Halloween Weekend & Ghoulish Grilled Cheese Bites

This weekend we celebrated Halloween in our building!

We kicked off the weekend on Friday evening with a little dinner at home. Shaun and I had bet on the Giants game from last Monday night. The loser would have to cook the winner's dinner of choice for Friday evening. Being the eternal optimist, I chose the Giants, despite their straight losing record thus far for the season. And sometimes - just sometimes - optimism pays off! The Giants won and I got a homemade steak dinner. It was nothing short of salty, tender and completely delicious. Unfortunately it was so good and I forgot to snap a photo. But we enjoyed it alongside a viewing of Homeland!

On Saturday, I was up and out of the house early for a quick trip to Target. It was so nice to have an hour to myself to wander around one of my favorite stores. What can I say, it gets me jazzed. I rushed right home because it was also the kids Halloween party in our building. I had really been looking forward to this, probably more than what is normal for a grown adult. I just couldn't wait to get Penelope dressed up in her costume and see all of the other kiddos dudded up as well.

It was such a great turnout! So many kids and parents!

Everyone was asked to bring a dish, so I decided on grilled cheese bites. I wasn't totally sure how to pull it off at first, but Shaun had the idea to bake the sandwiches in the oven, rather than make each individual sandwich on the stovetop. Since we were {as per usual} pressed for time, I was more than game to try this method.

We made two kinds of grilled cheese: Ahh!merican and Bone Chillin' Cheddar.

They were such a hit that I was barely able to snap a photo!

Before I knew it, the plate looked like this:

Oh and I made the little flags myself with some old scrapbook paper and toothpicks. I can't pass up an opportunity to get crafty AND punny.

Overall, I'm happy to report that they went over so well and I think this is going to be my new party staple. I was expecting the kids to really love this, but I think the adults loved it even more!

Ghoulish Grilled Cheese Bites

24 slices bread, any type

12+ slices American cheese

1 block cheddar cheese (we used cheddar & herb), shredded

1 stick butter

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets and set aside. Butter one side of each slide of bread. Cover half of the bread slices with cheese (we used about 2 slices per sandwich). Place on baking sheet and top each one with another buttered slide (Note: the buttered sides of the bread should be on the outside). Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and flip each sandwich. Bake 6 minutes more. Cut each sandwich into 8 pieces. Enjoy!

After an hour or so, P was getting cranky, so we headed home to relax for a while (and catch Beetlejuice on ABC Family! woot!) before Shaun and I headed out to our building's adult Halloween party in the evening, which just so happens to be kick ass. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you may remember some past articles about that. This year, Shaun and I went as Willie and Si from Duck Dynasty.

Pretty redneck, no?

We had a blast at the party. So many treats like pretty Halloween cupcakes:

 

Creepy Franken-fingers...

 

...and my own contribution, pumpkin pie brownie bites (recipe later this week!)

 

 Our weekend was capped off by trick or treating on Sunday. Our building mapped out 3 hours for kids to trick or treat and participating units posted a cute little pumpkin sticker on their doors. Since P isn't quite up to eating Twix and the like just yet, we opted to hang at home, watch football and pass out treats.

This bowl of candy is eerily similar to last year's Halloween haul - of which my six months pregnant self ended up eating the entire thing throughout the blackout duration of Superstorm Sandy. Milky Way Midnight will forever remind me of the storm. Oops :/ 

So that's how we spent our little Halloween weekend. Of course, I'll be back on Halloween for some gratuitous baby photos of Sweet P in her costume! I hope you all had a great weekend and are pumped for the week ahead!

Did you do any Halloween celebrating this weekend?

Do you like getting all costumed up?

Easy Antipasto Platter

A few weeks ago, my family celebrated my mom's birthday. Though I've hosted her birthday dinner or brunch in the past, this year my sister Kimberly took the reigns and cooked dinner for the family.

Though I have a shiny new baby at home, I still wanted to contribute something (simple) to the celebration, even if I had less than zero time to cook anything. A constantly crying baby will do that. Instead, I put together an antipasto platter that came together in a snap and looked pretty darn profesh if I do say so myself.

