Can you believe that Halloween is really just around the corner?  I can’t believe how fast this year is going by!  I don’t really decorate my place for Halloween, but I do like carving pumpkins, dressing up, and making little fun treats.  I came across these adorable and creative Halloween treats that I am just dying to try out.  I think they’d be fun for adults and for kids (especially since us adults get to act like big kids on Halloween 
).  What about you guys…anyone gearing up for Halloween yet??  I love seeing all the fun and creative costumes that people come up with. I have some friends who have planned their Halloween costumes months in advance!
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(click each photo for the recipe)
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Images via bhg
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It’s Thursday, which is the beginning of the weekend for many folks (regardless of if we have to work on Friday lol), soooo it’s Cocktail Hour!  This delicious treat was featured in Better Homes and Gardens August 2009 issue (with some slight tweaks of my own  ).
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Ingredients
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 pint fresh raspberries
- 1 medium pear, peeled, cored, and cut up
- 1/3 cup lime juice
- 1 Tbsp. pear liqueur or vodka (optional) 1/4 to 1/2 cup Grey Goose La Poire Vodka
- 1/8 tsp. salt
-  Fresh raspberries (optional)
- 1 bottle of your favorite champagne (or sparkling wine)
- (Champagne glasses)
Directions
1. For simple syrup, in a small saucepan bring 1 cup water and the sugar to boiling, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Place in refrigerator to cool.
2. Meanwhile, for puree, in food processor combine the 1 pint raspberries, pear, lime juice, pear liqueur, vodka and salt. Cover; process 30 seconds or until smooth. Strainmixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove seeds; discard seeds. Stir in chilled simple syrup.
3. Spread mixture in an 8x8x2-inch baking pan. Cover; freeze 4 hours or until solid. Break up mixture with a fork; place in food processor. Cover; process 30 seconds or until smooth. Transfer to 1-quart freezer container; cover and freeze sorbet 6 to 8 hours or until solid. To serve, let stand at room temperature 5 minutes before scooping. Serve with additional raspberries. Makes 6 (1/2-cup) servings
4. (added step) Fill champagne glass half way with sorbet and drop a couple of fresh raspberries on top of the sorbet.  Pour the champagne over the sorbet and rasberries, to fill the rest of the glass.
Enjoy!!ÂÂ
**for those who don’t want to actually make the sorbet from scratch and want to get straight to the “Flirtini”, just use these quick and easy substitutions :ÂÂ
Ingredients
- 1 pint of your favorite raspberry sorbet
- 1/2 cup pear juice (I like Goya brand, it comes in a can at most grocery stores)
- 1/2 cup Grey Goose La Poire Vodka
- 1 bottle of your favorite champagne (or sparkling wine)
- Fresh raspberries (optional)
- (Champagne glasses)
Directions
1. In a blender, lightly mix your pear juice, sorbet, and vodka (just until its mixed in, we don’t want it to get too soft or become juice.)
2. Fill your champagne glass half way with the sorbet mixture and then fill the rest with champagne. Top it off with a few rasperries (optional) and Enjoy!!
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Image via flickr
For those of you that don’t know, Better Homes and Gardens recently tasked 5 fabulous Home and Garden bloggers with designing an outdoor project at home, given $500 and two days.  The winner of the challenge will receive a $5000 bonus!  I have check out all of the completed projects and they are  all beautiful.  It is very apparent how hard everyone has worked on this challenge.  What these bloggers have done with $500 (to spend at Home Depot) is incredible.  With everyone looking for ways to save money these days, while still enjoying and enhancing our own homes, these completed projects are an inspiration for homes big and small.
Sherry and John of This Young House, a couple of my favorite bloggers, just so happen to be a part of the 48-Hour Challenge.  Sherry and John update their blog just about every day of the week, and provide all kinds of inspiration for home improvement, decorating, entertaining, etc.  They also plan to donate some of their winnings to one of their favorite housing charity’s.  Check out their before and after pic’s…
Before…a lovely home, ready for a little outdoor makeover
After…an outdoor oasis, ready for loungin’, lazy summer days, and summer time fun!
Images courtesy of This Young House
To vote for Sherry and John, go here .  Voting ends this Friday
