Happy Halloween!!!

So what do you think about the pictures? This is just a part of my decorations.  I go a little crazy when it comes to decorating, I like to have the spirit of the occasion (holiday), and my oldest daughter also goes a little overboard for the holidays.  She will dress up her whole house for the holidays about a month before. I guess we instilled the spirit into her as well but, it seems today it's all about goodies only.  Like when an urchin comes to your door all dressed in one of those goofy costumes that their parents bought from the store and at their little perfect urchin's beckoning broke down and paid way too much for it because it is this years "hot" one, it seems like you see every variation of that "hot" look.  What happened to the baseball cap and a little smudge on your face type of urchins?  I would always take one of my mother’s pillow cases (making sure that it wasn't one of the nice one, and it couldn't have any holes because that would defeat the purpose), and head out to places far and unknown.  Well, at least next door and my neighborhood, (you must remember, I just remember my first Halloween by self around the age 8 or younger), we all knew the houses that gave the best candies, usually were the owners of the newest cars every year,(I think they had to show off,)  and the mother that would say "how cute" and said "take want you want" and hand us the bowl.  Well we did and walked away with a smile.  I remember when we would get apples (Yuk) and popcorn balls, brownies, fudge (my personal favorite, as you know from previous blogs about me and chocolate), you know the homemade stuff.  Well that stopped, and was ruined by some “bad apples”, (we would hear on the radio or read about it in the newspapers, or one of our two channels on the TV. I guess whenever we heard about bad things it would spread like wild fire and everyone would over react, sort of like today, sadly enough), when a sicko would insert a sharp object into it and one of the children would end up in the hospital because that person is deranged and should be put away.  I know that my father and the neighbors would find out who it was, and give him or her something that they would remember for the rest of their lives.  I applaud my parents for that. So we could only eat things that were wrapped, but still had to check the wrapper for any needle holes…(Talk about paranoid), Well times have changed, and now you get the tasteless candy that we would see and leave in the bowl.  I remember, back in the day, some of the "bad guys" would take soap and put it on your window or screens as punishment for not being home, or not have the light on and hiding in the darkened corners of the house.  When we got home we would have the bags thrown over our shoulders and huge grins on our faces, for the goodies we had to eat, (I wondered why most parents didn’t like it when kids ate the candies, they would be bouncing off the walls for days, or have the worst teeth in town and of course the dentists would be smiling all the way to the bank), and run into our rooms and all of the content on top of our bed and check it all out, of course we would throw out the gross stuff and keep the goodies.  I remember my brothers and others would go out twice (just go home and take their costume and put it on backwards and clean off their faces go out again, because people had tendencies to give our more or all the rest of their candies because it was too late and they wanted to close up shop. I remember an old tradition that we would go out the days before Halloween (called "beggars day) and get a first run on goodies before the big day.  Some of the people would laugh, but still give us the candy.  Some people would throw us for a loop and say “trick” when we said "trick or treat" when we came to the door, we would all look at ourselves with a goofy look and think what does that mean, I guess that when you say the phrase “trick or treat looking it up in Google it was: The "trick" is a (usually idle) threat to perform mischief on the homeowners or their property if no treat is given to them, so, we would have to do something stupid to get the goodies.  (I guess that would be the reason for the soap on the windows…hmmm)  We would shy away from those people and went to the next door only to get, "how cute", or "aren't you too old for this" (well I was eighteen...LOL)...  it's funny when it early in the evening and the first to come to the door were the cute little munchkins usually little princesses, that would show up with their parents and seemingly be about, a two years old and about as many feet high and say “twick or tweet”  (and they would forget to get some candy because they were so overwhelmed with the whole thing, the parent would continue the tradition and tell them “honey you forgot your candy”. That started a whole new realization for them)...and they would melt your heart with their smiles. Now, I am very careful not to scare them so they wouldn't be scared for life about the very old traditions of Halloween, that have been handed down for years, (or since the candy companies started the tradition).  One year I dressed up and sat out in the front porch like one of those stuffed scary dummies and waited for the right urchin, usually that was older and started poking and moving up close me to see if I was real, that is when you are the predators and they are the prey and I would jump and they would go off yelling or giggling.  I would of course give them some extra goodies just because it was fun. I and the kids would have great fun. One year my son would go all out and make up a scene on our front porch, sort of like a haunted house with a curtain an all, he would lay on the floor, dressed up like a scary creature, my youngest daughter inviting the urchins in and my son would jump up and scare them. Usually we wouldn't give out much candy that year or he would get an old shirt and stuff it with cloth and sit in a chair (like father, like son) and wait for the kids to come to the door.  He had the "spirit" of Halloween.  He is now 36 and I think he still has the urge to walk around the neighborhood and get some candy.  Sometimes he will come over to our house and give out candy and have a big smile on his face, thinking about the good 'ole days, that's why I love him so, because he is such a kid at heart, and has good memories of those days.  The only time most kids didn't like Halloween is when the parent would play the "candy police" and check out their bags of goodies first picking out the best items, telling the kids we would have to be careful and not get some candies with broken wrappers. Then hide the goodies and take them into our rooms and eat them later, were we bad parents? Did I hear a resounding “NO” out there?  Aha, I know there were more like us…LOL... (Now I know that you parents out there didn't do that, would you?)...but, alas, after about 4 days of climbing the wall…Mr. Nutrition Man would show up and amazingly the candy would disappear, to our kids chagrin.  Yah and that worked until the kids got smart and hid most of it before we would get to.  Well I have to get back to the whole idea of this blog and the recipes.  .  I know all of us have fond memories of those days gone past and I gave you, just a few. Here are the recipes:

  

This next picture is grossly funny, something for the strong stomached, a zombie buffet? YIKES! If you zoom in the picture you can guess what is in there, the head is a meat loaf just in case you didn’t catch that.  What would a zombie buffet be with out condiments? LOL

Also found an interesting article on candy corn. Here is the internet address: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/17/candy-corn-facts_n_5961586.html?ncid=edlinkushpmg00000030

Candy Corn Tuxedo Cake

Yields one 8-inch four layer cake and 8 cupcakes Source: Martha Stewart layer cake, Sprinkle Bakes frosting Prep: 2 hours, total time about 4 hours    Just two quick, important notes.    1. Use cake flour. I once used all-purpose and had to throw away the entire cake because it was too chewy and heavy (And oh boy, you do not want chewy cake!). If you have a soft winter wheat flour like White Lily, it will work in place of cake flour.   2. Be sure to use dark cocoa powder. It's important to achieve a deep chocolate color and flavor.    Cake 6 1/2 cups/789 g cake flour (not self-rising), sifted 3 tablespoons baking powder 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt 2 1/4 cups/500 ml whole milk 1 1/2 cups plus 4 tablespoons/395 g unsalted butter, room temperature 2 1/2 cups/490 g granulated sugar 10 large egg whites Golden yellow gel food color 1/2 teaspoon Butter rum flavoring (I used LorAnn) Red food color 2 teaspoons orange extract 3 tablespoons dark unsweet cocoa 2 tablespoons hot water 2 teaspoon vanilla extract   Frosting 1 1/2 cups/340 g of unsalted butter, softened 6 cups/730 g confectioners’ sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract Milk or heavy cream, optional   Chocolate glaze 6 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped 1/2 cup/ 117 ml heavy cream 1/4/ 85g cup dark corn syrup   Make the cake layers: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease four 8-inch round cake pans, and line the bottoms with parchment. If you don't have four pans, then use as many as you have, and plan to wash them between baking cake layers. Line 8 cavities of a muffin tin with paper liners. Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Beat butter with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. With the mixer running, gradually add the sugar and beat until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low, and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined. Do not over-mix. Beat the egg whites in a clean mixer bowl on medium speed until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Gently fold the egg whites into the batter in three additions. Place two cups of batter in four separate bowls (you’ll have two cups of batter leftover, just set it aside for now). Tint one bowl with the golden yellow food color, and add the butter rum flavoring.  Tint another bowl with golden yellow and red food color (creating an orange hue), and add the orange flavoring. Combine the unsweet cocoa and water, stirring well to create a paste, and add it to a third bowl of batter. Fold together well until the batter is dark chocolate and no streaks of white batter remain. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract to the fourth batter bowl, and leave it colorless.  Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon vanilla extract into the leftover batter (I made white vanilla cupcakes with the leftover batter, but you could tint and flavor the batter however you’d like). Spread the bowls of batter into the prepared pans. Use the leftover batter to fill the 8 cupcake liners.  Let the layers cool completely on a wire rack. Bake the cake layers for 18 to 20 minutes, and the cupcakes for 15-20 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed in the center. Run a knife around the edges of the cakes and the pans before turning them out. Level the tops of the cake with a serrated knife or a cake leveler. Save the cake scraps for breakfast (smile).and bake, for 15-20 minutes, or until the cakes spring back when pressed in the centers.   