8 Course Halloween Dinner Recipes Part 2
Appetizer:
Bat Fries
Bat FriesYum! These simple fries were a big hit with our taste testers and were very easy to make. They can be made in advance and rewarmed in the oven before serving if desired. Another fun variation is loaded bat fries which are these fries topped with cheddar, bacon, scallions, and sour cream. Serve these plain, with colored ketchup (black is nice!), cheddar dipping sauce, or any savory sauce and your guests whill adore them! We used a cookie cutter to form our bats, but if you do not have one, you can print our template and use that to make your fries.
Oil for frying
4 large russet potatoes
Salt
Bat FriesHeat the oil to 325 degrees in a deep fryer or large heavy, deep skillet. Peel the potatoes and slice lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. Cut the potato slices into bat shapes. Pat the slices dry with a paper towel. Fry the slices in small batches until cooked through but not brown. Remove from the fat and let drain on the paper towels. Increase the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees and refry the potatoes in small batches until brown and crispy. Drain again on paper towels, salt, and serve hot.
Makes 6 servings.
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Beverage:
Blood Bath
This very simple recipe mixes sweet tart flavor with bright color and vanilla ice cream to produce a fun and tasty punch. I have seen this served in a new cleaned baby bathtub for a fun effect, but you can serve it in a punch bowl. I like floating a new clean rubber duckie in the punch bowl for added effect.
64 ounces cran-raspberry cocktail
4 cups apple juice
4 cups vanilla ice cream
Mix together the cran-raspberry coctail and apple juice and chill. Pour into a punch bowl or other serving container. Scoop the vanilla ice cream into the punch and serve immediately.
Bread:
Moist Spiced Pumpkin Bread
This is my favorite basic pumpkin bread recipe. This recipe makes two regular sized loaves of bread and 4 mini loaves. This bread is one of the most convenient recipes to have. It stores well (in the refrigerator or freezer) and is actually better if you make it a day or two ahead of time. This bread is essential for Halloween Stuffed Acorn Squash, Pumpkin Bread Cream Cheese Sandwiches, and .
3 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
3 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups of fresh pumpkin puree
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup chopped roasted pecans
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (325 for mini loaf pans) and heavily grease your loaf pans. Combine flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and sugar in a large mixing bowl. In a medium bowl beat the eggs. Add the water, vanilla, oil, and pumpkin puree. Stir until well blended. Add the roasted pecans. Pour into the prepared loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour (40 minutes or until firm for the mini loaf pans). Place the pans on a rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and let cool on a rack until at room temperature. Bread seasons best if chilled overnight and then served at room temperature the next day.
Dessert:
Candy Corn Puddings
These simple puddings are very fast to make and quite cute. You can make either regular candy corn puddings or the brown bottomed ones using chocolate pudding for the brown. Do not add the candy corn in advance to these puttings. Unless you want to gross out your guests! They will actually "melt" into the pudding and form a liquidy mess. Truly disgusting! We cheated and used individual pudding cups to make our puddings because they were on sale and allowed us not to have to make three batches of pudding and have lots of leftovers. However, for larger batches, boxed pudding and milk would probably save you time. We used a tiny bit of gel paste food colors in yellow and orange to tint vanilla pudding for our puddings.
1 cup yellow or chocolate pudding
1 cup orange pudding
Whipped cream
Candy corn
Spoon the yellow or chocolate pudding evenly into four champagne flutes. Top with the orange pudding. Add a dollop of whipped cream to form the top of the candy corn shape. Chill until ready to serve. Before serving, add a few candy corn pieces.
Makes 4 servings.
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Total Time: 5 minutes
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