Halloween Party Post Mortem

This Halloween party is in the bag. We had such a great time. The food, the people and the costumes were all impressive. I actually had a record number of trick-or-treaters. In the four years leading up to this Halloween, I have had a total of 3 trick-or-treaters. This year I had probably 40 kids come and ask for candy. I give all the credit to the big kitty looking out the windows.  Because I was already in costume for the party, the kids all got a thrill when I answered the door in full on Medusa garb. I was so surprised by the record numbers, all the candy I had out for decoration in bowls was gone a quarter way through the party. Oh well, probably for the best anyway. I certainly did not need any more sugar after everything I devoured. But in my own defense, I was the hostess, I was duty- bound to eat some of everything that people bought. Plus, I had to taste test my own creations to make sure they were acceptable...... At least that's what I keep telling myself. ;p

Some of the goodies I gave people in their take home trick-or-treat bags

snarky gravestone sugar cookies

Pumpkin hand pies

Creepy cheese and frightening fruit tray- my time spent catering very apparent

Vegetarian gello-brain. Strawberry-lychee flavor,

Thanks to everyone who brought other food.  No pics to prove it, but it is appreciated.


Party People

Your hostess Medusa

Nikki, Mistress of the night{shift}

Cheryl, the wicked witch of the East{errr E-lectrical}

Joe-zo the clown

Julia Audubon, Bird Watcher Extrodinaire

Margaret,
Not sure if she was supposed to be a school marm, a nun or what.
 I personally believe she was channelling Julie Andrews from the sound of Music and came as Sister Mary-Margaret

Father Richard the flirtatious

Annette as a dragonfly {I still say she's actually a love bug} and Reina, as herself a lady who had to close the store that night and open it the next morning.

John as Elvis during the white jumpsuit era ....{Uh thank ya, thank ya verra much} 

The only picture I was able to catch of my mother in law {corner} the whole night, She and Joe went as a pair of clowns

Many other people came, but I didn't get any more pics of costumes.....boo

Pumpkins from the pumpkin carving festivities



Margaret's kitty and a sickle moon

Julia's kitty face

My spider "Sal"

All in all I'd say everyone had fun. Another year in the books.  

More Fall Flavors.....

I grew up in Northern Michigan, which is prime apple growing country.

I remember picking apples every fall from our neighbors orchard. Neighbors, that lived about two miles away mind you. Practically next door if you grew up in the country!

My favorite apples to pick and eat were Jonathan apples.

They are in my opinion one of the best apples to eat out of hand. Small, tart, sweet and juicy, they really pack alot of flavor into one little apple. Not to mention it has pink colored flesh that always appealed to the girly girl part of me.  We always made apple crisp and apple pie from them, if we didn't eat them all up first!

Since I moved to Florida, I haven't even seen one.

I have made do with Gala's and Fuji's, but that will only cut it for so long.

Last fall I discovered Honeycrisp apples. I am sure some of you out there have probably been enjoying this delish specimen since your childhood, but it was totally new to me.

Crisp, never mealy. Sweet, tart, firm and AWESOME. A bit more expensive than the regular varieties, but worth it.

I did a little research and it is a hybrid cultivated by the University of Minnesota from

a Keepsake apple and an unknown varietal.

This is one time where science has improved on nature.

Here are some I bought from Le Target. Each box was $8.00.

But sooo worth it!

This is the flavor of fall. {besides pumpkin of course!}

First of the Fall Flavors...

This year I will only have beer and hard cider at the party,

so we taste tested a few interesting looking ones......

I have posted real beer tasters reviews because I either like it or not, I really don't know the "proper" terms for the flavors

read ratings here

White Rascal- pretty good, had that Belgian White taste of orange and coriander.

read ratings here

Dead Guy Ale- Hubby loved, but I am not a big fan of ales... a bit too dark tasting for me

read ratings here

Shipyard Pumpkinhead- My favorite of the lot...a nice pie spice flavor

read ratings here

Saranac Pumpkin Ale- average, I would drink hard cider over this any day.


I will hopefully taste more and post pics, but I can't lie,
I will most likely just go with Woodchuck Amber cider and a beer that the hubby picks. Compromise is the name of the game. He puts up with my incessant Halloween chatter, and I indulge his beer preferences...;p

Free vegetable stock!

I don't know about you all, but I LOVE free stuff. In my opinion, you just can't beat free!

 But I digress....

