Food Lush

Things To Do With Leftover Halloween Candy

 By Tara C.

Since becoming a parent nine years ago, I've never known the best way to handle the influx of candy around holidays, especially Halloween. What do you do with it all? Let the kids go wild and stuff themselves for a few days, then get rid of it? Let the kids exchange it for some sort of non-candy treat? Let it linger around the house until you realize that you not only have Halloween candy to contend with, but also Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter candy too?

Our pediatrician once recommended that we let the kids choose 30 pieces and let them have one a day for the next 30 days, but this did not go well for us. The kids obsessed over their candy like little misers and drove us nuts asking for their "daily candy." My experience has been that it's better to enjoy the candy for a few days, then remove it from sight. Here are a couple ideas for using the excess.

• Donate it. Find out where you can donate it in your community. Here in Austin, I know of a group that feeds that homeless and is accepting Halloween candy. I also know of some dentists who are participating in a program to collect and send candy to troops in Iraq and Afganistan.
• Experiment with it. Here's an idea that never occured to me. Use your leftover Halloween candy for science experiments.
• Save it for Christmas. The holidays are just around the corner and a lot of the candy from Halloween could be re-purposed as stocking stuffers or gingerbread house decorations. Stick the candy in the freezer if it's too tempting to look at it in the meantime.
• Bake with it. There are so many delicious things you can make with leftover candies, especially chocolates. One year I made Noble Pig's Leftover Halloween Candy Vanilla Bundt Cake and it was a big hit. 

(photo from: Noble Pig)

This year I made Take 5 Candy Bar Cookies and they were delicious. You could also just substitute M&M's for chocolate chips in your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe or stir them into a batch of brownies or Rice Crispy Treats.

Taste of Home has a collection of leftover halloween candy recipes.This peanutbutter cheesecake recipe looks pretty scrumptious.

(photo from: Taste of Home)

You could also use candy as garnish, like on Pinch My Salt's Double Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes. Halloween may be over, but it's still fall. That's candy corn season, right?

(photo from: Pinch My Salt)

If you're sick of sweets at this point, it seems like there are lots of opportunity to give away baked goods this time of year. Just in the past week my kids' schools have asked for donations for a bake sale and treats for firefighters. 

Also, if you make something fantastic, you can freeze it and save it for dessert at Thanksgiving, which is barely over two weeks away.

This is all assuming that you have leftover candy of course. Maybe you ate it all. That's the obvious thing to do with extra candy. No judgement.

What about you? What do you do with leftover Halloween candy?

Attention Ghosts and Ghouls: We've Got Soul Cakes

By Tara C.

I first learned about soul cakes from the Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast A Brief History of Trick-or-Treating.

Halloween is commonly thought to have its roots in the Celtic festival Samhain, however a wide range of traditions paved the way for Halloween as we know it today. Before we talk about soul cakes, I'd like to share a few other food-related tidbits from this episode. Perhaps you would like to incorporate them into your own Halloween festivites.

• Early jack-o-lanterns were carved turnips rather than pumpkins.

(photo from: Martha Stewart)

Thank you, Martha Stewart, for keeping history alive.

• Forecasting the future has long been associated with Halloween. The Scottish tradition "pulling the kale" involved going to a kale field, blind-folded, and pulling up a clump of kale. The amount of dirt of the roots was said to predict your partner's wealth; the taste, his temperament; and the shape, his stature.
• Candy is a recent addition to Halloween. American trick-or-treaters during the 1920s were described as costumed children who knocked on doors and said "Nuts! Nuts! We want nuts!" If you try this tonight, please report the results back to me.

Anyway, during Samhain, it was believed the souls of the dead came back to visit the living. Tales of the origins of soul cakes vary. One explanation is that they served as a lottery. The cakes were cooked on bonfires. Choose the burnt cake and you could be the human sacrifice. Also, your cake cake was burnt, so you're out of luck all around.

Or, soul cakes may have been used to ward off the evil spirits that roamed in animal form.

When I told my husband (he whom the kale predicted) I was making soul cakes, he asked if that was anything like Homer Simpson's soul doughnut. 

