Wednesday, December 31, 2014

A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS....


I know I said The Queen would be taking a break until after the New Year.... but I just had to share a few of my favorite things, with my favorite Halloweenies.

These Disney Haunted Mansion coasters came straight from Disney World in Florida, and they were a gift from The Little Princess (who's actually 25 now, not so little) how cool is this? Does she know her mom, or what?

 
And The Count was right on the money with one of my favorite perfumes....

and check out this Swarovski crystal skull ring!

What a Merry Scary Christmas!

I hope you all got everything your heart desired, and I wish you all a wonderful wicked New Year!

Happy New Years Eve to all! Enjoy!


Monday, December 22, 2014

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!


Can you believe that another year has passed again so quickly?

I don't know about you.... but I'm exhausted! So, The Queen will be taking a much-needed break, to enjoy the holidays with The Count, until the start of the New Year!

Have a safe and frightfully fantastic Christmas and New Years!

Thank you all so much for being such loyal Halloweenies this year, and I look forward to all of the fab-boo-lous things that the new year will bring.

Enjoy this holiday season with your family and fiends, and here's to a Spooky New Year!



Friday, December 19, 2014

HAPPY FRIDAY!


I figured that with all of the holiday craziness, everyone could use a good laugh today.

I know, it's bad.... but come on! That's just funny!

Happy Friday Halloweenies!

Thursday, December 18, 2014

WARM UP THOSE COLD WINTER NIGHTS

And what's better on a cold night than some warm soup? It's like a hug from the inside, and this one was a favorite when my little monsters were running around The Manor. It's Cheesy Snail Soup!

Well, almost....it's really Hot Dog Mac & Cheese Soup. Good old comfort food at it's best! You'll need a few ingredients, and it only takes about 20 minutes, start to finish. I promise the kiddo's (and grown up monsters too) will love it.

Prep Time: 10 min. Cooking Time: 8 min.

Ingredients:

~4 - ounces ( 1-1/2 cups) uncooked dried small macaroni shells
~2 - Tablespoons butter
~2 - Tablespoons all-purpose flour
~1 - teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
~1 - can (14-ounces) chicken broth
~1-1/2 - cups Fat Free Half & Half or milk
~1/2 - pound slice (1 inch thick) Deli American Cheese, cubed 1-inch
~1 - cup chopped or sliced hot dogs
~Salt and pepper, if desired

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions. Set aside.

In a 3-quart saucepan, you want to melt butter until sizzling and stir in flour and mustard.

Add broth and half & half. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes or until mixture comes to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and stir in cheese until melted.

Next, stir in macaroni and hot dogs.

Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.

To really enjoy this, you'll need to get some blankets, warm up the dvd player, snuggle up on the couch, and serve up some mugs of Cheesy Snail Soup! Sounds like a perfect winter night to me.



Wednesday, December 17, 2014

BREAKING NEWS.... Part 2

Yes, there's more (AWESOME!) breaking news this week! Here's the official word from geek.com....

There are some movies that got things so right they should never be messed with or remade. One of those movies is Beetlejuice. It had a fantastic script, Tim Burton did a great job directing, Michael Keaton portrayed Beetlejuice perfectly, and Winona Ryder, Geena Davis, and Alec Baldwin made for a great supporting cast. So a remake? Never! But a sequel? Well, yes if the right ingredients were there. And it looks as though they are.

Tim Burton has confirmed that Beetlejuice 2 is going to happen, and he’s going to be directing it. Just as importantly, Michael Keaton is going to be playing Beetlejuice again, and Winona Ryder has also been confirmed as having a role.

Beetlejuice 2 is happening as far as Burton is concerned, we just don’t know when it’s happening. Keaton has recently released Birdman and has two further movies in post-production (Minions and Spotlight). Burton has just finished directing Big Eyes, which is due for release on Christmas Day. So Beetlejuice 2 could conceivably happen in 2015 for a 2016 release.

For fans of the original Beetlejuice the only way a sequel would be accepted is if the original team came back together to make it happen. And it looks as if that’s exactly what will happen. Now all we need if another fantastic script and this could be another must-own classic.

It's a Christmas miracle!.... Thank you, Tim Burton!

Monday, December 15, 2014

LADYBUG APPETIZERS


Happy Monday, everyone!

