Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Cooking is hard for the Countdown to Halloween 2013!

So this year I am doing something a bit different for the month of October. I went ahead and joined the other Cryptkeepers bent on counting down to one of the most awesome holidays of the year: Halloween! Head over to Countdown to Halloween and learn more. It's a fun way for the blogging community to get psyched for all the joys of the most spooktacular holiday ever. Click below and read on as I tell a scary tale involving me and the Kitchen of Doom!


I'm not one for cooking. Call it my "I am woman hear me roar" attitude, but I just never really got that gene to cook and be Suzy Homemaker. I don't know the difference between butter or margarine, but I can certainly rattle off the different She-Ra and Catra variants made by Mattel. That counts for something, right?

Anyways, the big deal this Halloween season for me is the Monster Cereals. Every year the usual three (Count Chocula, Frankenberry, and Boo Berry) make their return to shelves and it is nice. This year though, General Mills went further into the coffin and pulled out Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy. These cereals are good and have not been on shelves in decades. Incidentally Fruit Brute is my favorite, that cereal needs to be around all year. Fake cherry flavored cereal is the best.

On a side note, how do you all eat your cereal? I hate milk. I just think milk is gross. I don't know what happened to me, maybe I've hit my head too many times, I just don't know. Either way, milk is too grody for all that is good and sane. I eat my cereal dry. Sadly, some of these Monster Cereals taste like funk when dry. (Fruit Brute though is still amazing.)

With all these Monster Cereals I've been scooping up, I've realized that I have a ton of cereal to eat. As such, I've been getting creative with how to eat all this cereal and in honor of so many family birthdays this past weekend and with Halloween coming up, I made Frankenberry Marshmallow Treats! And it was a nightmare.

Now I adore Frankenberry as a character. He is all pink and just the kind of character that I could hang out with. However, that is a lot of strawberry taste for cereal.


So I decided to go ahead and make Frankenberry Marshmallow Treats even though I've never made Marshmallow Treats in my life. I've always just assumed that if I wanted a marshmallow treat I'd just show up at someone's party and eat some. Not a big deal.

Can I just say, melting marshmallows is the most disgusting thing in the world. I used a recipe online and as I was making this terrible concoction the marshmallows just turned into something from the set of a horror movie. It was just a nightmare. Everything was sticky. For a second I firmly believed that the bowl of Frankenberry Treat was going to come alive and attack me. (You must butter the spatula before spreading the treat residue into a pan, I sadly had not followed that advice.)

At some point I gave up trying to scoop it all into the pan and just started pulling it out with my hands. (They were clean, I promise.) After pressing the hard sticky cereal into the pan, I messed my finger up and popped a blood vessel. I know, I know, it sounds terrible that I gave myself a bruise making Frankenberry Marshmallow Treats.

Anyways, once all the struggles were complete, this is what the damn mess looked like:



Don't adjust your screens, that does look like cat sick in a 13x9 inch pan. I was devastated. I know I can't cook, but there are times where I wish I was good at whipping something up in the kitchen. Knowing how to cook food is kind of important for survival reasons while knowing about She-Ra and Catra variants won't get you far in a zombie apocalypse.

So how did it all turn out? Was my failed attempt at making yummy Frankenberry Marshmallow Treats a success or a big dud? After offering bits and pieces to my loved ones, I am proud to say that they actually turned out pretty well! Sure I got a bruised finger and the treats looked like cat sick, but in the end they tasted like a strawberry wonderland of sugary cereal.

On that note, Halloween season is here! Stick around, this month is going to be a fun celebration of all things ghoul and spooky. I'll be posting my usual stories but there will be a lot of fun Halloween talk too. And, keep your ears to the walls, because I have a few fun surprises coming up very soon! Hope you are all doing well, and again, if you want to learn more about the Countdown to Halloween, click here and check out the other people participating.

21 comments:

  1. They look tasty and something you could give out as a treat in a haunted house. : )

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    1. Oh John that would be perfect! Like telling people it is cat vomit. Oh they'd be so grossed out! I wish there was a way I could send these out to everyone!A taste of Halloween! lol I hope you are doing well.

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  2. You need to use a smaller pan next time, and perhaps more marshmallows.

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    1. Yeah I thought the pan would be the correct size, I was thinking it would all spread out more. lol And I made the mistake of purchasing the mini marshmallows instead of the jumbo ones.

