MRS. OLIVE’S NEVER FAIL PIE DOUGH

This is a recipe from one of the elderly ladies in the community when I was a child.4 cups all-purpose flour2 cups shortening2 tsps salt1 tbsp sugar1 tsp baking powder1/2 cup water1 tbsp white vinegar1 egg

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder. Cut in the shortening. Add the water, vinegar and egg. Mix well and chill before rolling out.

Note: This dough can also be frozen for use later.

OLD FASHION LEMON MERINGUE PIE

This recipe was cut from an old box. I would imagine it was a cornstarch box.1 cup sugar3 tbsp cornstarch1 1/2 cups cold water3 egg yolks, slightly beatenGrated rind of 1 lemon1/4 cup lemon juice1 tbsp margarine1 baked 9-inch pastry shell3 egg whites1/3 cup sugar

In a 2-qt saucepan stir together the 1 cup sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a boil over medium heat; boil one minute. Remove pan from the heat. Stir lemon rind, lemon juice and margarine into the mixture. Cool slightly. Pour mixture into the prepared pastry shell. In a small mixer bowl, with mixer at high speed, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in the 1/3 cup of sugar; beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over filling starting with the edge and sealing meringue to crust. Continue filling in the center until all meringue is piled on the filling. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool before slicing.

Enjoy!

Make sure that sugary treats are served in moderation. We should avoid having our guest suffer from sugar overload during your party. Enjoy the festivity by serving chicken meat sliced like fingers covered in blood (red sauce would do the trick). It isn’t difficult to do, just keep in mind when creating each dish it should appear as human-like as possible.

To make it even more appealing and realistic include an almond sliced into halves as if they were human nails.

You should also try adding the same amount of food colorings including yellow, red and blue to your spaghetti. Once done it will create a disgusting brownish meal. Top it with green sauce like pesto, and dub it as “Swamp with Snakes Spaghetti Surprise”.

Create those goofy meatballs that would serve as those creepy eyeballs. Simply season your meat (ground) then form it to a circular shape ensuring that both bottom as well as its top are flat, bake till its done. Slice cheese (mozzarella) round in approximately 1 inch of its diameter or the same size to that of half a dollar. Slice small tomatoes (either cherry or grape kind will do) in three. Slice olives (black) into half.

Then, arrange those goofy eye meatballs by simply placing one slice of the cheese pieces onto the eye meatball, followed by one sliced tomato onto its cheese then place your half olive(black) on top. Change each topping placement so that the eye meatballs would appear as if they were looking into various directions.

When serving some punch, how about making it into a ghoulish kind? Create your own punch then simply add some few ghoulish hands here and there. How to create those ghoulish hands? Prepare those none powdered rubber-gloves and fill them up with some red drink like cranberry juice. Make sure not to overfill it, to increase easy movement for those glove fingers.

Then, close the gloves tightly using elastic bands then freeze them flat onto some cookie sheet that has been placed with some paper towel. Cut the gloves open using scissors then simply add each to your ghoulish punch. Create a more scary effect by breaking some ghoul fingers then add each separately to your guests’ drink.

Punch includes a quart of soda (lemon lime), a quart of lime drink and a cup of sherbet (lime). Ensure that sherbet will be added only before punch is going to be served. Stir to create foam on the mixed sherbet using soda. Sprinkle some chocolate powder onto the foams for that dirty look.

Dry ice gives you a touch of that smoky effect. To avoid accidents from curious little hands from touching dry ice which may result to some burn by putting the dry ice into containers not within children’s reach, you can simply place them at the table’s back.

Keep your dish as simple as possible yet familiar by adding a little twist. Name favorites with great and interesting Halloween names. Explore different food colorings like those in blue, green and brown to change how the dish appears.

Use common food but prepare each in various ways. Like blanch the head of one cauliflower, break them apart then rearrange(making it a lot easier when serving) cover it with some salad dressing while adding some squeeze bottled ketchup outlining every floret then use ketchup making it appear like brains. Enjoy your scrumptious spooky food this Halloween.