(image from: Pop Culture Playpen)

If you happen to recall this episode, you might remember that Homer Simpson sold his soul for a doughnut. I am sorry to report that I cannot imagine anyone selling his soul, or anything else of value, for the soul cakes I made. I have to admit that I left out a key ingredient--saffron. I hope I don't provoke the ire of a poltergeist or over-zealous culinary historian, but saffron is $15 per package at my grocery store and simply too expensive. I also topped them with raisins instead of currants, so the historical inaccuracies really pile up here.

For whatever reason, I found the result to be pretty underwhelming. The soul cakes I made were similar to scones, but bland and dry. Plus the raisins on top burned. If you are in the mood for scones, you might what to try this recipe. But you know what? I think that modern ghosts would probably prefer a nice piece of candy anyway.

Whatever your plans, I hope you have a fun and safe Halloween!

Allergy-Friendly Halloween Treats

by Jen L.

My son is allergic to peanuts, so Halloween in our world is a little different.  We have to be vigilant about checking his candy and even more careful about homemade treats.  Our preschool is one that doesn't allow homemade treats for class parties. I understand the policy, really I do, but it still makes me sad that it has to be in place. It means gobs of store-bought icing atop a dry cupcake most of the time.  But I digress. 

So many store-bought candy mixes have candy that contains allergens.  Peanuts aren't the only culprit--lots of folks are allergic to dairy, which rules out chocolate. (HOW SAD.)  This year, I'm trying to be allergy-friendly, but also creative, with my candy choices.

My favorite treat for Halloween has and always will be the ghost lollipop:

Now these are very fancy, using cute ribbons and white fabric.  My version is a little more "budget," if you will, using a Kleenex and a ribbon or a piece of yarn.  I draw the eyes and a little "O" mouth (so it looks like he's saying "boo" with a Sharpie.  I typically use Tootsie Pops for these, but in order to eliminate chocolate, I'm using Blo-Pops this year.  These will be taken to preschool for their Halloween carnival.

For trick-or-treaters, we always make sure to buy candy we like to eat, just in case we have leftovers.  We like a lot of non-chocolate stuff, so that's a pretty easy task.  This year, we're going with Chewy Lemonheads.  They are delicious and the individual-size boxes are the perfect size to tame your sweet tooth.

I read an article recently in which a woman said she gave out juice boxes to trick or treaters.  That seems like a great idea!  We always go trick or treating down Main Street in our town and we ALWAYS have to stop for a drink because my son gets so thirsty.  Giving out little juice boxes seems like a great candy alternative. And of course, there are tons of non-edible items you could hand out...but Halloween is such a candy holiday that I can't break from the tradition.

What type of Halloween candy or treats are you giving out this year?

 

(Photo credits:  ghosts-- DisneyMike on Fllickr   Lemonheads--Candy Warehouse)

Roasted pumpkin seeds

by Elsha

On Monday we took the kids to the pumpkin patch, because what is October without some pumpkins? After some serious deliberation they chose a couple of nice ones, which currently reside on our porch. See?

Anyway, it occured to me that if we're carving pumpkins, there will be pumpkin seeds to roast! It's been a LONG time since I had roasted pumpkin seeds, probably because the last time I carved a pumpkin was in high school. I’m definitely excited to make some this year though! I have a weakness for salty snacks and these crisp little bites fit the bill. I’ll be using this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, because I’m pretty sure the last recipe I had was written on a napkin. And that was 11 years ago. Not likely that it’s still in my recipe stash.

Will you be roasting any pumpkin seeds this year? What's your favorite pumpkin see recipe?

Halloween Cookie Cutters

By A'Dell

Cookie cutters are one of those oddly simple kitchen items that you can spend almost as much as you want on, and even then they don't seem to LAST. They're easily bent out of shape, mashed under heavier holiday decor in a box or simply misplaced. Cookie cutters are not an "Investment Kitchen Item" to me.

Comfort Grip cookie cutters from Wilton are my favorite brand these days. I have several shapes for Christmas and I'm thinking about getting a few for Halloween. These pumpkin, bat, and ghost shapes look super cute. At just $4 each, they're not breaking the bank at $12 for a set of three and I often see them at TJ Maxx for $1.99.

Now, I'm not making such an enormous volume of cookies that I NEED a comfortable cookie cutter but, I don't know, it's kind of NICE! I like it! It also seems to make them easier for a child to use, which is a huge plus.

