31 Day Blog Challenge Profile: Quirky Bookworm

As you all may have noticed, I just started a 31 Day Blog Challenge. This is my first time doing one of these linky party things. In fact, I was just planning on blogging for 31 days by myself, but my lovely wife let me know about this huge linky party being hosted by a few of the blogs she reads regularly. I really didn’t know what to expect, but as of this evening, it looks like there’s over 650 people participating in this challenge. That being said, there’s a lot of great blogs participating. While I know it’ll probably be hard for me to check out every single blog, I wanted to make sure to call out some that really catch my eye. If you want to check out all 650ish blogs (which I recommend because my guess is we don’t all have the same tastes, right?), here’s a direct link to get you there… Complete List of the 31 Dayers

While you’re here, I also wanted to call out the first blog that really caught my eye. As a huge fan of books and the printed word, I’m always looking for new places to get recommendations. The name of this blog (Quirky Bookworm) immediately caught my eye because my reading tastes aren’t necessarily main stream.

After checking out the Quirky Bookworm blog, I also found out the person hosting this blog also reviews for Shelf Awareness – an industry rag I tend to respect (they seemed to be the most respectful of Borders through the whole liquidation ordeal. I immediately was intrigued to read further.

For the month of October, Jessica (the person behind Quirky Bookworm) will be recommending 31 books to us. I don’t know about you, but I think this is an amazing idea and can’t wait to she what she has to recommend. Please feel free to check out her blog and tell her Dane sent you.  Also, check back here periodically to see what other blogs I want to profile.

Here’s a direct link to the start of her 31 Day Blogs:

31 Days of Halloween Hijinks: Halloween Eyeballs Recipe

Day Two:  Halloween Eyeballs Recipe

This 31 days of blogging may be a bit more challenging than first anticipated, but I’m completely up for the challenge.  I’m really having a lot of fun and have so many ideas for posts this month.  I want to make sure everything I post is fun for my entire audience though, so please feel free to post comments on these posts letting me know other things you’d like to see this month.  I’m going to get to some reviews and interviews later this week, plus some posts about ghosts, ghouls, etc soon too.

Now, without further ado, here’s a fun recipe you can make with your children.  My wife and I are both doing Weight Watchers right now, and our daughter is a little too young (well, probably not, but she’s hyper enough without all the sugar in this recipe), so this post won’t have any pictures (a crime for a recipe post, I know…it’s for my health though…sorry!).

Before I get started, I will say that this recipe is extremely sweet.  My wife would say almost too sweet, but kids will absolutely love it.  If you decide to make these with your kids, you may want to do the melting and dipping yourself, but the construction of the eyeball itself (Gummi Savers and M&Ms) is perfect for children to help with.

To make these Halloween eyeballs, you’ll need the following Ingredients:

2 bags (12 ounces each) of white chocolate chips

2 teaspoons of shortening

20 doughnut holes (we used glazed doughnut holes – which may be why the end product was excessively sweet)

20 Gummi Savers (you choose the colors based on what color you want your Halloween eyes to be)

20 brown M&Ms

red food coloring (this is for the eye’s “veins,” feel free to use another color for spookier results)

Directions!

1)  Prep a full-sized cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside for later use.  Don’t worry, I won’t forget about it.

2)  Mix both bags of white chocolate chips with the vegetable shortening and melt them using a stainless steel bowl over a pan of simmering hot water.  Stir the melted mixture until smooth.

3)  Use a knife to make one of the sides of the doughnut hole flat and then use a fork to dip the doughnut holes into the chocolate mixture, making sure to coat the entire doughnut.

4)  Place the doughnut flat side down on the cookie sheet (I told you I wouldn’t forget about it!)  Repeat this until all the doughnuts are coated and on the cookie sheet.

5)  Here’s where the kids can chip in.  As you set the unused white chocolate aside (you’ll need it later), have your child pick their favorite Gummi Saver on the top of each doughnut hole to create the eye’s iris.

6)  Place cookie sheet in fridge to let the chocolate set.

7)  When everything is set, put the cookie sheet back out of the fridge.  You’ll also probably need to reheat the unused chocolate again.

8)  Use a dab of melted chocolate to attach the brown M&M pupil onto the top of the Gummi Saver iris.

9)  Place cookie sheet back in the fridge to let the eyeballs set.

10)  While waiting for them to set, use the food coloring you chose and drop it into the last of the unused melted chocolate.

11)  When the eyeballs are set again, grab a toothpick, dab it in the colored melted chocolate, and draw the eyeball’s veins onto the surface of the doughnut hole eye.  Repeat until done.

And, there you have it.  A fun, easy, quick, and super sweet treat for your little ones this Halloween season.  Since I don’t have any pictures of the finished product, feel free to submit some photos to me after you try the recipe and I’ll include them.

Have a great Sunday!