Using food coloring adds a fun and festive mood to ordinary foods, perfect for the Halloween. Cooking up Halloween party food recipes is not at all difficult. Whether you’re hosting a kiddie Halloween party or an eerie night for adults, the last thing you want is to bore your party guests with the same old treats.

Remember that celebrating the Halloween should be done the way it really should be: scary, spooky and mysterious. So how exactly can you make guests drool in the mouth on your party?

To begin with, start with exciting beverages for all ages. Give a little kick to your Halloween drinks by decorating it. For example, you can buy small plastic creepy crawlies like spiders, beetles or worms and top it on your drink. You can also put them in an ice cube container after filling it with water and then freezing them.

Serve it with drinks and your guests can actually see the spider through the ice cube. Make your party guests drink ‘dirty water’ too. How to do that? Just add sherbert to your lemonade. When mixed with regular lemonade, it turns into a grayish-brown color, much like dirty water. Moreover, add red food coloring to smoothies and you instantly have a drink that looks like real blood.

Now let’s move on to snacks and other Halloween party food. Perhaps the easiest way to bring out some spookiness to your treats is by making slimy jello. Depending on the kind of spook you want, you can go for popular Halloween colors such as green for goo, black for darkness or red for blood. Serve ‘brain matter’ using green jello or solidified blood with the red variety.

If you opt for another treat, you can never go wrong with cupcakes and decorate them with funky frostings or bake cookies and top them with edible decorations. Always make your decorations edible as much as possible. You don’t want to risk your party guests’ safety, especially curious kids who practically put just about anything in their mouths.

You can also surprise your guests with red, peeled grapes. How this works? Have them close their eyes and make them put their hands in the bowl. (Their hands must be clean, of course). Without saying to them what it is, tell them to just eat it. When it touches their mouth, tell them it’s animal eyeballs! Just for the fun of it! You’re bound to have a spooky night that’s going to scare up a lot of raves from your guests!

Pimple Poppers

Ingredients:

1 dozen cherry tomatoes, drained

Soft cream cheese spread, flavored

Core the tomatoes using a small knife. Stuff the holes with cream cheese using a butter knife. By gently squeezing them, you give the gross idea of popping out a pimple. Arrange onto a platter and serve.

Hairball salad in drool dressing

Ingredients:

1 ripe avocado

Sprouts

Grated carrots

Vinaigrette or any salad dressing of your choice

Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and put in a bowl adding the sprouts and mashing it using a fork. Having some lumps is fine. Set aside. Then, distribute the grated carrots evenly depending on how many servings you like. Form hairballs the size of walnuts and put them over on your grated carrots. Then drizzle the salad dressing, which constitutes the ‘drool’. Serve.

Ghoulish Eyeballs

Ingredients:

6 hardboiled eggs

6 oz. cream cheese, whipped

7 oz green olives, with pimiento

Red food color

Toothpick

Remove the shell off the eggs and remove the yolks. Stuff the hole with whipped cream cheese so as to form the eyeball. Press one olive to every eyeball. Make sure the pimiento faces up. Now, draw broken blood vessels in the stuffing using the toothpick dipped in red food color.

Stale Bath Water

Ingredients:

12 oz frozen lemonade

2 liters lime soda

Half a gallon sherbet

Thaw the sherbet for about 15 minutes and place in a container. Prepare the lemonade according to package instructions and blend with the lime soda and the sherbet. At this point, the sherbet should melt and turn into grayish-brown liquid, much like used bathwater. You may use colored mints to float on your scummy-looking drink.

Gooey Brains

Ingredients:

1 pack jello

1 carton cottage cheese, small-curd

1 can of berries of your choice, in thick syrup,

Food coloring

To prepare:

First, make the jello according to instructions. Set aside to chill. In a bowl, mix the cottage cheese and your choice of berries carefully, as cheese constitutes the brain matter. Add food color. On a serving plate, place a few tablespoonfuls of your jello, which makes for your brain fluid. Drizzle with thick syrup. Top with the cheese-berries mixture. Serve.