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  3. I hope you ate those anyway! I LOVED this post! Happy Day 1!

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    1. Thank you Goodwill Geek! They have been getting ate up. Happy Day 1 to you too! I like what you are posting so far. I don't know that I will post every day, but I am going to have some fun stuff in store!

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  4. Look tasty, indeed. I would eat 'em! I had Fruit Brute for breakfast this morning, with milk! :)

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    1. Thank you Caffeinated Joe! And I'm glad you had Fruit Brute for breakfast! Even with the milk. (My friends really give me a hard time for disliking milk.) lol Hope you are well.

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  5. they don't look too bad miss m almost like dyed melted rice krispies treats as a crumble. sure they are tasty and if nothing else hand them out as a rare new thing to trick or treaters

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    1. Thank you demoncat. They do sort of look like dyed melted rice krispies! lol They are tasty. This makes me want to try the recipe again and get it a little more right, and maybe try a different flavor. lol My only obstacle is the marshmallow mess. lol Talk to ya later!

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  6. Hey, we all know that in the future, when the robots are taking over the world...that you will save us all with your encyclopedic knowledge of all things SHE-RA while everyone else is sitting on their asses eating Frankenberry marshmallow treats. The fact that you couldn't just use a smaller bowl astounds me. And I say to you what me dear old Dad would say about his sister who couldn't cook - 'At least she's pretty.'

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    1. Oh Kal, this comment made me laugh so much! First of all, I do hope it is a robo apocalypse and not a zombie one. I feel like the robots would like me and want to learn more about She-Ra. lol Secondly, I just could not stop laughing. I never even thought about a smaller bowl. Here's the thing about me, I can somehow come up with these creative conversations with inanimate objects but I am so clueless in other ways. I just am an airhead. And I say that in the nicest way about myself. I don't want this to sound like I am bashing myself, but I am really an air head. And the 'At least she's pretty' bit is just too funny! Because I have had people tell me that. lol Etheria help me when I get old. lol

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  7. I've heard a couple of people say recently that they don't have milk with cereal. This is so alien to me as I've been brought up that milk always goes on cereal and never question it at all. Then again, you're actually eating breakfast, so that puts you in a better position than most of my peers.

    I suppose some cereals might stand milk better than others. I grew up with whole grain, wheat or corn cereals, none of this synthetic strawberry or sugar stuff, which I imagine might get soggy fast.

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    1. Well I used to add milk to cereal. It wasn't until about 10 years or so ago that I just couldn't deal with it. lol I don't know what happened. Of course with my aversion to milk, I don't usually eat that much cereal. I do make exceptions for the Monster Cereals though. Usually I eat oatmeal or something like that for breakfast.

      And I do agree, corn cereals and stuff like that do taste better with milk. The sugary stuff can be just fine on it's own, like a dessert or something. lol Listen to me. lol I hope you are doing well!

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  8. As a kid it was always difficult for me too, because, like you, I simply refuse to eat milk on cereal! But, I actually go one step further with my weirdness, I tend not to eat anything with a spoon. Even stuff like Macaroni and Cheese I use a fork. Ice cream occasionally is the only thing I use a spoon on, otherwise I tend to avoid spoon foods. Why? I don't know. It's not really a phobia or anything. I just don't like using spoons. Though I don't think anything bad would happen to me if I did. So when I eat cereal it's usually straight outta the box. That being said, I still loved the cereal isle as as a kid. The 80's was just a magical time for cereal. And the toys you would get in the boxes! Do they still do that?
    And also, HOLY CRAP! I DIDN'T KNOW THEY WERE BRINGING THE MONSTER CEREALS BACK!!" Why was I not aware of this!?
    I remember Yummy Mummy, but we never had Fruit Brute around when I was a kid. At least not at the stores we went to. I thought that got discontinued in the 70s! But you had it? Maybe we didn't have any in our area but that had it in others I dunno.
    Seeing these new versions of the characters makes me think they would look good computer animated. I rarely endorse computer animation, but in this case I think it would look good. Are there new commercials for these?
    BTW the treats look good. And you good do them with any of the monster cereals feasibly. Good idea!

