Easy Snickerdoodle Cookies

When I say these snickerdoodle cookies are easy, I mean it. It's 4 ingredients and took about 25 minutes total. I made these for a party so I made them bite size but you can make them any size you like.

Ingredients:
3 tbs. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 roll sugar cookie dough (I used pillsbury)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.

2. Break up cookie dough in a large bowl. Stir or knead in flour until well combined but try not to over mix the dough.

3. Shape a rounded teaspoon of dough into a ball. Roll around lightly in the cinnamon sugar mixture until fully covered. Place balls about 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet tray.

4. Bake cookies 10-14 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool 1 minute on pan and then remove to cooling rack. Serve on a cute holiday plate or wrap in small gifts bags for a tasty gift.

Spooky Pasta Salad for Halloween

For Halloween I went to a party where they smoked a turkey. That's right, turkey for halloween. I wanted to bring a side dish that would go with this but I had a few criteria I wanted to meet:
1. A room temp side dish.
2. Be able to make it ahead.
3. Make it halloween themed.

I knew I wanted to do a pasta salad and I ended up doing a spin on my Mediterranean Orzo Salad. I don't like making a dish the first time right before a party but I knew I could execute this other dish. It all came together for me when I realized I could do squid ink pasta and have a black pasta salad. I added in some orange bell pepper, mozzarella, and cherry tomatoes to add flavor as well as stay in the Halloween color palette. I feel like it was a hit but not as much as my super simple Snickerdoodle Cookies. (post coming shortly)

This whole dish can be made up to two days in advance. Just put into a large pan in the fridge and cover with plastic wrap. On the day of the party just remove from the fridge about an hour before and give a good stir before serving. Taste for salt and pepper seasoning. Pro tip for decorating: store some bell pepper, tomatoes and mozzarella on the side and put on top of the dish at the last minute to make the ingredients shine.

Ingredients:

Pasta Salad:
1 lb. Squid ink pasta - short noodle. (I used fusilli but penne or any other short pasta would work).
1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
1 orange bell pepper, diced
1 container pearl mozzarella, halved

Dressing:
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 tsp. honey
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Make dressing by combining all ingredients into a large jar. (I use a cleaned marinara jar). Shake until well combined.

2. Cook pasta to package directions. Drain and put into large bowl. Stir in 1/2 of the dressing to season pasta while it is hot and keep it from sticking together.

3. While pasta cooks, halve the tomatoes, dice the bell pepper, and halve the pearl mozzarella. Reserve 1/4 of each for final topping of the dish.

4. Once pasta is cooked and cooled, add in the tomatoes, bell pepper, and mozzarella. Add in some of the reserved dressing and taste for seasoning. Add more dressing slowly as you don't want the final dish to be over dressed or oily.

5. Put pasta salad into serving dish. Top with reserved tomatoes, bell pepper, and mozzarella.