29 Days Until Halloween: SPIDER INSPIRED FOOD

Look, I can't talk about how much this even freaks me out as a concept. So look at all the pictures and click on the links if you are a braver soul than I, but this should give you some good ideas for starting  a spider-themed food display!

I'm terrified at spiders. That might be why I thought they'd make a decent Halloween theme--truly freaking scary. Looking at these gives me the heebie-jeebies.

Coming Soon: DRINKS 


Breakfasty Foods
Spider Egg Display

Spiders instead of centipedes (picture right), and coupled with spider eggs.

Spider Eggs










Desserts
Spider Cupcakes

Spider Spun Candy *
Candy Spiders
Spider Cakes
Bat and Cobweb Cookies
No Bake Spider Cheese Cake
Red Velvet Spider Cupcakes

Party foods/Snacks/Appetizers
Spider toothpicks - While not 'food' in the strictest sense, if you insert these toothpicks in mozzarella balls you could totally bill them as spider egg sacs! How evil is that?Caramel Cobwebs and Licorice Spiders - severed with delicious chocolate and caramel or pumpkin cake, or on top of the cupcake of your choice. Delicious!

Spider Pizza Spread

Black Widow Cheese Log











Dinner/Meals
Creamy Tomato Soup with Spider Web Topping
Fajita Spider Pizza 
Spider Roll


More Spider Recipes from Kraft

Hungry for Halloween

Just had a fantastic, non-spooky breakfast. Much to my chagrin.

from Southern Living

Last week, however, I did make Pumpkin Sticky Bun Muffins (from this month's Southern Living). They were delightfully fall! I cut the sugar in almost half, but they were still delicious.

Mr. Breakfast has some decent Halloween ideas you could try out this month. He also has a page devoted to the 23 Halloween Themed Breakfast Cereals.

And the skull-and-bones breakfast is a must for those of you who like bacon and eggs.

Chicago Tribune suggested a really fascinating, unique breakfast menu (waaaaay back in 1993). It includes an adult drink, Cider Diablo (ingredients below and recipe at the link), that sounds uh-may-zing! I found the menu listed over at the Halloween Forums and the names of the recipes sounded so fun I just had to track them down (so I did).

• 1/2 cup sugar 
•  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
•  1/4 teapoon ground cloves 
•  4 cups unfiltered apple cider, heated to a boil 
•  2 long strips lemon rind 
•  1/2 cup brandy, optional 
•  2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

There is a thread suggesting Vegetarian-friendly brunch options over at Chowhound; some inspiration to be found there, but no recipes.

Sweet Potato Donuts sound tasty. Gnocchi Tater Tots don't sound very Halloweeny, but they are kind of orange and might be nommy. And with that, I know I'm diverging from the topic at hand and just getting hungry again...

Later, ghoulies!

[more at Recipe Source: Halloween]

Mummy Loaf!

Yes, yes I got my wish from the last post -- snow in Georgia. And yes, I was snowed in. And double-yes: my internet was touchy the whole week and I'm still catching up at work.

But no, I couldn't make a snowman. By the time it was deep enough at my house it was already a melty-re-freezy mess. More like dried "Great Stuff" than snow.

So, without reliable internet, a serious inability to create my own "Snowhouse of Horrors," and no way to drive anyplace for a week, a girl does a little crochet and bakes many things with her new bread maker.

Now, I refuse to say that Mummy-Loaf (danish braid with blueberries and cream cheese filling) was a bad idea. HE WASN'T. Look at how cute his sweet little mug is - especially before baking!?!

I would, however, qualify that I'd do things differently next time. For starters, I would have actually thought about what I was doing before applying the Egg Wash. My CuisinArt recipe called for a whole egg + water combination, and I should have known that was for making it even more toasty-amber colored.

I want a paler mummy next time: egg white only, maybe? At least I'm going to finish off with a light dusting of powder sugar or a vanilla glaze/drizzle.

Also: one eye melted into his head, which ruined the 'mummy' effect after baking. Next time I'll save two berries and place them in as it comes out of the oven.

Still, it was a pretty successful ordeal. I followed this bread recipe with my bread maker (lessened all ingredients to make only a 1 lb loaf), then made a cream cheese filling by beating the following together:

• 4 oz cream cheese
• half an egg, beaten
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• 1 tsp vanilla

To make a bread braid:

• Roll out the dough in a rectangle, about 12x8"
• Spread the cream cheese down the middle third (lengthwise)
• Top cheese with blueberries (leave a little space for the 'eyes')
• Cut the side thirds at 1" intervals to make strips
• Start by folding the bottom strips into eachother, then criss-cross fold the other strips all the way up -- this should mostly cover the blueberry/cheese filling, but there may be a few gaps here and there. At the next-to last strips, stretch them a little further down to leave a cream cheese opening where the eyes should be.
• Tuck the last (top) strips in to look like a head wrapping
• Bake 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees F until toasted and filling is set (mine took 30 minutes -- again, smaller loaf)
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool, dot the open area with two berries for eyes
• NOM NOM NOM (once cooled)

Serve your mummy plain, dusted with powdered sugar, or with a drizzly vanilla glaze. He is delicious with coffee and should be shared with friends.

