Cooking
Sorry for the delay; I'm afraid we were having such a good time last night, I lost track of time. Who wants to type when you're celebrating Halloween, anyway?
But now it's time to recap the latest Blog Party, and as promised, it's a good one.
We had a small crowd, which meant we could go cazh & hang out in the living room. And that meant firing up the DVD player, and mocking & screaming along to Elvira's Box of Horrors, a collection of classic 'scary' movies hosted by the ultimate...and sexiest...name in Halloween, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. The Brain that Wouldn't Die? Night of the Living Dead? Don't worry; I made sure there were plenty of lights on!
To keep it on the spooky side, the rest of the house was filled with the sounds of Tubular Bells. Don't get the connection? Neither did I, many years ago when I was alone in my apartment, at night, and decided to put this record on the turn table. And yet, I was completely freaked out by the music.
It wasn't until a couple of days later that someone told me it was the soundtrack to The Exorcist! Just creepy.
And while the party itself may have been laid-back, that didn't stop me from putting out the coolest serving pieces...ever!
I found the perfect site for all our Halloween-themed party needs, starting with these Skeleton Utensils...how cute are they?!
I couldn't pass up these adorable martini glasses, either.
Since there's always a certain amount of, ahem, alcoholic consumption, ahem, at our parties, these shot glasses will get plenty of use!
And these chocolate coffins, which fit perfectly in these tombstone goody bags!!
Ok, the place was set up for a proper Halloween bash, but it was definitely time to dig into the food!
Judith came back for another night of fun, and started things off right with these fabulous Pumpkin Flans! Hey, I'm always happy to 'justify' a kitchen expenditure, so glad those ramekins could be of some use.
And she also provided us with her own version of the 'Dirty Witch", doing strange & wonderful things with Kaluha, cola, and chocolate liqueur!
It was good to have Judith back for our Halloween fun.
Next, we had Cakelaw, my last BBM partner & the person responsible for Tim Tams cravings! For her return to BP, Cakelaw created these super-cute Bleeding Heart Patty Cakes; love them! Who knew oozing 'blood' could be so appetizing?
A simple rum & Coke kept everyone in a good mood, too.
Many thanks to Cakelaw for spending her Saturday night with us.
Although Halloween isn't celebrated with as much gusto in other countries as it is in the US, I'm happy to report yet another long-distance guest made the trip for our Halloween party...it was the return of Eva! And she brought these adorable Pumpkin Biscuits; I think she should get a special prize for realism, don't you?
Served with Mulled Cider, our Swiss miss was a big hit!
A Blog Party regular, J made yet another trans-continental flight to be with us. I love that she gets into the 'theme' of things just as much as I do!
Despite being pulled in three directions, she managed to feed us with some appropriately-colored Carrot with a Touch of Ginger Soup, as well as tiny servings of Welsh Rarebit...too cute!
Not forgetting the 'cocktail' half of the party, J served up Fresh OJ with a dash of Raspberry...what a great color!
As for me...well, it's all about Halloween in my house. I changed out various bulbs for black lights, 'forgot' to dust for that authentic cobweb-by feeling (!), lit lots and lots of candles, and managed to find places for almost all my bats, goblins, skeletons and more.
But of course, it was all about the food!
Although they didn't turn out quite as cute as I'd hoped, I served these Caramel-filled Chocolate Spiders on Chocolate-Pretzel Webs; trial and error...next year, they'll be even cuter.
Next, Hallo-Newman-O's; candy-dipped Newman-O's (like Oreo's, only organic & better...plus, Paul & Co. give the money to charitable causes), topped with spooky sugar faces.
Then, from Martha Stewart, I handed out goblets of this amazing Vampire-Repellent Soup; roasted garlic, leeks and potatoes cooked down and pureed. Fabulous. And the house still smells good. Plus, to the best of my knowledge, we've been vampire-free ever since.
What goes better with soup than bread? For the party, I made Ogre Fingers; an almost pretzel-like bread shaped like (unintentionally) grotesque fingers. Very tasty, though.
On to the next course. There were casket-shaped Day of the Dead Loaves, made from...dead things, of course! Lamb, beef, and pork, many spices and add-in's; I left the making of these to Matt. They were a big hit, though...and I love the shape.
To go with, Potato Moon Balls; potatoes run through a ricer, shaped into balls, stuffed with a piece of melting cheese (I used a Mexican cheese, but the name escapes me), rolled in bread crumbs, coated with cooking spray, and baked! Very simple.
