Pretzel Screamers

As one of my post-work projects this week, I decided to make some cute little "pretzel screamers" to share :) I saw them on Pinterest and decided to try.

Yes, I know there are a couple of eye-less pretzels and pretzels with mismatched eyes.

They're actually pretty simple to make, provided you don't scorch the chocolate when you're trying to melt it.  All you need is:

- Mini pretzels

- Chocolate chips for melting

- Food colouring (optional)

- Butter/vegetable oil/olive oil

- Reese's pieces (or some substitute for eyeballs)

- Wax paper

Step 1: melt the chocolate. 

Good thing I got more chocolate chips than I actually needed because I had to do this step twice. On my first try, I used the double boiler method (as I usually do when I'm trying to melt chocolate). 

EXCEPT, this turned out somewhat disastrously because the chocolate got way too hot, too quickly. I've never used a gas stove before I moved to BC, so I'm still trying to get used to it. Water boils so quickly on a gas stove!!! Also, I've always used dark chocolate for melting and didn't realize that milk & white chocolate gets burnt a lot quicker. So, my first batch of chocolate chips turned into a nasty, mud-like concoction that I had to say goodbye to. 

The second time around, I went the microwave route and heated up the chocolate in a bowl in short intervals (I think I did 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 15 seconds). I added in a bit of olive oil to the mix each time I took it out of the microwave, until the consistency became "coat-able". 

Step 2: coat the pretzels in chocolate.

I lined a baking sheet with wax paper and then placed the chocolate-covered pretzels on to set.

Pretty straightforward.

Step 3: create glue for the eyeballs.

Using the same microwave method of chocolate-melting, I melted the white chocolate chips.

I then used food colouring to create three different colours of eyeball glue. 

Then I scooped the colours into little plastic bags, so I could squeeze them out onto the pretzels.

I snipped off a corner so I could "pipe".
The purple-ish colour hardened almost right away for some reason, so I had to abandon it :(

Step 4: stick on the eyeballs.

I used Reese's Pieces because I conveniently had some lying around from a box of candy I recently bought from the superstore ... but anything eyeball-like works. I saw pics where people used sprinkles, smarties, m&ms, etc.

I just left some of them without eyeballs because I thought they looked kind of creepy as is.

After put all the eyeballs on, I stuck them all into the fridge to set.

Step 5: SHARE :) 

I got these adorable Frankenstein candy bags from London Drugs for 99 cents (for a pack of 10)! I put the pretzels in a separate plastic bag, so they wouldn't be touching the rest of the candy.

Sunday Funday

Whoever coined #sundayfunday got it right. 

I always hear people talking about the Monday blues ... but for me, it's usually the Sunday afternoon-ish to evening/night blues. When I wake up on Monday mornings, everything happens so quickly that I don't even have time to wallow in blue-ness. Usually, I spend a large part of my Monday mornings trying to function and wishing that the caffeine in my coffee would be more effective.

Sunday, however, is the day for me where I start to think about all the things I have to get done in the week. And when that list gets long ... it can be quite overwhelming.

... and THAT'S why I always try to make Sunday a "fun day" because: 1) it distracts me from thinking about the negative stuff and 2) it's just nice to fit in something fun / relaxing before getting back to my daily work routine.

Yesterday, #sundayfunday took the form of trying a new restaurant (Dinesty in Richmond) and glow-in-the-dark mini putting! 

(I forgot to take pictures at Dinesty because I was too hangry and couldn't wait to eat.)

He somehow manages to get a hole-in-one every time.

FYI: We went to West Coast Mini Putt in Richmond. I would definitely recommend it to anyone in  the area who's in search of a fun place for mini golf. They're a relatively new spot in Richmond. Their glow in the dark decorations are really cool and apparently they have different seasonal designs for the course. The winner of each group always gets a prize and you get your picture taken (and a bigger prize!) if you get a hole-in-one on the 18th hole. The owner is also super friendly and his dog is adorable.

Getting Ready for Halloween

If you know me, then you would know that I'm the kind of person who likes to celebrate ... pretty much anything. Getting into the spirit of any holiday gets me excited and gives me something to look forward to. And you know what? Life is short, so you might as well celebrate when you can.

This week, I made a lot of lunch-time trips to the Dollarama down the street from my office. By Friday, I had accumulated a pile of Halloween decorations that I couldn't wait to put up in my apartment.

Side note: I love Dollarama. I'm always amazed at how much stuff I can find and how much stuff I can buy for under $20.

I dedicated most of yesterday to Halloween prep. In the morning, I spent some time working on my costume (see my post from yesterday). Then, I put up most of my decorations. Some of the items required some team effort, so I waited until I had some back-up support. After that, it was time to go pumpkin shopping!

I looked like a crazy pumpkin lady at the Superstore.

Once I got the pumpkins safely back to my place, it was time to put up the rest of the decorations (and take pictures, of course).

For those of you who are Bath & Body Works fans - I also have a Sweater Weather candle burning (just to set the mood a bit more for the pictures to follow).

The best Halloween candy, IMO.

My back-up support! 

To finish off the day, I had lovely people come over to create pumpkin masterpieces.

My pre-carving sketch of my OG pumpkin

After 2.5 hours of hard work ... VOILA!

Left to Right: Mickey Mouse, Kevin the Minion, STROSHOW 6, Casper the Friendly Ghost
Centre: Jack the OG Pumpkin

Colour Me Crazy

I get very excited by new things, so naturally I was itching to post again. We'll see how long this streak of daily posts lasts for.

Finishing up my Halloween costume this morning! Any guesses? 

Nothing better than a cup of coffee and an eyeful of colour to really wake me up in the morning.

A Day in the Life of

Probably like many others, I have been meaning to start a blog for years (but never got around to it). Now that I've taken a leap of faith and finally moved from the Toronto to Vancity - I figured I might as well.

I'm not a philosopher, so I'm going to keep this intro blurb short.

Over the years, I've realized that being happy is a choice. And yes, sometimes choosing to be happy can be (very) hard, especially if I haven't had my morning coffee, my day at work sucked, I'm sick, it's been raining all day, blah blah blah, etc. But, life happens, it happens quickly, and every second you spend agonizing over something is a second you will never get back.  In light of that, I always try to make a conscious effort to take a step back, take a deep breath, and not sweat the small stuff.

And so, here's to my day-to-day attempts at choosing happiness, staying positive, remaining grateful, and enjoying life for what it is ... despite life's nuisances. TGIF! :)

P.S. GO JAYS GO! It ain't over til it's over, Kansas City!