31 Days of Halloween!(+1!) Nov 1 - Day of the Dead

Make: Skulls!
Recipe: Krispy Treat Skulls!
Made:Skulls!



Make: Day of the Dead Skulls

Recipe: Rice Krispy Treat Skulls and Skull Cake

Made: Leather Day of the Dead Masks

~> The first recipe I'm posting for Day of the Dead is crispy rice treat skulls! Information about the skull cake will be posted second.



~~> Recipe: Rice Krispy Treat Skulls

Most of this recipe follows a regular rice krispy treat recipe!
Basically, the differences are that you smash up the rice krispies before you start and you mash them in to skull molds instead of a pan! (you can do this with any firm mold and they are great used as cake toppers or individual treats)
ONE batch would fit a 13x9x2 inch pan.


Ingredients:
Rice Crispy Treat 
3 Tsp butter OR margarine
1 package (10 oz., ~40) regular marshmallows OR 4 cups miniature marshmallows
5 1/2 cups crispy rice cereal (a bit less makes for a denser cast of the skull, can decrease to 5 cups)
Decoration (optional)
fondant/sugar paste or marzipan
melting chocolate
sanding sugar
sprinkles


Crush the rice cereal a bit in a heavy food bag (a freezer bag works fine); you can use a rolling pin or the back of a wooden spoon). Smaller pieces make for more detail in your castings of your food molds! (and make the treat much more dense!)
Use a light baking spray on your mold pan (I used the Wilton  3-D mini skull baking pan as a press mold).
Use a large saucepan (a paella pan or wok also works great ; ) to melt butter on low heat, add the marshmallows, and stir until melted in.
Add your crispy rice cereal and stir until evenly mixed and well coated.
Use wax paper or a buttered spoon/spatula to press mixture into molds (or you could lay it out on aluminum foil and cut it with cookie cutters).
Allow to cool.
These are best if served the same or the next day. If you need to hold them you can freeze them between layers of wax paper for up to 6 weeks.


