Brooke LOVES halloween. Her home is always filled with the cutest and spookiest decorations, and the costumes she comes up with for her kids always impress. Well this year she gifted me with the most adorable and simple way to make halloween treats! They will look like you spend hours searching pinterest for ideas and slaved away in the kitchen to make them. When really, all you have to do is stand in front of a microwave for a few seconds. These white chocolate skull suckers are such a fun and simple halloween activity/treat! 

I picture wrapping these suckers in cellophane and tying them with a cute ribbon. For the skeleton body, I'm going to poke the bones into a chocolate cake. There are so many adorable possibilities! All you have to do is purchase these inexpensive candy molds (amazon links below), and then melt some chocolate and pour it into the molds. It couldn't be easier! 

I've attached links below to the exact molds and candy melts we used. Candy melts work so much better than actual chocolate. You can just pop them into the microwave and melt them, instead of having to use a double boiler like regular chocolate. Also, they come in this gorgeous white color to make the bones look extra spooky. You could even add a few drops of red or green food coloring if you wanted your bones to be bloody or slimy. So much fun, and so easy. This was the perfect halloween treat to have my toddler help me create. 

Enjoy! Hope you have a spooky halloween!

I love introducing our readers to other blogs that use lavender in their culinary adventures. This week I have two sweet recipes for you to try. 

Lavender Ice Cream Floats are such a fun idea from The Sweetest Occasion. Their blog is full of wonderful recipes, check them out and you won't be disappointed. Find them here.

This is a very unique recipe for pound cake from the geniuses at Bake Your Day because they use greek yogurt! You've gotta try it. Find the recipe HERE. 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Cook something sweet for your sweetheart. 

Peggy has so many wonderful dishes in her repertoire. Her leek and potato soup has to be my absolute favorite. I could drink gallons of this like a diesel truck drinks fuel. If I could fill a swimming pool with this soup, I totally would. Its creamy and full of amazing comfort flavors. I just want to keep saying "this is sooooo delicious!" the entire time I'm eating this soup. It's the perfect cozy fall soup. 

Ingredients: 

3 tablespoons butter

2 slices bacon, chopped

2 large leeks, (the white part only) chopped

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and chopped

4 cups chicken stock

2 bay leaves

4 sprigs of thyme 

15-20 peppercorns (can sub pepper to taste)

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup heavy cream (can sub whole milk)

Directions:

In a heavy pan, melt your butter and add your bacon. Cook bacon until crisp and all the fat is rendered off into the pan. Add your leeks and potatoes to the pan and cook until your leeks are soft. Add your wine, stock, bay leaves, & thyme.  Tie your peppercorns in a cheesecloth bundle with the green parts of the leek and add that to the pot too. Simmer until the potatoes are very soft. You can then blend the soup with an emersion blender until its creamy with just a few chunks. Remove from heat and cool slightly before adding your cream (so your cream doesn't curdle) or temper your cream before adding it to the hot soup. Reheat slowly and salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with bread, or the Nelson favorite is to pair this soup with crab. 

I've said it once, but I will say it a million times. This soup is sooooooo good. Creamy, full of comforting flavors, and the perfect velvety texture. Make this today and I dare you not to fall in love with it. 

Growing up, my mother made Sweet Rolls. Somewhere along the line I started calling them Cinnamon Rolls. I realized a good chunk of the world calls them Sticky Buns. Whatever you call them, you will certainly call them delicious. Behold! 

These magical rolls are made of light and fluffy dough. They have the perfect amount of sweet and spice. The oozy gooey frosting makes the melt in your mouth. They are literally finger licking good. 

Ingredients for the dough: 

1 small package of yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 egg

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup melted butter

1 teaspoon lavender salt

3 1/2 cups flour

Ingredients for the center: 

1/4 cup melted butter

1/3 cup lavender sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Ingredients for the frosting: 

4 tablespoons room temperature butter

1 teaspoon lavender vanilla extract 

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons hot water

Directions: 

In a small bowl disolve your yeast packet in warm water. In a separate bowl heat your milk in the microwave to almost boiling. In your kitchen mixer, use your dough attachment and mix together your milk, sugar, melted butter, egg, and lavender salt. Slowly add your flour and then add your yeast water. Mix on medium speed for about 4 or 5 minutes. The dough should form a sticky ball. Grease the sides of your mixing bowl and cover it with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel. Keep it in a warm spot on your counter until the dough doubles in size, about 60-90 minutes. 

Then knead your dough back into its original size. Using the backside of a greased cookie tray,  roll out your dough until it matches the tray in size. Cover your sheet of dough with your melted butter. Then mix together your cinnamon and lavender sugar and sprinkle your mixture all over the melted butter. Roll it up from the long side so it makes a long skinny roll of dough. Cut it into 12 equal pieces. Place those pieces in a greased casserole dish, spaced into 3 rows of 4. Let rise again, until the dough fills the pan and about doubles in size again. This should take 30-45 minutes. 

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and back for 25 minutes or until just slightly golden on top. As soon as you pull your rolls from the oven, mix together your butter, vanilla, powdered sugar, and water until its a smooth consistency. Pour your glaze over your rolls once they have cooled slightly. Serve immediately. 

This is the best desert I have made in a long time. We made it for lds general conference weekend, which is always a special time for our family. This is the perfect desert for a morning family gather. But if you know my family, you better make a double batch. Enjoy!