The Aero Garden grows a variety of vegetables, flowers and herbs easily and naturally: right on your kitchen counter without dirt, weeds or mess. Utilizing NASA-tested aeroponic technology, the Aero Garden grows plants in water, nutrients and air (from seeds) – so simply and easily that anyone can succeed.

I’m amazed that they guarantee a harvest in 28 days. I guess with the built in plant lighting, smart micro-processor, and fully automated nutrient delivery, light cycles and water flow for specific plant types, it’s difficult to mess it up. Excellent gift for someone who doesn’t have a green thumb, but who wishes he did. The seed kits include everything needed for a full season’s growth and harvest, including pre-seeded grow pods and organic-based nutrients. They sell additional seed kits at $19.99 each and make sure to get the $20 mail-in rebate available on the product page.

$149.95

For more gift ideas check out Sur La Table’s gift guide. They also offer gift cards in case you can’t decide on a specific gift.

Related mini home garden gifts: Miniature Edible Garden, and Organic Dwarf Lemon Tree.

Every time I visit a baking website or store I come up with new ideas for Halloween recipes and creepy food presentation. If you’ve been to the site before you may have realized this already. So far I’ve covered this year’s new Halloween-themed cupcake and cake options, and I’ve finally found some cookie cutters that befit our creepy kitchens. Cuz we know the traditional pumpkin and cat shapes are old hat.

In the shapes of hands and feet, these small cookie cutters will make a delicious spread fit for zombies and cannibals alike. This could actually be one of the most simple, yet impressively presented, homemade treats in your spooky arsenal. I picture just small amounts of red icing on the fingertips & toenails (or almond slivers, as many “witch’s fingers” recipes suggest) and some of the digits being snipped off or malformed before baking. Unlike other roll-out/cookie cutter recipes, you won’t have to spend copious amounts of time frosting each one to make it look fantastic, and you won’t have to resort to those nasty pre-made dough packages from the store. One more upswing is less frosting = less sugar during a time when everything is loaded with sugar. Here’s an idea of what a stack of hand cookies looks like, and how deforming the hands and feet can give it an even creepier appearance… more
[via 365 Halloween]

A few days ago I blogged about some Halloween Baking Pans for making full-size cakes and mini cakes. How did I forget to talk about my favorite of all cake sizes, the cupcake?! Along with shaped pans, another baking item that I find indispensable are reusable silicone cupcake liners. They are traditionally available in bright colors (with more pastels available during the Easter season), but new for this Halloween are some black and orange ones… more
[via 365 Halloween]

Halloween is a time for reinvention and trying new things. We take ideas that seem mundane on any other day, and with an added creepy kick, they become unique Halloween entities. Pretty prom queens become zombie prom queens, pumpkins become jack-o-lanterns, and cupcakes become skull cakes. Mmm, skull cakes… more
[via 365 Halloween]