 As I'm sure some of you have realized by now, I cook approx. five nights a week. Partially because it is a heck of a lot cheaper, but also because it is WAY healthier. {plus I'm a pretty good cook if I do say so myself!}

I wanted to share this idea that I reinterpreted . When I was cooking for a living, I had the privilege to work with some classically trained chefs. One of the main things I learned was that in the classic French kitchen, there is no waste. Every part of an animal or vegetable is valuable. The way I applied this to my home kitchen is in the form of vegetable stock.

I hate store bought stock for two reasons.....1- it has a ridiculous amount of sodium in it, 2- it is way over priced.

The simple way to solve this is make your own. -with scraps.

Here's what I do....
over a week or so save all of you veggie trimmings in a big tub or Ziploc. The main things you want to have are onion, carrot and celery.  Those 3 are referred to as Mirepoix in french cooking, and are the foundation in basically any soup, stew, or sauce . So the tips, stalks, peelings, rinds, and any ugly ones or ones that are on the verge of spoiling throw in the bag. Any thing goes except things like lettuce and cucumber. I also do not add eggplant bits or winter squash bits. But parsnip, zucchini, tomato, green beans are all good bets.

Try to keep the bag in the coldest part of the fridge to prolong its life until you feel like making it.

Throw everything into a big pot and add twice as much water as you have veggie scraps.

Add in herbs. I use a combo of 2 bay leaves, 2 tsp oregano,1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp savory,  dash of sage,  1/2 tsp basil, and salt and pepper {whole peppercorns are best]

 Go easy on the basil and sage because their flavor will take over the whole pot.  This step is one that you just learn what flavor after making it a few times

Boil for 10minutes then reduce to medium heat and simmer for a few hours.

strain everything through a wire mesh strainer. throw away veggies. Use stock in soups, sauces  or anything else you would normally use water in , but want an extra kick.

Although I am now a vegetarian, I was cooking meat in the not too distant past.

 On a side note if you want to make a beef or chicken stock, this method would work as well, just add in 1 chicken carcass {leftover from a deli- roasted chicken perhaps} or beef shank bones.

For the beef - Get a few pounds of beef shank bones {shank is used because of the connective tissue and marrow} smear them with tomato paste and then roast in the oven to improve the taste before adding to your stock mixture

Halloween Party revised lists

Remember when I laid out my ideas  here?

or here?

or even here?

Well, it has come down to this main thing.... 5 of my best and dearest friends are not going to be able to make it because of various work/ moved 3+ hours away etc. reasons.......Boo-hoo 

So I am now faced with the decision, do I just invite a half dozen or so people over for a small pumpkin carving dinner party or do I keep my same plans and hope that it won't seem too empty .

I am totally into the whole vintage theme I had committed to, but if only like 12 people are coming, there is not really enough people to do some of the party games, and to eat all the food I had planned.

Sooooo-

My current menu looks like this

deviled eggs with little devil faces made out of pieces of red pepper

fleetah - a spinach and cheese creation my MIL makes -listed as "decomposed specimen"

like this only like a pie not little balls

cheese platter

with an aged chedder, a gooey brie and a crumbly blue cheese with figs, grapes, and crackers

{maybe olives}

something like this... dark fall colors

pumpkin seeds

-from my jack o lanterns-roasted w/ olive oil ,salt, and chili powder

mini grilled cheese

{on that tiny pumpernickel loaf you can find in the deli section of the grocery store, with halloween shapes cut out of the top slice of bread so you can see the cheese peeking through}

hand pies

with a savory veggie filling and a pumpkin pie filling

"Man Toes" Pretzels

{shorter stubby version of these, with lttle rosemary "hairs"}

Tombstone shaped cookies

popcorn balls

carmel apples and pears

spiced old fashioned doughnuts

Beer and Hard Cider

with a spiced autumn tea for our non-alcoholic friends -;p

as for the entertainment...

Pumpkin and squash carving with maybe some bobbing for apples

 and pin the tail on the cat after a few hard ciders!

Or should I just have a "viewing" of a Halloween movie  after dinner..... What do you think?

Autumn Vegetarian feast

Once again, I got really excited about making this and didn't take any pictures along the way.... bad blogger, no cookie.

