Gingerbread Boys (or Girls)

I made these twice this week. They were a hit at Cub Scouts the other night. I made another batch today to take to the Halloween Party tonight! It's just my regular ol' gingerbread cookies that I usually do for Christmas. Amanda saw a cute idea to make them into skeletons. Amberly is thrilled because this is her favorite cookie and I would only make them at Christmas. Now she gets them twice a year. 1 c. molasses
1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 egg
1/2 c. hot water
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger
3 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. cloves
6 c. flour

Glaze:
3 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

Simmer molasses and shortening in saucepan for 5 minutes. Cream together sugar and egg. Dissolve baking soda in water and add to sugar mixture. Add vanilla, salt, and spices and mix together. Pour in molasses mixture and mix well. Add flour mixing well. Roll dough into a thick layer on floured surface. Cut in shapes. Scraps can be rolled out again. I keep a damp, warm towel or paper towels on the surface of my dough that is in the bowl so that it doesn't dry out or get too cold. Bake at 375 degrees for 6-7 minutes. After all cookies are baked, dip them completely in glaze and let drain and dry on cookie racks for a few hours. At Christmastime I like to put sprinkles or colored sugar on them after I dip them in the glaze.

Mummy Pizzas

Okay, so they are NOT picture perfect, but we had fun making them anyway! You can use bagels, english muffins, or homemade pizza crust. Add your sauce, and a couple of sliced olives for eyeballs. We like pepperoni so we put them on under the cheese so our mummies didn't look like they had the measles. We then layered string cheese that we had pulled apart to make the gauze effect.

Creamy Italian Chicken w/ Ghost Rolls

For these little ghost rolls you just use your favorite basic bread recipe (mine is at the bottom of the post). Roll into balls, then into thick ropes about 3 inches long. Place them on baking sheet and flatten. The eyes can be whatever you want -- raisins, black beans, I used black food coloring. Let rise and then bake according to your recipe instructions. Creamy Italian Chicken

1 lb. chicken, cooked however you like -- grilled, boiled, whatever
1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 pkg. Zesty Italian Dressing mix
1/2 c. water
1 can or jar sliced mushrooms, drained (this is optional)
pasta, any kind you want

Combine in saucepan and heat together cream cheese, soup, dressing mix, and water. If it's too thick you can add a little water or milk. Add chicken and mushrooms. You can spoon the sauce over the pasta or mix it all together. I usually just mix it all together.

Basic Bread Dough

1 1/2 c. warm water
1 Tbsp. yeast
2-3 Tbsp. sugar

Dissolve sugar and yeast in water

Add and mix:
2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt

Add and mix:
1/4 c. oil

Add and mix until ball forms:
2 c. flour

Let rise til doubled. At this point it can be used for rolls, pizza crust, cinnamon rolls, hamburger or hot dog buns. Shape and then let rise again. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.