Pumpkin Pie Punch from Delish©

Love the Autumn season?  Enjoy the taste of pumpkin?  Well, this adult beverage is for you!

Recipe by Lena Abraham

Knock their socks off with this tasty cocktail, Pumpkin Pie Punch, at your Halloween party!

 

Yield: 10-12 Servings

 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 gallon Apple Cider
• 2 cups Ginger Ale
• 1 can Pumpkin pie mix
• 1 cup Vanilla Vodka
• 2 cups whipped topping (i.e.: Cool Whip®)
• Pumpkin Pie spice for garnish

 

Directions: 

1. Combine cider, ginger ale, pumpkin pie mix and vodka in a pitcher. Stir until fully combined.
2. Pour into glasses, top with Cool Whip®, sprinkle with pumpkin pie spice, and serve.

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Halloween Chocolate Chip Cookies

A classic goes wild!

Here’s a twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie that will leave you spellbound this Halloween.

Spider Cookies with Chocolate Chips

by Colleen Riley for Real Simple.com

Photo: Philip Friedman; Styling: Colleen Riley

Yield: 24 Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room teperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup, plus 24, chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. Beat the butter and sugars in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, then the vanilla, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Fold in ¾ cup of the chocolate chips.
3. Drop mounds of the dough (about 1 ½ tablespoon each) 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Press one chocolate chip, pointed-side down, into the top of each cookie. Bake, rotating the sheets halfway though, until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 14 minutes. Let cool slightly on the baking sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. Place the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips and oil in a small microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals, stirring in between, until melted. Dip a toothpick in the melted chocolate and draw legs around the exposed chip.

 

Just a Note: To make the spiders even spookier, press red Nonpareils into the chocolate chip (you may need to use tweezers) when the cookies first come out of the oven.

 

I want my Mummy!

Pillsbury™ Offers a Fast Easy Way to Make Halloween Tasty

Photo by Pillsbury™

 

Ingredients:

• 1 package Pillsbury™ Ready To Bake!™ refrigerated chocolate chip cookies
• 1 container (1 lb) vanilla creamy ready-to-spread frosting
• Neon orange and green food colors
• Candy eyes

Directions: 

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Bake cookies as directed on package. Cool completely.
2. Separate frosting into 2 small bowls; add food colors to make desired neon orange and neon green colors.
3. Spoon colored frostings into decorating bags fitted with flat basket weave tip #45. Squeeze bag to pipe frosting in crisscross pattern over cookies to look like mummy bandages. Attach candy eyes. Let stand until set, about 20 minutes.
4. Be creative with any color you choose to decorate your mummies. If you don’t have food color on hand, use vanilla or chocolate frosting. Don’t have candy eyes? Use miniature candy-coated chocolate candies instead.
   

   Wrap it Up! Use colored frosting to create the “mummy” look and add candy “eyes.”

Don’t have decorating tips or bags at home? Instead, spoon frosting into a resealable food-storage plastic bag, and cut about 1/4 inch off corner of bag to pipe mummy bandages onto the cookies.

 Chocolate Chip Werewolf Cookies

 Get creative with these cookies that will leave your guests howling for more.

Halloween party guests will go barking mad over these Werewolf Cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1 package (16 oz) Pillsbury™ Ready to Bake!™ refrigerated chocolate chip cookies (24 cookies)
• 1- 1/2 cups ready-to-spread chocolate frosting (from 16-oz. can)
• Assorted small candies

Directions:

1. Bake cookies as directed on package. Cool completely, about 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, spoon frosting into resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Cut tiny hole in bottom corner of food storage plastic bag.
3. Pipe frosting onto cooled cookies to resemble hair. Attach candies with small amount of frosting to decorate face as desired.

 

 

Spooky Recipe – Severed (Meat) Hand

Megan of Not Martha© blog has created a macabre main dish for your Halloween party, sure to make an impact — and possibly convert folks to vegetarianism.

Photo by Not Marta© Blog 

Ingredients: 

• Meatloaf*
• Cheese
• Ketcup
• Onion
• Mashed Potatoes

Click here how she made this creation.

 

 

 

Recipe for Meatloaf from Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup bread crumbs, preferably fresh
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 pound ground pork
• Salt and pepper
• 2 ounces Parmesan cheese (1/2 cup grated)
• 1 garlic clove or 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh sage leaves or 1 “pinch” dried
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• onion

 

Cooking Directions: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Soak the bread crumbs in the milk until the milk is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

Mix together all ingredients. Shape the meat (click here).  Bake 45 to 60 minutes.  When done, meat loaf will be lightly browned and firm.

