to roam the Earth with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.

🎃Make something just for fun and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Last September Weekend-Pumpkin Season! Pumpkin Mustard, Sheet Cake, Whoopie Pies, and more...

It's hard to believe folks, but here we are into the last weekend of September. This is the time of year where it seems like we're on a roller coaster ride to the holidays... One thing is for sure, we're truly into the heart of pumpkin season, so I thought I'd share a few ideas:@) This three ingredient Pumpkin Mustard Dip is a nice seasonal treat, perfect for pretzels, sausage, chicken nuggets, football parties, Oktoberfest, and it would make a pretty addition to a charcuterie board.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake was a huge hit at dinner and bakes up nice and moist. The recipe can be full size, or I scaled mine down to a 9x13 quarter sheet pan.

Prefer a cookie? How about Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies from Cake Mix... They make a great snack with that afternoon cup of coffee or tea:

📌My Pumpkin Pinterest Board Here

99 PIM pumpkin posts and counting:@)

And I'll leave you with...

My planter update for today,

I'm lovin' the BOO colors:

🎃Have a great weekend!

Fall Planter & Seasonal Dollar Tree Fall Finds

I've been pulling plants out of the raised beds, only the jalapeno, parsley and one large marigold remain at this time. But I have still been watering the large planter, and it has some great fall color:@) This pic doesn't show just how huge the purple plant got... All I did was pick up a broken piece of stem that had about 4 leaves on it at the garden center. The poor thing had been stepped on and run over with carts. I rooted it in water then planted it outside. I am still tickled by the dollar store metal sunflowers, they add a little height, and the pumpkin is cute. This works for early fall until I add the Halloween Jack-O-Lantern:@)

Limited edition Pillsbury Perfectly Pumpkin Cookie Mix. These are flying off the DT shelves folks, don't hesitate or you'll miss them...

Werther's caramels in fall flavors:

And I'll be honest, not really sure of the connection between Barbie and these socks,  but... They are at Dollar Tree. They also have a ton of other name brand characters too, Halloween theme'd and for every day.

🎃Grab it when you see it, and

Have a Great Weekend:@)

1:6 Scale Barbie Pumpkin Pie from Bottle Cap & Clay

Barbie asks, are you ready for pumpkin season? Pumpkins are big business, and a fall essential to many people. She got a couple little beauties in her last CSA box from Cousin Rube's Farm. And while it's way too early to think about Jack-O-Lanterns, she got her knife out with something different in mind...

Pumpkin pie:@)

While these Bottle Cap Pies aren't a new idea, this is the first time I've made one for my Barbie World. It was quick and easy, I like that in a craft:@) I took a standard bottle cap, filled it with clay, and let it dry. Then just painted the top to look like pumpkin pie. You can be as detailed as you'd like, make a lattice top, or a top crust with a pretty design. I made good ole standard pumpkin pie. 

I'd like to thank my son for planting the itty pumpkins and gourds in his garden the last couple years. This Barbie size one is from him, and the smallest in this pic. They have been fun😉

Another easy idea:

Lattice pie from masking tape here.

Make something just for fun, and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Halloween Wreath & Stacking Pumpkins-Dollar Tree

I found some good sized 24" felt Halloween decorations at Dollar tree and thought the skeleton was really cute. I aim to keep the Happy in Halloween:@) Then it dawned on me that it would make a great $1.25 embellishment for my new lit wreath and... Big smiles! I simply sat his boney little butt on the wreath, tilted the head and made him wave. Set my lights to twinkle white on the timer, and every day this October I'll be greeted with a hilariously silly smile. This would work with any wreath we already have.

And I truly love these stacking pumpkins:@) Great now right through Thanksgiving, and the best part? They store ~inside~ of each other saving space. Everything fits into the bottom pumpkin. I bought multi colored, they also have all orange, and all white. 12” high and the bottom pumpkin is about 6” wide. A substantial dollar store find, with a wink and nod to traditional blow molds.

🎃Grab it when you see it and

Have a Happy Day:@)

Garden Winding Down, Fall Revving Up, and Getting Ready...

Well folks, another pretty successful gardening year is beginning to come to a close. One of the most amazing plants, my grape tomato in the large planter, was pulled. Oh how I wish I could get a picture that showed just how spectacular this plant was. The vines grew about 12-15 feet long, went up over the trellis, and bent back down. 

And right up to the day I pulled it out, 

it was making beautiful yellow flowers and itty tomatoes.

But it was getting messy, and it was time.

A shocking difference...

But now I have room for a big pumpkin:@)

And speaking of pumpkins,

these little guys are from my son's garden:@)

I'm hoping he shares, because I think I see a couple Barbie size ones😂 We will see...

And since retail waits for no one... I did treat myself to a new Bethlehem Lights Christmas wreath during QVC's Christmas in July finale. Just testing it with cheap batteries to make sure it worked before I put it away for a couple months. Super bright lights, many functions, and I look forward to setting the timer and having it greet me every day after work. Fluffing and shaping will wait until Thanksgiving:@)

🌻Have a Great Weekend,

and Grab it When You See It😊