It’s time to celebrate. The decorations are up, the pumpkins have been carved, the puppies are in costume, and a big bucket of candy is waiting outside for my trick-or-treaters. I’ve got some party foods in the oven, including pigs-in-a-blanket and spooky English muffin pizzas for the kids. Since I’m having children at the party, I will have some spooky mocktails for them and something a little stronger for me. Make sure you pick one color with alcohol and one color without and please if you are using a punchbowl, put the nonalcohol version out. Keep the over 21 version safely away from children and make sure guests that are drinking are not driving-I can’t stress this enough.
I’ve spent this month getting my newest book, Knot A Psychic out on Amazon in the many forms readers like, so I’m completely batty at this point. After the big release I grabbed my favorite horror books from Stephen King, Anne Rice, Clive Barker, and some of the original greats and have been reading. It’s Halloween here all year, so scary books are not in short supply.
This is also the last day 10/31/2025 to pick up your free Kindle copy of Knot An Actress, book 1 of the All Tied Up In Knots series. Don’t wait until the free offer is gone.
With the snacks in the oven and the timer set, it’s time to start making the mock/cocktails. See the recipes below and let me know which is your favorite.
Pick one for adults and one for children (different colors so there are no mix ups).
Dracula’s Teeth- sure to knock the teeth off your favorite vampire! It’s a fun twist on a Kir Royale.
Adult version-(this has alcohol, so drink in moderation and don’t drive or operate heavy machinery)
Making for children or alcohol free peeps-omit all the alcohol (use the substitutions) and put in cute spooky glasses-yes you can add some fangs ’cause its fun. I’ve also used clear plastic cups with lids and bat stickers-huge success.
What you’ll need:
Wax or Plastic Vampire Teeth
Martini Glasses or Champagne Flutes
A bottle of CHILLED Champagne, Spumante, or Moscato depending on your taste (substitute sparkling cider for children)
Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur (substitute 1/2 ounce blackberry juice and 1/2 ounce black cherry juice for children)
Enough Grenadine to dip your fangs in
Recipe- double, triple, or quadruple as needed
1 ounce Chambord Black Raspberry Liqueur (5 ounces if you make it by the pitcher)
5 ounces Champagne, Spumante, or Moscato (entire bottle if you make it by the pitcher)
Enough grenadine to dip your glasses in and fangs to garnish your glasses(see image above for inspiration). What I like to do is take a small plate and pour about 2 ounces grenadine onto it and just refill as needed when rimming glasses. You can also add some red dusting sugar if you have sparkly vampires.
Rim your glasses and soak your fangs in grenadine.
Add 1 ounce Chambord to your glass.
Fill to just below the rim with 5 ounces or so of your favorite bubbly.
Garnish glass with fangs, and serve cold.
Purple People Eaters
Remember, if you are making this for ADULTS THAT DRINK ALCOHOL(over 21) you can use the alcohol version. If you are making this for children or adults that don’t drink alcohol, double the amount and put in cute glasses(not shot glasses).
What you need:
Gummy eyeballs, lots of them!
Shot glasses (or fun cups for children)
Vodka (substitute 7-up or Sprite for children)
Blue Curaçao (substitute Blue Kool-aid for children)
Sweet & Sour Mix (omit for children)
Grenadine (Thicker red kool-aid works fine if you don’t have any on hand)
Cranberry juice- the redder, the better
Ideally, you’re looking to get that purple color so play with ingredients if you don’t like the shade.
Recipe:
1 1/2 ounces vodka
1 ounce Blue Curacao
1 ounce sweet & sour mix
1 ounce grenadine
1 ounce or more cranberry juice
Add all ingredients to a measuring cup or pitcher and pour into shot glasses. Add gummy eyeball, serve.
Remember if you are serving this variation for children, make sure everything (including your grenadine) is alcohol free. Double or triple the recipe for children and don’t forget the gummy eyeballs. Yes, you can make this all in a punch sized bowl, but I prefer cups with lids for small children. (2024 Target had these cute eyeball shaped glasses with lids, perfect for children that want some spooky fun- or you can decorate paper cups with a self adhesive googly eyeball just saying)
First, a little bit about what my weekends have looked like when I’m not gigging. We’ve been running to every farm, orchard, and spooky fun event we can find that fits around the doggies schedules and mine. I have five imps on the cusp of adulthood, so I’m as busy as a bee. One wants to sew his own costume, one wants to go shopping for his, another isn’t certain he is dressing up, and my oldest boy wants to wear his (with full make-up) to work… guess I’ll be face painting, too. My eldest will probably be going out and IDK what she’ll be wearing, but she has the make-up part down no matter what it will be.
