Gingerbread Corpses
>3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
>1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
>1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
>1/4 teaspoon salt
>1/2 cup white suger
>1/2 cup shortening
>1 egg
>1 cup molasses
>1 teaspoon baking soda
>1 1/2 teaspoons warm water
>1/4 cup raisins for decorating
1. In large bowl, cream shortening, sugar, egg and warmed molasses. Dissolve baking soda in warm water and add to egg mixture. Beat until smooth.
2. Slowly add flour, spices and salt. Mix until well blended.
3. Cover and chill for 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.
5. Roll out dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch on a floured surface. Cut out gingerbread men using cookie cutters and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.
6. Use black icing to make an "X" where the eyes should be, you can also make a frown for a mouth using the icing.
www.halloweenkitchen.com
Vampire Punch
For Punch:
>Chilled 25.4-ounce bottle sparkling cider (about 3 1/4 cups)
>1 chilled 1-quart bottle cranberry juice cocktail
>1 chilled 1-liter bottle club soda or seltzer water
>1 cup dark rum if desired
For Spice Syrup:
> 2 cinnamon sticks
> 5 whole cloves
> 3 tablespoons finely chopped peeled freshginger
>1/3 cup water
>1/3 cup sugar
Make spice syrup:
In a small saucepan bring syrup ingredients to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Let syrup cool. Syrup can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, kept in a covered container or bottle. In a punch bowl combine Punch ingredients and strain syrup through a fine sieve or cheese cloth into punch. Stir punch and add lots of ice. Makes about 13 cups.
NOTE: Dress the punch bowl up with some decorative ice shapes. You can use food grade plastic gloves to freeze ice for floating hands. Gloves are available at restaurant supply stores, are made of clear plastic and have no talc on them like latex gloves do. Fill with water or colored water, juice, etc. and freeze. When hard, remove glove and float in your punch bowl! You can also look at specialty stores for ball shaped ice cube trays. Fill with cranberry juice and they become floating blood clots.
www.halloweenkitchen.com
Diaper Dump Porridge
Serving Size: 4 hungry dumpers.
Ingredients:
>1 can beef broth (10 oz)
>1 Tube refrigerated biscuits
>1 can chicken broth (10 oz)
>2 saucepans
Directions:
Pour the beef broth into a saucepan. Set aside and don't add any water. Remove the biscuits from the tube, seperate them and carefully cut each one in half. Then, using clean hands, sculpt the biscuit pieces into "dump" shapes. Add the dumps to the beef broth. With an adult's help, place the dumps and broth over medium heat and cook until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Carefully check the broth level often. Pour the chicken broth (diaper fluid) and one can water into a second saucepan. With a slotted spoon, carefully transfer the cooked dumps from the beef broth and place in the chicken broth pan. Heat chicken broth according to the directions on the can.
www.halloweenishere.com
Bat Wing Soup
> 4 garlic cloves, peeled
> 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
> 4 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) stewed tomatoes
> 1/2 cup whipping cream
> 6 slices bread, crusts removed
> 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
> 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
In a saucepan, saute garlic in oil until tender. In a blender or food processor, process garlic and tomatoes in batches until smooth. Return all to the pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low. Add cream and heat through. Follow directions to cut bat wings from bread. (To make bat wings, remove crusts from bread. Flatten with a rolling pin. Using kitchen shears, cut each slice in half diagonally, cutting wavy lines to resemble bat wings.) Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Spread with butter; sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake at 400° for 5-8 minutes or until golden brown, turning once. Add two wings to each bowl of soup. Serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings.
www.razzledazzlerecipies.com