Halloween Bloody Eyeball Punch (non alcoholic)

October 06, 2016 in halloween, drinks, Vampire

This year we had a vampire themed halloween party so a "Bloody Eyeball Punch" was created. This is a really nice punch enjoyed by young and old, recipe below.

See the whole party here.

Enjoy Julie

Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Caster sugar
8 tablespoons of water
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
red food colouring
4 litres red creaming soda
2 litres good vanilla ice cream.

Method

Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and cook string over medium heat until the sugar is dissolved,
Remove from the heat and add the milk and almond extract.
Transfer to a large jug and allow to cool to room temperature, then move to the fridge to chill.
When ready to serve, transfer the mixture to the punch bowl.
Add food colouring a bit at a time until you reach your desired colour.
Add soda, leaving space for the ice cream.
Add ice cream using a scoop
Pop in some washed eyeballs
Enjoy

Halloween Vampire Party - Gothic Inspired

October 04, 2016 in Halloween, Vampire, Gothic

My attraction to vampire stories started long ago when I opened my first vampire book, Anne Rice's Interview with the vampire. Who could resist Louis?. Since then, I've read a lot of vampire books and watched a lot of vampire movies but tend to always gravitate to the image of the gothic vampire, the suave and sophisticated creature of the night.

This party is set in the 18th century and involves a select group of stately vampires enjoying a blood tasting that includes a small sample of Count Dracula's blood. The party is very vintage and includes lots of crystal, silver and very old books with a small set of printable elements that are available in our store.

A great option best suited for an adult audience.

Enjoy, Julie

**Halloween Vampire Party Gothic Inspired**

This party was planned a good year in advance that allowed me to collect some wonderful vintage pieces including Crystal decanters and glasses, silver platers and lots of very old books. Each decanter held a different blood type (aka Red Wine), tasting notes were provided.

**Halloween Vampire Vintage Decorations**

The decanters were arranged on piles of vintage books and vintage silver pedestal trays reminiscent of a stately drawing room or library. Vintage stemware in crystal and silver was arranged for the wine tastings.

**Halloween Vampire Wine Tasting Table Decorations**

Tall candles provided height for the table. the only modern element on the table was some select bats placed on candle sticks and books.

I included some old Chinese and Egyptian pieces on the table to make the host appear well travelled. During the evening we served a Blood Tingle Cocktail with a Syringe. Safe useable Syringes are available on-line and our blood tingle cocktail was a standard fruit tingle with a Cherry Advocaat substituted for Blue Curacao.

Halloween Gothic Vampire Party - Vintage

Small battery tea lights were placed around the decanters and glasses to caste an ernie glow over the table.

When creating this look it's important to source a variety of old books with different covers and widths, just ensure they are stable to support the decanters.

The room was kept quite dark for this party that allowed the glow from the tea lights and candles to caste shadows over the table.

To add to the drama I created "blood Tasting Notes" depicting the unfortunate individuals who freely or not so freely made blood donations for the evening.

Catering

This was a late party so catering was as simple as drinks and simple finger food. I always make a couple of large bowls of punch at halloween. We served a non alcoholic Bloody eyeball punch and an allocholic dragon blood punch.

A cheese platter is always great for halloween and a tray of assorted niceness such as olives, wasabi peas and dragon balls with a couple of red dips.

Vodka Jelly Shots have became a staple at my halloween parties and are always consumed. A small collection of printable elements were created for this party, they are available in our shop.

A Halloween Gothic Vampire Blood Tasting Party is a great option for a Halloween Party, especially if you love vintage pieces.

We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and I hope you have enjoyed the photos.

Time to think about next year!

Cheers

Julie

Chic Party Ideas

Owl Baby Shower Cup Cakes with Free Owl Printables

August 05, 2016 in Baby Shower, free printable

This week one of our favourite teachers left us to move into the special phase of motherhood and while we will miss her dearly we wish her all the best. To celebrate this special occasion the class held a farewell party with some cute owl cup cakes.

Given we do not know the sex of this baby we created half pink and half blue. To celebrate this special occasions we are offering our owl cup cake toppers as a free download.

Enjoy

Australia Day Baked Potato Bar

January 23, 2016 in Australia Day

It's hard to believe another Australia Day is upon us. Where has the year gone!.

When planning your celebrations why not try a Baked Potato Bar. A nice crunchy baked potato with lashings of toppings is just so good. This could be a meal in itself or nicely sit beside the BBQ.

For dessert we included a blueberry Pavlova and Chocolate Ripple Cake. Both very Australia desserts.

