A Tisket A Tasket, A Tricket A Treatet

Had to get it to rhyme . . . at least a little.  <LMAO>  Hey, it’s Rey!

The Boss decided the three of us from the Triple Threat Investigation Agency—‘case you forgot or didn’t know where we work—should post during Halloween week.  Love it.  So-o, peeps (ooh, I just got a craving for those super sweet marshmallow thingies), today you’ve got me sharing our favorite All Hallows’ Day treats.  Yummmmmmm!

Linda didn’t have much fun as a kid, but in her late teens, she got into the Halloween spirit with a friend of hers.  For four, maybe five, years in a row, she and Greta would do up all the fare for their annual big bash.  She wasn’t much of a baker or cook (still isn’t) but did enjoy making (and eating) skull cookies.

Make sure you have a skull cookie cutter (or an equally fun one) and piping bags on hand. 

What you need:

Cookies:  ♠ 1 stick unsalted, soft butter  ♠ 1 cup brown sugar  ♠ 1 egg  ♠ 1 tsp pistachio flavoring (or whatever you like)  ♠ ½ tsp baking powder  ♠ ¼ tsp salt  ♠ 2 cups flour

Icing:  ♠ 4 cups powdered sugar  ♠ 6 tbsp tepid water  ♠ 3 tsp egg-white powder (or egg whites mixed with cream of tartar)  ♠ food colors (black and red for sure)

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

In a bowl, whip the butter and sugar at medium speed.  Beat in the egg, flavoring, baking powder, and salt.  Slowly add the flour and mix until there is dough.  With a rolling pin, roll it out – 1/3” thick.  Use your fun cutters and place the cookies on a cookie sheet that’s lined with parchment paper.  Make sure there’s enough space between them (they will rise, folks).  Bake for no more than 8-10 minutes; keep an eye out (Linda managed to burn a few batches back when).

Prepare your icing by beating all the ingredients, except the food coloring, until you form peaks (10 minutes or thereabouts).  Given you want different colors of icing, separate it into a few bowls and then add the coloring.  Mix well. 

For a skull face, you can spread the basic/white icing all over the cookies.  Then decorate the faces by adding eyes and lips, scars, and blood—whatever you think will be frighteningly fun.

JJ enjoyed Halloween as much as the next kid.  She went back further and decided to share a recipe for her favorite childhood: caramel apples.  Simple, sweet, and scrumptious.

What you need:  ♠ 1 package white-chocolate chips  ♠ 2 tablespoons margarine/butter  ♠ 2 bags of caramels (these days, she’s inclined to go for salted caramels)  ♠ ¼ cup tepid water  ♠ 8 washed and dried apples (she likes Cortland and Empire)  ♠ chopped chocolate bars of choice (she’s partial to Fifth Avenue, Clark bars, and Heath)

You can melt the chocolate chips and margarine/butter in a microwave, if you like, but over the stove is preferred (by JJ anyway).  Stir and set the mixture on the counter.  Next, melt the caramels in the water and stir.  Set this on the counter, too.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Smear oil, margarine or butter on the paper.  Pop the wooden sticks into the apples.  Dip into the caramel sauce, twisting and turning to ensure the apple is thoroughly coated.  Drizzle it with the melted chocolate and sprinkle with the crushed chocolate bars of choice.  Refrigerate.  Serve whole (for gluttons) or in slivers.

If you’re so inclined, add eyeballs, spiders or webs (or whatever creepy crawlies float your boat) to the whole apples and plate them; your imagination will dictate how “Halloweeny” to get.

Rey (me!) loved Halloween.  I got to prank people, but that’s another post.  Considering pizza is one of my favorite foods, I’d have to go with that.

Like Linda, I’m not a great baker or cook (not even close).  You can buy small ready-made pizzas and decorate them, or do something simple and make your own by using English muffins or mini-sized pita, or smaller-sized Naan.

Ingredients (to place on top of base of choice):  ♠   tomato sauce  ♠ shredded cheese (you decide which one)  ♠ large black olives, some sliced both ways (lengthwise and widthwise)  ♠ large green olives (stuffed ones are good—because then you have “openings” for eyes)  ♠ peppers (orange, red)  ♠ sprouts

Prepare the base by adding the tomato sauce (on all or just some) and cheese. 

If you want to be creative, before you bake, cut the cheese into various shapes.  Long slender strips can be arranged to look like mummy wrapping.  Cut some into ghost shapes (or use a cookie cutter).  Super thin slivers can be arranged to look like spiderwebs.

Pop the black olives into the green olives (with stuffing removed) to make eyes.  Pimento-stuffed olives, sliced crosswise, also make for good eyes. 

Black olives cut lengthwise make for great spiders—a whole olive for the body and the slivers for the legs.  Play around to get the right look.  Black olives also make for fun bats.  Slice the slivers so they resemble wings.  Draw eyes on the bats (by dotting with ketchup or dip).

Orange peppers, cut into round shapes, make for cute pumpkins.  On them, draw jack-o’lantern mouths and eyes (use a condiment or dip of some sort).  Red peppers can be cut into triangles for eyes and curvy slivers for lips.

Sprouts can serve as hair for whatever monster you want to conjure up (I’d probably add these after baking, but it’s your choice).

You can even arrange pepperoni creatively: make a face, eyes, smile/frown.

There you go, a few simple ideas.  As Cousin Jilly might say: easy-peasy.