Something Special
GREAT PUMPKIN FEAST

We've had The Great Pumpkin Feast as an alternative to trick or treating on Halloween for many years. It consists of an afternoon of fun and outdoor games for the entire family. The group is divided into teams and everyone is put on a team, regardless of age (and no husbands and wives are ever on the same team!) Candy is the treat or prize for all of the games. Following the games is a great feast -- a prelude to Thanksgiving... [more]

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EASTER
An Easter egg doesn't have to be painted or chocolate...how about a 'sprouting' egg.  These are guaranteed to be the one everyone will want to take home!
RED DINNER

Our family gatherings include "SPECIALTY DINNERS". Traditionally we have a "RED" dinner on Valentine's Day - you got it! All the food is red! Spaghetti, lasagna, meat ball subs, pickled eggs, Harvard beets and a red molded jello salad with tiny marshmallows in it. Or how about a pink salad in a heart mold. (Recipe and picture follow) or a plate of red jello hearts on a plate? Make jello in a jelly roll pan and then use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out the hearts. Use different size cutters if you have them and pile them high on a pretty plate. What to do with the left over jello ‘scraps”? Put them in a bowl and offer them to the first one in the kitchen! [more!]
GREEN DINNER
Then a "GREEN" dinner on St. Patrick's Day - there's nothing quite like green mashed potatoes. I took pictures of four of our dishes: Spaghetti with pesto sauce, Grasshopper Pie. Blarney Stone cookies and Chartreuse Fruit Cup Salad. CHECK IT OUT!

WHITE DINNER
This year, because we had SO much snow, we also had a WHITE Dinner. Yep! All white food and including a white dessert!! What fun. We cut out snowflakes, had a snowman drawing contest and counted all the snowmen at Grandma's house!

MORE FALL & HALOWEEN IDEAS

. . . such as Ghosts on a Broomstick, Cider Creme Punch, Cheese Pumpkin, Bag of Harvest Blessings, and Marshmallow Turkey legs! [more]
EXTRA! Veggie Flower Centerpiece

Thanks to a friend -- Maryann -- for her creative EDIBLE centerpiece. This was a home-school co-op project and certainly too nice not to be shared with everyone.

Take any size basket--depending on the size of the bouquet you want to make and fit a piece of styrofoam or florist oasis in the bottom. The basket itself can be trimmed with ribbon, bows, etc. The vegetables used in this one are celery, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, red and green peppers and radishes. Parsley leaves are used as a 'filler'. The veggies are cut in small pieces and pushed on thin skewers. The skewers are then pushed in to the styrofoam in the basket. You can go as far with this idea as your imagination will take you. Thanks, Maryann -- I love it!!