We trust you have a wonderful Australia Day.

Enjoy

We kept things pretty simple and just included potato, coleslaw, crispy bacon, butter, cheese and sour cream, I found the small Australia Day cardboard box's at our local supermarket.

**Keep it simple: Potato, coleslaw, bacon, butter, cheese and sour cream.**

We used an Australian Flag (Also from the supermarket) to cover a small side table used for plates and cutlery.

We kept dessert simple with a Chocolate Ripple Cake and a Blueberry Pavlova, both very perfect for Australia Day. Both desserts can be prepared well in advance. The Pavlova was made with my all time best Pavlova recipe .

**Chocolate Ripple Cake - Australia Day**

I could not resist some classic Aussie starters of crackers, dips, cabana and vegetable sticks. An Australia Day staple for decades but much nicer with the Australia Day flags.

Decorate your table and room with lots of flags, bunting and balloons. I also like to incorporate my large birds into Australia Day parties.

Christmas Pudding - A must have Christmas Dessert

December 22, 2015 in christmas, Sweets / Desserts

I remember as a young child the delights of the Christmas Pudding being bought to the table with a jug of brandy custard. In those days my grand mother used to hide her precious collection of threepence in the pudding and it was good luck to find one. I now feel is was even better luck to find one without breaking a tooth or consuming the threepence.

This is a very old family recipe that has only received a couple of minor tweaks over the years. It is not for the faint hearted cook as it does require a long looking time, but it us absolutely delicious.

Enjoy

Recipe:

Ingredients

250g raisins
250g sultanas
185g currants
185g dates
3 - 4 tablespoons brandy
250g butter
2 cups brown sugar firmly packed
5 large eggs
250g plain flour (sifted)
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon - ground
1 teaspoon mixed spice
200g fresh breadcrumbs (Use day old white bread)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 - 4 tablespoons of extra flour
1 pudding cloth and tie

Method

Cut the raisins and dates to the same size as the sultanas.
Mix the fruit together, add brandy and stir well.
Cover with glad wrap and leave overnight.
Next Day
Cream the butter and sugar.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well.
Add the fruit and mix well.
Add all dried ingredients including the bread crumbs and mix well.
Boil the pudding cloth for 10 minutes and allow to cool.
Fill a large boiler 3/4 with water and bring to the boil.
Lay the pudding cloth on the bench and sprinkle the centre with the extra flour to approximately 35 cm diameter.
Place the cloth in a large colander.
Spoon in the pudding mixture. Pull the sides of the cloth together and tie with string as close to the pudding as possible. Make a loop in the string for easy hanging
Lower the pudding into the boiling water and boil for 5 hours. Top up the pot with extra boiling water every 30 minutes.
When cooked, carefully remove the pudding from the pot with the handle of a wooden spoon. Allow the pudding to hang, swinging freely and not touching any surface. Note: I do this by hanging the pudding on a broom stick over the laundry sink. Twist, or peg the loose ends of the cloth to the string so they do not touch the pudding.
Allow the pudding the hang for a few days
Transfer the pudding to a plate, remove string and secure with glad wrap. Place in the fridge until Christmas eve.
Christmas Eve / Day
Remove the pudding from the fridge on Christmas Eve.
A few hours before the pudding is required bring a large boiler 3/4 filled with water to the boil.
Retie the pudding with string, and include a good loop.
Lower the pudding into the water and boil for 1 1/2 hours, topping with boiling water every 30 minutes.
When cooked, gently remove the pudding from the water and suspend for 15 minutes.
Working quickly, transfer the pudding to a plate, cut the string, gently remove the cloth and transfer to a serving plate.
Allow to stand for 20 minutes before serving.
I find this pudding is best served with brandy custard.
Enjoy

Note: I try and make the pudding 4 weeks before Christmas, but it can be done as late as 2 weeks with good results

Christmas Fruit Skewers with Santa Hats

December 18, 2015 in christmas

During a hot Australian Christmas, a good display of fruit skewers will be greatly appreciated and liven up your Christmas Table.

These were simple to make, I started with pressing star shapes from water melon and green rock melon then made a santa hat with a grape, slice of banana, strawberry and mini marshmallow.

The skewers were then placed in a pineapple (tip: make a hole with a metal skewer, then insert the bamboo skewer). The pineapple was topped with a gold bow and star and the base was covered in tinsil.

Enjoy

Halloween Vodka Jelly Shots

October 15, 2015 in Halloween, halloween

Hard to go past Vodka Jelly shots at Halloween served in a skull shot glass.

