Halloween is getting closer! It’s Saturday, October 31! Not too much time left! Are you ready? This picture is courtesy of polka-dot zebra.

We know many of you work two jobs and don’t have time to make any Halloween cookies or sweets… that’s why we did some research to find out where to buy them online.

We have to confess, we haven’t had the chance to try any of them (although we wish we would have). Many of the suggestions came from our readers.

Here are some online stores, in random order. Remember to always read their Terms of Service before purchasing and use your judgement.

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 KookieStationery.com: combines “fun and functionality” by creating brightly-decorated edible notes, cards and gift tags. Complete with an edible ink pen and a built-in easel for easy display, this novel combination of cookie and card has redefined the favorite American pastime of stationery. And just in time for Halloween, “ghoulishly” themed cookies, like a Trick or Treat Pumpkin and the Halloween gift tags, make for extra scary and fun activities. These thoughtful and unique cookies retail through the company’s website for just under $10.

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Park19cookies.com – One of the most interesting cookies from Park 19 Cookies is a delicious spicy pumpkin cookie. They add rich chocolate chunks to make this a cookie a unique Halloween treat. Great for the fall since it’s orange and black. The cookies are made from scratch in their own bakery in New York. Park 19 Cookies has been featured on the Rachel Ray Show as Snack of the Day.

$8.99 (half dozen)

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Cookies by Shar: Reputed for her intricate and lavishly decorated creations topped with royal icing, owner Sharmila (Shar) Melwani was not only tapped to create a special cookie line sold at all Florida Whole Foods Market stores, but her custom-made delicacies have been requested for prestigious companies such as Ferragamo, BMW and Neiman Marcus for special events.

Individual cookies start at $3.25.

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Edible Gifts Plus: Halloween Character Cookies-Oreos & Nutter Butters $1.99 each (minimum order:12)
These  character cookies are a fun way to celebrate this spooky holiday!   Their assortment includes Oreo® Jack ‘o’ Lanterns, Frankensteins and Spiders – PLUS Nutter Butter® Skulls.  Each yummy Oreo® or Nutter Butter® is enrobed in dark chocolate or confections and hand decorated to look like your favorite halloween character!  The cookies are individually wrapped in clear cello bags and heat sealed at both ends for freshness and quality.  Add a festive Black or Orange Satin Bow to make these treats even more special!

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Beautiful Sweets: their specialty is in the creation of colorful and creative sugar cookies; each one is individually baked and exquisitely hand decorated. In addition to being organic, their cookies are nut-free and baked in a nut-free facility. The cookies come in two sizes: a standard 2-3 inch size cookie that typically comes packaged in a ribbon-tied cellophane wrapper as a 4-pack and a larger size (5-6 inch) individually wrapped – “party favor” cookies. The cookies are available in either vanilla or chocolate flavors.

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S’more Smoochies: Handmade to order, scrumptiously delicious Halloween S’more Smoochies are a unique spin on classic treat! Double dipped in velvety rich chocolate and embellished with edible decorations, they are individually wrapped and can be purchased in gift sets or by the dozen.

Created with peanut butter, they are also available without.

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The Flour Pot Cookies make decorative and logo cookies. They have an awesome Halloween cookie collection that includes wicked hat favors, creepy creatures, monster mash, spooky eyes, ghosts, black cats, spiders and other cookies. The Flour Pot Cookies is a company run by a mother and daughter; they have been featured in countless magazines and on the Food Network. Prices vary.

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cccGifts.com: their cookies will be a “great Halloween Party favor” or “GIFT FOR YOUR FAVORITE LITTLE GHOST OR WITCH”! They measure 3″ in size. Hand Cut and Decorated. Made from their loved “Signature Shortbread” dough. These are sure to start a party in your tummy!

Priced for 1 dz. (4 of each cookie shown). Each cookie is individually packaged, tied with matching ribbon, and nestled into a nice box tied with a bow! Free gift card if needed.

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Other resources we love:

• Corso’s Cookies
• Cheryl & Co
• David’s Cookies
  

I’ve been taking this past week to pack up all of my “junk” into boxes, lug it from one house to another, take that same “junk” out of boxes and attempt to get to life normally again. It’s ridiculously frustrating and what becomes even more frustrating is when you expect people over, and you’re totally unprepared.

This post stems partially from this evening and this past week, going from a larger kitchen to an itty-bitty one and attempting to slip back into things. For the past four years, I’ve taken my decent sized kitchen for granted. This new house has a little teeny-tiny kitchen and my parents decided to drop by for dinner and dessert tonight. What. To. Do?

Of course dinner was no issue, just bump up the recipe for the chili a bit and warm up a couple more rolls, no biggie. I hadn’t planned on dessert. I haven’t restocked my pantry from the move… what did I have on hand? What could I make? My lovely parents have been living in their camper for the past two months while building their new house, and definitely haven’t been able to bake to appease the sweet tooth that I inherited from them. I had to make something quick, with whatever it was that I had on hand!

