Walking Dead Party!

Ian and I got REALLY into the Walking Dead and there was a mid season premiere coming up in February so we were super stoked! It was the afternoon on the day before the premier when Ian tells me that he invited a bunch of people over to see the premier. We had never had people over before this so I was taking it as our first dinner party as a married couple and I was very nervous. Saturday was half way done and we couldn't go out shopping on Sunday so I had a few hours to plan, decorate, prepare, and shop for our first dinner party that was zombie theme (I would have way rather a garden party theme but whatever). I guess it was all the Martha Stewart I watched growing up that made me think everything had to be perfect, but I wanted to throw the best zombie party EVER (like in a magazine kind of good... No pressure). 

I wanted to set the mood as soon as they ring the doorbell so I had this at the window right next to the front door.

This was the front door that freaked out the whole neighborhood:

I tried to 'board up' the window in the dining room and topped it off with a zombie poster that I burned to look old. 

The appetizers for guests were 'zombie fingers'. Hot dogs cut in half then carved to look like fingers(they were carved before they were boiled to look like real fingers). We dunked the cut end of the fingers into ketchup to look like the fingers were ripped off a hand:

For the sweeter appetizer, we had 'zombie eyes'. Chocolate cake pops with a fork instead of a stick to make it look more graphic. I was going to add a black fondant pupil but we ran out of time so I had to label what they were:

Our drinks for dinner was a cranberry pop (for the red colour) and I had little heart shape ice cube tray from Valentines Day so we ended up with 'zombie blood with ice cold zombie hearts':

I really love garlic bread with cheese so I had to think really had and I came up with 'zombie thighs'. Ok so it was a stretch but I really wanted my garlic bread and I was running out of other good zombie ideas:

Our main course was 'zombie intestines'. They were quick and easy to make and for a last minute dinner party main course, this was the choice perfect:

They were ready to kick us out of the grocery store when we picked up a strawberry rhubarb pie which we called 'zombie gut pie':

This one kind of failed but I LOVE jello spit was coming out no matter what! Red jello in a brain mold but the jello piled out and didn't look at all like a brain :(

I had to have take homes because they are my favourite part of a party! I made brains in Mimi jars out of chocolate cake and icing and used my paint skills for the labels!:

Our group shot with our best zombie faces:

And a nice shot of all of us: 

Funny side Story:
Our decorations of the front door were so believable that our next door neighbors rang our doorbell to see if we were in trouble. They said that they were ready to call the police because of the "Save yourself" sign on the window! 

Get Better Soon Jessie!

Ever since my family moved to Richmond Hill I have been terrified of dogs. There is this one dog that lives two houses away from us, Jessie, who is the one who got me over this fear. My dad was outside one day and started talking to Jessie's owner Eren when they called me outside. The next thing I remember is Jessie running towards me, jumping on me and licking me. Maybe I was too shocked to be scared because instead of screaming or pooping my pants because a huge dog came out of nowhere, I started petting her. Maybe not the way I would have done it, but good job Eren and dad! :p

Anyhoo, Jessie had surgery so Dolly made her a get better soon package! There were doggy treats for Jessie and Lemon Lovely cookies for her family who were super worried.

Pear Crumble

Years ago, we planted a pear tree that we expected would give us so many pears that we would be giving them away in bushels! Well, years and years have gone by and we FINALLY got pears to eat.  They looked small and definitely weren't the normal pear shape, but we were super excited to make something with our first harvest.  Since we had an apple crumble over the weekend for one of our three Thanksgiving dinners (Ian and I had our own dinner on Saturday, Ian's family dinner on Sunday, and my family dinner on Monday) I decided to give it a twist and use pears instead of apples.  
*Recipe at the end*

Pears with the mixture:

Crumble topping ready to go!

All done!

So I never say this about something I cook but this one was absolutely delicious! The peaches were evenly seasoned and the crumble was SO yummy! 

Vanessa's Pear Crumble
* Pears, peeled and cut into slices (I used as much as are in the first photo)
* 1 cup sugar
* 1 tablespoon flour
* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1 cup oats
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup melted butter

~ Preheat oven to 350 degrees
~ Mix pears, sugar, flour (1 tbs), cinnamon together and make sure the pears are ALL coated
~ Put the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking dish and make sure the pears are evenly spread out 
~ Combine the oats, flour (1 cup), brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and melted butter in a bowl until an evenly mixed crumble forms and pour that out on top of the pears evenly
~ Bake for 45 minutes so the top turns to a nice brown colour
ENJOY!