October Love: Spooky Food

My SIL, Kristin, requested spooky appetizers for a swanky Halloween party she's attending this weekend. That reminded me of my love of regular food turned spooky. Admittedly, that mostly extends to sweets -- Spooky Froot Loops, orange Snowballs, Halloween oreos and orange-dyed brownie bites -- but I had fun looking for suggestions for Kristin. Here are some of my favorites:

{recipes, clockwise from top left: spider's nest dip, beastly beans with mango salsa, steak bites with bloody mary sauce, petrified cheese log}

{more great ideas at Food Network}

October Love: Fall Recipes

It has finally started cooling down here in Texas. No, we didn't have the crazy blizzard Utah got last week, but it's been cool enough to not run the AC. I'm taking that as a sign that it's time to (finally) bust out my cold-weather recipes. I can't wait to make these:

• tortellini soup


• barley soup


• hearty vegetarian chili


• chicken corn chowder


• south of the border chowder


• Starbucks-esque hot chocolate

What great fall recipes do you have to share?

October Love: fall decorating

I'm still working on decorating our new house for normal, everyday use. I don't know if I'll get around to fall decorations, but I love, love, love these. Matt's parents and sister are coming for Thanksgiving this year, though, so I might have to bust out a great table for the big meal.

{photos, clockwise from top left: crate and barrel, martha, pottery barn, martha }

October Love: Pumpkin Carving

I just really like carving pumpkins. I haven't done it for a couple years, but I fully intend to make up for that. Since I have no natural artistic ability, I've been scouring the internet to find the pattern I want to use this year. What do you think of these?

October Love: Coats

It still gets up into the 80s here during the day, but that can't keep me from my obsession with winter coats. There are so many cute ones this season and I wish I could justify buying them all!

{clockwise from top: Burberry, Target, Nordstrom, Tulle}

Happy October!

It's (technically) fall around here. I suppose the high was only 89 yesterday, so we're slowly moving in the right direction. I LOVE October. I'm going to do a small series of posts on what I can't wait for this month!

{photo via flickr}