Now normally, my posts here at 100CafeStreet.com don’t consist of recipes but… what happens when you’re in a pinch? What do you do? The other night I made these awesome fried taco bread things (for lack of something better to call them) and they were a cinch to make! I thought about those delightfully warm and delicious, doughy and wonderful breads and thought “I still have the ingredients on hand for those! I could do that and toss them in some cinnamon sugar!!”

So here, for a great “in a pinch” dessert is a few ingredients that I’m pretty sure everyone has on hand!

2 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of milk
Combine dry ingredients and then mix in the milk. Knead for about 3-4 minutes and then let rest for about 5 minutes. Break off pieces and flatten, fry on each site in about an inch of oil, shortening (or whatever you choose to fry in) until light golden brown. Let drain on a paper towel and then toss in cinnamon sugar.

Ridiculously easy. Ridiculously droolworthy. Top with a scoop of ice cream while still warm… Simply delicious! (and when I say “simply” I mean it in every sense of the word! These are almost TOO EASY to make!!)

I’ve been extremely lucky this year, and thankfully, my luck hasn’t run out yet because I was able to head down to New York City last week for the launch of the new Euro-Pro Ninja Master Prep. Joined by some of my best blogging friends, our fearsome foursome, as well as a few others were able to experience first hand what the Ninja Master Prep can do.

Raspberry Orange Sorbet

Since this is a dessert blog, I seriously HAVE TO tell you about the amazing sorbet and sherbert that the Ninja whipped up effortlessly.  And yes, I tried it and it was AMAZING! I loved the raspberry orange combination of it and the Ninja made it just too easy to prepare. I’m sure you wouldn’t have to stop at the raspberry orange, and there’s a million other flavors that you could go with. I’m thinking pomegranate lime?? Can you imagine how good that would be?

Not only did we get to experience the launch of the Ninja Master Prep, we got to do it with class and in style. Staying at the Sheraton Times Square and having the awesome Robin Miller from Food Network as the most awesome host for our group. She definitely rocked and made using the Ninja look ridiculously easy- and it is!

You can make awesome smoothies and dessert drinks as well, like the Mocha Frozen Fusion Lite that Robin taught us all about or the Caramel Banana Smoothie. Sometimes those frozen slushy drinks hit the spot for the sweet tooth! And let’s not forget the drinkie-poos that can be made of the adult variety! Strawberry margaritas anyone?

For more info about the Ninja Master Prep and examples of great dinners, desserts and smoothies, please visit their website at ninjakitchen.com.

For the next month or so, we are going to feature some of the best Chocolate manufacturers, most of them from the US and many of which you may know already. Some of them are from other countries but definitely worth mentioning.

The list is in alphabetical order. They’ll all have their own post in the days and weeks to follow, so stay tuned! Here are our favorites:

• Alter Eco
• Bake Me A Wish!
• Bissinger’s
• Bittersweet Café
• Bloomsberry & Co
  
• Boss Hog Bacon Chocolate Sueyts
• Chalmers Ganache
• ChocAlive!
• Chocolate Inked Sweet Shoppe
• Chocolations
• Cholives
• FLING Chocolate
• Gail Ambrosius
• Healthy Chocolate
• Jer’s Handmade Chocolate
• Katherine Anne Confections
• Knipschildt Chocolatier
• Lindt Chocolate
• Navitas Naturals
• Original Beans
• Recchiuti Confections
• RoxyChocSmith
• Sweetriot
• Swiss Maid Fudge 
• The Secret Chocolatier
• The Sugar Mommy
• Travel Chocolate’s
• Truffle in Paradise (website coming soon)
• UliMana
• Vivani

Other  Chocolate Resources:

• Cafe Britt
  
• David’s Cookies
  
• Chocolate.com
  
• Jelly Belly
  
• 1800Flowers.com
  
• Gourmet Gift Baskets
  
• Popcornopolis
  
• Fairytale Brownies

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Today, we’d like to talk about a very delicious recipe that is definitely worth trying. Here we go:

Preparation time: approx. 25 minutes
Total cooking time: 1 hr
Makes: 2 loaves

Ingredients:
3/4 cup self-raising flour
3/4 cup cake flour
1/2 tsp.baking soda
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 cup chopped walnuts
100g butter
3/4 cup soft brown sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped dates
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 180c.
Brush two 17 by 8 cm tube tins (nut roll tins)and their lids with oil or melted butter.
Sift the flours, soda and spice into a large bowl.
Add the walnuts and stir to combine.
Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
Combine the butter, sugar, water and dates in a pan.
Stir continuously  over low heat until the butter has melted and the sugar dissolved.
Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
Add the butter mixture and egg to the flour mixture and stir until combined.
Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared tins.
Bake, with the tins upright, for 1 hour or until the skewer comes out clean when inserted into the centre of the loaves.
Leave the loaves in their tins, with the lids on, for 10 mins, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy!

