Halloween Cooking Club

 

Ok, with only 5 days left before Halloween, here are the recipes from last week's cooking club!

From Angela Evertsen:

Pumpkin Pie Bars

Bottom Layer:

1 can (29 oz) pure pumpkin

1 C. milk

1 C. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/2 tsp. salt

Top Layer:

1 yellow cake mix

3/4 C. walnuts, chopped

1-1/2 sticks butter, melted

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix together all ingredients for the bottom layer. Spread mixture into a glass 9X13 pan. Pat yellow cake mix over bottom layer. Spread walnuts over dry mix. Cover dry mix with melted butter. Bake 45-55 minutes, or until golden brown.

From Sis Kohl:

Halloween Candy Corn Cookie Bark

Source: YourHomeBasedMom

14 whole Oreos, broken up (use Halloween Oreos if you can find them)

1 1/2 cups pretzels - any shape, broken into pieces

16 ounces almond bark or white chocolate melts 

1 cup candy corn

brown and orange colored sprinkles

Cover a large cookie sheet with wax paper or parchment paper. Spread broken cookies, pretzels and about 3/4 cup of the candy corn onto the prepared cookie sheet in a 9x13 shape. Place almond bark in a container and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and then microwave for another 30 seconds until melted and smooth. 

Drizzle the melted chocolate over the cookie mixture, spreading with spatula if needed to coat evenly. It may seem like it's not enough but just try to evenly spread it. The ratio of chocolate to toppings will be off if you add more almond bark/white chocolate. Sprinkle remaining candy corn and colored sprinkles over the almond bark/white chocolate while it is still wet. Do not let it harden. Place cookie tray into refrigerator until set and firm. Remove and gently break bark into small pieces - it's really rich. Makes around 20-24 pieces. Store in air tight container.

Anna Despain made yummy Halloween mummys!

Little smokies wrapped in cressent rolls-- so very cute

Joni Lynn brought yummy Pumpkin cookies:

Pumpkin Spiced and Iced Cookies

 By: LIBBY'S PUMPKIN

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 

1 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened 

1 cup granulated sugar 

1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin

2 large eggs 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

1 cup chopped walnuts 

VANILLA GLAZE (recipe below) 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease baking sheets.

COMBINE flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Beat butter and sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Beat in pumpkin, eggs and vanilla extract. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle or spread with Vanilla Glaze.

FOR VANILLA GLAZE:

COMBINE 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl; mix well.

Sister Anderson made a wonderful fruit dip made with mixing nutella and whipped cream together!! It was bewitching!! She served it with monster size strawberries, but also suggested dipping graham crackers in it is incredible!-- she was right!!

I served salsa and chips -- the chips were cut out of corn tortillas in Halloween shapes.

I also made Monster fingers by dying some sugar cookie dough green and rolled tablespoonfuls of the dough into finger shapes. Using a knife, mark knuckle lines across the center of each finger. Lightly flatten the end of each finger. Press whole or sliced almonds on flattened areas for fingernails.

Place finger shapes on ungreased baking sheets. Bake cookies until they are firm and bottoms begin to turn golden. You can also attach the almond after baking by "glueing" it to the cookie with a bit of jam.

We washed all this down with some Ghoul-Aide:

Ghoul-Aide

Ingredients:

1 package grape kool-aid 

1 package orange kool-aid 

3 quarts cold water

2 cups sugar

1 (1 liter) bottle ginger ale

Directions: 

Mix all together, will be dark brown, black in color. 

Refrigerate. 