It’s only two weeks until Halloween and I couldn’t be more excited! I love watching all the children in costumes and spooky fun with things like Fright Fest at Six Flags, Haunted Houses, Trunk or Treat events, and as a psychic reader(told you I was a professional entertainer) I love doing lots of fun parties. It’s a great way to meet and greet and of course use some of my talents-highly satisfying for me.
Octoberfest Celebration
In November, everything begins to slow down as enter the holiday season, so this is really the last chance to kick up your heels. The farms and orchards are full of produce. Craft stores are full of spooky odds and ends that will probably end up on my shelves and around the house, because we’re spooky all year at home. It’s like a month long Mardi Gras for me and I love every moment of it.
Those apples are almost black, but so delicious!
Spoils of war, well… they had to find some with green that were low enough to pick. The tarter the better.
Look at all those pumpkins! I can almost smell the pumpkin bread.
While I wait for my water to boil for a cup of tea, I’m going to tell you what just happened- my newest book Knot A Psychic is now available on paperback and Audiobook in addition to Kindle on Amazon. Everything went through so quickly, I suspect they are using A.I. As an IT, I’m not a fan of A.I. endeavors. There are uses for the technology, but every gain comes with some risk, so be careful. No A.I.’s were harmed in the making of any of my books. When I run out of ideas, I take a long walk with my dogs and inspiration finds me. I like to flesh out my characters in my head first before committing them to Word and arguing with it about the spellings. Yes, culantro is a word. It’s an herb in Puerto Rican cooking often autocorrected to cilantro, grr! But more on cooking later.
In any case, despite my unseen arguments with technology, I’ve been writing code since 1986 and am now covering DOS commands with my son who is studying IT since many of the Linux/Unix commands are the same. Being a geek for a kid completely paid off and I hope he finds his passion in computer security. The hard part is to land that first IT job.
My mind is wandering today. I have six books to continue working on but I’m thinking about Monkey Bread and candy apples, or maybe candy apple topped monkey bread-that might be over the top sweet. A girl has her vices, and even on the diabetic diet I do eat carbs, I just count them.
Let’s do this. I’m going to post a recipe below for the quickest easiest Monkey Bread you’ll ever make, instead of a cocktail this week. Even the hubby comes running for this one.
Easy Monkey Bread
Supplies:
Bundt pan
Large Mixing Bowl
Kitchen Scissors
Ceramic bowl
Knife
Cutting board
Oven- sorry no microwaves for this recipe
Ingredients:
1-2 tart apples (if you got a huge apple 1 is plenty)
3 canisters your favorite oven bake biscuits
1 1/2 cups sugar (I use 3/4 cup organic raw sugar and 3/4 cup brown sugar, but whatever you prefer will work)
2 teaspoons powdered Ceylon cinnamon
2 sticks unsalted butter (1 cup butter spread if you’re watching your fats)
Here’s what to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
Melt Butter in ceramic bowl in microwave-a few seconds at a time until liquid-save the wrappers to grease your Bundt pan. if you are making a bigger batch, you can freeze your butter wrappers for next time to need to grease something.
Add butter, sugar, and cinnamon to mixing bowl and give it a good stir
Cut your biscuits into fourths or smaller and add to the mixing bowl, try and coat all the pieces in that buttery sweet cinnamon goodness
Core and dice your apple(s) and add to the mixing bowl. If you don’t like apple peels, you can remove them before dicing.
Stir everything in the bowl until well combined and dump into your Bundt pan.
Place the Bundt pan in a well heated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes until golden brown and well caramelized. It is okay to over bake this a little if you’re afraid it won’t turn out nicely. An alternative is using a lined and greased bread pan-parchment paper. It has gotten me out of a lot of sticky situations.
Let cool slightly.
Turn out your Bundt cake onto a ceramic plate and serve warm.
If you are looking to be completely decadent serve with vanilla ice cream or your favorite cream cheese icing.
Sometimes it takes a while to get to get the e-books up and approved, but this one sailed through. I’m hoping the paperback will be released soon, but in the meantime I’m so excited to share this with you.
Knot A Psychic, is book number 9 of the All Tied Up In Knots Series. It is the third full length book and a crossover book between the All Tied Up In Knots Series and the Help Wanted Romance Series (supernatural & monster books). I wanted a fun way to mix things things up in time for Halloween, so I hope you love this book as much as I do.
Many of you know me from my side job as a Psychic Reader. I’ve always had a love of all things carnival. I think I have Seaside Heights and Six Flags to blame for my cheap thrills addiction. Now, I chase carnivals, whether its for the beautiful belly dancers, clever balloon twisters, candy floss (cotton candy) and sweet makers, henna artists, or other entertainers who knows, I love them all.
Having worked with many other entertainers over the years has given me some insight into the personalities behind the performance. Instead of killing the magic, it has done the opposite and I often find myself making pilgrimages to one faire or another for the rush of adrenaline fueled by thrill rides and excited screams.
