These creepy appetizers are sure to be a hit at your next gathering! You can easily make this at any time of the year - not just for Halloween. I use the hot pork sausage in the frozen section, not hot Italian sausage as not everyone likes fennel seeds. Muenster blocks are sold usually in 8 oz. blocks, you will use half this and then shred it.
1 1/2 cups baking mix
1 lb. hot pork sausage
4 oz. Muenster cheese block, shredded
8 large, garlic stuffed olives from deli
In a bowl, mix together the baking mix, sausage and shredded cheese by hand forming it into a thick log. Cut the log in half, then half again - finally cutting each slice into quarters. Form each section into a rough, thick disk and set aside.
Half each of the stuffed olives to form the 'eyes' and press firmly in the middle of each sausage/cheese disk. You can either place into a covered container in the refrigerator until ready or bake them off immediately on a Silpat-lined baking sheet for 15-18 minutes in a 400-degree oven. Let rest for five minutes before serving.
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Rotten Eggs
1/2 .25 bottle McCormick green food color bottle
1/2 .25 bottle McCormick blue food color bottle
1/2 .25 bottle McCormick yellow food color bottle
2 tbsp. vinegar
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup chopped chives
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp. McCormick Hot Shot Pepper Blend
1/4 cup potato flakes (read recipe for instructions)
In a 4 qt. sauce pan place the dozen eggs, 1 tbsp salt and fill with six cups water - water should cover eggs roughly 2" over tops. Place on stove top and bring to boil, cover and remove from heat allowing to sit for 15 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove eggs and place in a bowl of cold water to cool until you can handle them.
While eggs are cooling, add food coloring and vinegar to water in pan. When you can handle the eggs, roll them around on the counter gently to crack the shell. Place back into pan with colored water and allow to sit in water for one hour. Drain water and place eggs on paper towel to dry. Peel eggs to reveal a green, cracked exterior.
Cut eggs in half, lengthwise and place yolks into bowl. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, chives, salt and pepper to taste. Lastly add half the potato flakes and stir. Mixture will thicken - continue to add more until mixture reaches desired thickness. Fill egg halves and press together so that the bottom two halves are pressed together and the top reveals a craggy, oozing center. Chill for at least four hours - serve!
Funkin Autumn Beverage Idea
Looking for a creative way to offer ice cold beverages on your buffet or table? Why not use a funkin to do so. Here I have hollowed out the top of a pilgrim funkin, as it does not have a hole at the bottom. These are sealed all the way around, so they will not leak. I then filled it with ice and an assortment of bottled beverages for my guests. Quick & easy and it makes a fantastic presentation!
Halloween Bark (it's better when you bite!)
Ingredients:
8 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, chopped
8 ounces very good bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole roasted almonds, coarsly chopped
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 cup whole roasted almonds, coarsly chopped
1 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Place both chocolates in a double boiler set over a pan of simmering water until melted. Line a 9X9 pan with parchment paper - make sure to have parchment hang over to sides of pan, creasing paper into bottom corner/edge . Pour the melted chocolate into pan and spread to even. Sprinkle the almonds, apricots and cranberries over the chocolate. Set aside for 2 hours until firm. Cut the bark in 1 by 3-inch pieces and serve at room temperature.
Candy Corn Cake
2 cups butter, softened
1 2/3 cups sugar
5 eggs
1.5 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cups buttermilk
1 tbsp. vanilla-bean paste
4 cups cake flour
orange food coloring
yellow food coloring
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 9" cake pans by spraying them with Bak-klene - set aside.
In the work bowl of your mixer place the butter and sugar. Beat on high, scraping the bowl if necessary until ingredients are creamed. Add eggs, baking powder, soda, salt and buttermilk - mix on medium until combined and any lumps are small. Add vanilla-bean paste and cake flour. Beat ingredients on low, slowly gearing up to medium-high - beating the ingredients until the batter is creamy and you see very little lumps. This process should take 1-2 minutes at most.
Using a scoop, divide the batter into one of the prepared pans and two appropriately-sized mixing bowls. Take your orange and yellow food coloring and add them to one of each of the mixing bowls and color the one bowl of batter yellow and one bowl of batter orange - using a fork or whisk to combine the batter and fully color it. Use a clean spatula to scrape each of the colors into their own separate 9" round, spreading the batter around to ensure it bakes evenly. Repeat with other two pans.
Place into preheated oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, OR until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for roughly ten minutes, then invert cakes onto cooling rack to completely cool.
This cake uses one whole batch of my vanilla-bean buttercream icing. I use a large, star tip to pipe the colors onto the top of the cake. Chill overnight and remove from the refrigerator shortly before you are to serve it.
Pumpkin Cheesecake Tarts
1/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup corn starch
3 eggs
1 15-oz. can pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice OR
1 tsp cinnamon & 1 tsp. ginger
2 tsp vanilla-bean paste
Toppings 1
1/2 cup pecans, chopped & toasted
1/3 cup white chocolate chips
1/4 cup candied ginger, chopped
1 tbsp. sugar
Toppings 2
1/2 cup gingersnaps, broken (1 layer of the Pepperidge Farm Gingerman cookies)
1/3 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cherries, chopped
1 tbsp. sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, spray 14"X4" removable-bottom tart pans with Bak-klene to ensure easy release.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat cream cheese, sour cream and corn starch until blended and smooth. Add eggs, one at a time - followed by the pumpkin puree, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla-bean paste.
Divide batter evenly between the two pans and bake for 20 minutes. Top each pan with toppings and bake for another 20 minutes - it should be firm. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Cover and refrigerate overnight before serving.
Glittered Skeleton - Halloween Glam!