 

 

 

Witches’ Brew Ice Cream Soda

Photo by Hershey’s Kitchens.®

Yield: Makes two 8-oz. servings.

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons HERSHEY’S Syrup
• 16 fluid-ounces Cold club soda, seltzer or ginger ale
• 4 scoops (about 1 cup) orange sherbet
• TWIZZLERS Strawberry Twists(optional)

Directions:

1. Combine syrup with small amount of club soda in 16-ounce soda glass.
2. Add sherbet; fill glass with club soda. Garnish with candy. Serve immediately.

 

Witches’ Brew with Broomsticks

Yield: 8 Servings

Photo by Taste of Home™

Ingredients:

• 8 orange candy slices
• 8 cinnamon sticks (5 inches)
• 8 pieces black shoestring licorice (10 inches)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup red-hot candies
• 6 cups milk
• 3/4 cup instant chocolate drink mix

 

Directions: 

1. For broomsticks, on a lightly sugared surface, roll each orange slice into a 1/4-in.-thick triangle. With wet scissors, snip bottoms of triangles to resemble broom bristles. Wrap pointed end of each around a cinnamon stick. Coil a licorice piece around the top of each orange slice to secure to cinnamon stick; set aside.
2. In a large saucepan, bring water and red-hots to a boil, stirring frequently until dissolved. Whisk in milk and chocolate drink mix. Cook, uncovered, over medium heat until hot. Pour into cups or mugs. Serve with broomstick stirrers.

Originally published as Witches’ Brew with Broomsticks in Taste of Home’s Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook Annual 2007, p244

 

Beef Stew with Ghoulish Mashed Potatoes

1 

Photo by Taste of Home™

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 pound fresh mushrooms, halved
• 2 cups fresh baby carrots
• 2 medium parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise and sliced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1-1/2 cups beef broth
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 8 medium potatoes (2-1/3 pounds), peeled and cubed
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 6 tablespoons butter, cubed
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. In a 5-qt. slow cooker, combine the first 11 ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or until beef and vegetables are tender.
2. About 30 minutes before serving, place potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain. Return potatoes to pan; add the sour cream, butter and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mash until smooth.
3. Set aside 12 peas for garnish. Add remaining peas to the slow cooker. Increase heat to high. In a bowl, whisk the flour, water and remaining salt until smooth; stir into stew. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until thickened.
4. Divide stew among six bowls. Place mashed potatoes in large resealable plastic bag; cut a 2-in. hole in one corner. Pipe ghost potatoes onto stew; garnish with reserved peas.

Originally published as Beef Stew with Ghoulish Mashed Potatoes in Halloween Party Favorites 2009

 

Witch’s Broomstick Bread Recipe

Yield: 16 Servings

Photo by Taste of Home™

Ingredients: 

• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1-1/2 cups warm water (110° to 115°)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 to 4-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
• 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 jar (24 ounces) meatless spaghetti sauce, optional

 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the olive oil, sugar, salt and 2-1/2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky).
2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
3. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Remove a third of the dough; cover and set aside. Roll remaining dough into a 10-in. circle. Transfer to a parchment paper-lined baking sheet.
4. Brush 1 tablespoon butter over bottom half of circle to within 1/4 in. of edges. Sprinkle with Italian cheese blend, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, poppy seeds, garlic powder, oregano and pepper flakes. Fold dough over filling. Using scissors or a pizza cutter, cut dough into 1/2-in.-wide strips to within 1/2 in. of fold; twist and curl strips into a brush.
5. Shape remaining dough into an 12-in. rope. Twist dough and place above brush for a handle. Brush remaining butter over dough. Sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with spaghetti sauce if desired.

 

Originally published as Witch’s Broomstick Bread in Taste of Home’s Holiday & Celebrations Cookbook Annual 2009, p243

 

Purple People Eater Punch

Photo by Taste of Home

This Taste of Home Test Kitchen punch recipe was inspired by the hit novelty hit song “Purple People Eater,” as recorded by Sheb Wooley.

Singer and acter Sheb Wooley appearing in July 1958 issue of LIFE magazine. Shown here with a Purple People Eater.

Yield: 5 quarts/approximately 26 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 quarts red grape juice, chilled
• 4 drops neon purple food coloring
• 2 liters club soda, chilled
• 2 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened

 

 

Directions:

Pour grape juice into a 6-quart punch bowl; add food coloring.  Slowly pour in club soda.  Gently spoon ice cream into the punch and whisk to swirl.  Serve immediately.