Their simple lines make cookies that aren't too hard to transfer to a baking sheet and they have easy and obvious shapes that require very low-level decoration skills to make look nice. In other words, my four-year-old can ice them and I won't be embarrassed to send them to work with my husband.

The plastic "grip" part helps them keep their shape MUCH better than spendy copper ones and I toss them in the top rack of my dishwasher to clean. Highly recommend this line of products. I've seen them EVERYWHERE from Walmart to Macy's, so shop around for best price and selection.

(Need a great roll out sugar cookie recipe? This Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookie recipe is my very favorite!)

My Favorite Halloween Candy

By Tara C.

(photo from: realsimple.com)

An alternative title to this post could be: Candy I Should Absolutely, Under No Circumstances Buy a Month Before Halloween. As I'm sure you've noticed, Halloween is already in full swing at all the stores. I for one will not be buying any candy for trick-or-treaters until much closer to Halloween. And when I do, it will probably be candy that holds no appeal for me. This mostly includes anything of the hard, lollipop, sour, or gummy variety. But a nice piece of chocolate is a different story.

When I was a kid, there was some hysteria about Halloween candy being tampered with, poisoned, or filled with razor blades. As a result, I remember my dad inspecting our Halloween candy before we were allowed to eat it. He would check that none of the wrappers were torn or otherwise suspicious. And he would also eat some to "make sure it wasn't poisonous." At the time I wasn't suspicious of his motives. But eating something to check for poison? Really? I think maybe he just wanted some of our candy. And you know what, Dad? I totally get it.

On Halloween I get to dress my children in adorable costumes AND they arrive home with a bucketful of candy. This has got to be one of the biggest perks of parenthood, as far as I'm concerned. You know, after the whole unconditional love thing.

So here are the top three candies I'm secretly (well I guess the secret is out) hoping my kids will bring home on Halloween. Now you all know what I'll be doing around 8:30pm on October 31. Pilfering candy from children.

1. Take 5 candy bar is without a doubt my favorite. You guys, if I could find a way to eat these every single day and still fit into my pants, I totally would. It's a combination of pretzels, caramel, peanuts and peanut butter, all wrapped up in chocolate. I don't see these candy bars in the stores very often, but I recently saw bags of the minis for sale in the Halloween aisle of the grocery store and they are calling to me. I'm tempted to write sonnets and haikus about them.

(photo from: kandkkandies.com)

2. Mounds and Almond Joy are my second favorites. Maybe they should be separate, but why bother? They're the fraternal twins of coconut-chocolate candy bars. With or without almonds, they're like a mini-vacation for your mouth.

(photo from: realsimple.com)

This Real Simple article suggests it would be healthy to eat an "old fashioned coconut macaroon" than a Mounds or Almond Joy. Sadly, my children have yet to bring home old fashioned coconut macaroons in their Halloween baskets. They did however, bring home some Fiber One bars last year. I would love to know which neighbors were giving Fiber One bars to trick-or-treaters. Not funny, neighbors! Okay, kind of hilarious.

3. Reese's peanut-butter cups come in third on my list. Like number 1, this one is a winner for it's sweet and salty qualities. By the way, I'm talking about classic Reese's classic peanut-butter cups here. Not the minis, not the white chocolate. Let's stick with the classics, okay?

(photo from: wikipedia)

Please tell me that I'm not the only one looking forward to Halloween candy. What are your favorites? Any other Take 5 fans out there? Or will you be handing out Fiber One bars?

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

By Leslie

Is everyone sick of pumpkin recipes yet? I hope not.  

This weekend I made pumpkin spice cookies for a Halloween party. I had never made them before, but they were really good and super easy.  

Pumpkin Spice Cookies

(recipe adapted from here, which is adapted from Betty Crocker)

• 1 box of spice cake mix
• 1 can of 100% pure pumpkin (I used Libby's)
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tablespoons butter (softened)

1.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2.) Mix all ingredients together

3.) Drop them onto parchment lined baking sheet

4.) Bake for 10 minutes

As the original recipe suggested, I used a pastry bag (freezer bag with the corner cut off) to create the cookies. The batter is very, very sticky, and I found it difficult to spoon it out onto the cookie sheet. These aren't really the texture of cookies, actually more like delicious little cakes. I also used the cinnamon buttercream frosting recipe from that same post.   