This was a fairly straight forward and very healthy meal. Here are the recipes:

 Stuffed Acorn Squash
1 acorn squash

1onion diced

1carrot diced

1 rib celery diced

1 apple chopped { I used Gala }

1/3 c. raisins

1 1/2 c. cooked bobs red mill cracked wheat cereal

{ you could substitute, brown rice, amaranth, quinoa or your preferred grain}

2 Tbsp butter or oil to cook veggies in plus some to butter the squash

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

cinnamon

ginger

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. cut acorn squash in half, remove the seeds and pulp. Brush the flesh with butter and lightly salt and pepper it. Place in a roasting pan with a small amount of water in the bottom. Place pan in oven for 15-20 min. 
Saute the veggies over med-high heat in the butter/ oil until the onions are translucent . Add the apple and apple cider vinegar. Reduce heat. Add the cereal/grain in its dry form plus the water needed to cook it per the package instructions. Once the cereal has plumped add in the raisins. Stir and add cinnamon, ginger, salt and pepper to taste.
Remove stuffing mixture from heat. Check the acorn squash; when it is almost done remove from oven add in the stuffing and then finish baking in the oven an additional 10 or so min.

To accompany the squash I also made a big tray of roast veggies. This is one of my favorite dishes. I love having just this for dinner, no entree needed.

Roast Veggies

3 Idaho potatoes cut into steak fries

2-3 Sweet potatoes cut into steak fries

8 ounces white mushrooms quartered

12 or so cloves of garlic

2 carrots cut into steak fries

olive oil

salt and pepper

Toss all veggies in olive oil. place on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper

Roast in a preheated 450 oven for 20 min or so .

note: these taste better if you let then get a little dark around the edges. the natural sugar in the sweet potatoes caramelizes and is delish.

Buttermilk Biscuits here we go....

Buttermilk Biscuits here we go ,

sift the flour , roll the dough,

clap your hands and

stomp your feet,

Move your butt, to the funky beat

Feel good

For those of you who do not live with a human music encyclopedia, let me introduce you to one of 

Sir Mix-A-Lot's lesser know songs "Buttermilk Biscuits".  Yes, that Sir Mix-A-Lot, the one of "I like big butts and I can not lie" fame. This is the perfect song to sing while rolling biscuit dough. - Even though these babies do not call for buttermilk.

On a side note, my great grandmother, Granny B, {yes, everyone called her that, and no, she's not a rapper, her last name was Bessette} used to drink buttermilk every single day in a glass. With no sugar or anything. Not to be insensitive, but in my opinion this greatly contributed to her overall sour mood .

Back to the biscuits

Let me just say I love biscuits and gravy. There is no version I do not love. I have even enjoyed a frozen breakfast pizza that was biscuits and gravy themed. Even so, when making sausage gravy vegetarian, it is delish and practically guiltless.  

Melt 2-3 Tbsp of butter in a pan, and then add in the same amount of flour. Cook the roux for a couple of minutes to take away the raw flour taste. Add in 3 cups Milk {skim even works} and simmer until it begins to thicken. Crumble up 8 thawed tofu breakfast sausage pattys{I use Morningstar Farms pattys, not links} into the mixture continue to cook until sausage is warm through. Salt and Pepper to taste, a few drops of maple syrup is good to add in at this point if you need a bit of sugar with your breakfast.

For the Biscuits-

Sift together 2 c. flour,4 tsp baking powder,1/2 tsp salt. Cut in 3 Tbsp Butter/marge/spread. When the mixture is the size of peas, add in 3/4 -1 c. milk all at once. Mix well, turn onto a floured board, briefly knead, roll  1/2 " thick and cut into circles. Bake at 450 for 12 Min. approx 1 doz.

I decided to damn the cholesterol and have it with eggs and home fries .

I didn't break my diet on this at all. Partially because it's so low cal, and partially because I was stuffed until dinner!

Jack Flat's

I love Jack Flat's! Everything is yummy and big portions.This grouper sandwich was absolutely divine. I can also reccommend the Jack Flats Burger, from my meat eating days.

All in all a fun place to hang out, decent prices, great food, and a dozen big screen tvs.

Green Parrot Bar - a fun and funky place

This is a super mellow place to hang out. It is a drinks only establishment, so you need to bring your own snacks with you - which they're totally cool with. We spent a pleasant 3-4 hours there on a Sunday afternoon, just listening to some awesome live jazz and soaking in the Key West vibe. A favorite hang out with the locals, it is refreshingly unpretentious. It is also the oldest bar in Key West dating from 1890.

My favorite piece of art in the bar

One of the Best bars in the U.S. by Playboy magazine