Halloween Treats

Halloween Weekend is here! I also love the Friday before Halloween, as all of the morning talk shows have their costume shows...Regis and Kelly, The View, etc!

I am so excited to finally get to celebrate Halloween with a child! I know he is just a newborn, but it's still fun! All of his little neighborhood friends are coming over for the first time! I can't wait for them to all meet! Our neighborhood puts on a fantastic parade, led by The Houston Fire Department, that goes right down our street. We can either watch the parade from our front yard, or walk in it. It's going to be so fun! Preston is also excited that his Aunt Lindsay is going to be in town to celebrate with him!

We have an annual tradition of cooking hot dogs and chili for Halloween. But, here are a few other recipe ideas that I found online. Not sure which ones I will attempt, but they all look super easy and adorable.

Apple Monster Mouths

You'll need:

Apples

Slivered Almonds

To Assemble:
Core apples and cut them into quarters. Cut another section out of each quarter from the skin side. (If you aren't serving them immediately, dip the cut apples in lemon juice or orange juice to keep from turning brown - although that might make them pleasantly gory, too).

Take pieces of the slivered almonds and push them into the top and bottom of the opening to form grotesque teeth for your monster mouth.

Recipe and photo from Family Fun.
 

 Pointy Hats for Halloween

You'll need:

32 chocolate Hershey®'s Kisses, unwrapped
1 package (32) fudge-striped cookies
1 small tube orange or red decorating icing

To Assemble:
Turn the cookies upside down. Attach 1 unwrapped kiss to the center of the cookie using a bit of the decorator icing.

Decorate the 'hat' by piping a ribbon around the base of the kiss and making a bow.

Recipe and photo from Betty Crocker.

 Ghostly Graveyard

TIME: Prep: 30 min. Cook: 10 min.
Ingredients:
4 cups miniature marshmallows
1/4 cup butter, cubed
6 cups crisp rice cereal
12 oval cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
1 tube white decorating gel
1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting
Halloween sprinkles

Directions:
In a large saucepan, combine marshmallows and butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until melted and blended. Remove from the heat; stir in cereal. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. dish; cool. Cut into 12 squares and set aside.

Cut a 1/2-in. piece from the bottom of each sandwich cookie. Crush removed cookie pieces; set aside. Write "RIP" on each cookie, using white decorating gel.

Position cereal squares on a large serving tray. With 2 tablespoons frosting, form a circle on each cereal square; top each with a decorated cookie. Sprinkle reserved crumbs around tombstones; add Halloween sprinkles.

Yield: 12 servings.

Ghostly Pumpkin Pudding

Ingredients:

Pudding:
1 package gelatin
2 cups whole milk
1 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks (reserve 2 whites for topping)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin puree

Topping:
2 large egg whites
1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 pinch fine salt
Small candy, for eyes

For pudding:

Directions
Put 1 tablespoon of cold water in a large bowl. Sprinkle gelatin over the surface, do not stir, and set aside until gelatins softens and blooms

Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a stand mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk milk, sugar, yolks, cinnamon and salt in a heat-proof bowl. Set the bowl above the boiling water and cook, stirring constantly with a heat-proof spatula, until mixture begins to thicken and coats the back of a spoon and almost boils, 10 to 12 minutes. Immediately remove from the heat and pour over the gelatin, whisking constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved and evenly distributed. Whisk in pumpkin until combined and completely smooth.

Evenly divide mixture into 12 small 3-ounce cups (paper works fine) and refrigerate until set, about 4 to 8 hours.
For topping:
Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a saucepan that can hold a stand mixer's bowl above the water. Whisk the 2 egg whites, sugar, cream of tarter, and salt in the bowl by hand. Set the bowl above the boiling water and continue whisking until the mixture is hot to the touch and the sugar dissolves, about 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer bowl to mixer and beat with the whisk attachment at medium-high speed until eggs hold a stiff peak, about 5 minutes.

Spoon topping onto puddings in the shape of a ghost. Decorate with candy eyes and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Recipe Courtesty of The Food Network

Scary Spider Cookies

You’ll need:

1 package of cream filled chocolate cookies (like Oreos). Orange cream filling looks extra spooky if you can find those ones.
1 small package of M&M’s or similar candies
1 package of thin black licorice ropes
1 Tbs. frosting (from a ready made can is fine)

To Assemble:
Snip the licorice rope into 1 ½ inch pieces.
Poke 4 pieces on each side of the cookies for legs.
Use the icing to ‘glue’ on 2 M&M’s for spider eyes.
Recipe and photo from Betty Crocker.

Happy Halloween, Everyone!