If you have tried this recipe, please feel free to leave a message. We’d love to hear from you!

Today I’d like to announce the Don’t Dessert Pollinators Recipe Contest organized by pollinator.org.

photo courtesy of petrvlk

Submit a recipe using at least one pollinated ingredient for a chance to win a night at the luxurious Haagen-Dazs “Sweet Suite” located at the Hotel Triton in San Francisco as well as a year’s supply of free Haagen-Dazs ice cream!

ENTRY DEADLINE: June 8, 2009

ENTRY FEE: None

ELIGIBILTY: Simply send in an original dessert recipe that features pollinated ingredients such as chocolate, vanilla, cherries, almond, and strawberries. 

They are looking for a mouthwatering recipe which makes use of the bounty brought to us by pollinators.

Recipe submissions can be emailed to info@pollinator.org. For more details, please visit pollinator.org.

Winner will be announced during National Pollinator Week, June 22 – 29, 2009 on pollinator.org.

Could you please tell us a little bit about you and your passion? How did it all start?

I am a mom of 2 boys and a girl. Ever since my children began school my time stretched out into long boredom filled hours and I was desperate to find something to occupy myself.

I have always harbored a love for baking. It was not until a few years ago a function having crept up at my youngest sons school ,that I produced a batch of cupcakes like no other I have ever made. Moving away from the traditional look of slapping the icing on the cupcake ,my self-created pastel swirls were a big hit. The teachers ,children and parents were very impressed. No one seemed to see such unique swirls before.

My sister-in-law introduced me to Flickr where I discovered a group of talented ladies who were kind enough to encourage and answer my questions.

My ignorance turning to curiosity, I began experimenting on my own. The pictures you see today are the consequences of my playing around with the little knowledge and supplies I have.

Your cakes and cupcakes look absolutely amazing! So simple but so very stylish at the same time. What inspires you?

The possibility of a successful outcome drives me to drastic lengths. The vision of the result begs for me to work harder. What I find most exciting is the challenge of an idea I dreamed up into a reality. I draw inspiration from beauty around me… most times I have no idea what to create and playing with the fondant the Almighty inspires an idea.

Seeing the reaction of family and friends and the joy on their faces inspires me to create these little works of art.(All praises to the Almighty)

What’s your favorite ingredient and why?

I use the finest ingredients available here in South Africa, striving for quality and enhancing flavour and will not compromise…callebaut or lindt chocolate,Nomu Madagascan vanilla extract , Nomu cocoa. The ingredients are the foundation of a good bake.

Contact. How can our readers get in touch with you? Can they order online?

Living in the South African countryside with the nearest city being a 45 min drive my situation does not allow me to create a thriving business. At the present it has to remain more as a hobby.

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All the pictures in this post belong to Cupcakes Land and should not be re-posted without prior consent. To see more of Shamima’s gorgeous creations, please visit her Collection.

Strawberry season is coming. Here is a delicious Strawberry Cream Pie recipe, courtesy of pillsbury.com

Luscious hot fudge topping sits between a flaky crust and a creamy filling for a fruity dessert with something extra!

photo and recipe courtesy of pillsbury.com

INGREDIENTS

1 Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crust (from 15-oz box), softened as directed on box
2/3 cup hot fudge topping
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 pint (2 cups) strawberries, quartered
1/2 cup strawberry pie glaze
1/2 cup whipping (heavy) cream, whipped, if desired

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 450°F. Make pie crust as directed on box for One-Crust Baked Shell using 9-inch glass pie pan. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

2. Spread hot fudge topping in bottom of cooled baked shell. Refrigerate 1 hour.

3. In small bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Carefully spread over chocolate layer in shell.

4. In medium bowl, gently mix strawberries and pie glaze. Spoon evenly over cream cheese layer. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

5. Just before serving, pipe or spoon whipped cream around edge of pie. Store in refrigerator.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No changes.

SHARE YOUR PICTURE

Join 100CafeStreet Group on Flickr and share your image! We frequently check the Pool for pictures to be featured on our website.

As soon as I saw this yummy recipe, I knew I had to share it! So, here we go!

Rabbit Cookies. photo and recipe courtesy of Pillsbury.com

DESCRIPTION

No cookie cutters needed for these clever cookies! Just turn a few balls of Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake™ cookie dough into tasty treats.

INGREDIENTS

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated sugar cookies
1 cup fluffy white frosting
Decorating icing or gel
Assorted small candies or decors

DIRECTIONS

1.Heat oven to 350°F. Cut cookie dough into 16 slices; cut 8 of the slices in half down the center. To make 1 rabbit cookie, place 1 whole slice on ungreased cookie sheet for head; place
2 halves on top, slightly overlapping on whole slice, for ears. Repeat to make 7 more rabbit cookies, placing 2 inches apart.

2.Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until edges are light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 15 minutes.

3.Frost cookies with frosting; decorate with icing and candies.

High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

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Thank you, Pillsbury.com, for allowing us to re-publish this recipe!