Halloween Foods

In OCTOBER we met at Michelle McKay's house to learn new Halloween Foods.

Candy Corn... mmmmm....

Fleshy Fingers

Roll any deli meat (I used black forest ham) into a finger, and smear some cream cheese along the bottom seam to close. Slice grape tomatoes and slide into the ends for fingernails.

Skeleton Hand

Break up pretzel rods into different sizes for finger bones. Melt some almond bark on low heat in a saucepan (or use any type of candy coating). Drop in your broken pretzel rods, and roll to cover. Pull out the broken pieces and let cool on wax paper (I hardened my bones in the fridge for 30 minutes). I poured a bag of dry black beans onto the plate for visual appeal, and then arranged the bones how I thought the hand should look.

Pumpkin Oranges

Slice a very thin layer from the bottom of each orange so it will rest flat. Cut another small slice from the top of the orange. Spoon out the pulp. Then using a sharp kitchen knife (I used a scalpel), cut out pumpkin faces as desired. Fill the oranges with fruit salad; I just used grapes.

Ghost Pizza

Spread a tube of pizza crust onto a cookie sheet. Layer with some pizza sauce from a jar. Then slice mozzarella cheese for the ghosts. During Cooking Club, I used packaged pre-sliced cheese, but it browned during baking. When I practiced the recipe ahead of time (pictures above), I used fresh mozzarella cheese. The fresh cheese kept the white color MUCH BETTER, but it was more difficult to slice. Perhaps stick the fresh cheese in the freezer for 10 minutes and then try slicing. Use a ghost cookie cutter to cut out the ghosts. Place ghosts close together for maximum cheese coverage on your pizza (I suggest closer than the picture above). When the pizza is cooked (according to crust package directions), add a few sprinkles for the ghosts' eyes.

Ghost Treats

10 Oreos (filling: regular, chocolate, or mint)
3 oz Cream Cheese softened
6 oz White Candy Coating
1 tsp Shortening
Chop cookies until they resemble coarse crumbs. Cut cream cheese into pieces and mix into cookies until the mixture forms a soft dough (a food processor works best). Use 2 teaspoons of dough for each, form ghost shapes. Place on a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Melt candy coating and shortening in the microwave; stir until smooth. Slowly spoon over each ghost shape to cover. Use a toothpick to create eyes. Store in the refrigerator.

Spiderweb Dip

Combine 8oz softened cream cheese with 1/2 cup salsa. Spread over serving plate. Spread guacamole over the top. Put several tablespoons of sour cream in a ziploc bag and cut off a TINY tip of the bag. Pipe concentric circles onto the cake. Use a toothpick to draw outward lines. You can leave the dip with the smeared lines for the spiderweb look, or fill the lines in with more piping. In the picture above, both techniques are shown.

Werewolf Fingers

Melt a bag of caramels in a saucepan, adding some milk to thin. Break pretzel rods in half and dip into the caramel. Then roll the rods in Heath morsels or Halloween sprinkles. We decided the rods with Heath candy slightly resembled Werewolf fingers, hence the name. This is a great EASY treat to make for family and friends.

Halloween Chips

Use Halloween cookie cutters to cut shapes out of tortillas. Brush each tortilla with olive oil, and some seasoning salt. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, flip half-way.

Cheesy Dip

Melt a block of Velveeta cheese with some salsa and seasoned ground beef- voila!

Pumpkin Cheese Puffs2 tablespoons Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate.

1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Flour
4 drops Yellow Paste Food Coloring
1 drop Red Paste Food Coloring
1/2 cup grated Romano Cheese
2 Eggs
leaves of Fresh Italian Parsley
In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once, and stir until smooth ball forms. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine red and yellow food coloring. Stir cheese and food coloring into dough. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Drop by level tablespoonfuls onto greased cookie sheet, 3 inches apart. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Using a star tip and reserved cream cheese mixture, pipe the stems onto the puffs. Add parsley leaves. Refrigerate leftovers.

Punch

Floating Hand
Fill a kitchen glove with water and freeze for 24 hours;
drop the frozen hand in your punch/water bowl