Crunchy Cinnamon Toast

Ingredients
4 slices of white bread
Quarter teaspoon of cinnamon
Third of a cup of milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons sugar
Third of a cup of crushed cornflakes
Half a cup of flaked coconut
3 tablespoons of butter
Maple syrup (optional)

How to Make
1. Put the milk egg, sugar, and cinnamon into a bowl and mix together.

2. In a second bowl put the cornflakes and coconut and stir together.

3. Heat the butter in a skillet over a medium heat.

4. Dip a slice of bread first into the milk and egg mixture, then into the cornflake mixture.

5. Turning once brown in the skillet until pale gold.

6. Dip and cook the remainder of the bread as before.

7. If liked serve with maple syrup.

8. Eat.

* Hope you like our warm and tasty Halloween recipe idea.

• Cut out your cookie dough with Halloween themed cookie cutters.

• Decorate cupcakes and ice-cream with sugar sprinkles - like ghosts and pumpkins or maybe with orange and black colored sprinkles.

• Use cupcake paper liners with a scary design.

• Take a look at the wide range of spookily shaped molds available  - they’re perfect for making cupcakes, ice-cream, jello, ice and candy.

• Decorate your table with confetti cats, broomsticks and cauldrons.

• Use paper cups, plates and napkins with a Halloween pattern -  this is an eerie good idea.

And don’t forget at this time of year there’s lots of good quality but cheap Halloween candy and cakes in the shops - great for kids of all ages.

Ingredients
4 cups of baking semisweet chocolate chips

You will also need
Pastry bag with an ⅛ or ¼ inch tip
Wax paper or Parchment paper
Cookie sheet

How to Make
1. Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler

- or in a heatproof bowl fitted over a saucepan of gently simmering water - but make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and that droplets of water don’t splash into the chocolate.

2. Leave to stand over the water until the water is cool - for about 10 minutes.

3. Lay the wax/parchment paper on a cookie sheet - if it curls up simply tape the edges to the cookie sheet.

4. Pour the melted chocolate chips into a pastry bag fitted with either an eighth or a quarter of an inch tip.

5. Squeeze the chocolate onto the wax/parchment paper in spider shapes - if the chocolate is too runny just leave it to cool for a little longer and then try again.

6. To chill the spiders place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator for about ten minutes or so.

7. When the chocolate spiders are hard carefully peel them off the paper.

8. Making sure each one is laying flat, store these scary Halloween spiders in the refrigerator.

Creepy Crawlies on a Log

Ingredients
Chocolate chips
Peanut butter
Celery ribs

‘Cooking Instructions’
1. Rinse the celery ribs in cold running water.

2. Dry the ribs on paper towel.

3. Fill the center of the ribs with a layer of peanut butter.

4. Position chocolate chips (the creepy crawlies) on top of the peanut butter.

• Alternatively, instead of peanut butter fill the celery ribs with cream cheese and use raisin ‘creepy crawlies’ instead of the chocolate chip ones.

Have a spooky Halloween!

They’re just perfect for Halloween parties, and they’re sure to be a hit with the kids too!

❀ Hang or place lavender sachets in your linen cupboard.  Lavender is said to be good for deterring moths – and it smells nice too.

❀ To give your linens a light fragrance, line your linen cupboard shelves with scented drawer liners.

❀ Label any bags or wrappings that linens are stored in, or label the shelves.  This way it only takes a minute to find just what you’re looking for.

❀ Try to keep different sized sheets, as well as those that are fitted and those that are flat in different piles.  This will save you having to unfold them to check what kind they are, and whether they’re for a kids, queen or king bed etc.  Alternatively keep bed sets together.

❀ Use baskets and boxes to organize some of your linens.

❀ If you have pillows that you rarely use, a good suggestion is to store them at the top of your cupboard, and to put the things you use more often on shelves that are to hand.

Hope you find them helpful.

If you get oil-based paint or tar on your hands, try using a little wax furniture polish - it should come off in seconds.

P.S. don’t forget to wash your hands afterward.

Ingredients
4 ounces of butter (at room temperature)
1 ounce of soft blue cheese

‘Cooking Instructions’
1. In a bowl blend together the butter and the blue cheese.

2. Spread on to crackers or crostinis.

3. Serve and eat.

Instead of using a fork or a potato masher try using a hand mixer. Its quicker and easier and makes lovely creamy mash, especially if you add a little butter and a drop of milk.

Remember to use a large saucepan though and to start whisking on a fairly low speed otherwise the mash tends to splatter out of the pan.
Also not too over whisk, just whisk until the potatoes are soft and free from lumps.

❀ Keep it simple.

❀ Depending on the occasion and if appropriate, plan your guest list, menu, theme, decorations, centerpiece, games, gifts and favors well in advance.

❀ Make lists and check them off when you complete a task, or have shopped for an item or ingredient.

❀ For a sit-down meal its a good idea to stick to recipes that you have made before, and been happy with the result.

❀ Setting your table prettily or elegantly to suit the occasion will set the mood of the event and help to get your party off to a good start.

❀ Choosing a simple table centerpiece such as an arrangement of fresh flowers, or items that tie in with the time of year or an event will help to decorate your table and add to the ambiance of the occasion.

❀ Don’t forget to make sure you have enough plates, cutlery, glasses and linen.

❀ Background music is a good idea as music can help to lighten or set the mood of an event.

❀ Allow plenty of time to decorate a room or garden, making a centerpiece, setting the table, preparing the food and getting yourself, and if appropriate your family, ready – these always take longer than you think.

❀ Remember to make sure your bathroom is ready for your guests, with fresh towels etc.

❀ If possible try and enlist the help of a relative or friend.

❀ Stay calm and enjoy the party.