 

Originally published as Purple People Eater Punch in Taste of Home Halloween Food & Fun 2008, p47

 

 

 

Blogger offers a Hand to Create a Scary Halloween Punch

Mark Hamanderson Offers Great Advice on How to Make a Frozen Hand for your Halloween Punch Bowl.  The following is from his blog.   Making a hand of ice is pretty easy: fill a glove with water and put it in the freezer. That said, the following tips will help.

The mold

Photo by blog.markhamanderson.com

My advice is to use a flimsy dishwashing glove. You can, of course, use a latex glove (as for medical exams) or nitrate glove (as for automotive work), but the drawback for these is that lefts and rights are interchangeable; they look less like a real hand because the thumb is positioned improperly.

Suspending it in the freezer

Use skewers to suspend the glove

You’ll need a way to suspend your glove in the freezer while the water crystallizes. I recommend driving a pair of skewers (as for shish kebabs) through the glove from perpendicular angles about an inch or so below the wrist opening. Then you can hang your glove inside an empty oatmeal box (you know, the round sort)*.

Avoiding swelling

Water expands as it freezes, which can give your frozen hand and unnatural degree of swelling in the palm, looking quite as though it had suffered a number of bee stings. To minimize this, add just a bit of water at a time to your glove, wait for it to freeze, add more water, etc.

Where to stop

Don’t fill the glove further than the base of the hand. An ordinary wrist is narrower than the hand, but dishwashing gloves are not that shape.

*To keep its shape, hang the glove inside an empty oatmeal box.

Protecting the fingers

When you remove your dishwashing glove from the frozen hand, the fingers are liable to snap off. That’s okay. Apply a bit of water to the break, restore the severed finger to its place, hold it so for a couple of seconds, and put it back in the freezer for a little while.

Frost-free freezers

My advice is to not make your ice hand far in advance. Modern domestic freezers are all ‘Frost free’, which means that they periodically (all too frequently) go through periods of thawing and freezing. This will wreak havoc on your hand of ice. In the end, my hand’s fingers became shortened and clawlike.

And this is what the result should look like:

Photo: Kevin Kennefick for Storey Publishing

Screaming Red Punch with a Hand

Lygeia Grace, a Simply Stated Contributor offers this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 new (non-powdered preferred) rubber surgical glove (or the dishwashing glove as shown above)
• 2 quarts apple juice
• 2 quarts cranberry juice
• 2 liters ginger ale

Directions:

1. Unless using the instructions above for the dishwashing glove, rinse the rubber surgical glove inside and out several times with cold water to make sure it doesn’t have any powder coating. Fill with water and tie the wrist tightly closed with a twist tie. Freeze solid.
2. Mix the juices and ginger ale in a large punch bowl. Cut the glove carefully off the hand and fingers with a sharp scissors and float the molded hand in the punch.
3. Enjoy.

Gingerbread Skeleton Cookies

by Kristen Evans Dittami|August 2013 for Real Simple.com

Yield: 24 Cookies

Photo by Joseph De Leo

Ingredients:

• 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for the work surface
• 1-1/4 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea or table salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 large egg
• 1 recipe Easy Royal Icing

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, baking soda, and salt.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, dark brown and granulated sugars until smooth. Add the molasses and egg and beat until combined and creamy, scrapping down the bowl as necessary, about 2 minutes.
3. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Shape into two disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
4. Heat oven to 350 ° F. On a well-floured surface, working with one disk at a time, roll the dough to ¼ inch thick. Transfer to two parchment-lined baking sheets and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut into shapes using cookie cutters (brush off excess flour with a dry pastry brush) and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Bake until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly on baking sheets, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.
6. Transfer the royal icing to a piping bag or a resealable plastic freezer bag (snip a small hole in the corner of the freezer bag). Decorate cookies as desired and let set.  (For straight lines, hold the tip of the tube ¼ inch above the cookie and let the icing drop down.) To make skeletons, first draw the eyes and mouth, then the spine with ribs, and finally the arm and leg bones.

 

Easy Royal Icing Recipe

Photo by Joseph De Leo

Yield: 1 cup (approximately enough to frost 36 cookies)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1 large egg white, or equivalent amount of dried egg whites
• 1/2 teaspoon water or lemon juice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, egg white, and water or lemon juice. Mix the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, until the icing is thickened and smooth, about 2 minutes.
2. The icing will keep up to 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Before using, beat it with a fork. Stir in very small amounts of water if it seems too thick.