Meet the Designer | Ashley Elayne

Ashley - Oct 03, '19 - Cookbook Ideas - Cookbook Stories - Design - Holidays

Hi everyone!

I'm Ashley Elayne, and I'm one of the newest designers at CreateMyCookbook!

To break the ice with everyone, I've decided to go ahead and admit something about myself... I'm addicted to Halloween.

That's right. I LOVE Halloween! I'll wear a Halloween shirt in the middle of June with no shame whatsoever! It's just one of my favorite times of year! You get to dress up, eat candy, and watch spooooOOooOOOoooky movies! And then there's that whole thing where literally everything you buy now has pumpkin added to it... what could be better? 

As far back as I can remember, my family has always gone all out on Halloween. My dad is a big decorator for all of the holidays in general. During October and December, his house is always the brightest house on the street. You can see it shining as you come down the hill like a beacon of celebration. On the day of Halloween, my dad takes the day off from work and builds a miniature haunted house in the front yard. When the sun starts to set, he'll step into his classic Halloween costume: the most updated version of Michael Myers. He'll wait for the bigger kids to come by and step out from his hiding place to scare them. It's some of the most fun we have all year. We all love dressing up, morphing ourselves into witches and ghosts and horror movie stars. I love Halloween. I love my family. And I love the snacks that accompany it all.

To celebrate my favorite holiday, I've whipped up my own Halloween cookbook called Ashley's Terrifying Treats! It includes some of my all-time favorite recipes, like inside-out s'mores decorated like the "BooooOOOOoooOOook!" from Hocus Pocus. I'll even link the book right here if you'd like to buy one for yourself!

Inside this book, you'll also find some pretty great pictures of me and my family during Halloween over the last few years. You'll see that my dad is constantly in a Michael Myers costume. He's been doing this for the past decade. He'll walk around the neighborhood and scare all the big kids. It's one of my favorite parts of spending Halloween with my dad. He just really knows how to express his spooky spirit!

You'll also find a few of my favorite Halloween costumes from the past. From the Wicked Witch of the West to Sia to the infamous Annie Wilkes (played by the fantastic Kathy Bates in the movie adaptation of Stephen King's Misery). Even my pets get in on the action! If you do read it, I hope this cookbook inspires you to take your Halloween spirit to the next level with one of my recipes.

Okay, now it's your turn. You have to admit to me how much you love St. Patrick's Day or Christmas... let's hear it! Creating a cookbook built around a holiday is a really fun way to get into the holiday spirit! Now excuse me while I go ice 400 Halloween cookies.

Happy cookbook-making!

Ashley Elayne

Next: 5 Ways to Spice up Your Family Recipes