With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to put together a fall party with ideas for some fun treats, some warm treats and some really easy treats. Some of these snacks don't require an oven, a couple of them only involve warming some chocolate or candy melts, and three others let you fire up the oven to add some extra warmth to your home. Let's get started!
I didn't want to bake as many cookies as it would take to fill the owl cookie jar, so I filled the owl to the top with apple chips. I get hooked on apple chips this time of year and stock up on the Bare Fruit apple chips while they are still in stock at Costco. The cute little banner behind the owl took only 20 minutes of my time...
I cut 12 rectangles from the edge of a drop cloth and then cut a triangle at the bottom of each rectangle. You can fray the edges by pulling some strings on both sides and dragging your thumbnail from the bottom of the triangle to the center. Then grab some craft paint and a round sponge brush and dab little polka dots. I attached the flags with clothes pins to a long piece of twine and hung it on the wall.
Then I placed large brown and orange felt leaves on the table and began layering all of the treats.
The Graham Sticks topped with Nutella and sprinkles are a no-bake treat. I made these after tossing together a batch of Chex Mix and putting it in the oven.
I started out piping some Nutella on the tops of the graham sticks and then ended up dunking the top of the stick in the Nutella and dipping it in fall colored sprinkles to look like contemporary little fall trees.
Check out the pretzel chip owl faces! To keep with the orange/brown theme, I grabbed the bag of dried apricots from the pantry.
There was a lonely Endangered Species chocolate with almonds bar in the cabinet above the fridge, so I melted it down and dipped each apricot. Let the chocolate harden. If you're in a hurry, put the apricots in the freezer after you dip them in chocolate and they'll set in a matter of minutes.
This time of year, when everything turns pumpkin spice flavored, I crave warm gingersnaps...
As you can see on the cooling rack below, I baked two sizes of gingersnaps. The larger cookies started with about a 1" ball of gingersnap dough. The smaller cookies are 1/2" balls. The kids said this is the best batch I've ever made.
The double chocolate mousse cake was gifted to me as a thank you. It is my favorite cake from a local bakery and I usually buy one for myself at an annual cake auction fundraiser near my birthday. Although tempting, I couldn't exactly sit down and eat the whole thing by myself, so I stuck it in the freezer to save for some occasion. Some occasion where "Carrie, you're the best" will seem appropriate.
The little candy buckets came in a fall mix from Target. All of the owl dishware is from the local grocery store (Kroger/City Market/King Soopers). It's darling and lots of people ask me about it. My set includes a cookie jar, 3 plates, 3 bowls, 3 mugs, owl eye double serving bowl & felt leaf placemats for about $95. Small investment for such a fun owl theme.
Ready for a party timeline? 10am start the pretzel faces. 10:30am heat the oven to 350F and start mixing the gingersnap dough. Bake cookies while filling the candy buckets. 11am, banner while last sheet of cookies bake. 11:30, mix pie dough & chill for 1/2hr. 11:45, get chex mix in the oven. 12pm, dip the graham sticks, 12:15 roll out pie dough and assemble the mini pies. While pies bake for 35min, melt the chocolate for the apricots. Stage the setup. Lots of dishes and kitchen clean up in between. I was finished by 1:30. That's less time than it takes to roast the turkey!
Comments
Post a Comment