Make the frosting: In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, mix together the butter and confectioners’ sugar.  Begin on low speed until crumbly, and then increase to high and beat for 3 minutes until smooth and fluffy. Add vanilla extract and beat again for another minute. If you find the buttercream is too stiff, you may add milk or heavy cream 1 tablespoon at a time until the mixture is spreading consistency.   Fill each cake layer with 1/3 cup of frosting. Begin with the chocolate cake layer on the bottom, followed by the orange, butter rum, and end with the white cake on top. Cover the entire cake with frosting using an off-set spatula.  Refrigerate the cake until the frosting is firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer the leftover frosting to a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe on the cooled cupcakes. NOTE! Use a serving plate or cake stand with a lip – this cake gets a drippy covering of ganache, and it will pool around the bottom edge of the cake.   Make the glaze: Combine the chocolate and heavy cream in a small saucepan and warm over medium-high until the milk begins to steam. Remove from heat and let stand 2-3 minutes; whisk until chocolate and cream and smooth and combined. Add corn syrup. Whisk again until smooth. Place mixture in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour over top of cake and allow it to overflow and run down the sides. You may have some glaze leftover, so dip the tops of the cupcakes into the leftover glaze, if desired. Refrigerate the cake and cupcakes immediately so the ganache will firm.   Serve: Bring the cake and cupcakes to room temperature before serving so all the flavors are well-developed. Decorate the top of the cake with candy corn (or candy corn and bat cupcake toppers, as I have). I really love how all four cake layers taste together, but if all those layers are a bit ambitious for you to eat, then one piece of cake can easily made into two.  Cut a standard wedge of cake and divide it with a knife at the halfway point. You’ll have a piece of white/butter rum, and a piece of orange/chocolate.   Cover the leftover cake loosely with plastic wrap and store at room temperature. Spooky Boo Brownies "Spooktacular" fun and scrumptious eating are coming your way! Gather your goblins to share lots of baking tricks and treats. Prep Time45 min Total Time2 hr 55 min Servings16 1 box               Betty Crocker™ Original Supreme Premium brownie mix Water, vegetable oil and eggs called for on brownie mix box 1 ¼      cups    Betty Crocker™ Rich & Creamy  white frosting (from 16-oz container) 16                    large marshmallows Betty Crocker™ black decorating gel (from 0.68-oz tube) Heat the oven to 350°F, (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Line either a 8 inch or 9-inch square pan with foil so foil extends about 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. Make brownies as directed on box for 8- or 9-inch square pan. Cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove brownies from pan by lifting foil; remove foil. To get 16 of the brownies, cut into 4 rows by 4 rows.  Heat the frosting in microwavable bowl uncovered on High 30 seconds, stirring every 10 seconds, until frosting can be stirred smooth and fluid. If frosting becomes too firm while decorating, microwave 5 seconds; stir. Top each brownie with 1 large marshmallow. Spoon 1 tablespoon frosting over each marshmallow to coat. Let stand until frosting is set, about 30 minutes. Use black gel to make eyes and mouths. Some tips: The baking pan is lined with foil for easier cutting and quick cleanup. When cutting brownies, use a plastic knife for nice, even cuts. ***There are so many other recipes that I can’t put them here, just look at Betty Crocker, and any other websites to find other great ideas.