Pumpkin Seeds 2 Ways

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It will be Samhain the day I publish this post and one of the best ways to celebrate the sabbat is by eating food associated with it. This includes pumpkin seeds. If you carve a pumpkin then you are going to have a lot of pumpkin seeds anyways, so why not make a yummy snack with them? My favorite way to make my pumpkin seed is with cinnamon sugar, though salt and pepper is really good too.

I have to admit that these aren't recipes that I tend to measure, but I kind of have ratios for everything. These both are also household favorites. Once we are done carving we will chill out on the couch and watch some movies while snacking on the seeds. The great thing about pumpkin seeds is that they have such a light flavor that you can flavor them with almost anything! If you make these make sure to share them and tag me!!

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What I Learned While Baking Cheesecake

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This past week happened to hold my birthday and I decided I wanted a cheesecake for my birthday

cake. Not a no-bake cheesecake, but a true New York-style cheesecake. This was also my first attempt. Sadly it didn't work out quite as well as I would have liked, but that means it was a learning experience. As expressed in the extremely underrated Disney movie Meet the Robinsons "From failure, you learn. From success...  Not so much." I also figured that I could share what I learned with you so that maybe you can avoid making the same mistakes. Knowledge is an invaluable tool. Even if you have made multiple cheesecakes, maybe there is something you didn't think of. Also if you have more tips then leave them in the comments below or tweet them at me at @AWitchyMama2020.

My Top 10 Family-Friendly Spooky Movies for Samhain

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If you are anything like me then you probably love to get your family together on the couch, cuddle up, and watch a movie together; and when it's the holidays I tend to put on a seasonal movie. I compiled a list of my top 10 movies to watch during the Samhain season, and I wanted to share them with you. Not all of these movies are directly related to Samhain sure, but they still hold the spirit of creepiness within them. I would also like to add that these aren't really in any particular order, except for the last 3.

My Pumpkin Cake Recipe

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I love anything and everything pumpkin and pumpkin spice (except for pumpkin spice lattes ironically).

I also love to make cakes. So I figured that I should mix the two together and made some pumpkin cake. I took a basic pumpkin bread recipe and tweaked it to make it slightly more like a cake. The recipe can make a two-layer cake that is 9 inches across or a three-layer cake that is 8 inches across. I chose to frost mine with cream cheese frosting, and it was delicious, though I'm sure a buttercream could be just as good. It is a rather dense cake, but I still think it has a nice texture, quite rich. It also has a nice pumpkin flavor, with the spices complementing it well and not overpowering it. I know cakes normally ask for oil, but I just prefer the texture that butter gives cakes over the oily texture. Plus it's a little healthier... I think... probably not.

This recipe is also important to me as it is my first recipe. Obviously, I'm still learning how to best type

them up but I think it came out pretty good. I'm also still learning how to come up with my own recipes, but it is something I have loved to do since I was little. They tended to be hit or miss. One day I'll use recipe cards, but today is not that day. One thing I see a lot in recipes that drive me crazy is when it says it is a 4 step recipe, but each step has like 4 steps in it. I have decided that would not be a thing with my recipes. I will separate each step so that you get a better estimate of how much work a recipe will be. Plus it helps me keep track of what I have and haven't done easier. Another big thing for me is measurements. When I bake I measure every ingredient to make sure that there is no room for error. Any time I have tried to just throw stuff together it ends in sadness.

If you bake this cake share it, along with what frosting you paired with it, and tag me!

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It's October! + Halloween Haul

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October is absolutely my favorite month out of the year. It has so much going for it; up north it is sweater weather (the best weather), it has my birthday in it, and it has my favorite holiday, Samhain (Halloween), the air is crisper, there is pumpkin spice everything, and my house smells like cinnamon. It may be basic, but I don't care. I also get to shop at my favorite seasonal store, Spirit Halloween.

I have loved Samhain since I was a kid. Back then it was a day to get dressed up and run door to door

collecting candy. Now that I'm older I tend to dress up and take any kids in the family out trick or treating. Except for this year. This will be the first year that I have a baby of my own. Sadly with the state of the world at the moment, we won't be going anywhere. My plan instead is to curl up with Cora and Cody and have a movie marathon (check back later this month to see my list of favorite family-friendly Halloween movies) with candy, popcorn, and other sweets. We don't really have costumes but we will be matching, hopefully. If the burn ban is lifted I also plan to have a bonfire to honor those who have passed.

I finally got to go Halloween shopping, which was so much fun. We loaded up into the car and headed

to Spirit Halloween. I wondered around with Cody and Cora and looked at all of the animatronics. I was slightly worried that Cora would be scared, mainly that she would get startled, but neither happened. She just looked up at the giant decorations and laughed her beautiful laugh. I ended up picking up the "Elm Street" sign and the Beetlejuice shot glass as my birthday gifts for myself, especially since I'm turning 21. We then went to Walmart to pick up the rest of our Halloween stuff. I had been planning on getting a Halloween book for Cora so as you can see I grabbed one that looked cute. There are a few things I got that aren't pictured, mainly because I forgot to put them with everything else, which are two bags of spider webbing, a shirt for me, a shirt for Cody, and some leggings. Overall, we had a good time.

This isn't as long of a post as I normally would post, but I have a good excuse. The recipe I want to share is my own and I want those to have their own post, so keep an eye out for that. This includes the cake recipe that I mentioned on my Facebook and Instagram pages, which you should follow.

Thank you for reading!