Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins: Version 2015

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

I really love these little guys. There just isn’t much of a better bite-size snack around Halloween than these tiny Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Pumpkins.

I’ve made these many times, and this year my girls helped out. My 5yo made quite a few completely on her own.

It’s a great way to get your kids in the kitchen – the main challenge being getting them not to eat all the marshmallows!

It takes a little bit of time to get all of those tiny marshmallows covered, but it is SO worth it! Biting into the smooth vanilla-flavored chocolate that surrounds the pillow-like center with that one tiny crunch of the sprinkle “stem” is just utter delight!

Be sure to make a bunch – they’re great to share but will go fast!

You’re going to need some mini marshmallows, some orange candy melts, and some flower green flower shaped sprinkles, kinda like these or these. Or, if you can’t find flower shaped sprinkles, you could substitute with regular chocolate sprinkles.

Melt the candy melts according to the package directions, making sure the chocolate is smooth and drips from the fork somewhat easily, but that it’s not very hot.

Meanwhile, separate out the green sprinkles.

Throw a marshmallow in the bowl and use a fork or two to cover it with chocolate. Scoop it out with the fork and gently tap the fork on the edge of the bowl to get rid of the excess chocolate. Then use a second fork to scrape the marshmallow off of the first fork and onto some parchment or waxed paper, making sure the marshmallow is upright.

Do this for a few marshmallows, and then take a break to insert a green sprinkle in the top of each pumpkin before the chocolate starts to harden, and trace around it with a toothpick if there is a lot of excess chocolate. This will make it easier to break off any extra big chunks once it has dried.

Coat the marshmallows until you run out of chocolate. One bag of candy melts will use up about half a bag of mini marshmallows. Let the pumpkins sit until fully hardened, about an hour. Then remove them from the paper. Store covered… and enjoy!

Be sure to check out my other Halloween marshmallows, too:

Happy (Yummy) Halloween!

10Oct2015

The Curious Case of the Pumpkin Pizzas and the Disappearing Ghosts

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween

If you search the web for Halloween-themed dinner ideas, there are plenty of ideas for ghost pizzas. Things like cutting cheese into the shape of ghosts and placing it on red sauce of the pizza to make the ghosts pop.

Well, I wanted to do something a little different.

And, boy, did I.

My intention had been to create cute little pumpkin-shaped and pumpkin-colored pizzas that would have little cheese-ghosts kind of floating over them.

I would make the pumpkin shapes with cookie cutters, like I made my Autumn Leaf or my Dinosaur Pizzas, and I would then “color” my pumpkins appropriately with shredded cheddar. Orange shredded cheddar. Sharp, in fact.

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween 2

It seemed like a wonderful idea when I came up with it. It still seemed like a wonderful idea when I was chasing my flour-covered children around the kitchen. But once the pizzas were comfortably in the oven… well, I realized I’d made an error in judgement.

The white mozzarella cheese ghosts melted right into the orange cheddar pumpkins and, thus, my cute little ghosts disappeared from sight.

The up side? They still tasted awesome.

And I was even afforded the additional benefit of incorporating a science lesson into dinner.

And since I’m a literature major and not a scientist, it went something like this: “The ghosts disappeared! Like magic!”

Pumpkin Shaped Pizzas with Ghost Cheese for Halloween 3

Either way, pizza is always a blast to make and a wonderful, wonderful thing to eat. And would have made a wonderful experiment, too, if I’d made some pizzas without the Cheddar and only the ghosts. Oh well. Next time.

Just remember, when things don’t go the way you planned, always use that opportunity to present it as a learning experience. Or, you know, pour yourself a big glass of wine and eat your way through it. Because pizza makes everything better.

For the step-by-step photos and directions on how I make my homemade pizzas, see my post about How to Make Easy Pizza Dough {And Proof Yeast}, and to print the free PDF of the recipe, click here:

Easy Pizza Dough

Happy Eating!

Roaming Rosie Signature

8Oct2015

Oreo Ghosts

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

These are a super cute way to add a little Halloween fun to snack time!

Since a bag of Oreos is a dangerous thing, I don’t like to keep them in the house too often… but I’ll buy the small packs now and then for fun stuff like this.

To make the ghosts, first you need to open the cookies while trying to keep all of the icing on one side. Then use a small paring knife to carve off a bit to give a swirl movement to the sides of the ghost, and then make circle shapes for eyes and a mouth. Scrape up and off the extra pieces. And, you know, “discard” them… somehow… ;)

Then serve up the ghosts to your excited Little Ones!

Happy Halloween!

2Nov2014

Chocolate Covered Mini Marshmallow Ghosts

Posted in food & flavor & recipes, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Mini Marshmallows

I have caused myself to possess a strangely large amount of self control by making so many chocolate covered mini marshmallows recently.

You see, the mini pumpkins that I had made earlier this month were gone. Long gone. So I made some more. And some ghosts, too.

And I know what you’re thinking – why would you cover white marshmallows with white candy melts… aren’t the marshmallows ALREADY white??

Well, yes. Yes they are. BUT, they weren’t covered in chocolate, were they?

Everything’s better covered in chocolate.

Even bacon.

But I digress. My point is that they’re a super easy to make snack and they look so fun. Even though I made the eyes kind of fast and they kind of look like they’re melting.

I figure that adds to the Halloweenish charm.

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost Mini Marshmallows

To get the instructions on how to make these ghosts – and the mini pumpkins, too – check out my post:

Chocolate Covered Marshmallow Candy Corn & Mini Marshmallow Pumpkins

To sum it up, I dipped the mini marshmallows in melted white candy melts, let them dry on waxed paper, and when they were dry I piped on some eyes with melted dark cocoa candy melts that were in a little baggy from which I’d snipped off the corner.

But like I said, to get more details, check out the post I linked to above.

Chocolate Covered Halloween Ghost and Pumpkin Mini Marshmallows

Don’t these just look deliciously cute???

I separated the marshmallows into different cupcake liners in a container and surrounded them with candy corn, both for decoration and to keep them in place.

Kind of like a super sweet bento.

And if you really like the combination of chocolate and marshmallows, make sure to also check out:

Halloween Marshmallow Mummies

Happy Halloween!

Roaming Rosie Signature

13Oct2014

Free Halloween Printable Games

Posted in activities for kids, free worksheets & printables, holidays by Rosemary Lynn

My girls love activities like this.

And I love sneaking a little learning {like fine motor control} into things they enjoy.

So I made some Halloween worksheets featuring activities that my 4yo especially enjoys. And though my 2yo is more inclined to color the ghosts than trace the dots, she still enjoys being involved in whatever her big sister is doing. :)

Click here for the FREE printable PDF worksheets: