five ingredient fridays: your perfect halloween sidedish

tomorrow night i'm hosting a small halloween harvest dinner. here's our very orange menu:

• jamaican chicken breasts (not festive, but we needed a main dish - i'll post these soon as they are amazing!)
• sweet potato fries
• bones and blood (bone-shaped breadsticks and marinara - idea from our best bites)
• amazing orange jello (again, recipe to come)
• pumpkin and bat sugar cookies cut and decorated by my 2 year old
• carrot puree

okay... the carrot puree sounds scary, right? let me tell you right now, it's not. my friend carole served it at a fabulous lunch at her house last month and we're all still drooling. and it's the star of five ingredient fridays because it's sooooo easy!

carrot puree
from martha stewart

picture from martha stewart

2 pounds carrots, cut into 2-inch lengths
coarse ground salt and pepper
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1. cover carrots with water by 1 inch in a sauce pan. add salt. bring to a boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes or until carrots are very tender.
2. drain carrots and transfer to a food processor or blender. add butter and sour cream. season with salt and pepper. process until smooth, scraping the bowl/blender when needed. serve.

are you doing a festive dinner? what are you serving?

perfect deviled eggs - perfect for your super bowl party

i'll admit, i'm not a football fan and i honestly won't be watching the game on sunday. i will be eating yummy food along with the rest of the world though - just to celebrate life instead of football! :) here's one of my favorite appetizers. i only like them the way my mom has always made them, so here's our family recipe!

perfect deviled eggs
recipe for 36 deviled eggs (18 whole eggs)

18 hard boiled eggs (see here for my method), shells removed
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (and more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard (and more to taste)
light mayonnaise to taste
salt to taste
paprika, sprinkled on top for decoration if desired
1. after removing shells, cut eggs in half lengthwise. put all yolks in mixing bowl and set whites aside. see below.

2. add 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar and 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard as a base and mash into egg yolks in bowl. add mayonnaise a little bit at a time, as well as a bit more vinegar and mustard and salt, taste testing as you add. mix and add until consistency and taste is to your liking.

3. sprinkle top with paprika, if desired. chill in fridge - serve cold!