~~> Recipe: Skull Cake

There are (at least) two good 3-D baking molds for "full sized" skulls available: Wilton and NordicWare. The Nordic Ware pan has a more complete skull shape, with the back of the skull being more rounded, but may be harder to find. Wilton also has a 3-D mini skull baking pan with molds for 4 complete smaller skulls which are great for baking or using as a press mold.
Prep baking mold (grease / lightly flour).
Fill with any standard cake recipe or mix (The recipes and mixes we have used are given here).
Allow to cool and remove from mold pan, breaking the edge of the cake/pan border with a butter knife.
After the cake has cooled, cut the un-molded edges flat and spread some frosting thinly across both facing edges to "glue" together.
Gently frost the cake. Using the Wilton mold I tend to frost the base differently than the skull.
Then pipe decoration. You can use a small plastic food bag with a tiny corner snipped off for piping.


~~~> Made:

  

           

  

Enjoy! 
 
DeWyk

31 Days of Halloween! Day27- Made: SteamPunk Costumes

I am changing the topic for today to COSTUMES, with the emphasis this year on steampunk.

The Tweedles

We attended a steampunk convention this year. Today is the last day of the 'Con, which is why I've gotten behind on my posts. What can I say? ... I got really distracted  ; ) .


Today's post is just a feast for the eyes and simply covers some ideas for steaming yourself up steampunk style!
This year I didn't get a lot of pictures, I was busy with "candy for strangers", more on that later too ; ) , but I will post pics from previous years too.

First, some friends...

A Tweedle, All Alone

 






 

My Flying Monkey!

OutBack Punk...

Protection from Con'flu?

Friends... From Around The World

DeWyk gets Assistance from Natives...

and Recommendations on Footwear...

Vamped Up!

Lovely.

'waaay OutBack

A Wicked? Witch of Oz-tralia ; ) and her Flying Monkey (a sister witch of mine)

Guest of Honour ~> Professor Elemental Interviewed by Father.

Modeling Lovely...

Research.Explorer.Imagine.

Studying Gods and Monsters

UnCovered.

Baggage!

S.M. Stirling Interview

There may be more images from the "Around the World" Fashions , but here is a look at Drew's Angels (Andrew Dyrdahl)

Too much to post here, more posts on this may show up later!

Enjoy! 

DeWyk

31 Days of Halloween! Day17- Recipe: Guacamole 'dy with Creepy Crunchings

guacamole mold ingredients (*optional):

1 packet gelatin, plain
cup water
3 avocados, chopped
3 Tbsp lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped small
1 tsp chile powder or cumin
pinch of cayenne*
1/4 red pepper, cut very thinly*

salsa ingredients*
salsa ~> fresh or store bought
4 medium tomatoes
2 peppers (hot or mild, to taste)
1 medium onion
3 garlic cloves
1 tsp salt

creepy crunchings (chips) ingredients:
fresh tortillas (assorted packets)
oil or butter
seasonings: salt, pepper, garlic, chile powder, etc.

Guacamole Foot (increase recipe for large molds):
These molds are available at most craft and party stores.
Combine the avocados, lime juice, salt, cilantro and spices in a bowl and blend well.
*Add red pepper and stir until well mixed.
Mix packet of plain gelatin using 1/2 the water stated in directions on the box.
Let gelatin cool a bit and add 1/2 of the gelatin into the avocado mixture, blend thoroughly (you ONLY use half of the gelatin mixture, so you can make a half packet, double the recipe and use the entire packet, or have another recipe ready to go... our brain mold is larger than our foot mold
; )  .
Brush the mold lightly with olive or vegetable oil. Pour your guacamole mixture into the mold. Cover and refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.
Remove from mold by dipping mold in warm water and break contact along the edge with a knife, then put the serving plate over the mold and turn the mold over onto the plate.

Salsa:
If you have time roast or lightly char/grill (in pan/ baking sheet to retain fluids) the tomatoes, onion, peppers, and garlic cloves, about 10 min.
Combine garlic and peppers and coarsely puree together in a food processor. Add the tomatoes and juices to the mixture and chop.
Chop the onion and put the onion and tomato mixture into a bowl and stir thoroughly. Season to taste with salt, generally ~1tsp.
Garnish around/ over the guacamole foot.

Tortilla Chips:
You can serve with regular tortilla chips or make these baked or fried creepy crunchings at home!

Start with packets of fresh tortillas (we like to include assorted flavors/ colors: multi-grain, spinach, tomato, etc.)... you could make your own tortillas, but we usually cheat on this step! If baking, pre-heat oven to 350°F and brush both sides of the tortillas lightly with oil or melted butter (ignore this step if deep frying : ) . Use Halloween cookie cutters to cut the tortillas, on a cutting board, into creepy shapes. Set aside the shapes and the scraps as you cut, you will use both. 
Baking: place the shapes and scraps in a single layer on cookie sheets, season, and bake for ~12-15 minutes (until browning lightly).
Frying: follow directions on your deep fryer. Fry shapes and scraps lightly (until crisp) and remove to dish for immediate light seasoning.


Enjoy! 
 
DeWyk

31 days of Halloween! Day14- Recipe: Meringue Bones!

I'm always amazed just how easy these are!

Ingredients:
3 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2+ tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 200°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment or a (very) clean paper bag. Beat egg whites, cream of tartar and salt ‘til fluffy in medium bowl at high speed. Slowly beat in sugar. Add vanilla (or other flavoring). Place mix in pastry bag fitted with a medium plain piping tip to create 3" bone shapes on parchment or brown paper bag (I’ve also used a heavy Ziploc bag as a piping bag by cutting a small piece off of a lower corner). Bake 1 hour until set. Turn off oven, allow to dry in the oven 1 hour more. Be sure to store in airtight containers or they will absorb moisture and get sticky / soggy. 

Makes ~50 small finger-sized bones

I frequently make a variety of flavors of these by adding other flavors in place of the vanilla: almond, rum, chocolate, chocolate and a touch of cayenne, coffee, and citrus. 

Coffee or dark chocolate powder gives them a nice “antique” look.

large meringue skeleton

Enjoy! 

DeWyk

31 days of Halloween! Day11- Recipe: Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

If you haven't carved your pumpkins yet, it's that time ...and that means roasting pumpkin seeds!


I'm posting our instructions for roasting pumpkin seeds before our "how to" on carving pumpkins so that you can have the supplies needed for roasting those fresh seeds all ready as you carve your jack o'lanterns!





Roasting pumpkins seeds is very simple, all that is required is clean pumpkin seeds, an oven, and some oil or butter. There are some extras that we like to add, I'll cover some of those too...



