I’ve been making Halloween Dinners for most of the last 8-10 years. I truly enjoy the research and planning of each part of the meal. Of course eating is the big pay off!
This year’s appetizer was Bugs in a Blanket. I found it in a Pillsbury Halloween booklet from 2005. They were a little picky to finish, but thankfully I had a nice and creative kitchen helper that did a great job. They tasted pretty good:
1 can refrigerated Pillsbury crescents (the original recipe listed breadsticks, but I could not find them)
12 cocktail-size smoked link sausages
12 pretzel sticks (recipe called for shoestring potatoes; I could not find them either)
Ketchup and or mustard
Heat the oven to 3750F. Unroll the dough and separate into four squares. Pinch together the line perforations between the two triangles in each square. Cut each square into eight strips. Roll one sausage link around the middle of each sausage and place on a large cookie sheet. Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool for a couple of minutes. Break the pretzel sticks in half or thirds. Stick 2-3 on each side for the legs and break smaller pieces for the antennas. Dot each face with mustard for the eyes.
The Spooky Salad recipe was found on the Food Network Website from the Patricia Heaton’ s show- www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patricia-heaton/spooky . I actually enjoyed the dressing; it was nice and tangy. I skipped the “fingers” or baby carrots because I ran out of time and fingers were part of the main course.
The main course was “Toxic Waste Mac and Cheese” with burnt “Fingers”. The Mac and Cheese recipe I found on Pinterest https://cookingwithcurls.com. Shockingly, I followed the recipe except for the whole milk. I used 2% Evaporated milk instead. I really enjoyed this recipe especially with cauliflower in it. I can see myself making this anytime of year!
I added in the “fingers” because of my meat eater husband. The fingers were just a ring of smoked turkey cut in four pieces. I made slits for the knuckles and an indention for the finger nail. Then they were grilled until dark and blistered. I cut some onion skins to look like nails and microwaved them for about a minute. When the smoked turkey was done, the nails were attached with ketchup. I like the way they turned out.
Dessert was Halloween Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies found again on Pinterest https://www.persnicketyplates.com/halloween-cream-cheese-swirl-brownies/ . The brownies are ok. They were fun for Halloween, but I’m not sure that I would make them again.
Already planning the next holiday meal!
Minnesota Food Lover 