Most major holidays depend heavily on the meal and libations that are shared. New Year’s Eve is known for toasts at midnight, and Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without turkey and apple pie, while Christmas food traditions vary significantly across cultures, but ultimately, the message is consistent: food and drink are important.
Halloween doesn’t have to be only about costumes and candy; to keep in the spirit of the day, even a three-course meal with beverage options can be made delicious with a side of scare. Whether it’s just you and your boo dining or entertaining a group of friends and family, these recipes will be sure to please, and maybe even petrify.
Crescent Mummy Dogs
from Food Network
Ingredients
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury™ refrigerated Crescent Dough Sheet
2 ½ slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
10 large hot dogs (or cocktail sausages, to make a mini version)
Cooking spray
Mustard or ketchup, if desired
Directions
Heat oven to 375°F.
If using crescent rolls: unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating four rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: unroll dough; cut into four rectangles.
With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into ten pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (½ slice cheese, cut in half).
Wrap four pieces of dough around each hot dog and ¼ slice of cheese to look like “bandages,” stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About ½ inch from one end of each hot dog, separate “bandages” so hot dog shows through for “face.” On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on “face.”
Mashed Idaho Potato Ghost
from cooksrecipes.com
Ingredients
Five cups mashed Idaho potatoes
Waxed paper, as needed
Half a cup of small black olives
Directions
Create a ghost shape out of wax paper.
Place ghost template on serving dish or cookie sheet. Working with five cups of mashed potatoes, use rubber spatula to mold into ghost shape.
Using a small paring knife, slice olives to create circular shapes to be used for eyes and mouth.
To heat ghost, microwave on high for three to five minutes on a microwavable plate. If using an oven, place potatoes on a cookie sheet and reheat at 350°F (175°C), loosely covered with foil for 10 to 15 minutes or until heated through.
Makes four servings.
Spiderweb Sandwich Cookies
from Delish.com
Bake your favorite store-bought cookies, or make your own if you wish.
To make frosting use cream cheese filling for sandwiches
Ingredients
12 oz. cream cheese
One and a half cup confectioners’ sugar
Orange gel or paste food color
Directions
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about three minutes. Transfer 1/2 cup of the icing to a bowl and tint orange; spoon into a re-sealable plastic bag.
Divide the remaining frosting among 14 of the cookies and sandwich with the remaining cookies. Snip off a small piece of one corner of the bag and pipe spider webs on the top of each sandwich.
Mexican Pumpkin Punch
from Food Network
Ingredients
Two cups packed dark brown sugar
Four cinnamon sticks, preferably Mexican
One 29 -ounce can pure pumpkin (about three and a half cups)
Two limes
Splash of rum (optional)
Pineapple chunks and/or pecans, for serving (optional)
Directions
Combine 12 cups water, the brown sugar and cinnamon sticks in a large pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the pumpkin and return to a simmer. Meanwhile, remove the zest from the limes in wide strips using a vegetable peeler; add the zest to the pot and simmer 15 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate until the liquid is cold and the pumpkin pulp settles to the bottom — two to three hours.
Working in batches, ladle the liquid into a fine-mesh strainer set over a pitcher (repeat if necessary to strain out all the pumpkin pulp). Discard the pulp and lime zest. Return the cinnamon sticks to the punch and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Pour the punch into ice-filled glasses. Add rum, pineapple and/or pecans, if desired. Serve with the cinnamon sticks.
Bloody Punch from The Pioneer Woman Ree Drummond
from Food Network
Ingredients
Three cups red fruit punch, chilled
One 1-liter bottle strawberry daiquiri mix, chilled
One 2-liter bottle Dr Pepper Cherry, chilled
One 46-ounce bottle concord grape-raspberry juice, chilled
One 1-liter bottle ginger ale, chilled
Directions
Fill a powder-free latex glove with punch; tie closed. Freeze at least for six hours or overnight. (For the best shape, hang the glove from a rack in your freezer with the fingers pointing down.)
When ready to serve, combine the remaining fruit punch, daiquiri mix, Dr Pepper, grape-raspberry juice and ginger ale in a large punch bowl. Peel the glove off the frozen hand and add to the bowl.
