Halloween Party Food

For me, Halloween has come to be mostly about food and friends (with some fun with costumes and decorations thrown in). This year we made way too much food, but it was fun to see it all on display.

Brain crab dip.

Brain gelatin.

Halloween Graveyard Cake

What is more thematic for Halloween than a graveyard cake? I started with a recipe Sharon found at Spooky Graveyard Cake and their recipe for chocolate buttercream frosting, though I used 1/2 tsp almond extract, 2 tsp vanilla extract, and two drops of orange essence.  For the actual cake, I used this one bowl chocolate cake recipe.

Make Sushi Party -- Norimaki

In this third installment of the Sushi Party recap we look at what I always think of when people talk about sushi, norimaki. Seaweed wrapped around sushi rice surrounding some good stuff.

Make Sushi Party -- California Rolls

I enjoy sushi, but it is not a big part of my life. So I was unprepared for how fantastic a sushi making party could be. We had a couple of folks who seemed to know what they were doing show the rest of us how to prepare, roll, and cut california rolls and other delicacies for what turned out to be an amazing lunch.

Make Sushi Party -- Rice pockets

As part of a sushi making party my young friend Rachel pitched in making rice pockets in fried soy bean curd -- also called inarizushi.

Hedgehogs

We had a potluck SCA event today. I wasn't sure what to bring, so I went with an old stand-by: hedgehogs!

Little pork sausage meatballs decorated with toasted sugared slivered almonds (for spines) and dried currants (for eyes).

I like them with currants much better than when I made this before with raisins cut in half (if I recall correctly). They were the perfect size and nice and firm and none of them popped out during the baking process.

Winter Party Follow-up

Time to wrap up something from a couple months ago. I had all this lead up on this blog about getting ready for the winter party celebrating our house's centennial and then I never found that photos we had taken until just the other day. They were on "the other camera".

Cooking over the fire

My friend had a second Cooking over the Fire Day at which Shasta and I had a great time. I mostly kept the dogs entertained and roasted a few root veggies in the ashes while others prepared some quite tasty dishes in the pipkins.

Fanning the fire, cooking, fire gazing

A spitted egg

Eulalia! Don't take Ulfred's egg...

Hot and sour soup

Pipkin, spitted egg, meat, soup, roasting veggies

Happy, tired dogs

Crispy Phyllo Spinach Tartlets

First attempt at crispy phyllo spinach tartlets turned out to be "a learning experience" that turned out well enough in the end. I have not worked with phyllo much in the past and didn't realize that it required thawing which takes many hours to do right. I tried to accelerate the process in a 200 degree oven, but I think this resulted in drying out the dough and creating a lot of tearing.

The filling was tasty. I am tempted to try some dried cranberries in place of the sun dried tomatoes next time. I didn't have a good tartlet pan so I used some Corelle bowls. This made four large tartlets, which seemed like two servings worth. Next time I would use the small bowls.

The leftovers were ok, but these were much better fresh.

Ideas for a holiday party

Starting to plan for a holiday party. 
Here are some ideas Sharon found...

Hot spinach artichoke dip

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hot-spinach-artichoke-dip-recipe/index.html

Beef mole
http://theviewfromthegreatisland.blogspot.com/2012/11/beef-and-pumpkin-chili-mole.html

Whole menu
http://www.finecooking.com/menus/elegant-make-ahead-christmas-dinner-holiday-menu.aspx

Make-Ahead Christmas Recipes
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes_menus/recipe_slideshows/make_ahead_christmas_recipes

Crispy Phyllo Spinach Tartlets -- done
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/crispy_phyllo_spinach_tartlets.html

Stuffed Chicken Thighs Braised in Tomato Sauce
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/stuffed_chicken_thighs.html
Tried this. Worked ok. Would be better served over something that could use the sauce. 

Roasted Fall Vegetables in Cheddar Crust
http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_fall_vegetables_in_cheddar_crust.html

Make Ahead Sweet Potato Casserole
http://mavensprintablerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/10/make-ahead-sweet-potato-casserole.html

Apple Sausage Stuffing for Your Turkey
http://www.kitchenwitchmaven.com/2009/10/apple-sausage-stuffing-for-your-turkey.html
Tried this twice. Pay attention to not letting it burn on top (if cooking on the side).

Chocolate hazelnut snickerdoodles
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/chocolate-hazelnut-snickerdoodle-cookies-recipe/index.html


Rainbow Tie-dye Christmas Wreath Bundt Cake
http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/rainbow-tie-dye-christmas-wreath-bundt-cake/

A Christmas Baking Tradition: Tree Breads -- done
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes
http://www.madeitonmonday.com/2010/11/christmas-baking-tradition-tree-breads.html

Colorful Swirl Cookies
http://ouritaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2010/12/colorful-swirl-cookies.html

Festive Cabot Cheddar Tree
http://www.cabotcheese.coop/pages/recipes/recipe.php?id=194&catID=59

Reindeer Feed
http://www.butterwithasideofbread.com/2012/07/reindeer-food.html



Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chocolate-hazelnut-biscotti-recipe/index.html