My children are equally big on cheap thrills and we get season passes for places I know they’ll stay from the time they open until they shut down for the night. Whether it’s a magician or the thrill of lit up carnival rides after dark that get’s you, you know that feeling of excitement.
Before the big venues shut down for the season, I’m going to go on one more roller coaster (as soon as the weather lifts) and maybe have one last candy apple before Halloween.
Now, back to the book… Knot A Psychic
Here is the blurb:
Mystic, psychic reader extraordinaire, can help everyone else with their troubles but is completely lost when it comes to her own messy life. Her whisperers offer advice but she can’t force people to bend themselves to her will and change the future for the better. It cost her the love of her life, Mike, because he refused to listen to her pleas and succumbed to injuries caused by a motorcycle accident. Bereft, Mystic decides to live her life out alone, away from people.
Johnathon Riley convinces him to do one more gig, an annual event for charity. Chaos ensues, when a serial murderer comes to destroy the only person who might be able to identify him, Mystic. Together with Detective Steve Turner, Mystic is determined to flesh out the criminal, even though it means attending a BDSM event on a cruise under a different identity with no way out if things go wrong.
Ghoulish fun at Six Flags in Jackson, NJ
Since I always include a segment about the author and a recipe, let’s combine the two. I’m a huge fan of apple picking and apple cider-hot, cold, with alcohol… doesn’t matter-just love the stuff. Since I’ve picked up a gallon of apple cider which will last about a day with the imps in the house. It’s cocktail time for me.
Top Shelf Caramel Apple Cocktail-’cause you deserve the good stuff
Ingredients:
Ice
Apple Slices for Garnish
Chopin or Belvedere Vodka
Butterscotch Liqueur
Apple Liqueur
Apple Cider (to taste)
Caramel Drizzle
Fill tall glass with ice and add equal portions (1/2 jigger of each) of Vodka, Butterscotch Liqueur, and Apple Liqueur. Add apple cider to taste and drizzle over caramel for that syrupy sweet taste. Garnish with a slice of orchard fresh apple and serve.
We are just weeks away from the big day! As many of you know, this is my absolute favorite time of year. We’ve been picking apples at our favorite orchards. I’ve sampled some local wines at chocolate pairings… a girl must get her antioxidants and polyphenols, after all. The pups have gotten their costumes and the children have visited the costume store and some specialty online retailers for embellishments to theirs. My small skeleton is smiling from inside the front window and I have my orange and purple lights up. I’m pretty much finished decorating for the season, because my home is spooky year round.
This year, the family has adopted a divide and conquer mentality. Some will be trick-or-treating (weather permitting), some will be handing out sweets at home, and I’m handing out sweets at the mall this year with our martial arts school. I’ve even signed up for some spooky vending opportunities. You’d think I was all set for Halloween.
However, I’m not the traditional spooky Mom with inflatables and pumpkin spice lattes. I swap out haunted hayrides for time alone on completely empty beaches with a book or my work in progress and a hot apple cider. As the roar of the ocean booms over a silent beach, I’m home. There is much to be discovered in the stillness, and I always take time mentally preparing myself for big holidays. It’s a witchy thing, grounding yourself when you need to and I have my favorite ways to ground.
I know that the children will be excited for loot, seemingly ill gotten gains they politely ask for in the form of whatever delectable sugary sweetness is available. I have tiger pops this year and gummy brains, since an itty bitty mentioned a chocolate allergy last year. I also have spider rings and things that are completely sans sugar, since some trick or treaters can’t have any sugar at all. Still, despite the pleasure from seeing children run amuck in their alternate personas, my thoughts return to the family members and pooches that won’t be with us this year. My beloved dead are well cared for in my thoughts and there is not only the memory of the times that we shared held dear in my heart, but the ways in which they forever changed me. I’m kind of like a Frankenstein’s monster in that way, a collection of parts taken from other people and held precariously together.
However, I am exchanging my dumb supper for the mirth of children, something I know my beloved dead would have been most eager to see and hear and I will share that with them this year and for as many years as I drag this body around the earth. It’s my tribute to them in a way, as I know every doorbell ring would have got them up and to the door with candy, maybe not the dogs, but they would have barked their fool heads off in excitement. The thing about loving anyone (even a dog) is you feel their loss acutely, but you also remember their joy. To the matriarch and sister that showed me grace, to the aunt and uncle that showed me perseverance, and to the dogs that gave me endless affection, visit with joy when the veil thins and return with a little of our happiness.
Take a moment to remember your beloved, breath in their wisdom, breathe out despair, and then re-enter the world inspired.
Now, back to the mundane.
With the coming Nor’easter, I have my candles ready.
