After last night’s World Series win, I couldn’t resist calling this post “wicked good” Halloween recipes.

Way to go boys!

Our family has hosted many a Halloween party for our kids and their friends when they were younger. One of our favorite things to do was to decorate covered boxes with a cut out for your hand. The fun came when the kids (and the adults, too) would put their hands into the box which were filled with things like “eyeballs” (really peeled grapes) or “worms” (overcooked linguini — this is the only time one should overcook pasta) : ) and we can’t forget “bat toe nails” which was of course uncooked rice.

I have super Halloween recipes and ideas for you!

How do these look and sound?

Green Slime Punch

2 cups of boiling water
2 (4-serving size) pkgs. lime flavor gelatin
2 cups of cold orange juice – I used orange, banana and strawberry juice
1 (1 quart/1 liter) lemon-lime soda or seltzer
1 orange, thinly sliced
1 lime, thinly sliced

Stir boiling water into dry gelatin in large bowl at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved.

Stir in your orange juice. Cool to room temperature.

Pour into your favorite punch bowl (my mom and dad bought me this one) just before serving.

Add lemon-lime soda (or seltzer) and ice; stir.

Add orange and lime slices.

Recipe #2

Spooky Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Toasted Pitas

2 large red bell peppers, seeded, roasted and cut into strips
1 (14.5 ounce) can garbanzo or chick peas, reserve liquid
3 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons tahini or sesame paste
1 to 1 1 /2 teaspoons kosher salt (check for taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Pinch (just a pinch) of cayenne pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons reserved liquid
5 carrots used for fingers and thumb

Cut the two peppers in half. Now gently pull the seeds and stem off trying to leave as much bell pepper as you can.

With the palm of your hand, press each bell pepper half down. This will insure that each half gets broiled all over. Place bell peppers on a baking sheet or you can use the bottom of your broiler pan just like I do. Drizzle a little olive oil over top and broil for a few minutes (checking on your peppers every so often). I set my oven to Broil 3. This will take between 10 to 12 minutes.

Now place in a foil pouch or paper bag. By closing the roasted peppers up in a foil pouch or bag you are allowing the steam to loosen the skin. In a few minutes you can easily peel away the blackened skin. Do not fear a burnt taste. Roasting your peppers will provide you with a lovely flavor. One more tip –and it is a very important one at that: Never, ever run your roasted peppers under water to remove the blackened skin. By doing so you will be washing away all of the wonderful flavor.

Remove your peppers from your bag and cut into strips.

Place garbanzo beans (or chick peas), garlic, lemon juice, tahini, roasted red pepper strips, cumin and salt in your food processor. Add a little of the reserved liquid at a time until you reach a smooth and silky consistency. Pulse a few times to create what I hope you will find is one of the silkiest, most flavorful hummus you’ll ever enjoy!

For Halloween, place four carrots pretty close to each other and then add one more shorter carrot for your thumb about couple of inches away from the other carrots.

Serve with toasted pita chips! I simply sprayed my chips, which I cut using Halloween shaped cookie cutters, with a non-stick spray and then sprinkled dried oregano, basil, thyme and kosher or sea salt over top. I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes or until they looked slightly crispy.

Recipe #3

Halloween-Shaped Pimento Cheese and Pumpernickle Sandwiches

How awesome-looking are these?

Pumpernickle bread
Pimento Cheese
Halloween cookie cutters
Rolling pin

Spread 2 tablespoons pimento cheese on each of 16 slices bread and top with remaining slices. With a cookie cutter, cut sandwiches into desired shape.

TIP: Some cookie cutters can be sharp and bread can be a little tricky to cut with using cookie cutters, so
press the cookie cutter into your slice of bread, turn over your bread (with the cutter still in it) and roll your rolling pin over it to finish cutting out the shape. You can see that I used a bat shaped cookie cutter!

Recipe #4

Candy Corn Pudding Cups

Chocolate Pudding

1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large saucepan, stir together sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, salt and milk. Bring to a full boil and stir constantly. Let this silky chocolate creation thicken until it coats the back of a metal spoon. Remove the pudding from the heat and stir in butter and vanilla. Pour this decadent mixture half way up your pudding cups and refrigerate until it sets completely.

Now make your vanilla pudding

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
A couple of drops of yellow food coloring, optional

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and milk.

Whisking constantly, cook over medium-high until mixture thickens and is bubbling, 8 to 12 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking, 1 minute.

Remove pan from heat and pour mixture through sieve into bowl. Add butter, vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in butter and vanilla until combined.

Add on top of your chocolate pudding.

Top with whipped cream and candy corn.

Recipe #5

Mystery Bars

So, your family and friends will assume that these are blonde brownies with M & M’s, but they will be very surprised when they bite into them! An assortment of mini candy bars are chopped up for a surprise in every bite. Your guests will say, “What was that?” and “Oooh that bite was so good!”

Allergy Alert: Be sure that folks with allergies are told before they eat them.

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, melted
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 to 1 1/2 cups chopped mini candy bars like Twix, Snickers, 3 Musketeers (leftover from Halloween)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray 9 x 13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Stir the flour and salt together in a small bowl. Add your chopped candy bars to coat with flour. This will keep them suspended in your bars.

Mix melted butter and add to the brown sugars in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. Beat in the egg and then the vanilla.

Stir in the flour, salt and candy mixture just until combined. Watch for pockets of flour.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 35 minutes or until set in the middle. You can insert a toothpick in the enter and if it comes out clean, it’s done!

Cool on rack before cutting your bars.

Tip: I really wanted to use this cauldron to hold my mystery bars in, but I didn’t want to triple my recipe to fill it. I simply taped a black plastic bowl to the opening and only filled it with one batch of bars!

Enjoy this fun season, the warmth of family and friends, and of course, The Great Pumpkin episode…don’t forget to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! with your kiddos! : )

More wicked good Halloween recipes:

Feed Me Phoebe: Leftover Jack-o-Lantern Salad i.e. Pumpkin & Arugula Salad with Miso-Lemon Dressing
The Heritage Cook: Jack-o’-Lantern Black & Orange Soups
The Lemon Bowl: Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup
Virtually Homemade: Apple Caramel Cake Pops
Weelicious: Roasted Pumpkin and Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Jeanette’s Healthy Living: Ghoulish “Bloody Brains” Roasted Cauliflower and Beet Hummus
Devour: Caramel Apples for Halloween
Taste With The Eyes: Braised Oxtail for Halloween?
Made By Michelle: Clementine Pumpkins
Napa Farmhouse 1885: Silky Pumpkin Hummus
Red or Green: Spooky Black Bean Dip & Chile Roasted Sweet Potato Appetizers
Dishing: Spinach Stuffed Mushrooms
Domesticate Me: Spiced Pumpkin Punch
Cooking With Elise: Wicked Good Halloween Recipes
The Sensitive Epicure: Trick or Treat, Spaghetti or Squash? Both
FN Dish: Have a Homemade Halloween