halloween pumpkin and cream cheese brownies....!

...so i love all the fall and halloween stuff all over the blogosphere!! there are some creative people out there all year round, but it's so neat to see everyone's take on the this time of year...

and pumpkin of course is top on the list of ingredients to use....i think most people either love it or hate it though....(my kids don't like it, but they are in that phase of if it's new, they don't like it...hopefully as they get older that will change...i was the same way until college)

...for brownies i usually use a box mix because it's just so simple and i'm usually in a rush...but these are a from scratch recipe i found at Confections of a Foodie Bride (great pics and recipes there!)..and instead of swirling the pumpkin cream cheese part with the brownie....i added the cream cheese swirl ingredients together before adding the pumpkin...then separate into 2 bowls, to one add the pumpkin and the other i left pumpkin out and added some purple food gel to make these brownies more halloween-y!

...then swirl (don't mix too much because you may end up with just some gray looking cream cheese!)

and you get some brownies dressed and spiced up for the season!....chocolate and pumpkin may not be for everyone...my kids ate them, but only after the pumpkin/cream cheese part had been scrapped off....oh well, maybe next time :) but making homemade brownies is super simple, and these were nice and moist like a brownie should be....

thanks for stopping by and have an omgawesome week!

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It

Works for Me Wednesday

Made by You Monday

Creative Me Monday

Carolyn's Homework Today's Assignment Be Inspired

Crazy Sweet Tuesday

Trick or Treat Tuesday

Cast Party Wednesday

Share Awesomeness Thursdays

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

More the Merrier-DIY Home Sweet Home

Happy Hour - Freestyle Friday

Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday
The Feature Friday Linky Party - Blissful and Domestic

summertime brownie bites....!

...so aren't bars like the perfect dessert to bring over for a party? (well ok, pretty much any dessert is cool to bring to a party!) but bars are so relatively simple....you bake up a pan, cut them up....and you've got a bunch of fun bars and if you cut them into squares, they are the perfect and bite size....i've done bars a bunch of times...like rainbow blondie bars, cake batter granola bars, football brownie bites, frosted cookie bars, and more frosted brownie bars...(wow that's a lot of bars!)

...for these i just used a boxed brownie mix (i did the more cake like brownies and added an extra egg) and to make them even more fun, piped on some buttercream....

....and to make them even more fun....drew some faces onto yellow m and m's....

...add a little yellow royal icing for some fun yellow suns....(trying to see how many times i can use *fun* in a post!!!)

....but then thought they needed to be a little more fun and sunny.....so added some orange rays too...

...and you get some really FUN iced brownie bites to go along with the perfect sunny summer weather....

...enjoy it while it's here because i'm sure we'll all be complaining soon how cold and chilly it's getting!

have a great week and as usual thanks for stopping by to see what we're up to here....!

Tidy Mom's I'm Loving It

Works for Me Wednesday

Made by You Monday

Carolyn's Homework Today's Assignment Be Inspired

Time to Sparkle Tuesday
Two-Cup Tuesday

Cast Party Wednesday

Share Awesomeness Thursdays

Tatertots and Jello - Weekend Wrap Up Party

More the Merrier-DIY Home Sweet Home

Happy Hour - Freestyle Friday

Kitchen Fun and Crafty Friday
A Peek into My Paradise TGIF Party

football brownie bars....!

.....ok i know it's not football season anymore (pitchers and catchers have reported to sunny florida....woohoo!).....but since everyone may be in their post valentine's day - pre st. patty's day baking period.....i figured i'd post these anyway....and let's just say the grass reminds us that spring is coming....(it was actually kinda warm in the northeast today!)....

....these are gluten free brownies from a trader joe's mix....there's no levening agent in it so the brownies were pretty dense and moist on there own....so even more reason to cut them up and top with some vanilla buttercream.....!...tinted grass green and piped on with the grass/fur tip.....(btw-one of the kiddos asked for their birthday cake to be a character that has mostly green fur.....i need to start working my hands out now for piping that one...!)

...the footballs are...what else?....candy melts!....(i promise i do not get free samples of these things from wilton.....but wilton i would surely try out any new candy melt products you have....wink wink)....they were just done free hand and when dry....some white buttercream piped on top for the "laces"....

...and you get a bunch of these.....

...doesn't the brownie make it look like little patches of cut out dirt and grass.....??

...and my kiddos loved these....especially this one!...(luckily they were for a party and not left around the house...!) happy almost weekend to everyone!

snow day brownie bars......!

.....with so much snow in the northeast...the kiddos have had a bunch of delayed openings and school closings...and they've been trapped inside way too much....even an attempt at going outside to "play" in the cool snow....has been hit or miss....since getting on all the snow gear takes for days with a 6 year old and almost 4 year old twins....and by the time they do get outside....the snow is too deep for the littles to walk in....and it's like 2 degrees...and if the wind is blowing...forget it...and i like the snow and all...but only when i'm dressed for it and on a snowboard....!

...so after about 30 minutes of prep time and maybe 10 minutes outside....we head back in....and the first request is hot chocolate of course....or after so many trials of hot chocolate...and it being way to hot....we call it "lukewarm chocolate" now......

....the frosted brownie bars were made one of those days to go along with a nice cup of lukewarm chocolate....the kiddos love to help mix up the ingredients now...and it's fun when they spill the brownie mix all over the table...and get egg shells in the batter...and constantly ask to taste the batter even before it's all mixed up and tasty...(does the powder with un-mixed egg and oil really look appetizing to these kids...?)....anyway...had some frosting leftover so decided to frost them up.....well because everything is better with some buttercream....(maybe that should be my new motto...!)

....this was from a brownie mix....and baked in a square 8X8 pan......i don't frost in the pan....but turn it out and then frost....it's just easier to get an even and clean layer for me that way ....and then cut up into bars....or whatever shape you like.....around the holidays did this with frosted sugar cookie bars....and they turned out great......this time added some large and small rainbow non-pareils as well....with the red...they could be great for a valentine's day party...and not too "girlish"...as my 6 year old likes to tell me about treats that are too pink....!

....oh just got the call....there's another delayed school opening tomorrow.....so do kids in like minnesota go to school at all in the winter or do they just deal with snow as the norm?....or are we just snow wimps out here on the east coast.....??.....regardless....have a frosted brownie bar and a cup of lukewarm chocolate to ponder that last question....!

....ok update....there was 17 inches of snow overnite and schools are closed today......need to come up with another activity to keep these kids busy.....