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/ghoul-aid-71378#ixzz1btX0VuF3

Breakfast Casserole

 

Breakfast Casserole

Time: 10 minutes prep + 90 minutes to bake

Yield: 12 servings
24 oz frozen shredded potatoes
salt and pepper
12 eggs
2 C half and half
1 t season salt
1 1/2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 C pepper jack cheese, grated
2 C chopped ham (you can substitute cooked sausage)


Gravy:
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/3 C sour cream
4-6 T milk
salt and pepper

1. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Pour the frozen potatoes into the pan. Shake a little salt and pepper over the top.
2. In a large bowl whisk the eggs up. Add the half and half, season salt, cheeses and ham. Stir to mix it all together.
3. Pour it over the top of the potatoes. Cover with foil and let it hang out in the fridge while you finish wrapping gifts...
4. Bake at 350 for 90 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes before serving. This will help the pieces hold shape.
5. Mix all gravy ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan. Heat over medium heat until smooth and warmed through. Pour over the top of the casserole.

Originally from <http://jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com/2010/12/breakfast-casserole-with-potatoes-ham.html

Ground Beef Pie

Sarah found this recipe for Ground Beef Pie at Every Day Food. It is made with phyllo dough which can be a little tricky to handle but it seems that Sarah has mastered it because this dish always looks and tastes delicious.

Caramel Apple Pie

I thoroughly enjoy apple pie & pretty much any apple desserts (cobbler, turnovers, cake, etc…). I found this recipe on RecipeZaar of a Caramel Apple Pie that looked delicious, so I gave it a shot. Below is a link to the recipe if you are interested. The only changes I made was that I did not add the Pecans (didn’t have any). And I melted down caramels from Halloween (had lots of those) with a little milk and vanilla to make the caramel sauce. I used Jon-A-Gold apples which worked well for this pie.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Yummy-Crunchy-Caramel-Apple-Pie-31128

Pain Perdu

We love French Toast! French Toast was the first meal I ever made for Sarah, the first meal we made for Adrianna, and one of the first solid foods Alicia ate.  Mimi’s cafe has a New Orleans version of French Toast called Pain Perdu which is stuffed with a cream cheese filling and is delicious. We found a recipe online and decided to try it at home. It was amazing to say the least. The warm tangy filling makes the familiar taste of French toast come alive. Topped with whipped cream and homemade strawberry jam and you easily forget that dessert, no wait breakfast is “the most important meal of the day.”

Filling Ingredients:

8 oz. Cream Cheese

1/3 cup Orange Marmalade

Preparation:
Cut cream cheese into smaller pieces and place in mixer. Add marmalade and mix approximately 10 minutes on medium speed, scraping the sides frequently.

Perdu Ingredients:

8 pieces Texas Toast white bread

Preparation:
Add scoop of filling to center of a slice of bread. Do not press down. Top with another slice of bread to form a “sandwich.”

French Toast Batter Ingredients:

3 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup Half and Half

1 ½ TBS Sugar

¼ TSP Salt

¼ TSP Vanilla

¼ TSP Cinnamon

¼ TSP Nutmeg

Zest of ¼ Orange

Preparation: Add eggs, Half and Half, sugar and spices together and mix; add orange zest.

Grilling: Dip Pain Perdu “sandwich” in French toast batter. Cook on flat griddle to a golden brown on both sides. Slice diagonally. Recipe modified from Mimi's Cafe

Green Beans

 

Here is a simple and quick side that we like to cook up. I found adding the water helps to fully cook the beans while leaving them a little crispy and savory.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh green beans.

2 Tbsp Butter or Margarine

1/2 – 1 cup hot water

Spices to taste:

Garlic Powder

Salt

Black Pepper

Instructions:

Melt butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add green beans, salt, pepper and garlic to the skillet. Sauté for several minutes until beans start to brown. Add water to the skillet and allow to boil off until water is completely reduced. Add more pepper and garlic to taste before serving.

Recipe Blog

Sarah and I love to cook, and eat what we cook! We have been blessed with two girls who are both great eaters and who will pretty much try and eat anything. I decided to start this blog as a fun way to share our joy of cooking.

Bon appétit!

P.S. - I would love to have others share their recipes as well, many of our favorite recipes have come from sharing. If you are interested in publishing your own recipes on this blog I'd be glad to add you as an author, just post a comment and I'll follow up with you.