It seems like we just got over all the Halloween and Thanksgiving festivities, and Christmas is almost upon us! If you've be pouring over all of your recipes, and you have no idea how you'll get through another "just bring a dish" get together.... how about spicing up one of your old recipes, to make it new again?

I love making appetizers! They're so easy, you can be very creative, and feed a lot of people, with very little. I'm sure you have a recipe for something with tiny tomatoes, bread and cheese, am I right?

Let's dress it up, to be a little more festive (and maybe if you get a few eeeks and shreeks, that's a bonus!) and serve up some ladybug appetizers!

Start out with some toasted French bread slices, add a dab of balsamic dressing, place some shaved parmsean (or whatever's your favorite) cheese, (you could also add a thin slice of ham or bacon, too!) a nice leaf of fresh Italian parsley (or cilantro, or spinach works great, too!) then sit half of a cherry tomato right on top.

Add a sliced black olive for the head, and paint on a few dabs of sour cream for the eyes! Now if you really want to make it over the top.... make 2 tiny holes on top of the ladybug's head with a tooth pick, and add 2 little antennas by using the stem from the parsley.

How boo-tiful will this look on any holiday buffet?


Friday, December 12, 2014

BREAKING NEWS!

Halloween star Jamie Lee Curtis is returning the genre that made her famous, as it was announced earlier this week that Curtis will star in the upcoming new series Scream Queens, along with Scream 4 killer Emma Roberts, set to debut in the fall of 2015 on Fox, from American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Scream Queens is a new horror-comedy anthology series with a debut season that revolves around a college campus that’s rocked by a series of murders.

Fox has ordered 15 Scream Queens episodes for a planned debut next fall. The series is co-created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan. Murphy, Falchuk, Brennan and Dante Di Loreto will serve as executive producers.

How frightfully fantastic is that? From one Queen to another..... she's Number 1 in my book. Us true Halloween fans (the John Carpenter Halloween fans) will be counting down the days for this one!



Wednesday, December 10, 2014

DECK THE HALLS

Since it's that time of the year.... I've gone a bit batty around The Manor with the holiday tree(s) this year. We've done several, but for some reason, this one seems to be my favorite.

And yes.... it's black. The Queen really does have a black Christmas tree!

But it was actually pretty simple. I just added a few black birds, some glittery decorations, and some plastic spiders and skeletons, of course!
Add a few finishing touches like ribbon and raffia, and you're done!

Not too expensive, at all.... and I think it's pretty spooktacular!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

KISS THIS

Hello Halloweenies!

Do you have that spooky someone on your Christmas shopping list? And you're just not sure what to get them? Then you need to check out Zazzle.com!

They've got really cool stuff, like this Vampire Kiss Pillow! They range in size and price, starting at $31.95. Not a bad deal at all.

I've bought lots of goodies from Zazzle, and you won't be disappointed. You can find everything for your house, pets, and that hard-to-shop-for friend or co-worker. I've found cool mugs, tee shirts, cell phone cases, and even baby gifts!

Feeling inspired? Create your own design, for that one-of-a-kind gift for someone special (or yourself!)

They've got all kinds of products that you can customize, and they promise 100% satisfaction.... if you don't love it, they'll take it back! You gotta love that.

Monday, December 8, 2014

LET'S MAKE UP

Have you ever looked in the mirror, and decided that you needed a change? New hairdo? New lipstick, maybe?
How about a bold new look to your make up?  Well,  if you're feeling a little bit Goth today, you might want to give some of these looks a try. They're quite stunning, and pretty enough to wear everyday.
If you're not sure where to start, you may want to check out some online tutorials, or get some really good ideas from make up sites like Mookychick!



Experimenting with make up is lots of fun, and the best part is that if you don't like it.... just wash it off and start over!

Friday, December 5, 2014

DARK & LOVELY

Since a many of us are spending lots of time online shopping, you might want to take a break from your holiday gift list, and find a little something for yourself. And I'll let you in on a little secret.... when I'm feeling like I want to spoil myself rotten, one of my favorite sites is Rose Mortem!

Since 1998, Rose Mortem has created entirely original handmade clothing for the dark fashion connoisseur, inspired endlessly by the dramatically dark, the enchantingly elegant, the magically melodious.

The Rose Mortem line of dresses, gowns, skirts, veils, gloves, tops and coats has been designed to provide you with the satisfaction of wearing the inside on the out – of living your own dark faerie tale.
Every item is hand-crafted to your measurements and specifications, to create a wearable work of art, just for you! How amazing is that?