I found a package of antipasto meats in the deli section of the grocery store, which I used to anchor the corners of the platter. This was also incredibly helpful in removing the guesswork over which meats to use! I rounded that out with mini mozzarella balls that I cut in half. I filled in the sides with little delights including olives (my favorite), roasted peppers, and marinated artichokes. To keep things light, I used almonds with olive oil and sea salt for the centerpiece. I think some hummus or baba ganoush would also be wonderful here. On the side, I served toasted baguette, but simply crackers or Melba toast would also be great.

I think it was a hit because almost the entire platter was gone before dinner started! I love this easy, no-cook option for any party or just a Friday evening at home. In fact, I think this might be on tonight's menu with a glass of Malbec!

Have a great weekend!

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps + Celebrity Crushes

Today officially feels like the holidays are over. I had a truly wonderful time over the last week and a half spending time with family, lounging around with Shaun, catching up on sleep and just relaxing. Yesterday, we ended our little staycation with a viewing of Sherlock Holmes 2. Shaun has read the whole Sherlock Holmes collection and is a big fan. I was happy to go along so that I could stare dreamily at this guy...

Don't laugh at me.

Call me crazy, but I fell head over heels for Robert Downey Jr. when he starred in Only You and ever since, my love has never waivered. Shaun and I talk openly about the fact that he is probably my #1 celebrity crush.

I know...he may not be the most obvious choice to claim the #1 spot on my list, but what can I say? I like the tall, dark and handsome ones (though I supposed he's not particularly tall), not to mention that he's a little dorky with some bad boy thrown in. Oh and then he went and became Iron Man, so...you know. What more could a girl ask for?

I told you mine, now you tell me yours...dish! Who is your #1 celebrity crush?

Swoon.

Moving on.

As I may have told you, for our Christmas Eve celebration at my parents house, we don't really do a big dinner, but instead do a round of cold appetizers, followed by a wave of warm appetizers. My whole family loves to cook and so this is the perfect way for everyone to contribute a dish and no one person is stuck with all of the work. For one of my dishes, I created a buffalo chicken lettuce wrap.

 

I love love love buffalo chicken and I thought putting the mixture into a lettuce wrap would be a nice, light addition to the spread and would look simply gorgeous to boot.

Spoiler Alert: I was right.

Using the basic Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe as a guide, I added a lot more real, roasted chicken, subtracted a lot of the cream cheese & blue cheese, baked it off and then filled up some beautiful leaves of Boston lettuce. The buffalo chicken was just the perfect mix of spice and blue cheese while the lettuce was incredibly delicate and just looked so chic filled up and plated open-faced on a large platter.

I love this dish because it's incredibly easy. It can also be a perfect party food but is simple enough for a weeknight dinner. One thing is for certain, I will absolutely be making this again.

Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
3 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless or bone-in with skin)
1 Tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried thyme
4 oz. cream cheese
1/2 C Frank's Red Hot
1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
1/3 C blue cheese dressing
1-2 heads of Boston lettuce, trimmed and washed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. On a baking sheet lined with foil and sprayed with cooking spray, lay out the chicken (I used bone-in w/skin, but boneless, skinless works nicely too). Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, paprika and thyme. Roast about 25 minutes or until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, cut into small cubes (discard skin and bone). Place in a large mixing bowl and combine with cream cheese, Frank's, blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing. You can place this in a baking dish and heat for about 20 minutes, or pack it up to be heated right before serving. I made mine a day in advance and simply reheated it before serving. Once warm, place a tablespoon or more into each lettuce leaf. Place all together on a platter and serve with extra blue cheese for dressing.

These were such an easy and fun recipes. I love that using the lettuce as a wrap was a totally unexpected change up from a traditional (and heavier) wrap. I hope you give these a try and enjoy!

Questions of the Day:

Have you ever made or eaten lettuce wraps? I am a recent convert...I love them!

Who is your celebrity crush? Come on, I told you mine...

psst...Kimberly is blogging about kicking off her fitness regimen for the new year over on The Peach & The Pit! Head on over to check it out!