Horrific Halloween
Murphy's Menu
Regina Murphy
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Yes! Halloween is almost here!
I love playing with my food, and what better time of year to get creative, in a very bad way!
Now, even if the food looks less than appetizing, I’m a firm believer in taste. Those infamous Cat Poop Cookies are actually full of chocolate-peanut butter-oatmeal goodness, and the Meatloaf Mice are actually good ol’ beef and onion.
A platter of anchovies and sardines can look especially gruesome, but for people who like that kind of thing it’s delicious! Same goes for pickled eggs and pigs feet. A bowl of canned dolmades can pass as “rotting fingers”. You don’t have to slave all day in the kitchen to get a creepy table set for your Halloween party.
It’s always good to have a mix of sweet and savory, alcohol-free and not. Here are some brand new (to us) recipes, including a very special prize winner from Raegen Root!
Want to save time and energy? Buy frosted cupcakes from the local bakery, some chocolate covered cherries or truffles, and a tube of black cake decorating gel (or red or orange). Plop a cherry on top of a cupcake and use the gel to draw eyes and legs to make a creepy spider. You can even make a web pattern around it.
Chocolate covered raisins or peanuts could be “rabbit droppings.” Get out an Easter bunny and put vampire fangs on it (Wererabbit?). Malted milk balls might come from something larger (a saber tooth tiger?).
If you have a friend in biology lab, you might be able to borrow some cool beakers, flasks and test tubes...just make sure they’re sanitized. If you’re icing down drinks, pop a couple of nontoxic glow sticks under the ice for a eerie effect. A glass bowl makes it even better!
CASKET SANDWICHES
2 slices multigrain wheat bread
3 slices deli meat (I like rare roast beef)
1 slice cheese
Mayonnaise or mustard
lettuce
Cut bread slices into old-style wooden casket shapes--one big one or two little ones (templates are all over the Internet, or watch “A Fistful of Dollars”).
Spread each slice with the dressing of your choice and build a sandwich out of meat, cheese and lettuce (tomatoes optional — eeeeew!). Fold the ingredients and trim the edges as needed to preserve the grim effect.
Spear each sandwich with a toothpick to hold it together, if desired. Break the end off the toothpick and it looks like a stake through a vampire’s heart.
Now for something sweet. When I was hanging out at the fair, I spied a really neat treat that looked like a popcorn ball, but was made with Cheerios and dyed green. It was intended for Christmas, but I thought it could be adapted for Halloween, so I called the creator, Raegen Root, and asked her to whip something up.
Raegen and her mom, Rolanda, brought a plateful down to The Gazette, decorated with ribbons and candy corns! Raegen really likes to cook (she just made her first dish of macaroni and cheese), and has been competing at the fair for a couple of years now. She’s in her first year in the Cloverleaf 4-H Club and is a student at Sacred Heart. Raegen also enjoys fiber arts and does loom weaving and knitting (She got a blue ribbon for one of her scarves).
Raegen likes to use Honey Nut Cheerios in this recipe, which came from the Cheerios Cookbook, and she says that it’s easier to shape the balls if you form them in oversized muffin tins and let them sit there to set up. Congratulations to Raegen for her award-winning treat!
RAEGEN ROOT’S
HALLOWEEN TREATS
3 Tbsp. butter or margarine
40 large marshmallows
1/2 tsp. green food coloring
4 cups Cheerios cereal
assortment of small Halloween candies (candy corn, Reeses Pieces)
8 popsicle sticks
Place a sheet of waxed paper on the kitchen counter. Melt the butter and 32 of the marshmallows in a 3-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Once the mixture is smooth (no lumps) remove from heat, stir in food coloring and vanilla, and mix until evenly colored “Frankenstein Green.”
Thoroughly mix in the Cheerios until well-coated. Lightly spray your hands with nonstick spray and shape about a half-cup of the mixture around one of the remaining marshmallows. Insert one wooden stick in each ball and press halloween candies all around the outside.
Let them cool completely, about one hour, and then store at room temperature in a loosely covered container. The Roots recommend making them the day before. Tie ribbons around the sticks to dress them up, or wrap them in plastic wrap tied shut with a ribbon as trick-or-treats.
How about something to drink that actually glows in the dark? (Just kidding) It’s not too sweet, and it is tasty with a slimy green hue. Freeze gummy insects in ice cubes and float them in each glass. If you decide to make one of those pumpkin-shell punch bowls, put a couple of green glow-sticks inbetween the pumpkin and the bowl to light up the punch from underneath.
GHOULADE
2 (6 oz.) cans limeade frozen concentrate, thawed
3 cups lemon-lime soda (diet optional)
3 1/2 cups green sports drink
Green food coloring
Mix the limeade, soda, and sports drink in a pitcher. Add 5 or 6 drops of food coloring to achieve a nasty green shade, and stir. Add ice and serve.
One last sweet treat.
COW PIES
2 cups (12 oz.) chocolate chips
1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds, chopped
1/2 cup toasted shredded coconut
In a double boiler over simmering water, melt the chocolate chips and shortening, stirring until smooth. Remove and stir in the raisins, almonds and coconut, mixing well.
Drop by tablespoonfuls onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper and chill for about an hour. Serve on a piece of sod (or green-tinted coconut). Gruesome! Happy Halloween everybody!
Next week we have some recipes for Thanksgiving, and the week after that I have a story on a special group of kids from up around Reading. Let’s get cooking!