Shortbread S'mores Cups and The Stanley Hotel

Today is Halloween once again.  The Tamale Casserole is in the crockpot and has been brewing since 6:00 this morning, when we saw the girls off to their volleyball tournament.  After a full day of sports, I'm afraid I have become my worst nightmare...this year I decided to boycott Halloween and handing out candy.  This year, I announced "we're going dark"...no candy handouts.  Since the girls won't be home, it's just not the same this year.  They were sweet enough to carve masterpiece pumpkins for me, and decorate our front porch, but that's the extent of it this year...and that's perfectly okay.

We did however, get a dose of spook while visiting the famous Stanley Hotel in Estes, Colorado, just 45 minutes from our house.  "The Stanley" is quite a historical landmark, both outside (and inside).  Just walking around either on the grounds or in their haunting halls, can give you the chills.  We treated my brother-in-law and his friend to a first class tour there.

They recently made some incredibly beautiful improvements to the grounds, including a new reflective pond and maze (just like in the movie, "The Shining").

Our self-guided tour was glorious.  The sun was perfectly shining on the porch and we sat and enjoyed their garden sofas and a glass of wine with all the other tourists.  Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a picnic on one of their breathtaking lawn areas...the perfect way to spend an afternoon.

If you're also doing away with the Halloween candy this year but are looking for a treat and no tricks, this little one is awesome.  I took my Grandma's Layered Pudding and morphed it with my daughters' favorite S'mores.  These were great for just wanting a little taste of sweet without having a full pan of calories haunting me every night!!

Shortbread S'mores Cups

1 cup flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup (plus 1 cup) powdered sugar, divided

1 (8 ounce) block of cream cheese, room temperature

1 9 ounce container of Cool Whip

1 small package instant chocolate fudge pudding

1 small package instant white chocolate pudding

3 cups cold milk, divided

large marshmallows

Mix flour, butter, salt and 1/4 cup powdered sugar well and pat out in a 9" x 13" pan.  Bake in 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool.

While shortbread is baking, mix cream cheese, Cool Whip and 1 cup powdered sugar.  Whisk/beat until well blended.  Set in refrigerator for one hour.  

In a separate bowl, mix chocolate fudge pudding and 1-1/2 cup milk. Whip well with electric mixer and set in refrigerator for one hour.  Do same process in separate bowl with the white chocolate pudding, and also set in refrigerator for one hour.

When ready to serve, remove cooled shortbread from pan and crumble.  Add a layer of the shortbread crumbles in a short triffle cup.  Add a spoonful of the cream cheese/Cool Whip mixture.  Then, add a small layer of chocolate fudge pudding and a layer of white chocolate pudding.

Toast your marshmallows in fire or on a gas cooktop flame (carefully).  Add toasted marshmallows to top of pudding....and enjoy some ooey, gooey sweetness!!

One Year Ago: TyKu
Two Years Ago: Tamale Casserole

Christmas Muffins and My Elves

We are of course in the throws of a whirlwind week for the entire family.  Action packed with sports practices, company parties, concession commitments, school finals and assignments and my husband's birthday tomorrow. Thank goodness though, the holiday decorating is complete and I didn't have to lift one box.

Last weekend I was receiving a verbal reprimand from my girls as to why the house had not been decorated yet, as it was way past December 1st.  I simply explained that they were now old enough to take over the duties and I was passing my torch on to them and they had full reigns to decorate as they wish.  They had plenty years of experience with helping me in the past and I shared I was fully confident that they would do a beautiful job.

On that note, I went upstairs, closed the blinds, curled up in a comfy blanket and took a nap (still trying to shake this terrible head cold).  An hour later I woke, opened up my bedroom door and saw a sea of red, green, silver garland and wreaths everywhere while listening to their favorite holiday hits.  In that one hour, they proceeded to pack up Thanksgiving, pull out all the Christmas bins from the basement and decorate away.  My little elves took over the house and I couldn't be happier.

To thank them, the next day I tried out a new muffin experiment.  I still have an abundance of pantry items from the family visit and am determined to use everything up before I do another major grocery store venture.

These taste like Christmas morning to me... a little of that cinnamon/sugar coffee cake we all grew up with and a touch of chocolate that brings back those hot coco memories.

Christmas Muffins

1 package plain yellow cake mix
1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly mist a regular size (12 count) muffin pan with non-stick baking spray and set aside.

Put the light brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a bowl and stir well.  Set aside.

Put the yellow cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, canola oil, water, eggs and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed for about 1 minute.  Stop and scrape the bowl sides.  Mix again on medium speed for another 2 minutes.  Pour the mini chocolate chips in the batter and fold in to get it fully mixed.

Pour approximately 1/3 cup of batter into each muffin tin until all 12 tins are full.  Spoon approximately 1 Tablespoon of the sugar/cinnamon mixture on top of each muffin.  Swirl the mixture into the batter with a toothpick so there is cinnamon/sugar in both the batter and on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15-18 minutes.

Makes 18-20 muffins.

One Year Ago:  Zens Master Meatlovers Chili