Hey there everyone!

Yet again I have taken forever to post something new… I apologize!

The days before my Halloween party were c-a-raZZy!

I had been planning for weeks to throw the best Halloween party I could.

From the menu to decorations to music, everything was finally set and ready the day it arrived.

Everything except for the lack of people that came for the perfect party.

This REALLY disappointed me… Like my friends say, i was stressed out during the entire event.

From getting everyone their drinks and doing everythting I could to make sure everyone was having

a good time.

In the process, I guess I forgot about myself. Not so much fun for me, but everyone else loved it.

The food was a very important aspect to me, obviously! Everything had to be tasty and… well… PERFECT.

…and everything was!

That’s why for this post, I’ll be sharing a couple of the photos of the party and recipes of some of the freakin’

delicious foods served!

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Shrimp Cocktail

INGREDIENTS:

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40 shell-on shrimp

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Brine

1/4 cup kosher salt

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

2 cups ice

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Cocktail Sauce

1 1/2  cups  chili sauce

1  cup  Heinz ketchup

3/4  cup  prepared horseradish

1/3  cup  fresh lemon juice

1 1/2  tablespoons  Worcestershire sauce

2  to 3 teaspoons hot sauce

1/2  teaspoon  salt

1/2  teaspoon  pepper

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Fancy Sauce (similar to Big Mac sauce)

1  cup  mayonnaise

1/2 cup Heinz ketchup

1/2  tablespoons  paprika

2  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

1  teaspoons  ground red pepper

2  large garlic cloves, pressed

handful chopped fresh parsley

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Tangy Garlic Sauce

2  cups  mayonnaise

2 tbsp lemon juice

4  garlic cloves, pressed

1/4  cup mustard with seeds

freshly ground black pepper

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DIRECTIONS:

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Shrimp

Using a pair of scissors or a serrated knife, make an incision down the backside of the shrimp,

following the intestinal track. Eviscerate shrimp and rinse under cool water leaving shells intact.

Place cleaned shrimp into a bowl with brine and refrigerate mixture for 20 to 25 minutes.

While shrimp are brining, place tomatoes, chili sauce, horseradish, sugar, pepper, and salt in food

processor and blend until smooth.

Refrigerate cocktail sauce until ready to serve.

Place a baking sheet or broiler pan under oven broiler and preheat for 5 minutes.

Remove shrimp from brine and drain thoroughly. Rinse the shrimp under cold water and dry on paper

towels. In a large bowl, toss shrimp with olive oil and sprinkle with Old Bay seasoning, if desired.

Place shrimp onto a sizzling sheet pan and return to broiler immediately.

After 2 minutes, turn the shrimp with a pair of tongs.

Return the shrimp to broiler for 1 minute.

Transfer to a cold cookie sheet. Refrigerate immediately.

Once shrimp have chilled, arrange on a large bowl with the three sauces in the middle.

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Sauces

To make the sauces, for each recipes, combine the ingredients in a blender;

process until smooth, stopping once to scrape down sides.

Cover and chill 2 hours before serving. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

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Hummus and Pita Chips

INGREDIENTS:

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Hummus

4 garlic cloves, minced and then mashed

2 15-oz cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed

2/3 cup of tahini (roasted, not raw)

1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of salt

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Pita Chips

10 large pita bread disks

4 tbsp olive oil

rosemary, black pepper, chili peppers, oregano, sea salt

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DIRECTIONS:

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Hummus

In a food processor, combine the mashed garlic, garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, 1/2 cup water,

and olive oil.

Process until smooth. Add salt, starting at a half a teaspoon, to taste.

DIRECTIONS:
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Put the avocado flesh into a bowl. Add the lime juice.

Mash the avocado and lime juice together with a fork until creamy.

Fold in tomato, cilantro, green onion, chili pepper, and sea salt.

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Popcorn Balls

INGREDIENTS:

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2 cups sugar

1 1/3 cups water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1 tsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

18 cups popped corn

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DIRECTIONS:

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In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, water, syrup, vinegar, and salt.

Cook over high heat until mixture reaches 255 degrees F (hard-ball stage) on a candy thermometer.

If you don’t have a candy thermometer you can always do the cold water test.

Stir in vanilla. Pour over popped corn, tossing gently to coat.

When mixture is cool enough to handle, press popcorn into 3-inch balls with lightly greased hands.

Cool completely on waxed paper.

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Jello Shots

INGREDIENTS:

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1 cup boiling water

1 package of flavored gelatin of your choice (I used strawberry)

1 cup cold water

1 cup chilled vodka

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DIRECTIONS:

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Stir together boiling water and powdered gelatin in a mixing bowl.

Stir constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved.

Stir in cold water and alcohol.

Spray the inside of the cups or syringes with cooking spray, so the Jello easily slides

out of the cups or syringes during use.

Pour mixture into shot glasses or syringes, individual shot-size (1oz-2oz) plastic cups,

or accordion-like squeezable cups manufactured specifically for this purpose.

Chill until firm (approximately 3-4 hours). Refrigerate until served.

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My Blood Rimmed glass were used to serve the drinks, you can find the recipe for them here.

Who says gingerbread is only made for Christmas?

I say gingerbread is for any occasion and not made just as gingerbread men.

Gingerbread for Halloween!

Gingerbread ghosts, pumpkins, cats and bats. Whatever Halloween cookie cutter you have.

Cookie cutters are great because they’re easy to use and the finished product is always super cute.