Walking through the forest I happened upon an eerie skeleton, encrusted in glitter. Spooky as it was, it's bones shimmered like diamonds as they caught the reflection of the sun.
This craft project is sure to bring that wow factor this Halloween. I used polystyrene skeleton bones set and covered them with various shades of glitter from Art Glitter. I hand applied the glitter by using a glitter glue purchased at Art Glitter. I did two bones of the skeleton in one shade of glitter, then moved on to another shade. The entire skeleton done in a single color or monocramatic tones would be great as well.
If you like this idea, but don't have the time - you can order a completed set of these glittered bones for $80.
If you like this idea, but don't have the time - you can order a completed set of these glittered bones for $80.
My Black Milk Glass Cake Stand Collection
I collect cake stands as I find them to be more fuctional than just for holding cakes. With this Halloween Season approaching I partnered with a local company to have these black glass stands in 6", 8" & 12" sizes manufactured for me. These are the perfect accessory for Halloween Treats for the Ghouls and Goblins that arrive at your door. Fashioned after a vintage mold from the 1800's, it's like owning a piece of history.Hand washing is essential.
Glittered Pumpkins
Why not glitz up your holidays with glittered faux pumpkins! These beautiful holiday accents transcend holidays - I use them for Halloween and carry them right over to Thanksgiving. Hand glittered to last a lifetime, these faux pumpkins will truly bring you a lifetime of celebrations! You can choose your glitter color, sizes are below:
Halloween Centerpiece
I am always looking for ways to make a centerpiece more glamorous, without spending a fortune. Sometimes I am able to use something I already have and recycle it in a sense, as in this case where I recycled a 8" cast iron urn that I have used for a previous craft project. I painted the urn black, giving it an eerie look. I then painted a regular, orange funkin white and then set it on top of a black wreath I purchased years ago that I wove ribbon into.
Swarovski Crystal Encrusted Funkin
Here I used Swarovski Crystals with the aid of a Hot-Fix tool to apply then to the Funkin. This application is a little tricky and requires some trial and error. When applying the crystals you need to only momentarily press it onto the funkin and immediately lift up on the Hot-Fox wand. The glue on the back of the crystal will still be pliable, so you can quickly nudge it into the appropriate place if it did not land exactly where you want it.
To apply a pattern, I took an awl and lightly carved it into the shell of the funkin as a guide being careful to not go too deep. This funkin is not complete, but I still wanted to show you the possiblity. More ideas to come! If you like what you see, you can order a completed Swarovski encrusted pumpkin made to order through me at ross@kon-tent.com.
Black Funkins
Here is another example of how to use a Funkin. I purchased a flat, black spray paint at Lowe's and covered the entire body of the Funkin first. Make sure to wear gloves and do this step outside. Then after the black paint has dried, I applied craft glue to the stem and sprinkled green glitter from Art Glitter. Allow to dry for two hours before handling glittered area. You can order a completed set of three through me at ross@kon-tent.com. Glittered Funkins
Here is one example of how to decorate Funkins. I purchased the glitter from Art Glitter in a myriad of colors. To create these, you can either use a simple craft glue or sprayable tack material which are both readily available at most craft stores or even Lowe's. Do the main body color first and then finish off with the green stem - you need to use craft glue to do the stem as you need to be particular where the green stays.
If you like this project, and would like to get a completed set made to order - contact me at Ross@RossSveback.com
Funkins
As soon as I sense the fall season approaching, I start to think about autumn's bounty. One of those the things I love to do is carving pumpkins, but I was always disheartened by the level of work put into these creations only to have them vanished by morning's arrival. I use to also wish I could get more mileage out of it - but did not have an option.
Enter the Funkin - the solution to all of my problems. Funkin's are artificial pumpkins that to me are amazing. First off, I have really no mess to deal with - no seeds or pulp. Coming from the standpoint of having a child, that is a stress reliever right there. Secondly, I can not only enjoy this carved creation the night of Halloween but also days before AND I can pack it up to use it year, after year, after year!
They look incredibly realistic and also come in lumina (white) and gourd shapes. If you do not carve them, you can carry them over into the Thanksgiving season as well.
The fact that it is not an actual pumpkin and that it is designed to be displayed - you do not have to deal with the thick, fibrous wall of a real pumpkin. This makes carving ten times easier and the product is a lot lighter as well. If you want to be intricate, you can work on your carving creation for days instead of being under the gun timewise like with a real pumpkin.
I have used Funkins in various ways which I will display in the days to come on my website. You don't even have to carve them - there are many creative ways to use them that are exciting and even glamorous.
You can purchase them online or at JoAnn Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Menards, A.C. Moore and Pottery Barn Kids.
Halloween & Thanksgiving Crafts - Pumpkins!
Here I not only glittered the pumpkins, but I have also silvered them. These work for Halloween as well as Thanksgiving/Fall decor.
Halloween Crafts - Black Pumpkins
I love these pumpkins. They are scary and cool at the same time. I used black matte paint to color them black and then glittered the stems. If you have interest, I can always make a set for you. Do not hesitate to contact me with any requests on the crafts I make.
Halloween Crafts - Glittered Bones
As many of you may know, I enjoy crafting. Here is a project I made for Halloween. Here are glittered bones that I did up. It is an actual complete skeleton (not real) that I have glittered up in fall colors. It may look menacing to some, but it is spooky and glamorous at the same time. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any requests for these items. I can always make them for you as well.
Halloween
Last Friday was Halloween, and I love to decorate for it. I tend to go all out on holidays, I suppose that is because it seemed to me that is what we did growing up so I probably had some of it wear off from my mother. Here are some images of what my house looked like for this creepy event. Here I had two life-size mummies guarding the front door while a vulture sat waiting for its' next meal.
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