Great Halloween Recipes
Punch Ideas:
If you’re not using a punch bowl, use ice cube trays to freeze green, red, or orange-colored punch. They will look creepy, yet delicious in a glass of any clear or light-colored beverage.
Make a slime ring from green punch – Freeze green punch in a gelatin mold along with plastic bugs, spiders and eyeballs.
Place a few small glow sticks underneath the punch bowl – when the lights are turned down, the brew will radiate in a mysterious and unearthly fashion.
Float creepy, colored liqueurs and mixers on top (some will sink to the bottom, but that’s even creepier!). Try grenadine syrup (to look like blood), creme de menthe or melon liqueur (to look like green slime), or sour peach or orange schnapps (to look like pumpkin ooze).
Make a batch of gelatin shooters in red, green or black cherry flavors. When they are set but not yet firm, place a gummy worm “crawling” out of each one.
Pumpkin Banana Nut Bread
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1 can (15-16 oz) solid pack pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped walnuts
Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, ginger and salt in medium bowl. In large bowl, beat eggs, pumpkin, granulated sugar, brown sugar, bananas and oil; mix well. Beat flour mixture into pumpkin mixture; stir in nuts. Spoon into 2 greased and floured 9×5 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Place on wire racks to cool completely. Makes 2 loaves.
Cat Litter Casserole
1 cup bisquick
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 pound ground beef,turkey or pork sausage
Litter
2 cups long grain rice
3 3/4 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
To make kitty “poop”: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Using clean hands, mix together the casserole ingredients in a large bowl. Mold pieces of this mixture into various size and shape “poops”. Place so they don’t touch each other in an ungreased baking pan. Use two if they don’t all fit. Bake the “poop” for about 20 minutes or until they are all brown, firm and slightly crusty. While the meat cooks, put all four litter ingredients into a large saucepan. Heat on high until the watercomes to a boil. Stir, turn heat to low and cover the pan. Simmer without lifting the cover for fourteen minutes. Remove the saucepan from the stove and carefully lift off the cover. Break apart, or “fluff” the rice with a fork and set pan aside. When “poop” is done, carefully transfer it onto paper towels to drain. Spoon the rice and “poop” into the now empty baking pan, leaving some “poops” partially uncovered, the way Kitty does when he/she is in a hurry!
Wormy Apples
1 package caramel apple mix
8 apples
1 bottle red crystal or decorating sugar
8 or more gummy worms
Prepare caramel apples according to package directions. As each is done, roll it in red sugar while still warm. Place on individual plates and put a gummy worm on each.
Wiggly Crystal Ball
Gelatin:
4 (3-ounce) packages yellow gelatin
2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
6 cups boiling water
Fruit:
1 cantaloupe
1 quarter watermelon
1 honeydew melon
Cookie cutters: moon and star shapes
For the gelatin: In a large, deep bowl, combine the gelatins. Pour the
boiling water over the mixture and sir until completely dissolved.
Refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours or until partially set.
Meanwhile, prepare the cosmic fruit: Cut cantaloupe, watermelon, and
honeydew into stars and moon shapes. Press the fruit into the
partially set gelatin, then refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.
Place the bowl in a pan of hot water to loosen the gelatin from the
sides, then invert onto a wizard-like platter.
Black Jello
6 ounces grape gelatin powder
2 cups purple grape juice, chilled
1 cup water
1 small carrot
4 large marshmallows
16 ounces unsweetened pineapple tidbits
16 ounces light peach slices
2 cups green seedless grapes, washed
Ice cubes
Put pineapple and peach slices in a colander to drain (save the juice
for another use). Dissolve gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water. When completely dissolved, add 2 cups chilled grape juice and 1 cup of ice cubes (loosely packed; this will be less than 1 cup of water due
to spaces in between the cubes). Stir until the ice cubes dissolve. Shred the carrot finely (don’t grate it), and add to the gelatin. Snip the marshmallows into small pieces and add. Cut peach slices into
small cubes. (Tip: If it’s not Halloween and you don’t need “eyeballs”, cut each grape in
half). Add fruits to gelatin. Chill. Stir once or twice as it thickens to be sure fruit and carrot
is evenly distributed. If you use a ring mold, you can put more grapes
or other fruit in the middle to serve.
Bloody Cake
Use whatever cake mix and frosting you would like. Just prepare the cake as usual, but hollow out the bottom layer about 1″ and frost it. This will be the barrier that forms the bloody lake inside. Then fill the frosted hole with raspberry syrup (Knott’s pancake syrup can be used), frost the underside of the top layer of cake and plop that on top of the syrup lake. This is REALLY sweet, so you may not want to frost the sides, start brainstorming ways to decorate without using more sugar. The syrup tends to run out pretty quickly and then soak into the cake, so try to serve and devour shortly after slicing into it.
Baked Brains (Great for kids)
Nonstick cooking spray
1 pound Loaf of frozen white or wheat bread dough, thawed; or 16 ounce can of reduced-fat crescent roll dough
2 ounces Low-fat sharp cheddar cheese (or other favorite cheese)
16 slices Reduced-fat turkey pepperoni or reduced-fat salami
2 tablespoons Butter or margarine, optional
10 Drops red and 10 drops blue food coloring, optional
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat cookie sheets with nonstick spray; set aside. With a plastic knife, divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Cut cheese into 8 1/2-inch cubes. Fold slices of meat into small squares. Wrap each piece of dough around meat square or a cheese cube, then roll into a small ball (to completely cover fillings). Place on prepared cookie sheet. Arrange bread balls into the shape of a brain. Make an indentation down the center of brain to divide left and right hemispheres. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in each cup. Melt in microwave about 20 seconds on high. (Or melt butter in saucepan over low heat; pour into cups). Stir red food coloring in one cup and blue in the other. Use a thin paintbrush to draw a network of red and blue arteries and veins. If using thawed frozen dough, place brain in warm place and let rise about 1 hour. If using canned dough, proceed with baking. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked in center. To serve, let kids pull bread balls from brain and eat.
Enjoy your Halloween and try not to get “stuffed” this year!
