Halloween Hoopla Dinner Party...

Fall has always been my favorite time of year and I always get so excited for it! I love the crisp air, changing colors on the trees, decorating the house, carving pumpkins, haunted houses, and corn mazes...I just love everything about it!

This year I decided to throw a little dinner party and invite Ryan's family over. I thought it would be a great time to get together and enjoy eachother's company over homemade breads, bean dip, homemade root beer, pumpkin stew, and apple crisp. It was a lot more work than I had anticipated, but I was very pleased with how everything turned out. And I only had to call my mom and sisters about 15 times asking questions about the recipes I was trying. Thank goodness for moms and sisters! I decided it's probably a good idea to try out the recipes before you throw the party, but thankfully everything turned out ok!

A couple of you asked for some of the recipes so I figured the easiest way would be to just blog them. However, I can't take credit for them. They are mostly from my sister and mom.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread
1/2C Butter

2 Eggs

1C Sugar

3/4C Canned Pumpkin

1t Baking Soda

1t Cinnamon

1/2t Salt

1/2t Nutmeg
1 3/4C Flour

1/4t Ginger
1/4t Ground Cloves

3/4C Chocolate Chips

*Cream the butter, sugar, eggs, and pumpkin together. Add dry ingredients. Mix in the chocolate chips. Bake @ 350 for 1 hour. For mini loaves, cook for 35-40 minutes. Makes 1 large loaf or 4 mini loaves.

Cornbread
(2) 3 Eggs

(3/4C) 1 1/2C Sugar
(2T) 4T Heaping Corn Meal

(1 1/2C) 3C Bisquick
(3/4) 1 1/2C Milk

(1C) 2 1/3C Melted Butter

(1/2t) 1t Baking Powder
*Beat eggs. Add milk and melted butter and mix. Add remaining ingredients and mix. Pour into well greased 9x13 (8 or 9 inch square for half recipe) pan. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Ingredients in parentheses is for a half a batch.

Bean Dip
1 Can Frito Lay Bean Dip Combined with 1 Can Hot Frito Lay Bean Dip
3 Avocados Mashed With 1t Lemon
8 oz Sour Cream Mixed With 1 Pkg Taco Seasoning
Cheese
Tomato
Olives, Sliced
*Layer ingredients in order above

Stew in a Pumpkin

2lbs. beef stew meat (cubed)

3 Potatoes (cubed

3T Cooking Oil

4 Carrots

1C Water

1 Green Pepper (chopped)

4 minced Garlic Cloves

1 Onion (chopped)

1t Salt

2 T Beef Granules

1 Can Diced Tomatoes (garlic & onion blend)

1 Hollowed Pumpkin

*Brown meat in 2T oil. Add water, potatoes, carrots, green peppers, garlic, onion, salt, and pepper. Cover and simmer 2 hours. Stir in bullion and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 2 more hours. Use remaining oil to brush on the pumpkin. Place in a baking pan. Bake at 325 for the last half hour. (You don't have to cook the soup for the whole 4 hours. It's just the longer you cook it the more the flavors meld). Serves around 6 people.