And finally, the drink. Sure, there's plenty of orange & purple beverages, there's apple cider, but I think these little cans of Candy Corn pop from Jones Soda were the favorites. Limited edition, as is often the case with this company, it was remarkable both for it's cloying sweetness as well as it's spot-on mimicry of candy corn. It was both marshmallow and caramel...amazing.
Well, that's about it. We sat around and watch scary movies (I think I kept my eyes closed during the entire showing of Night of the Living Dead; zombies give me nightmares), we ate, we talked. We celebrated my favorite holiday of all, Halloween.
Wish you could have been there? So did we! But you'll get another chance next month, as I unveil a brand new theme for November. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with turkey or marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes. Check back 1 November to see what's coming next, and I hope you'll make plans to join the next Blog Party!
Tagged with: Food and Drink + Blog Party + Events + Appetizers + Cocktails + Canapes + Parties + Finger Food + Mocktails + Halloween+ Blogging
- Halloween Chocolate: Michael Recchiuti
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- Blog Party#39: Gross Anatomy---the Aftermath
Well, what can I say? I was so creeped out by all that Gross Anatomy, I guess I needed some time to recover!! But I'm better now, thanks, so I feel I can safely tell you about the fantastic...if somewhat macabre...time we had. Music. Of course, there...
- Blog Party#39: Gross Anatomy
It's time for another round of everyone's favorite virtual cocktail party, and this month, we're going eerie. And macabre. Creepy, even. This time, we're serving up bone-chilling bites and spooky spirits. For October, we're turning...
- Blog Party#27 Is Coming Soon!
There's still a couple days left to work on your Blog Party#27: Halloween entries! Spooky, creepy, or just fun; turn your favorite appetizers AND cocktails into Halloween-themed treats. Entries are due this Thursday, 25 October; leave a link in...
- 'twas The Night Before Halloween...
(Spooky Spuds) And all through the house, all creatures were stirring...getting ready for the big day! It's not Halloween without creepy/goofy food. Here's the first round. Backbone Roll-Ups Buggy Snack Mix Fruity Eyeball Salad Creepy Crawly...
Cooking
BLog Party#27: Halloween!---The Round-Up
Sorry for the delay; I'm afraid we were having such a good time last night, I lost track of time. Who wants to type when you're celebrating Halloween, anyway?
But now it's time to recap the latest Blog Party, and as promised, it's a good one.
We had a small crowd, which meant we could go cazh & hang out in the living room. And that meant firing up the DVD player, and mocking & screaming along to Elvira's Box of Horrors, a collection of classic 'scary' movies hosted by the ultimate...and sexiest...name in Halloween, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. The Brain that Wouldn't Die? Night of the Living Dead? Don't worry; I made sure there were plenty of lights on!
To keep it on the spooky side, the rest of the house was filled with the sounds of Tubular Bells. Don't get the connection? Neither did I, many years ago when I was alone in my apartment, at night, and decided to put this record on the turn table. And yet, I was completely freaked out by the music.
It wasn't until a couple of days later that someone told me it was the soundtrack to The Exorcist! Just creepy.
And while the party itself may have been laid-back, that didn't stop me from putting out the coolest serving pieces...ever!
I found the perfect site for all our Halloween-themed party needs, starting with these Skeleton Utensils...how cute are they?!
I couldn't pass up these adorable martini glasses, either.
Since there's always a certain amount of, ahem, alcoholic consumption, ahem, at our parties, these shot glasses will get plenty of use!
And these chocolate coffins, which fit perfectly in these tombstone goody bags!!
Ok, the place was set up for a proper Halloween bash, but it was definitely time to dig into the food!
Judith came back for another night of fun, and started things off right with these fabulous Pumpkin Flans! Hey, I'm always happy to 'justify' a kitchen expenditure, so glad those ramekins could be of some use.And she also provided us with her own version of the 'Dirty Witch", doing strange & wonderful things with Kaluha, cola, and chocolate liqueur!
It was good to have Judith back for our Halloween fun.
Next, we had Cakelaw, my last BBM partner & the person responsible for Tim Tams cravings! For her return to BP, Cakelaw created these super-cute Bleeding Heart Patty Cakes; love them! Who knew oozing 'blood' could be so appetizing?A simple rum & Coke kept everyone in a good mood, too.
Many thanks to Cakelaw for spending her Saturday night with us.
