Halloween

As many of you know we enjoy celebrating holidays and food is just part of the celebration. So now that Halloween is upon us, I thought I would share some of my favorite recipes with you.
But first I do need to offer a cation, if your children or spouse get spooked or grossed out easily don't tell them the title of the recipe, or better yet let them help make the dish. Goblin toes are not very spooky if you helped cut the hotdogs and wraped them up.
Lucky for me Eric and Robert are great sports when it comes to my Halloween recipes, the grosser the better.

Pumpkin Gut Nachos
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 c. sliced almonds
1/4 c. mayonnaise
1/4 tsp. red chili powder (optional)
1 bag tortilla chips

Mix together all ingredients except chips. Spoon mixture over chips and broil until the cheese is melted. It would be really fun in those scoop tortilla chips. (Mine looked better than the picture, if I do say so myself.)

Wild Lice (basically mac and cheese with ham)
2 c. orzo (this is a rice-size pasta)
1/4 c. light cream
2 Tbsp. butter-melted
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley-chopped
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 ham steak

Preheat oven to 350, Prepare the orzo according to the directions on the package. Drain the orzo, then pour into a large bowl and add the cream, butter cheese, parsley and pepper. Toss well. Grease a casserole dish with the vegetable oil. Place the ham steak in the dish and then cover it with the orzo (lice). Bake for 20-30 minutes. serves 8
Delicious, only gross to those who know what lice are.


Kitty Litter Cake (ok, this one is over the top. It even grosses me out, but it is so much fun)
1 spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 white cake mix
2 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix,
1 large pkg vanilla sandwich cookies
green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls®

1 new kitty litter pan
1 new plastic kitty litter pan liner
1 new pooper scooper

Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans).

Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble.

Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and mix until completely colored.

When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl. Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled pudding. Important: mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don't want it too soggy. Combine gently.

Line a new, clean kitty litter box. Put the cake/pudding/cookie mixture into the litter box. (P.S. I am too cheap to buy the litter box but the scoop is a must for effect, try a dollar store.)

Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt, curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls bury them in the mixture. Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green cookie crumbs lightly on top of everything -- this is supposed to look like the chlorophyll in kitty litter.

Heat 3 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake; sprinkle with cookie crumbs. Spread remaining Tootsie Rolls over the top; take one and heat until pliable, hang it over the side of the kitty litter box, sprinkling it lightly with cookie crumbs. Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs around for a truly disgusting effect!

Further notes: I had a reader write in saying this recipe only needed half the amount of pudding. I personally liked the cake with the amount given in this recipe. But feel free to use this as a loose guideline, use more or less as you see the need. Also, since the layer of cookies (with the chloropyll green specks, covers the top, you could really use any flavor or flavors or cakes underneath. Last but not least, you can also opt not to crumble the cakes, but rather layer them in the pan with the layers of pudding in between (much like you would layer a trifle into a trifle dish), sprinkle the top layer of pudding with a heavy layer of crumbled cookies. Same effect, different texture entirely to the dessert.

Goblin Toes

Cocktail wieners
6-inch tortillas
Ketchup or mustard
Toothpicks

Directions1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut a wedge into the end of each cocktail wiener to make a toenail.

2. Cut the tortillas into strips about 4 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Discard the ends.
3. Soften the strips in the microwave between damp paper towels for 10 to 30 seconds.
4. Roll each wiener in a tortilla strip and secure with a toothpick.
5. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove them from the oven, then fill the toenail with ketchup or mustard. Remove the toothpicks before serving.

Well I have some new recipes for this year, Bone-a-petite, cocroach clusters, witches fingers (an old favorite, but with new dipping sauces) and Russell's Famous poop-corn balls (By the way for those of you who don't know Russell, he is Eric's pet rabbit). I'll post the recipes later, I don't want to spoil the fun at the family party.