Entertaining at Halloween means great gross and ghoulish food and treats. Each day until Halloween, Fraccers will post a gross recipe for you to impress your friends with, but today? Today you get the smorgasborg! Everyone knows a good host or hostess needs at least a bit of time to get things together, so I’m posting a buffet of recipes today to give you a head start on your weekend monster mash. Please consider saying thanks by browsing the google ads, which throws a few pennies the fraccy way! You never know what goodies you just might find!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Roasted Roach Dip
3 slices of whole wheat bread, well toasted
1/4 C. walnut pieces
4 cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3/4 C. water
2 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
In a food processor (or by hand), crumble the toast into fine crumbs. Then, in a food processor or blender, combine walnuts, garlic, and crumbs until all is finely ground. Add lemon, oil, and parsley. Process until smooth. Add water as needed until desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
This is easy to make ahead of time. As it sits in the fridge, it gets a little darker, giving an even more authetic ‘bug puree’ kind of look. Serve in a bowl labeled “Roasted Roach Dip” and for effect, put a dob of dip on the under side of a plastic cockroach, and set it to look like it’s crawling in or out of the bowl!
Edible Ashes
1/3 C. oreo cookie crumbs (approximate)
1/3 C. powdered sugar (approximate)
Candy cigarettes
1 large, never used ashtray
Wash the ashtray with soap and water and dry thoroughly. Pulse oreo cookie crumbs in the food processor until very, very fine. You want the crumbs almost as fine as the powdered sugar. Place the crumbs in the bottom of your clean, dry ashtray. Sift powdered sugar over cookie crumbs. Mix gently until half mixed and half marbled. Add candy cigarettes that have been “put out” in the ash.
This is more of a topping for other nibbles like fruit or even pudding. Chocolate pudding cups with gummy worms slithering in and out of it with a tasty topping of cigarette ashes. Yummmmmmmmm.
Eyeball Icecubes
These are so easy, the instructions are pictured. All you need are radishes, olives, water… and the inclination to drink something clear (like a martini) or bloody (like a tomato juice coctail) to float them in.
Used Q-Tips
Miniature Marshmallows
Caramels for melting
Lollipop sticks
Place a marshmallow on each end of your lollipop sticks (the kind you buy for making chocolate lollies, etc.) and dip the tips of the marshmallows in the melted caramel to resemble ear wax. Let Cool on wax paper and when caramel is set, pile up your used Q-tips on a platter. An even more effective presentation would be to purchase a new, small sized plastic wastebin from a dollar-type store, stuff it with crumpled paper and then place plastic atop the paper. Now when you pile up your used Q-tips, it will look like they are in the trash! You’re so clever!
Stuffed Roaches (or Beetles)
1/3 C. cream cheese, softened
1/4 C. walnuts (or your favorite nut), chopped semi-fine
20-30 dates, pitted
In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and nuts til well mixed. Gently fill each date with the mixture, making a larger cut in them if needed. Serve on a tray decorated with additional plastic roaches or beetles. Label the tray as “Stuffed Roaches” or “Stuffed Beetles” etc.
Kitty Litter Cake
1 spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 white cake mix
1 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1 pkg vanilla sandwich cookies
Green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls
1 new (and definitely unused) kitty litter pan
1 new plastic kitty litter pan liner
1 new Pooper Scooper
Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans). Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble. Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix using 5. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. (Mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don’t want it soggy. Combine gently).
Line new, clean kitty litter box. Put mixture into litter box. Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top.
Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly over the top. (This is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter.) Heat 3 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake; sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Spread remaining Tootsie Rolls over the top; take one and heat until pliable, hang it over the side of the kitty litter box, sprinkling it lightly with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around.
Floating Frozen Hand
Wash a disposable glove, and fill it with water that’s been colored either a flesh color, bloody red… or witchy green, and freeze it solid. Prepare a punch beverage of your choice and just before party time, unmold the hand by running it under warm water just until you can tell it’s ready to release. Peel off the glove and float your hand in the punch. For a creepier effect, when placing the glove in the freezer, (purchase the largest size glove you can find) tie off the end and play with the positioning of the fingers to make it look gnarled or claw-like (using other frozen foods to prop and position with). If you get a good claw shape, you can float it upside down so that the fingers peek out of the punch.
Bloody Eyeballs
About 2 lbs of eyeball meatballs
2 12 oz. jars chili sauce
1 1/2 cups apricot jelly
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
Prepare your favorite cocktail meatball recipe, only when forming them, insert an olive to create the eyeball look. Cook. Prepare the bloody sauce with the remaining ingredients. Heat thoroughly and toss together. Serve with a little container of ‘wooden stakes’ (toothpicks) for guests to help themselves with.
Brain Dip
4 ripe avocados
2 Tbsp. freshly-squeezed lime juice
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. minced garlic (use the kind from the jar)
1/4 cup finely-chopped fresh cilantro
To pit the avocado, cut into the fruit lengthwise with your knife until you reach the pit. Keeping the knife still, turn the avocado with your free hand so that the knife goes all the way around the pit. Put the knife down and twist the avocado halves in opposite directions. The avocado will easily open. Scoop out the pit with a spoon. Using a spoon, scrape out the avocado flesh and place in a small bowl. Mash with a fork. Sprinkle with lime juice. Stir in remaining ingredients.
Serve this either in a bowl with a sign calling it “Brain Dip” or “Monster Brains” or for even more effect, scout out an old fashioned plastic baby doll (the kind we old folks had as kids) and remove the head from the body and then with craft scissors or a craft knife, remove the very top of the head. After thoroughly washing it with soap and water (pour boiling water in it to sterilize), set the head on a plate of lettuce and serve the dip inside the head as a bowl. No sign will be needed with this method.
More Recipes including:
- Witch Hat Cookies
- Bleeding Human Heart
- Witch Finger Cookies
and
- Spooky Spider Cookies
can be found by visiting Just Fracas… another of the fraccy factions!
Stay tuned. Another recipe will be here tomorrow and each day until Halloween is here!
Boo-bye for now.
Image Sources: Eyeball Icecubes
“Vell, Preence-a, su Genua und Loocca ere-a noo joost femeely istetes ooff zee Boounepertes. Um gesh dee bork, bork! Boot I vern yuoo, iff yuoo dun`t tell me-a thet thees meuns ver, iff yuoo steell try tu deffend zee inffemeees und hurrurs perpetreted by thet UnteechristI reelly beleeefe-a he-a is UnteechristI veell hefe-a nutheeng mure-a tu du veet yuoo und yuoo ere-a nu lunger my freeend, nu lunger my `feeethffool slefe-a,` es yuoo cell yuoorselff! Boot hoo du yuoo du? I see-a I hefe-a freeghtened yuooseet doon und tell me-a ell zee noos. Um gesh dee bork, bork!”
You Laid An Egg