Tag: celebrations

Feed a Football Crowd without Missing Game Time + Make Football Ice Cream Brownie Cake & Cupcakes {Recipe & Tutorial}

It’s that magical time of year when big games are played and football party food fills your shopping list.  I’m sharing a few football party ideas to help you feed a crowd without spending a fortune or missing the game as well as a recipe for a delicious ice cream cake and cupcakes perfect for your big game celebration.  I picked up some delicious game time goodies from Walmart and prepped them ahead of time.  I also whipped up a few cute decorations in our team colors (spoiler alert: they didn’t win).
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Pumpkin Spice Candy Bar Brownies with Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing and the Perfect Halloween Party Punch for Your Spooky Celebration

For our Halloween festivities, as part of a sponsored campaign by Collective Bias, I created the most amazing Pumpkin Spice Candy Bar Brownies with decadent Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing and a simple and perfect party punch.  These recipes are so easy, but seriously delicious.  They are not exactly diet friendly, but this is time of year for treats so treat yourself.  Hopefully these will be new favorite additions to your Halloween Celebration menu. Pumpkin + M&Ms + Chocolate Brownies = Awesome.  
I love pretty much anything pumpkin spice flavored, and I tried a pumpkin ice cream cone dipped in chocolate the other day. This gave me the idea to experiment with pumpkin spice and pumpkin puree in my candy bar brownie recipe.  Our friend Mary introduced us to candy bar brownies at the beach years ago, and we’ve been addicted ever since.  I added the icing as a bonus, and the brownies are delicious with and without it.  If the dessert is too rich for you, leave it off or on the side. 
A perfect party punch is simple, colorful, and delicious.  This one fits that bill and will thrill audiences of all ages.  It can also be easily turned in to an adult beverage.  You can find coupons for some of the products used in these recipes here.   
Pumpkin Spice Candy Bar Brownies
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1 tbsp vanilla
4 eggs
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 34.5 oz bag of Mixed Fun Size Mars Candy – M&M Plain and Peanut, Twix, and Snickers or Mixed Miniatures with Milky Way, Twix, 3 Muskateers, and Snickers

Directions:
1) Preheat the oven to 350.
2) Grease a baking dish.  You can use an 8×8 for super thick brownies, or a 9×13 for less thick and more to share.  I prefer option two.
3)Beat the eggs in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.
4) Add the sugar, butter, vanilla, salt, and pumpkin pie spice, and pumpkin puree and mix well.
5) Add the flour and cocoa powder slowly, stopping to scrap the bowl often.
6) Pour half of the batter into your greased baking dish.
7) Lay your candy out across the batter.  For the larger pieces, I recommend breaking them up a bit.  Press them in to the batter just slightly.  
8) After you cover the whole pan with candy, pour the remainder of your batter over the top and smooth it down to cover your candy completely.  
9) Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Check it often.  I have an “That 70s” oven, so I’m always worried about my recommended baking times.  When your knife comes out clean you are good to go.  
10) Let cool for a few minutes and then feel free to sample a bit while it is hot and gooey.  Then cool completely before icing.  
Pumpkin Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:
8 oz cream cheese 
4 oz butter – softened
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup real pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
3 1/4 cups confectioners sugar – sifted

Directions:
1) Cream the butter and cream cheese with a stand mixer (or hand mixer) until light and fluffy.
2) Add the pumpkin puree, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and salt, and continue to mix well.
3) Add the powdered sugar slowly, mixing well and scraping the sides of the bowl.  
4) Continue to mix until the icing is light and fluffy.  I’ll go ahead and quote the song: “Whip it. Whip it good.”
5) Once your brownies have cooled, spread the icing on top and enjoy.  If you have some left over, this icing is delightful as a dip for your graham crackers.   
For a kid friendly party, serve this dessert on festive paper or plastic plates with forks.  For adults, crystal or antique plates and an ornate cake plate set a haunting atmosphere.  Likewise, for a kid friendly party a carved out pumpkin or pitcher is perfect for serving party punch.  For the adults an antique crystal punch bowl adds a little extra Halloween flair.    
Perfect Party Punch Recipe:
1 2 liter bottle of 7 Up (or Diet 7 Up)
1 Gallon of Hawaiian Punch
1 1/2  Quarts of Rainbow Sherbet 
large punch bowl or pitcher
Perfect Party Punch Directions:
1) Pour your Hawaiian Punch into the punch bowl. 
2) Add scoops of the sherbet.  
3) Pour the 7 Up over the top to create the foamy green goodness that makes this punch a little spooky and seriously yummy.  