I have recently submitted a crossover book, something that bridges the gap between my All Tied Up In Knots Series and my Help Wanted Romance Series and now, I’m waiting for the gods of Amazon to release it officially, so I can bring you all the spicy and gory news of it’s arrival.
In the meantime, you have a moment to catch up on both series. Today I’m going to showcase the full length books in the All Tied Up In Knots series. Rope is near and dear to my heart, and I hope I’ve portrayed it in the best light. Rope suspension can be freeing and I hope you have a chance to experience it, whether it’s at a dungeon, a rope event, or one of the many rope shares.
Violet, a young acting student, sees her last chance to get picked for the lead role in the school’s stage production slipping away. Knowing that a talent scout will be there at the opening performance, she must win the lead and cement her chances for stardom or put the last nail in the coffin of her future as an actress.
“You can’t take directions! Seven performances, seven dress rehearsals, and you treat each play as if you personally wrote it.”
But there is still a glimmer of hope. Violet still has four weeks to re-fashion herself into a star, but it’s going to take more than learning lines. She has to reach into everything she has buried down deep inside and find out who she really is.
She meets Jericho Blythe, a strong attractive man, who after making a fortune on Wall Street, dedicated himself to pursuit of darker pleasures. He agrees to train her, if she gives him full control of every aspect of her life for the next critical four weeks.
Time is short but the romance between the two of them will either have them burning as hot as a bright star or leave them scorched forever.
Holly, a former runaway, returns to her hometown to reclaim her life, but it might prove more difficult than she thought. She was the only witness to a double homicide. Her father, a detective, and her mother are both gone and even though she was shot, Holly can’t recall any of the event at all.
Focusing on her future, Holly attends a local college, gets a part time job and is consumed with the desire to learn some fancy pyrotechnics from a renowned expert in the field. As fate would have it, Mr. Riley, is a master of more than one skill and soon she begins to fall for him.
Now that Holly is back and surrounded by people, places, and things from her past, the tumultuous memories begin to resurface. She begins to suspect that she might just be the killer and part of an elaborate cover up. She is torn between her desire for love and the fear of what she might be capable of. Will the truth set her free or destroy everyone she loves?
I always include a recipe of some sort with my blog, and instead of sitting down with a nice amaretto, I’m adding 1/2 shot to my cupcake batter-trust me it’s delicious.
I always include a recipe, and since we are a few weeks away from Halloween, this gives me the perfect chance to give you a super quick cupcake recipe-you can modify it to your taste and I have included some options below, but this is great if you have a school bake sale or just need a cupcake.
Ghost Cupcakes- so good they’ll disappear
Ingredients:
2 cups flour- I use unbleached
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt- you need it to bring out the sweet
1 stick unsalted butter (or 1/2 cup butter substitute)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar or vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup whole milk (or milk substitute-I use Lactaid, hubby prefers oat milk)
optional add-ins: a few drops food coloring, 1 bar melted dark chocolate, 1/4 cup coconut flakes, 1 Tablespoon amaretto (trust me, it’s delicious), 1Tablespoon lemon juice… just go with whatever flavor profile you’re in the mood for
supplies:
measuring cup/spoons
bowls
whisk or mixer
cupcake liners 20-24
cupcake baking pan
Hot to make it:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (325 degrees Fahrenheit if using nonstick pans) or 177 degrees Celsius. Give it a good ten minutes or so to get warm.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar. You can do this by hand or with a mixer. If you are adding in some melted chocolate this is the time to do it.
Add in your vanilla and any liquid flavorings or coloring
Add eggs one a time (always check your eggs first). If you get a shell in, wet your finger and grab it out-works every time. If you want super light cupcakes, whip your egg whites and fold in wet ingredients before adding dry. There are just so many variations on the same recipe.
Combine your dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix (sift if you light light airy cupcakes)
Add milk to your wet ingredients and mix until smooth. This is your last wet ingredient and you will start to stir in your dry ingredients next, so make sure your bowl is big enough to handle everything.
Gradually add in your dry ingredients 1 cup at a time and stir until incorporated. I try not to over stir as the gluten makes the cupcakes chewy instead of fluffy, but you need all of your flour and dry ingredients incorporated.
Sprinkle some rice onto the bottom of your cupcake baking tray in each space. This will stop the bottoms of your cupcakes from burning. Then, line cupcake baking pan with paper liners and add enough cake batter to fill 1/2 to 2/3 of the liner. The baking powder will make them fluff up so you want to leave some room so they don’t spill over and become one giant monster cupcake.
Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15-25 minutes (this varies with your oven and altitude). You can check doneness with a toothpick(should come out clean) or but lightly touching surface. A cooked cupcake will spring back, a raw cupcake will compress.
Once done, let cupcakes cool on wire rack, so they don’t continue cooking in the hot pan.
Decorate with your favorite vanilla icing and chocolate jimmies or mini chocolate chips.
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