  I think you just may want to add one of these spooktaular dresses to your wish list this Christmas!
Happy Frightful Friday!

Thursday, December 4, 2014

GINGERBREAD SKELETON COOKIES


One of the best things about the Christmas holiday is baking cookies! And there are so many kinds of Christmas cookies.... I can hardly keep track! But one of my all time favorite is the gingerbread man.

I think these would look so festive, when you invite the neighbors in to share some holiday punch and cookies, don't you?

Now, I wouldn't be a very good Queen of Halloween if I didn't share my favorite recipe for Gingerbread Skeleton cookies. All you'll need to make these little cuties is a regular old gingerbread man cookie cutter, and some food coloring. Now keep in mind,  gingerbread cookies can be quite time consuming.... but well worth the work!
Ingredients
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2/3 cup unsulfured molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • Royal Icing (recipe follows)
Royal Icing Ingredients
  • 1 pound (4 1/2 cups) confectioners' sugar
  • 2 tablespoons dried egg-white powder
  • 6 tablespoons water
Just combine the ingredients, mix well, and set aside until you're ready to frost the cookies. If you want to make black icing (take half to set aside, so you have some black and white icing) add a few drops of black food coloring, mix well. Then you can pipe the icing on with a pastry bag, or spread it with a kinfe.
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, cloves, salt and pepper through a wire sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer at high speed, beat the butter and vegetable shortening until well-combined, about 1 minute. Add the brown sugar and beat until the mixture is light in texture and color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses and egg.

Using a wooden spoon, gradually mix in the flour mixture to make a stiff dough. Divide the dough into two thick disks and wrap each disk in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, about 3 hours. (The dough can be prepared up to 2 days ahead.)

Time to roll out the cookies:

Working with one disk at a time, keep the other disk refrigerated. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until just warm enough to roll out without cracking, about 10 minutes. (If the dough has been chilled for longer than 3 hours, it may need a few more minutes.) Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and sprinkle the top of the dough with flour. Roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick, being sure that the dough isn't sticking to the work surface (run a long meal spatula or knife under the dough occasionally just to be sure, and dust the surface with more flour, if needed).

For softer cookies, roll out slightly thicker. Using cookie cutters, cut out the cookies and transfer to nonstick cookie sheets, placing the cookies 1 inch apart. Gently knead the scraps together and form into another disk. Wrap and chill for 5 minutes before rolling out again to cut out more cookies.

Bake, switching the positions of the cookies from top to bottom and back to front halfway through baking, until the edges of the cookies are set and crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool on the sheets for 2 minutes, then transfer to wire cake racks to cool completely.

Decorate with black and white Royal Icing.  If you want to make these guys look fancy, why not add a red bow tie! Now that's festive!

These cookies can be prepared up to 1 week ahead, stored in airtight containers at room temperature.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

HAPPY WICKED WEDNESDAY

 
Has it been a rough week, so far? Maybe you need a little something to spook up the day, to get you through to the weekend..... sounds interesting.

How about a romantic (or horrific.... whichever you prefer) dinner for two? All you need is a few simple ingredients....


A romantic table setting, a bottle of your favorite wine, some candles, and a fab-boo-lous dinner.... maybe something exotic, like squid ink pasta. Oh, doesn't that just sound so delish.... I mean, devilish!


Guaranteed to get rid off the mid-week blahs! Happy Wickedly Romantic Wednesday!
 

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL


Who's the Halloweenest of them all? Well, that would be The Queen, of course! But do not fear, I can help you share that title, too!

And how about this, for your next project? So spooky, yet pretty enough to keep around, all year long, if you ask me.

I suggest looking for an old mirror, the next time you're snooping around your favorite thrift store. Then with some floral wire, hot glue, black spray paint, and assorted twigs and branches.... you too can create this macabre mirror!

Use the photo for your inspiration, but remember, it doesn't have to look exactly the same as the picture. You've got the right idea... a few twigs here, some moss there.... spray paint a few leaves, and a few dabs of hot glue! Voila!

You are the Halloweenest of them all!


Monday, December 1, 2014

IT'S MONDAY AGAIN?


Eeeeccchhhh. I'm not a fan of Mondays. The only thing good about today, is that we don't have another one until next week.

It was extremely hectic this weekend, with holiday preperations, and weekend guests.... so I've decided to take today off.

You should, too! Enjoy.