A White Halloween

Source: cakeinfo.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

My roommate and I had been planning a Halloween party since we moved into our apartment two months ago. We set the date, sent out a Facebook invitation and covered our apartment from top to bottom in Halloween decor. I went to three costume stores in search of the perfect costume, only to settle on a homemade costume instead. I scoured Pinterest and some of my favorite blogs to come up with the ideas for cute treats for our guests to enjoy.

And then, Snowtober hit. Five inches of snow and widespread power outages led us to postpone our party until November 12.

So, our Halloween decorations will stay up for two more weeks. And our neighbors will probably think we're crazy when our guests show up in costumes, mid-November.

Here are just a few of the things we had up our sleeves for the party.

Octoberfest Pretzel Caramels

I've been subscribing to Food Network Magazine since they launched their first issue about three years ago. I love the design and layout of the magazine, it's reader friendly and it really showcases the food. Not to mention the recipes are outstanding (I have had a few fails, but the good far out-number the bad). I never threw away an issue, until just this summer when I finally decided to go through the magazines and tear out the recipes I wanted to save and organized them in a binder.

I flipped through the latest issue of the magazine and stumbled upon a recipe for Beer Pretzel Caramels. I've always been intimidated by making homemade caramel. I knew it was easy to burn it and it would require a candy thermometer, which I did not have. However, the list of ingredients was short and I thought it would be the perfect thing to make on a chilly Football Sunday. So I got my butt off the couch after a Baltimore Ravens loss (though I still proudly wore my t-shirt) and went to the store to buy beer and a candy thermometer. I'm sure the cashiers see that purchase every day.

Caramel Stuffed Peanut Butter & Pretzel Truffles with Candied Bacon

Wow... that's a mouthful of a name. I tried to think of something shorter but it just didn't get the point across. The inspiration for this original recipe comes from two things. My friend Natalie makes the best peanut butter eggs... creamy, light fluffy peanut butter covered in a thick layer of milk chocolate. I've been making her recipe at Easter time for the past few years. During this time I usually consume an entire peanut butter egg with every meal and at least two a day as a snack. It's a good thing I only make them once a year. Natalie's recipe calls for imperial margarine, marshmallow fluff, peanut butter, powdered sugar and Wilbur milk chocolate, made locally in Lititz, PA. I stayed true to the ingredients of Natalie's recipe with one small change - I exchanged the margarine for pure, unadulterated butter. Go big or go home, right?

The second inspiration for this truffle comes from Philadelphia. Marcie Blaine artisinal chocolates is a small chocolate shop located in a home goods store in center-city Philly. I found the shop while on a chocolate tour of the city. That's right, I don't tour cities to see the sites, I just go for the food. The shop created a series of Philadelphia inspired chocolates and the Philly Pretzel was a peanut butter and pretzel truffle covered in dark chocolate. It was small (and cost me $3), but the flavor was rich with the perfect combination of sweet and salty.

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