Especially if you decorate them with icing and color.

For my last year’s Halloween party I served a couple of these super cute cookies you see above.

Everyone loved them, although, later the pizza got all of the attention.

If you don’t have any Halloween cookie cutters, there are plenty of places you can buy online.

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Places like:

Cakes, Cookies and Crafts Shop

The Cookie Cutter Shop

Shop Baker’s Nook

Sugar Craft

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Not only do they supply a large range of Halloween cookie cutters, but edible decorations and

decorating supplies.

I used a simple icing recipe and added a few drops of food coloring.

To obtain my black I made a mixture of red, green and blue, adding many drops of each to obtain

a strong dark color, black!

I used chocolate chips for the ghosts eyes, this all took me about 30 minutes to frost 45 cookies.

So for this years Halloween why not make some Gingerbread Halloween Cookies?

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INGREDIENTS:

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Gingerbread Cookies

3 cups (420 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar

1 large egg

2/3 cup (160 ml) unsulphured molasses

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Icing

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tbsps milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp butter

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DIRECTIONS:

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Gingerbread Cookies

In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), with the paddle attachment,

cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and molasses and beat until well combined. Gradually add the flour mixture

beating until incorporated.

Divide the dough in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two

hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside while you roll out the dough.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of about 1/4 inch.

Use a gingerbread cutter to cut out the cookies.

With an offset spatula lift the cut out cookies onto the baking sheet, placing the cookies

about 1 inch (2.54 cm) apart.

If you are hanging the cookies or using as gift tags, make a hole at the top of the cookies

with a straw or end of a wooden skewer.

Bake for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.

Small ones will take about 8 minutes, larger cookies will take about 12 minutes.

They are done when they are firm and the edges are just beginning to brown.

Remove the cookies from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for about 1 minutes.

When they are firm enough to move, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Icing

In an electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth and well blended.

Add the vanilla extract.

With the mixer on low speed, gradually beat in the sugar.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beater.

Add the milk and beat on high speed until frosting is light and fluffy (about 3-4 minutes).

Add a little more milk if too dry.

Tint portions of frosting with desired food color.

Use a small spoon to place the icing on the cookie and spread carefully with a knife.

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Makes about 45 cookies depending on the size of cookie cutter used.

Most of you might know that recently I have been obsessed with the 3 time Emmy award

winning series, True Blood.

Its an amazing series and unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve heard about it or seen

it to know what I’m talking about…

So for this years Halloween I’m hosting a True Blood themed party, full of the shows props and

decorations made by myself. Hopefully it will be awesome.

You just can’t go wrong with True Blood.

For drinks I was thinking of something… Bloody, but pretty and easy to achieve at the same time.

So here it is:

Blood rimmed glasses filled with a red cocktail blend. I got the idea from the Hostess with the Mostess.

…and this cocktail will be the Tru Blood drink for my party!

I’ve printed out the Tru Blood labels and sticking them to big glass bottles.

Don’t these just look awesome!?

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INGREDIENTS:

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Blood Dripped – Rimmed Glasses

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup. Karo syrup/glucose/light corn syrup

1/2 cup water

red food coloring

cinnamon (optional)

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Vampire Elixir

2 parts vodka

1 part grenadine syrup

lemon juice

soda water/ginger ale

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DIRECTIONS:

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Blood Dripped – Rimmed Glasses

Combine sugar, syrup and water. Cook without stirring to hard crack stage.

Add food coloring. (Optional: Cinnamon may be added for flavor.)

Turn off heat.

While the mixture is still hot, dunk the top of the cocktail glass into the mixture to create the red rim.

If you need to do several glasses, keep the mixture hot so it lasts longer, by leaving the heat on low.

You can go anywhere from just along the very tip of the rim to part way down the glass.

Flip the glass right side up to cool.

The thick consistency of the mixture will cause “drips” as it hardens on the glass!

This rims approximately 8 glasses.

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Vampire Elixir

Using a cocktail shaker, add in some ice and all of the ingredients.

Shake vigorously, until well blended .

Give it a taste to see if you want it sweeter and pour it gently into your “bloody” glass half way.

Fill it to the top with some soda water or ginger ale.

Here it is, my first actual recipe post to this new and improved site!

Halloween is getting close and most of you know or should know that its one of my fave

holidays, second to Christmas.

..and most of you know or should know that one of my fave veggies is pumpkin/butternut squash.

Lets combine the two, shall we?

…and you get Halloween themed pumpkin cookies!

There are so many things that can be done… Like a Pumpkin Bread baked in a round cake tin,

covered in chocolate ganache with a white chocolate spiderweb drawn on top. Hmmm…

Now that I’ve mentioned it, I just might make it for the big day. 

These cookies are easy and fun to make, call over a friend to help you make the silly skulls, spiders,

spider webs, go nuts!

Another thing you can do to get that Halloween orange and black decoration theme, is by simply

dipping the cookies half way into dark chocolate.

Another idea I just had for all you milk and cookies lovers is by adding green food coloring to the

milk just to make it look gross! Dip in your spooky cookies and you got yourself a tasty Halloween treat.

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INGREDIENTS:

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Cookies

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

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Icing

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

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DIRECTIONS:

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Cookies

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon,

nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/4 cup of butter and white sugar.

Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy.

Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.

3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.

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Icing

1. To Make Icing: Combine confectioners’ sugar, milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

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Makes 40 cookies