READY FOR HALLOWEEN DAY 17: Feast Your Eyes (Breakfast Edition)

So, someone whose blog you read is supposed to be making a pre-Halloween meal for friends soon. By 'someone' I mean 'me.' Which means that you are about to be treated to the best of the best Halloween recipe links I could find!

And if anything makes you hungry, be sure to comment. I've got a household of hungry ghouls to impress and I need your help figuring out what has the most spook-appeal.

Starting with the intriguing items found on FoodGawker (amazing site -- one of my favorites -- don't go when hungry) for potential breakfast or brunch:

Chocolate Pumpkin Marble Cake

Pumpkin Streusel Buns

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Pumpkin Pecan Cake

And of course, Martha Stewart has at least one potentially breakfasty item to consider:

Spiderweb Hard-boiled Eggs

Ghoulish Goodies by Sharon Bowers is a book I was gifted last year as a pre-wedding present. I love it! Very polished and full of cute ideas.

It has the following possible recipes:

• Pumpkin-White Chocolate Bread
• Bandaged Fingers (cocktail weiners wrapped in tortillas and bloodied with ketchup, but I think I'd look for a 'pigs in a blanket' alternative with a little red jam)
• Witches Knuckles (little cheese biscuits which are decorated to look like witches fingers... yum!)

One or two final contenders, if we go with a breakfast theme:

Witches Hat Crescent Rolls

Brain Hash Browns

And one from me, though not so spooky unless you label it (a bottle labeled 'innards' or 'gut sauce' would be cute to serve the berry topping)

Flesh Toast with Gut Sauce



Ingredients

1 1/2 cups 2% milk
6 egg whites
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
16 (1-inch-thick) slices diagonally cut French bread baguette
1/4 cup butter, divided
2 cups water
4 oz dry white wine
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
----4 cups of berries, your choice. Recommended as below (I use frozen):----
2 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 cup whole or half strawberries

Whisk milk through salt on the ingredients list, thoroughly. Arrange the bread slices in a single layer in a large shallow dish. Pour milk mixture over bread, and let stand until milk is absorbed (about 2 minutes).

Melt 1 to 2 tablespoons butter in a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Arrange 8 bread slices in pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until bread is golden brown. Remove from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining butter and 8 bread slices.

Combine 2 cups water, wine, 1/8 cup granulated sugar, and cornstarch in a large saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 5 minutes). Add fruit to pan, stirring well to coat. Heat through, especially if using frozen berries. Serve sauce with bread slices.

Optional: sprinkle each serving with powdered sugar.

8 servings (serving size: 2 bread slices and about 1/2 cup sauce)

Pumpkin Cream Cheese

• 1/2 cup pumpkin
  
• 8oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3 tbs. light brown sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. molasses
  
• 1/4 tsp. ginger

Beat on low to medium setting until thoroughly combined.

Mmm. Serve on toast, bagels, and (in my case right now) toaster waffles.

What do I do with *that*? Nutmeg Grater Edition

Pinot update: Our sweet little doggie is already doing much better! I don't want to jinx it, but he's even walking a bit (with guidance and watchful eyes) on his own. Thank you, everyone. The words of encouragement have been truly treasured.

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Now that we're married, and setting into our blissful domesticity, I'm trying to figure out how to make use of several un-asked-for gadgets that could not be returned. It seems a golden opportunity to explore Halloweeniness in the everyday.

First on our list: the Nutmeg Grater (mine is much more plastic than that in the picture).

Receiving a nutmeg grater is an invitation into the world of truly delicious pumpkin recipes, because it is a perfect compliment to that special gourd that we all cherish -- and let me tell you, from someone who never liked nutmeg, you just can't top fresh nutmeg over the stuff you find on the spice aisle. It smells better, it tastes better, and you end up with a finer texture that all but disappears in your baking.

My first nutmeg grater project is PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST FOR TWO (or pumpkin toast casserole, because this is really more of a baking experiment). You will need:

• bread (I always use that is in danger of going old before it gets eaten) -- french bread loaves or brioche are the ideal here; enough to line a smallish casserole dish
  
• Canned Pumpkin (1 cup -- not the pie filling stuff)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cream (or half and half)
• 3 tbl. brown sugar
  
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (I only used a 1/4, but then it's not my favorite flavor)
  
• 1 pinch salt
• NUTMEG + your Nutmeg Grater (this is to taste, but I would recommend somewhere between a pinch and 1/2 tsp). Grate it. Smell it. Love it.
  
• 3 large eggs
• Toasted Pecans (optional)

Line your casserole dish bottom with the bread. I leave mine in thick slices, but if you would prefer a more casserole-y experience, you could break it into large pieces.

Mix all the other ingredients (everything but the bread, eggs, and pecans) in a medium or large bowl. The resulting mixture will be a thick liquid.

Fold your eggs into the pumpkin mix until thoroughly combined.

Pour evenly over your toast in the casserole dish.

Place in the fridge overnight.

Bake for 30 minutes at 425^oF. Serve sprinkled with toasted nuts; having real whipped cream and warm maple syrup on the table for your spouse or loved one is bonus points.

This recipe is subtly sweet if you don't use syrup, and it reminds me of what would happen if you tried to balance pumpkin pie and bread pudding in a breakfast meal. Yumminess.

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Did you receive any wedding or Christmas gifts you don't know what do with? Let me know and I'll try to figure something out. creepy.cupcakes@yahoo.com