Make these recipes a part of your Halloween party menu. These are must-try gastronomic wonders that are bound to have your party guests screaming in utter delight.

A SPLENDID PUMPKIN PIE1 9-inch unbaked pie shell1 can (15 oz) pumpkin3/4 cup Splenda Granular2 tbsp corn starch1/2 tsp cinnamon1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice1/8 tsp salt2 eggs1 egg white1/3 cup fat-free half & half3 tbsp heavy cream (or fat-free evaporated milk)1 tbsp vanilla extract1 tsp sugar-free maple-flavored syrupPreheat oven to 400 degrees.In a medium mixing bowl, blend pumpkin, Splenda, cornstarch, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.  Mix until all ingredients are well blended.  In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, egg white, Half & Half, heavy cream, vanilla and syrup; stir well.  Add egg mixture to pumpkin mixture and stir well to blend.  Pour filling into the pie shell. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until set in the center and the crust is golden brown.Yield: 8 servings.  Per serving: 160 calories, 17 g carbs, 4 g protein, 3 g sugarsEnjoy!

Cottage Pie

Ingredients:2 lbs potatoes, peeled and cut for boiling3 tbsp butter1/4 cup milk1/2 of a small onion, finely chopped2 lbs ground beefBrown gravy mix2 cans of mixed vegetablesParsley to tasteSalt and pepper to taste

Directions:In a large pot, bring the potatoes to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are fully cooked, but still a little firm. While the potatoes are cooking, sauté the onions in a skillet until they turn soft. Add the beef and cook it until it turns brown all the way through. Season with parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix the gravy to a very thick consistency and add to the beef. Mix well. When the potatoes are dome, remove them from the heat, stir in the butter, and then add the milk a little at a time. You don’t want the potatoes to be too creamy or they won’t set up properly. Pour the beef and gravy mixture into the bottom of a casserole dish. Open and drain the cans of vegetables and spread evenly over the meat. Top with an even layer of mashed potatoes. If you like, sprinkle a bit of grated cheese on top. Bake at 375 degrees F for about half an hour, or until the potatoes start to turn golden brown. Serve with gravy on top.

Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:1 small bag hash browns (Ore Ida work great for this)2 lbs pork sausage1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese3 cup milk1 tsp salt9 eggs, beaten1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

Directions:Cook the sausage in a skillet until it is cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Next, brown the hash browns over a medium heat. You may want to use a tablespoon or two of oil for this. Mix the hash browns, sausage, cheese, milk, salt, eggs, and mustard. Mix well. Pour into a greased 9 x 13-in baking dish and bake at 350 degrees F for an hour.

Tuna Casserole

Ingredients:2 cups of uncooked noodles (elbow macaroni work well)12 ounces of tuna (in brine)2 small cans of concentrated cream of chicken soup1/2 cup of milk1 can of peas1 small pack of shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:Bring 6 cups of water to a boil, then add the noodles. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the noodles are al dente. Flake the tuna pieces into a casserole dish, then add the cream of chicken soup, milk, and peas. Blend the ingredients together and top with an even coating of cheese. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 20 – 30 minutes, or until it turns golden brown.

Beef Pie

Ingredients:1 lb ground beef1 pie shell, frozen-deep dish1/2 cup chopped onion2 tbsp flour1 tsp salt1/4 tsp pepper2 tbsp ketchup2 tbsp butter1/2 cup sour cream1 cup cottage cheese2 eggs, slightly beaten

Directions:Fry the onions in a skillet until they start to soften. Add the beef and cook thoroughly. Mix in the flour, salt, pepper, ketchup, and butter until well blended. Pour this mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Combine the sour cream, cottage cheese, and eggs in a bowl, then pour on top of the meat pie. Sprinkle with a bit of paprika if you like. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 or 40 minutes.