Although Halloween isn't celebrated with as much gusto in other countries as it is in the US, I'm happy to report yet another long-distance guest made the trip for our Halloween party...it was the return of Eva! And she brought these adorable Pumpkin Biscuits; I think she should get a special prize for realism, don't you?Served with Mulled Cider, our Swiss miss was a big hit!
A Blog Party regular, J made yet another trans-continental flight to be with us. I love that she gets into the 'theme' of things just as much as I do!Despite being pulled in three directions, she managed to feed us with some appropriately-colored Carrot with a Touch of Ginger Soup, as well as tiny servings of Welsh Rarebit...too cute!
Not forgetting the 'cocktail' half of the party, J served up Fresh OJ with a dash of Raspberry...what a great color!
As for me...well, it's all about Halloween in my house. I changed out various bulbs for black lights, 'forgot' to dust for that authentic cobweb-by feeling (!), lit lots and lots of candles, and managed to find places for almost all my bats, goblins, skeletons and more.
But of course, it was all about the food!
Although they didn't turn out quite as cute as I'd hoped, I served these Caramel-filled Chocolate Spiders on Chocolate-Pretzel Webs; trial and error...next year, they'll be even cuter.
Next, Hallo-Newman-O's; candy-dipped Newman-O's (like Oreo's, only organic & better...plus, Paul & Co. give the money to charitable causes), topped with spooky sugar faces.
Then, from Martha Stewart, I handed out goblets of this amazing Vampire-Repellent Soup; roasted garlic, leeks and potatoes cooked down and pureed. Fabulous. And the house still smells good. Plus, to the best of my knowledge, we've been vampire-free ever since.
What goes better with soup than bread? For the party, I made Ogre Fingers; an almost pretzel-like bread shaped like (unintentionally) grotesque fingers. Very tasty, though.
On to the next course. There were casket-shaped Day of the Dead Loaves, made from...dead things, of course! Lamb, beef, and pork, many spices and add-in's; I left the making of these to Matt. They were a big hit, though...and I love the shape.
To go with, Potato Moon Balls; potatoes run through a ricer, shaped into balls, stuffed with a piece of melting cheese (I used a Mexican cheese, but the name escapes me), rolled in bread crumbs, coated with cooking spray, and baked! Very simple.
And finally, the drink. Sure, there's plenty of orange & purple beverages, there's apple cider, but I think these little cans of Candy Corn pop from Jones Soda were the favorites. Limited edition, as is often the case with this company, it was remarkable both for it's cloying sweetness as well as it's spot-on mimicry of candy corn. It was both marshmallow and caramel...amazing.
Well, that's about it. We sat around and watch scary movies (I think I kept my eyes closed during the entire showing of Night of the Living Dead; zombies give me nightmares), we ate, we talked. We celebrated my favorite holiday of all, Halloween.
Wish you could have been there? So did we! But you'll get another chance next month, as I unveil a brand new theme for November. Don't worry, it has nothing to do with turkey or marshmallow-topped sweet potatoes. Check back 1 November to see what's coming next, and I hope you'll make plans to join the next Blog Party!
Tagged with: Food and Drink + Blog Party + Events + Appetizers + Cocktails + Canapes + Parties + Finger Food + Mocktails + Halloween+ Blogging
- Halloween Chocolate: Michael Recchiuti
Have you noticed that Halloween has become a major commercial holiday? I'd complain except that I am completely beguiled by the marvelous creations in the October edition of Martha Stewart Living magazine. I actually got a sneak peek at the photos...
- Blog Party#39: Gross Anatomy---the Aftermath
Well, what can I say? I was so creeped out by all that Gross Anatomy, I guess I needed some time to recover!! But I'm better now, thanks, so I feel I can safely tell you about the fantastic...if somewhat macabre...time we had. Music. Of course, there...
- Blog Party#39: Gross Anatomy
It's time for another round of everyone's favorite virtual cocktail party, and this month, we're going eerie. And macabre. Creepy, even. This time, we're serving up bone-chilling bites and spooky spirits. For October, we're turning...
- Blog Party#27 Is Coming Soon!
There's still a couple days left to work on your Blog Party#27: Halloween entries! Spooky, creepy, or just fun; turn your favorite appetizers AND cocktails into Halloween-themed treats. Entries are due this Thursday, 25 October; leave a link in...
- 'twas The Night Before Halloween...
(Spooky Spuds) And all through the house, all creatures were stirring...getting ready for the big day! It's not Halloween without creepy/goofy food. Here's the first round. Backbone Roll-Ups Buggy Snack Mix Fruity Eyeball Salad Creepy Crawly...