Halloween, Anyone?

I love Halloween, mostly just the cute aspects of it since I despise being scared. Seriously, I hit the haunted house at Universal Studios a couple of years ago because my brother told me it was just a set display from the movie, "Van Helsing." Stupid, stupid, stupid. I had tall, ugly things hovering over, popping out and grabbing at me and monsters shouting at me and all in all, I was NOT amused. I don't mind thrill rides, gory movies, gross costumes, etc. but put me somewhere where things are supposed to pop out at you and you'll have me running for the exit.
If you like that sort of thing, here's a video I found on youtube of that Van Helsing haunted house, click the "play" button below to watch, or click on the box and it'll take you to a larger version on youtube. Remember, when you go through it, you can barely see anything so when you're walking, you have no idea what's coming:





Anyway, my Halloweens have gradually gotten more boring every year. Last year I was a fairy, I found THE cutest short blue prom-style dress with lots of layers and got a huge pair of fairy wings literally 2 days before Halloween. We had all planned on either going to a huge party or to something downtown called Monster Bash. One of our friends then got sick so we ended up sitting at another friend's house and chatting. While I was wearing aforementioned gigantic fairy wings. Lame, lame lame.

This year, we're having a huge party ourselves and it will be amazing! I'm planning on wearing this adorable sailor costume I got today:




Unfortunately, they make these costumes for people who are TALL, not 5'2 like I am. So I'll need to hike it up a bit and secure it with some of my trusty fashion tape (such a lifesaver, that stuff) and it'll be perfect. I'm already excited and can't wait to wear it!

And in keeping with my whole "Wear something I made, it's great advertising," I'll be wearing one of my gold glitter star rings, like these:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/58799839/red-or-blue-glitter-resin-star-ring


Yay!

You Need This Guy in Your Life: JRandall!

I usually don't write posts about music but I just recently heard his single, "Spirit of the Radio" on the radio and loved it immediately. At first, I thought it was by some well known artist like Jay Sean or Jason DeRulo, but it was only when I heard the song a second time a couple days later, they introduced it as being by a new artist named JRandall! Being the curious person I am (I pretty much research everything I'm interested in), I wanted to find out about him so I searched around on Youtube and found the video to the song, which is from the Step Up 3D soundtrack. Again, I LOVED it. Anyway, I'm so looking forward to his album which is supposed to drop next year and I feel like he has the potential to knock the Biebs off of his musical throne. Plus, JRan is a better dancer and has songs you actually won't mind getting stuck in your head all day, so there you have it. Who says the teenyboppers are the only ones who can have a hot new singer?

You follow him on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/JRandalland

And see his "Spirit of the Radio" video here:






UPDATE as of 10/6: You can now hear JRandall's new song, "Oo La La" which features Akon, via the Just Jared blog:
http://justjared.buzznet.com/2010/10/06/jrandall-oo-la-la-song-premiere-with-akon/


Or here on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE28bOT14QU


Oui, oui!

Absolutely Delish- Grecian Party Squares!

This appetizer has been one of my favorites for a few years; my mom used to have Pampered Chef parties and the sales lady that would be there would always have these for everyone to try. Normally I'm pretty picky about food and refuse to eat spinach (Popeye, I am not!); but these are amazing and the spinach just blends in so well with the other flavors, I don't even notice it. We made these over the weekend when we had family visiting and I've been enjoying them!

Here's the recipe (do note, they are telling you to use specific cookware or baking items, this is just because they want you to buy them at the parties. Your normal cookware will be just fine):

Grecian Party Squares

2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1 envelope (.9 ounce) dry vegetable soup and dip mix
1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts in water, drained and chopped
1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and chopped
1 package (4 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375°F. Unroll one package of crescent dough across one end of Stoneware Bar Pan with longest sides of dough across width of pan. Repeat with remaining package of dough, filling pan. Using Baker's Roller(TM), roll dough to seal perforations and press up sides to form crust. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown; remove from oven to Stackable Cooling Rack.

Meanwhile, in Classic Batter Bowl, combine mayonnaise, sour cream and soup mix; mix well. Drain spinach in small Colander, squeezing out as much moisture as possible; add to batter bowl. Drain artichokes and water chestnuts in colander; chop with Food Chopper. Add artichokes, water chestnuts, feta cheese and garlic pressed with Garlic Press to batter bowl; mix well.

Spread spinach mixture evenly over crust. Using Deluxe Cheese Grater, grate Parmesan cheese over filling. Bake 10-12 minutes or until heated through. Remove from oven; cut into squares with Utility Knife. Serve using Mini-Serving Spatula.

Yield: 24 appetizers

Nutrients per serving: (1 square): Calories 150, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 3 g, Cholesterol 10 mg, Carbohydrate 12 g, Protein 4 g, Sodium 360 mg, Fiber 2 g

Cook's Tip: One-half of a 1.7-ounce envelope dry vegetable soup and dip mix can be substituted for the .9-ounce envelope, if desired.

Source: Pampered Chef




They will look like this once you get them all cut up and ready to serve. This is not my picture, it was found on a Google search so credit goes to that person!