Out with the gold, In with the cold

Goodbye Fall. You'll be dearly missed. It was nice while it lasted but Old Man Winter is knocking on my door. Until next year...

Au revoir! Auf Wiedersehen! ¡Hasta mañana!

Shot this fall while vacationing on Lake Winter. * sigh *

March of the Penguins

Get your office talking about these dishes at your next Holiday potluck. Bonus: they are quick, easy, and impressive.

Penguins
For the body: Cut a wedge out of a large black olive. Fill with flavored cream cheese.
For the head: cut carrots into coin shaped slices. cut a small triangle-shape wedge out of each carrot coin. Poke the wedge into the tiny hole (not the large hole) of a small black olive.
For the base: Using the same carrot coins, cut the wedge even larger to create feet.
Assemble: stack the stuffed olive on top of the wedge, place the head on top and pierce with a tooth pick until all three parts are secured together.

This doesn't take as long as you may think. It's simple and also very delicious. Would go great as a sandwich side. And your friends/family/coworkers will be blown-away!

Marshmallow Snowmen
For the body: dunk the top of a marshmallow in frosting, and then dunk in your favorite sprinkles. (I used shredded coconut, candy-coated mini chocolate chips, nonpareils, crushed nuts, and crushed candy canes.)
For the face: Just use simple cake decorating gel or pipe frosting to draw the face. It's fun to show a variety of expressions and feel free to play around with different colors, too.
Assemble: Stick a cake pop/lollipop stick (found at specialty bake stores or Michael's) through the top and you're done!

The kids will really appreciate this one.