This year we had a Witch Hansel and Gretel theme party so the jelly was green. We created the jelly toppers for this party and they are available as a free down load.

I make the jelly slightly more liquid than the packet recommends and add 1/4 cup of Vodka per packet.

These are great for a crowd.

Enjoy Julie

Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love Potion Punch

October 12, 2015 in Halloween, drinks, free printable

One bowl of punch is never enough for a large halloween party, so this year we had three. One alcoholic and two non alcoholic for the children.

A super nice punch was our Cranberry punch which we served as non-alcoholic but a shot or two of Vodka would work a treat with this punch.

For this party we created a set of free downloadable halloween punch tents so you can create the look at home. You can catch the entire party here.

Enjoy Julie

Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love potion Punch

Recipe

Ingredients

1 part cranberry Juice
1 part Ginger Ale
1 part Lemonade
1 or 2 sliced lemons

Method

For this punch you have to work out the capacity of your punch bowl, then simply divide by 3 to work out your quantities.
Ensure all ingredients are well chilled ahead of time.
Pour all ingredients into your punch bowl, stir and add the lemon slices.
Enjoy

Halloween Witch Party - Hansel and Gretel Party with dessert table

October 09, 2015 in Halloween, halloween, Childrens parties, Printables

This year we created a Hansel and Gretel Halloween theme. This party consumed a large part of the house with a full dessert table, working Witch's kitchen and a darker adult take on Hansel and Gretel.

For this post we focus on the dessert table where we used elements of Hansel and Gretel first finding the Candy House through to the nastier side of the Witch. We created a set of printable products to accompany the dessert table, these are available from our shop.

This theme was a lot of fun we hope you enjoy.

Julie

**Halloween Hansel and Gretel Dessert Table**

Our dessert table used a simple crushed velvet table cloth. On the wall we added a large spooky cardboard cut out tree with a witch peeking around the side. Some large spiders were then added to the wall.

The cupcakes represented the Witch's candy house. We used a small violet crumble's for the house and licorise all sorts for the roof and door. The house was decorated with tiny trees and candy canes from a christmas sprinkle range.

**Halloween Hansel and Gretel Cupcakes**

I find layered coloured jelly is always popular with the children, we made the jelly in spooky cups and topped with toppers from our Hansel and Gretel printable range

For cookies we used a witch boot and shoe, we decorated these quite simply with gold and silver couscous balls.

Colourful candy is a must for this theme, we used small crystal bowls and lots of shapes and colour.

Toffee apples are also great for a halloween Witch theme, we used black chopstick and decorated using mini bunting from our printable range.

The cup cakes did take some time to assemble but used simple techniques.

LED Lanterns are a great way to add colour and height to a table

Our printable range includes: Mini bunting, bottle labels, jelly toppers, 2 inch circles and tents

**Halloween Hansel and Gretel Printables**

I must give my husband credit for jack O'lantern carving, he found a wonderful spooky witch stencil which worked a treat.

Please see our shop for full details of our Hansel and Gretel Printable products.

Halloween Punch - Tipsy Witch - Free Printables

October 07, 2015 in Halloween, drinks, free printable, halloween

Halloween is perfect for a large bowl of punch or two. This year our Halloween theme was a Hansel and Gretel Witch party so a tipsy witch punch was definitely in order.

For this party we created a set of free downloadable halloween punch tents so you can create the look at home. You can catch the full party here

This was absolutely delicious, but not for the children.

Enjoy Julie

Recipe

Ingredients

1 bottle of Malibu Rum
1 bottle Blue curacao
500ml Lemon Juice
2 bottles Pineapple soft drink

Method

Ensure all ingredients are well chilled
Mix the Malibu, Blue Curacao and lemon juice in a punch bowl.
Top up with pineapple soft drink, 1 or 2 bottles will be required depending on the capacity of your punch bowl.
Serve and Enjoy

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Halloween Bloody Eyeball Punch (non alcoholic)

Recipe

Halloween Vampire Party - Gothic Inspired

Catering

Owl Baby Shower Cup Cakes with Free Owl Printables

Australia Day Baked Potato Bar

Christmas Pudding - A must have Christmas Dessert

Recipe:

Method

Christmas Fruit Skewers with Santa Hats

Halloween Vodka Jelly Shots

Halloween Cranberry Punch - Love Potion Punch

Recipe

Ingredients

Method

Halloween Witch Party - Hansel and Gretel Party with dessert table

Halloween Punch - Tipsy Witch - Free Printables

Recipe

Ingredients

Method