This recipe has a 1/1/1 ratio.  To create a smaller amount of punch, just cut the amount of each product in half or however much you need.  The punch may settle a bit if left alone too long, so give it a stir occasionally.

These brownies were a huge hit at our Halloween play date.  One of our four year old friends told his mom that this was the best dessert he’s ever had.  Out of the mouths of babes comes truth, people.  These sweet treats are seriously rich and delicious.  For other fabulous Halloween baking and party ideas, click here.  
What is your favorite pumpkin treat?


Happy Birthday to the Love of My Life!

I am so thankful for my husband today and every day.
He loves me so well.
He shows me the love of Jesus.
He takes care of our family.
He is the hardest working man I know.
His blue eyes make me melt.
He is an incredible daddy.
I’m so thankful that my sweet Jed was born 32 years ago today.

Baby Bloom: Minted Review and Giveaway ~ Win a $50 Credit to Minted.com

I am so thrilled to share with you a review and $50 giveaway to Minted that you can use for birth announcements, wedding invitations, party invitations, art prints, greeting cards or anything of their other products!  Have you been to Minted.com yet?  Minted has been around since 2007 and strives to bring the  best in stationary design and paper goods to the world.  From Minted.com:

“Minted is a global community of independent graphic designers and an online store that prints and sells the best of their designs in the form of paper goods.”

Minted’s independent designers come from 43 different countries, so the variety of designs is unparalleled.  I found so many birth announcements I loved, then found myself looking at children’s and nursery prints, and birthday party invitations.  There are thousands of fun options.  Pricing is competitive, and if you subscribe to Minted’s email newsletter they often send out discounts and deals.  One thing that really sets Minted apart is the quality of the paper.  Maybe that sounds silly if you aren’t into paper goods, but my sister and I were discussing this and agreed that out of all the printing companies we’ve used, Minted has the highest quality products.  She actually brought it up when I told her I was reviewing the company.  

Baby Bloom - Bare Feet on the Dashboard by Becca, see more birth announcements

I created 2 inspiration boards for you to check out a few of the options I’m considering for Mini Bear.  These are five of my favorite birth announcements, and 3 of my favorite art prints.  I can’t decide which I like the best.

Baby Bloom II ~ Bare Feet on the Dashboard by Becca, see more kids art prints

I ordered Christmas cards from Minted, and fell in love with their free addressing service.  You enter your recipients’ addresses and choose the font, and your envelopes arrive addressed for you.  Genius.  I’m excited to check this off the list before Mini Bear arrives so that all I’ll have to do is add her photo and birth stats.

Head over to Minted and pick out your favorite products and enter to win a $50 credit on the Rafflecopter form below.  You don’t need to have a blog or a Facebook profile to enter, just an email address.    
a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is the first post in my Baby Bloom Blog Event series.  Stay tuned for more reviews, giveaways, and baby themed good times here on Bare Feet on the Dashboard.

**I was not paid for this review and all opinions are my own.  I did receive products in exchange for a review.

A Rustic Bachelorette Weekend

Last week I told you about the simple and artistic bridal brunch for my friend who recently got married. After the brunch all of the bride’s friends whisked her away to the Red River near Heber Springs, Arkansas, for a rustic, laid back, and super fun bachelorette weekend.

I found the cabin on the Vacation Rentals By Owner site. It was pretty affordable when we split it among all the friends attending. We brought our own food and drinks and saved a ton not going out on the town. The bride just wanted to get away, so it was a perfect place to make that happen.
The cabin overlooked the river and though the scenery was not in the prime season, it was still lovely. The living room had an awesome fireplace that provided the perfect gathering place for our time together. I made baked brie and tomato soup that we enjoyed all evening, and my friend Crystal made an amazing cake.
It was an amazing weekend that made the bride feel loved and cared for before her big day. The photo above shows the bride (in orange) with some of us. This was the crew that hung around as long as possible enjoying the peace of the woods.

How have you celebrated bachelorette parties?