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    1. Oh my goodness, I do the same thing! I use a fork for most things too! I rarely use a spoon. I think like soups and ice cream are the only things I will eat with a spoon! That is so funny! I have family members that just think I am crazy as all get out for that. And I think every now and then certain cereals will have some sort of prize in the pack.

      Now the usual three Monsters always come back every Halloween, but this year they brough back Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute after decades long hiatus. Most stores have the new boxes but Target has reissued the vintage boxes! So you need to go out and get some. I don't think there are any commercials, but I like that they are all back.

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    2. I don't like eating soup for that very reason,I pretty much avoid it (although I like the band Bowling for Soup!) I don't trust food that isn't solid! But certain ice creams you can't help it, for example I love nerd Blizzards. Can't not use a spoon on those!) but I prefer ice cream in a cone if I have a choice.
      I don't know, it must be an OCD thing. Like, I have never been diagnosed with OCD, but I swear I probably have it. I just have too many quirks not to have it!
      Some of my friends on Facebook went nuts, after I spread the news of the return of the monster cereals. They need to always be around like in the 80's. At least the big three.People love them! Come on, I mean, after the Vampire boom they never thought about having Count Chocula all year!!?
      Speaking of vampires , what did you think of the debut of "the Originals" episode from Elijah's perspective? I liked everything except for the daggering at the end . I will admit that is getting old! Rebekah better instantly un-dagger him. Or maybe Hayley could.

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    3. Ok so in terms of soup, I only really eat soup when I feel sick or it is really cold. And since I live in Texas, there are like two and a half days of cold, so I rarely eat soup. But a Nerd Blizzard! That sounds amazing. I don't think they have those in my area, but I would totally get one. I guess I could add my own Nerds into a Blizzard, but I just never thought of that. I love Nerds.

      Sometimes I have wondered if I needed a diagnosis for my quirks too. lol

      I'm glad your friends have been going nuts over the Monster Cereals! I do miss them not being around all year round like they used to be. I have to say though, bringing back Frute Brute and Yummy Mummy has made it even more exciting because for so long they were just relics.

      So I was mixed with the Originals. I got confused ebcause it felt like I had already seen parts of the episode when they teased it last year and I was not impressed with the daggering at the end. I mean I feel like they need to give it a rest on doppelgangers, daggers, and coming back from the dead with the rings. I just feel like those plot points get used a lot. But, aside from that, the Originals wasn't bad. I'm glad to see Rebekah, I really like her character.

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    4. OK -UPDATE! My mom was at Target today and she just sent me a pic that she bought me all the vintage boxes except Boo Berry! That's the only one I still need! I can't believe she did that, I just showed her the picture on a lark when I was home last weekend to tell her that if she happens to be out and about and sees them to pick one up. Didn't expect her to get them all! But I did do some nice things for her birthday last week so maybe it was a payback! Anyway, Boo Berry is the last one I need so I better strap on my Proton Pack and go looking for that Blue bastard! I am going home this weekend so I will get to see them, and I can't wait to see Fruit Brute! Seeing a box of Fruit Brute in person will be like seeing a fucking Bigfoot!
      And I hoped you watched the Originals again this week since you are a Rebekah fan. This may have been the best Rebekah episode ever, including all the VD episodes she was in. Finally! We get a real bad ass girl vamp character! (I mean I like Elena and Caroline but do not consider them bad ass. ) Rebekah is like the She-Ra of vamp world.
      I really feel like the show is starting to find it's footing now that we have gotten past the TWO first episodes! Finally some new material! I also hope the daggering can be done with now that Haley gave the daggers to Rebekah and i was glad to find out Klaus had a good reason to dagger Elijah and didn't just do it to be a dick.

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  9. It's interesting how the conversation went from milk or no milk to spoon or fork. I go through a gallon of milk a week, love the stuff. I fill my cereal bowl full, I drink milk with meals, I even eat Oreos like cereal. My wife hates it, she avoids milk. She is also anti-spoon for the most part. I love digging into some "yellow death" with a spoon. My wife goes for the fork every time.

    Is there some kind of connection? So far 3 out of 3 no milkers are no spooners (that sounds weird).

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    1. That is so interesting! I wonder if there is some research or something that has been done on this. I mean I don't even really know why I stopped drinking milk, it is just something that I have just avoided. Now I don't really use a spoon very often, but I can get down with a spork. It blends the two nicely. lol I don't really know, I never really thought much about any of this, until these comments! lol

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