Award Winning Halloween Recipes

It's Halloween week, and I am so excited. Halloween is my favorite holiday, complete with gaudy decorations, goofy costumes, and very strange food. This year, my Halloween menu is centered around eyeballs. Some of the recipes are spooky, some really quite creepy, and a bunch are just silly. I don't know if you've ever played around with lychees, but they are extremely disgusting when you pop a blueberry into the center and drizzle them with raspberry syrup.

I'm making the entire Halloween meal eyeball themed. We'll be having eyeball meatballs in tomato soup, with maybe a few new potato eyeballs thrown in for good measure. Creepy radish salad and cheesy baked eyeballs round out the meal. Of course for dessert, there are any number of wonderful Halloween recipes available. I may make the eyeball chocolate truffles or get the kids involved in make-your-own-eyeball cupcakes.

I've collected a bunch of these eyeball recipes and made a webpage out of them. I had a great time putting the page together. If you'll allow me a moment to toot my own horn, the page won an award for Best Halloween Page for a group in which I participate. Pretty cool. Have a look (oh no, the punster in me is emerging). I hope you find some fun recipes to make this your spookiest Halloween dinner ever.
Dress Up Your Food for Halloween - Lots of Eyeball Recipes

Red Velvet Cake

I know I should save this recipe for Christmas or Valentine's Day, but I've been craving it lately. I love Red Velvet Cake. It's so.....special. And yes, maybe a little campy too.

But it brings back wonderful childhood memories. When I helped my mom make Red Velvet Cake, my hands were always stained red for a couple of days. Opening the refrigerator door to see the leftovers of that intensely red and white creation staring at me was a treat. It made me smile, because it was unexpected.

I wonder if I could use orange food coloring to make an Orange Velvet Cake for Halloween....Here's the recipe for the original cake that we made when I was growing up.

Red Velvet Cake

I'm Pleased to Announce What's for Squidinner

I'm honored to be part of a new food blogging endeavor at What's for Squidinner?. Squidinner was created by a handful of Squidoo lensmasters who think about food far more than they should. Their character flaw is YOUR gain. What's for Squidinner? brings you the favorite recipes of these lensmasters, as well as the very best Squidoo recipe lenses and lots of cooking and food tips. If you're not sure what to make for dinner tonight, just ask yourself, I wonder What's for Squidinner?. Hope to see you there.

P.S. Be sure to check out Squidinner's Recipe Lens Contest.

The Meaning of Life and Cream Cheese Brownies

1:48am - Wake up enough to take a middle-of-the-night bathroom break.

2:15am - Still trying to go back to sleep.

2:49am - Wide awake in bed in the dark, mind busily sifting through decisions to be made, new blog ideas, financial issues, etc.

3:10am - Questioning your life so far. Have you made the right decisions? What should you do with the rest of your life? Are you really living life or just existing? Why are you here?

3:15am - Can't stay in bed for another minute. You get up, walk to the kitchen for a drink of water and then, you open the refrigerator door and peer into the dimly lit landscape of Tupperware, mayonnaise jars, and yoghurt.

STOP RIGHT THERE! If you're like me, there's a pretty good chance that you'll close the fridge before you choose a snack. Why are you staring blankly into the refrigerator?

Here's my theory. Somewhere, way in back of the fridge, resides the Meaning of Life. You've been thinking deep thoughts for hours. You are inexplicably drawn to the refrigerator. It's the Meaning of Life calling to you. You probably can't see it, because you haven't cleaned out the fridge in six months. The Meaning may be covered with mold, but it's there.

Anyway, I think that's why we stare into the refrigerator late at night when we can't sleep. Next time you clean out your fridge, keep an eye out for it. By the way, I did find some cream cheese brownies to eat as a snack while I was searching for Meaning. These are super simple, but rich and fancy-looking. Here's the recipe:

Photo by Kitchen Wench

Marbled Chocolate Cream Cheese Brownies

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 1/2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking pan.

2. Put the chocolate in a microwave-safe measuring cup and microwave on medium (50 percent) power for about 1 minute. Stir and continue microwaving almost 1 minute more or until the chocolate softens and looks shiny. It will not melt completely. Remove the measuring cup from the microwave, and stir the chocolate until smooth. Alternatively, melt the chocolate in the top of a double boiler set over barely simmering water, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool slightly while preparing the brownie batter.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer set on medium-high speed, beat the butter, cream cheese, and sugar until smooth. Add the cream and vanilla and beat well. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition, until the batter is smooth.

4. In a shallow bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the batter, and beat on low speed until incorporated. Scrape the batter into the pan. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the batter, and using a kitchen knife or rubber spatula, stir the chocolate into the batter with a swirling motion until well marbled.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean and the brownies start to pull away from the sides of the pan. Cool in the pan, set on a wire rack. Cut into squares to serve. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 2 dozen brownies.

Welcome to My Kitchen

Do you talk to yourself? I do. It started when the kids were just tiny babies. All the baby books recommended talking to your babies as much as possible to keep them engaged in the world around them. So I did. I recited a fascinating monologue while changing diapers or washing dishes. It must have been fascinating, because neither kid could take their eyes off me.

I also chatted with them at the grocery store. It was important for 3-month old Colin to learn how to choose the best bananas. We discussed favorite brands of spaghetti sauce and whether we liked the new pictures on the cereal boxes.

The advice from the baby books must have been sound, because my kids started talking at an exceptionally young age and haven't shut up since. They didn't feel the need to walk until they were almost a year-and-a-half old, but it wasn't a problem; they could just tell you where they wanted to be carried.

Thanks for your patience so far; this story really does have a point. You see, I got into the habit to talking to my kids while shopping for groceries. Problem is, my kids grew up and rarely go to the grocery store with me, but I haven't broken the habit of carrying on a running, one-sided conversation. The upside of this is that I generally have most of an aisle to myself while shopping.

I need help. If I can talk to you, maybe I won't be quite so tempted to chat with the cereal boxes. You may not be quite as cute as my babies were (hey, maybe you are - I don't know), but I'd appreciate it if you'd laugh and coo at my witty remarks once in a while. For old times' sake.

Photo courtesy of Wahig