Base Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups fresh pumpkin seeds
2 tsp butter or oil (olive, vegetable, etc.)


Commonly Added Ingredients:
1+ tsp salt (table, coarse, specialty salts, etc.)
1/2 tsp pepper




Additional Optional Ingredients / Combinations:
Sugar & Cinnamon ~> 2 Tbsp sugar combined with 2 tsp cinnamon with 1/2 tsp salt
Cinnamon Spice ~> 2 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg with 1/2 tsp salt
Pumpkin Spice ~> 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, pinch of nutmeg, 1 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp allspice with 1/2 tsp salt
Harvest Special ~> 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp coarse salt, 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (shelled)
Ginger Orange ~> 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp grated orange zest, 1 tsp ginger with 1/2 tsp sea salt
Autumn Spice ~> 2 Tbsp sugar, 1/4 tsp cayenne, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp paprika with 1/2 tsp salt and dash of pepper
Cheesy ~> 1/4 cup hard cheese (e.g. asiago, parmesan, pecorino, grana, etc.) with 1/4 tsp pepper


Pre-heat oven to 325°F.
Scoop the seeds out of the pumpkin and separate the pumpkin seed from the flesh, but don't worry about removing all of the flesh.
Put the seeds and the butter / oil into a bowl and mix well. Mix the rest of the seasonings together in a small bowl and pour over the seed mixture, mix thoroughly. Spread the seed mixture in a single layer across a large greased cookie sheet.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, stirring on the pan several times to roast evenly, until seeds turn golden brown.
Let cool...
...and Enjoy! 

DeWyk

31 days of Halloween! Day8- Recipe: Popcorn Balls!

Since we chose s'mores over popcorn balls for our Storytelling Snacks, we decided we needed to post the popcorn ball recipes we use ASAP! I'll start with a basic recipe for a really good traditional popcorn ball base, but we have several variations on popcorn balls that we really love that I'll share also.

One easy "cheat" that I need to mention right up front is marshmallows! If you're having problems getting your popcorn balls to stick together or you want to whip up a batch really fast, marshmallows are a great short-cut, and some people prefer the marshmallow taste over the traditional taste. If you want to make it with marshmallows instead, you are mostly substituting marshmallows for the corn syrup (i'll post the honey option next year! :) . I haven't bothered to measure my marshmallows substitutions before (i will the next time i make and update) but I'd say increase the butter by ~1/2 (if you were making a batch that called for 1 stick of butter, make that about 1 1/2 sticks), remove the corn syrup completely from the recipe below, and add just over half a bag of marshmallows (the rest of those marshmallows can become s'mores! ; )

Caramel Popcorn Balls 

Ingredients
2 cups light corn syrup
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp salt
~6 quarts of popcorn (popped!)

Pop your popcorn first so it is ready! (in a large bowl)
Heat to simmering corn syrup, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt. Bring to boil. Boil hard for 2 minutes.
Pour over popcorn and stir to coat popcorn. Allow to cool. Using wax paper or sandwich bags, form into balls.

Old-Fashioned Popcorn Balls ( + )

Basic Ingredients>:	* ( + ) Ingredients:
6 quarts popcorn, popped	1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar, packed	1/8 cup coarse salt (sea salt)
1 1/2 cup sugar	3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup light corn syrup	1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup water	1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp white vinegar	1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp table salt	1/4 cup chopped nuts (or seeds)
	1 cup toasted coconut (or hard cheese)

 

> Pop corn and have it ready in a large bowl. Using medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, sugar, corn syrup, water, vinegar, and salt. Bring mixture to a hard boil, stirring constantly. At 260°F (candy thermometer), remove mixture from heat.
*( + ) At this point you can choose to alter the "Old Fashioned" recipe by adding the butter and vanilla. > Stir in butter abd vanilla until completely incorporated, allowing caramel to cool slightly.
Drizzle caramel evenly over the popcorn.
* ( + ) Also drizzle the nuts and coconut over the popcorn.
> Allow the mixture to cool a couple minute, then use a large spoon to fold the caramel coating completely into the popcorn. With clean hands (prepped with sandwich bags, butter, or ice water) shape 3+inch popcorn balls, and place on parchment sheets to cool.

* ( + ) Set the popcorn balls aside to cool and combine chocolate chips, canola oil, and heavy cream in double boiler, stirring occasionally until melted and slightly shiny. Drizzle chocolate mixture over popcorn balls.
* ( + ) Sprinkle popcorn balls with a pinch of coarse salt. Allow to cool completely and serve.


I haven't tried this chef's recipe, but it is a different take on the popcorn balls I make and looks tasty and intriguing:

Caramel and Pumpkin Seed Popcorn Balls

Ingredients:

• 5 tablespoons Vegetable Oil
• 2 1/2 cups un-popped Popcorn
• 1/4 cup Butter
• 1 cup packed Light Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Light Corn Syrup
• 2/3 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1/2 cup toasted Pumpkin Seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 1 package giant Pretzel Sticks...nuts
• 12 ounce bag of White Chocolate Chips
• Orange Food Coloring

Procedure:

1. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil to a covered 4 quart saucepan, and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add 1/2 cup of popping corn. Keep pan moving constantly. When corn stops popping, remove from heat.  Place popped corn in oven to keep warm. Repeat until all corn has been popped.
2. In a medium saucepan with a candy thermometer inserted, combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Stir well and bring to boil over medium heat. Stir in condensed milk; reduce heat, simmer, stirring constantly, until thermometer reads 238 degrees F, then add vanilla.
3. Pour caramel over popped corn and toasted pumpkin seeds and stir to coat. Butter hands lightly and shape popcorn into balls about 3 1/2 inches in diameter.  Insert a giant pretzel stick at least an inch into each ball.
4. Place 3/4 of the white chocolate chips into a glass bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir with a rubber spatula. Put it back in the microwave for another 30 seconds and stir again. Continue to heat and stir every 30 seconds until the chocolate is just melted. Immediately, add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it is completely smooth.  Stir in 3 drops of orange food coloring and mix until incorporated.
5. Dip each popcorn ball halfway into melted white chocolate and place chocolate side down on parchment or waxed paper lined baking sheet to cool.

Enjoy! 

DeWyk