Monday, October 14, 2013

Happy Halloween!!


This post is so far over due, Halloween is here! This is literally my favorite holiday. Well besides Christmas. But Halloween is so much fun! I actually decorated for the holiday the last day of September. But am now just getting around to showing you some of my decor. 
Every year I throw a Halloween party. Last year was the first in awhile that I didn't only because I was moving back from LA to AZ. My sister was kind enough to pick up the slack for me. 
But this year my holiday party will return with a vengeance! 
Two years ago I decided I wanted to do a witch theme, I had already picked the theme for that years party (dio de los muertos) so the witch theme was sidelined until this this year. I'm pretty excited about it!
I am going to do a pot roast in honor of the with from Hansel and Gretel. Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty will be represented by a curly, green, blue cheese salad. The Evil Queen from Snow White will (of course) be bringing poison apples. There will be a showing from the witch Dr from The Princess and The Pea in the form of garlic lime chili chicken wings (my friends wouldn't eat frog legs). This is just a few of the tasty treats I'm going to whip up! 



Halloween isn't just my favorite holiday, it's my group's as well. Every year we carve pumpkins, visit one of the local farms for their Halloween festival, watch Hocus Pocus, Sleepy Hallow, Scream and order as many apple ciders and pumpkin lattes as we can. One of our longest standing traditions is to go on a Ghost Tour! One year we did a pilgrimage to Flagstaff and walked the streets in dark night, listening to the stories of the city's past. A few times, we've trekked to downtown Phoenix and heard all about the Hotel San Carlos. We've even been back east and walked the deserted streets of colonial Willismburg, straining to hear the infamous footsteps of Lady Anne as she ran from the Governor's party the night she died. We've stayed in haunted hotels, visited graveyards and walked the paths of civil wars battles. 
We are suckers for a good ghost story. 
Ironically, we will won't set foot inside a fake haunted house. Well, besides DisneyLand. 
By far, the best tour we have been on was in Jerome Arizona. 
First of all, the hotel we stayed was so sweet! 
It was my friend's birthday and along with fresh roses from someones garden during the turn down service, they gave us a homemade bunt cake and 2 bottles of champagne (since we were staying there 2 nights). 

Besides the hotel (which was haunted!) our weekend and ghost tour night had all the elements needed to make a truly terrifying adventure! 
Overcast, thunder, lightening. A light drizzle. 
We had dinner at a haunted hotel and made our way down the street to the tour. 
The air had a perfect chill. The sun sinking low behind the banks of dark, full clouds.  
It was as if God himself wanted us to have a fright! 

It was a great night, followed by cake and champagne in our rooms as we toasted our braveness.

This year we are percolating on what exactly will be the treat to tempt out adventuresome holiday spirit! 

Here's to my ragtag group of ghost tour friends! Happy halloween and many pumpkin spice lattes to you! 
xoxoxo


Pumpkin Spice Latte

What you need:
Pumpkin Syrup
2 1/2 cups of water
1 tablespoon of ground nutmeg
3 cinnamon sticks or 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup of sugar
3 tablespoons canned pumpkin

Coffee per serving
4 ounces of espresso
4 ounces of milk (warmed and frothed)
2 to 3 tablespoons pumpkin syrup
whipped cream if desired

What you do:
To make the syrup combine spices and water in a medium sized sauce pan. Bring water to a boil, and then turn down the water with spices to simmer. Allow the spiced water to simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out spices by pouring the water through a coffee filter. You want the seasoned water to be free of the spices. Place water back into the pan and add sugar and pumpkin mix well. Simmer this for another 10 minutes. This will yield about 1 pint of pumpkin spice syrup. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

To make the latte prepare 4 ounces of espresso or strong coffee. In a coffee cup place 2 to 3 tablespoons of pumpkin syrup, then add coffee. Gently pour the frothed milk over the coffee, and gentle stir. If desired top with whipped cream and a dash of ground nutmeg.

Author: CopyKat RecipesRecipe
http://www.copykat.com/2012/10/29/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte/



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