Sunday, November 01, 2009

Happy Halloween! (Caramel Pecan Brownies and more Rice Krispies Treats!

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Happy Halloween from a couple of nerds!   (No, I don't have a witches hat on, that's a decoration on the door.)  You can't see my lovely white socks with clod-hoppy black shoes, also my nerdy make up job of blue eye shadow and really red, poorly caked on red blush and lipstick .  Classic!

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There's a "kick me" sign on his back.  Kevin was a perfect nerd.  I just went along with it. ;)

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We had Darth Vadar and Obi Wan Kenobi at our house.  And a basketball player.

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Then we had a very uncooperative Candy Corn.

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This is really how Sam trick-or-treated.  Just wearing regular clothes.  I supposed at least the shirt was orange!

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Happy Candy kid!

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And the loot.  Their pumpkin buckets were stuffed to the top after trunk-or-treating at our church and then hitting up the neightborhood door to door.  (Sam stayed at home for the door to door stuff with the big nerd!)

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Big Bro and Little Bro.  This is a cute picture.

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Pictures from the school Halloween Party parade on Friday.  I also hung out in Taylor's classroom for his party and took lots of pictures.

Taylor's teacher, Mrs. Heider, was a KU Jayhawk!

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Classroom treats--some gluten free cupcakes (a girl in the class has celiacs) and some really cute mummy cookies.  Oh yeah, I made those.  Cute, easy.  Sugar Cookies cut with gingerbread boy cutter.  White frosting, then piped on white chocolate and red hot eyes.  I saw the idea for these here at Family Corner.  This great website is run by none other than the amazingly talented Amanda of Amanda's Cookin'--a fellow foodie blogger and person I consider a friend I haven't met yet!

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Some friends of ours had us over Friday night for a little Halloween shindig.  I brought some treats.

Literally, Halloween Oreo Rice Krispies Treats.  Same recipe as these Halloween Oreo Caramel Rice Krispies Treats, but with no caramel and chocolate on top. 

I also made some most delicious Caramel Pecan Brownies.  (I know, I can't seem to get off the turtle/caramel-pecan kick!

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THESE. ARE. BETTER. THAN. GOOD!

I used my favorite brownie recipe---it's the Dorie Greenspan Tribute to Katharine Hepburn Brownies.

Caramel Pecan Brownies, by Katrina adapted from Dorie Greenspan's book, Baking From My Home to Yours

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1/2 cup cocoa powder

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 to 3/4 cup pecans,  whole and toasted

24 Kraft caramels (hello--unwrapped!)

4 tablespoons cream

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line an 8x8 inch square baking pan with foil so that edges of foil hand over the sides slightly.  Spray lightly with cooking spray.

Melt butter and cocoa in saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk together, remove from heat when melted and combined.  Let sit 3-5 minutes.  Whisk in eggs, then sugar and vanilla just until combined.  Add flour and salt.  Stir just until combined.  Spread half the batter evenly over bottom of pan. 

Put caramels and cream in a glass microwave safe bowl.  Melt in 30 second intervals, stirring between each.  When melted and stirred together until smooth, pour caramel over bottom brownie layer.  Line the caramel layer with the pecans (line them up like little soldiers in rows).  Add the remaining batter to a plastic sandwich bag.  Snip a little off one corner and pipe the remaining batter evenly over the top (this was so much easier than trying to evenly spread the batter over the sticky caramel!).  Bake for 25-35 minutes (test for brownie crumbs on toothpick.  I think mine baked for 30 minutes, but I always start checking before that!)  Cool completely on wire rack, then for most awesome fudginess, refrigerate for a couple hours before cutting into desired size pieces.

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These were a huge hit at the Halloween party we brought them to.  Hope ya'll had a wonderful Halloween, too! 

15 comments:

Emily said...

LOVE the nerd costumes! You guys look fabulous!

The boys got quite the stash. I'm jealous. I miss trick or treating.
I WANT AND NEED those rice krispie treats!

Donna-FFW said...

LOVING the nerd look.. how fun.. your boys look like they had a blast.

Brownies.. to die for gooey delicious looking.

Unknown said...

Katrina--wow--those brownies and rice krispie treats look AMAZINGLY great!! Definitely going to try your "turtle" version of that brownie--looks soooo yummy!

noble pig said...

You guys are a couple of awesome dorks and the kids are adorable of course!

Megan said...

I feel so stupid that I didn't take any pictures of my kids in costume. Too many things going on at once!

Love the way you two dressed up - and your kids look great.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

You guys make great nerds! :) We had a Darth Vader at our house as well.

Pamela said...

I want one of those brownies!! Looks so good. Nice pictures and what fun it looks like everyone had. Did Sam line up his own candy like that, or did he have some help?? Fun post.

Kerstin said...

Cute costumes all around! And wow, those brownies look amazing!

Chocolaty Lifestyle said...

All of you have SO wonderful costumes! ;) What a great and yummy Halloween celebration you have had!

Megan said...

Love the sugar cookies. What a cute idea! Also those brownies, to die for with all that caramely goodness!

Pamela said...

Those turtle brownies look dangerous!

Just wondering, do you *have* to melt the caramels first or can you just chop them up and sprinkle them along with the pecans in between the brownie batter layers?

Anonymous said...

Love the costumes and halloween fun. And the treats are always good.

Clumbsy Cookie said...

Ahahahahahaahah! LOVE the couple of nerds! You guys are so cute!!! All the treats look delicious but those last brownies... you made those thinking of me, didn't you?
And the amount of candy you have on your house now?! Wonderful!

Amy Franklin said...

Whatever that you get to take homemade treats in to the school...our district has outlawed them because of food allergies. I hate it. (Don't get me started...) Yours look so yummy!

Alisa@Foodista said...

Love the costumes! I really enjoyed reading through your blog. I came across your blog from the foodieblogroll and I'd love to guide our readers to your site if you won't mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to this post and it's all set, Thanks!