It’s pouring down rain, today. It shows no signs of stopping in time for trick or treating, tonight, with a 90 percent chance of rain, in the forecast. Of course, the small one is disappointed. I hate it when kids are disappointed. I’m scouring my cupboards, looking for ways to salvage this drowned out Halloween, for the kiddos, with a last minute party. It’s the end of the week, and I really don’t want to go out in this downpour for supplies. I have the youngest one sitting down watching “The nightmare Before Christmas”, so I can scope out my kitchen for solutions. Next, I’m heading to Pinterest to find some easy decorations to diy for the indoors. This would be so much easier if I had already decorated my house for Halloween, but we don’t get trick or treaters out here, so I didn’t even bother. (Regrets.) Of course, we still buy the candy for the older boys, and us.
From what I can tell, without a trip to the store, I can make cupcakes, apple filled donuts, and maple almond popcorn . I have extra apples on hand for snacking, and everything I need to make mini pizzas. And maybe some fries. I can work with this. Next, we’ll have the boys choose some movies and music and we’re good to go. When I say “party”, I am not talking about an, impress the neighbors, invite everyone over, kind of party, but “Oh, crap, Halloween’s cancelled, now what?” kind of party.
First step, cake mix. Follow instructions on the box. Bake, then let cool.
Next, Pick your icing color, we went with purple. All I had on hand, in the red and blue families, was burgundy and teal. I mixed them together, and hoped for an acceptable purple.
I had a bit of fondant, lying around, from other cake decorating endeavors, so I used that, and a few fondant sculpting tools, to form these raven skulls, to top the cupcakes with. Here is the finished result:
Next, I’m going to make apple filled donuts. This, I’m getting the boys involved in, because they’ve skated out of most of the work; and I still have a lot to do before I’m done. I’m getting one to cube the apples, very small, and one to prep the canned biscuits, for the apple filled donuts. I will get the oil heating, and make apple filling myself. The small fry can mix up the cinnamon sugar to roll them in. We should have this done in just a few minutes.
Apple Filled donuts:
First, grab a can of biscuit dough, heat oil in small pan, for frying. Fry biscuits, a couple at a time, turning over often to make sure they don’t burn, but still get cook all the way through. To be honest, every time I make donuts from biscuit dough, I struggle to get the middle done before the outside gets too brown. The only time I don’t have this issue is over a campfire in a cast iron skillet. It might take some adjustments to get them just right. Remove from oil, and roll in cinnamon sugar.
Cube apples, very fine, then add to small pot, squeeze a bit of lemon juice over top, then add 1/4 cup of sugar, and a tbsp of cinnamon. Cook down until apples are soft, add a tsp. of cornstarch, continue cooking until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat, let cool. Fit a frosting bag with coupler, but no tip. Fill with apple filling and insert into side of donut. Fill each one, until filling is visible from side view.
The last treat we’re going to make today is maple almond popcorn. Then it’s just an easy dinner, of mini pizzas, fries, and we’re done. Time to party.
For the Maple Almond Popcorn:
First we’ll need about six cups of popped popcorn, made in the air popper. I use my lasagna pan to bake it in the oven, at 250 degrees. Then, Toss a stick of butter, 1 cup of sugar, and 1/2 cup of maple syrup into a saucepan. Cook until sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, then add a tsp of baking soda. Sauce will expand, so make sure to use a big enough saucepan. Remove from heat, and pour over popcorn in pan, top with sliced almonds. Bake at 250 for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool before digging in.
Then it’s just fries, and mini pizzas. The fries are just potatoes drizzled with olive oil, baked at 450 degrees, and topped with salt, and cracked black pepper. Now, in our house mini pizzas mean, a pizza bar. We pile everything on the counters and let people do what they like here, because there are so many varying tastes when it comes to pizza. I went with mushroom bacon and egg, on a whole wheat tortilla, topped with greens, tomato, and sweet and hot peppers. The boys are more inclined to your basic cheese and pepperoni, maybe a few mushrooms or peppers. I’m showing you mine here, because it’s more interesting;)
Whew! Now that all the work is done, it’s time to settle down with some Halloween movies, and spend some time with the kiddos. Here’s our short notice Halloween spread for the family to enjoy while we’re scaring ourselves silly, and waiting for the rain to stop.
So, let us know about yourselves. Did your Halloween get cancelled, too? What creative solutions did you find to salvage the holiday for your small ones? Let us know in the comments, or share your ideas on insta, don’t forget to #canigetaramen.