Modification: I bragged about these to my sister by saying, "there are only two ingredients -- spice cake mix and canned pumpkin!" I meant there are only two ingredients that you'd need to buy, since I assumed she had eggs and butter. She actually made them with just those two, plus chocolate chips. She said they turned out great ... so if you want to leave out the egg and butter, go for it!

Food-related Halloween Costumes for the Desperate Procrastinator

by Katie

So! Almost Halloween! Anyone still hemming and hawing about a costume? Might I recommend some food-related options for you?

I have a long and storied history of pun-based Halloween costumes.  Here, my best friend and I model our "cocktail costume" phase back in the early aughts.  (Can you guess what we were? Answer at the bottom!)

If Cocktail Couture ain't your thing, some other food-related suggestions:

The Gorton's Fisherman: buy a So'Wester hat and a cheap yellow slicker, draw on a gray beard and you're good to go!

Image: discovergloucester.com

Paula Deen: buy a crazy feathered white wig, get some thrift store pearls and a matronly blouse (bonus points for shoulder pads!) put on heavy black eyeliner, and tote a container of Jello or Cool Whip. Bonus points if you whiten your teeth.

Image: vromansbooks.com

Morton Salt Girl: Yellow dress, blue umbrella, mary janes, carry a container of salt.

Image: wikipedia.com

Chiquita Banana Lady: Buy a kiddie set of plastic fruit and a thrift store hat, go nuts with your hot glue gun. Finish with big hoop earrings and a flirty dress.

Devilled Egg- Wear a white shirt (or cut out a large white circle for a sandwich board) cut out a yellow circle for the yolk, wear devil horns.  Evaluate who to talk to at a party based on gives you a knowing laugh and who looks at you blankly.

Image: Teamdenise.com

Cereal Killer: For the truly lazy pun lover, you don't even need to dress up at all.  Simply stab a box of cereal with a fake knife.  Revel in your punniness.

(Oh, and our cocktail costumes up there?  Also puns.  You can't really tell, but there's a celery stick in my friend's hair- she was a "Bloody Mary," - and there's a construction paper olive glued to my hat to make me a "dirty martini."  Straight classy, right there.  My only excuse is that we were young, and at least we're not dressed as sexy [insert things here]!)

All Things Caramel Apple

By Erica

Caramel apples. Is there anything better? No, there is not. Crisp, tart apple, soft, chewy caramel and the salty crunch of peanuts. SWOON. Personally, I don't go for those crazy s'mores-Snickers-white-chocolate-pecan monsters. But, hey, if that floats your boat, go for it. 

I make homemade caramel apples every year, but this year I've decided to branch out and try some scrumptious looking caramel apple recipes. Hey, I didn't say I was branching waaaay out. Here's what I've got on my list so far:

Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars

{photo credit: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com}

I'm pretty sure cheesecake is the only other flavor that would make caramel apples taste even better. 

Baked Caramel Apple Donuts

{photo credit: shutterbean.com}

Caramel apples inside a donut?! YES, PLEASE.

Fresh Apple Cake with Brown Sugar Glaze

{photo credit: lickthebowlgood.blogspot.com}

Now, don't be fooled by the fact that this recipe isn't called caramel apple cake. "Brown sugar glaze" is totally secret baker code for "caramel."

Caramel Apple Cider

 {photo credit: ourbestbites.com}

Are you having a Halloween party? Are you in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year? Then this is the perfect recipe for you. This will make you a big ole honking batch of sweet, sweet caramel apple cider.

Mini Caramel Apples

{photo credit: christyrobbins.blogspot.com}

Are you kidding me with these? How can I eat them when I just want to carry them around in my pocket all day? What a great idea for the small fries in our lives. My kids love caramel apples, but let's face it, they're too big and too messy for them. These are the perfect solution. And not even a stick to throw away. This way, I get all the BIG apples to myself! It's a win-win. 

Are you a caramel apple lover, too? What other recipes are in your repertoire? 

Get Your Kitchen Ready For Halloween

by Jen L.

I am currently losing my mind over Crate and Barrel's "Scaredy Cat" items.  Look at these mugs:

Wouldn't you love to sip your coffee out of one of those? 

And look at this spatula:

Could that be cuter?

I don't typically decorate my kitchen for Halloween, saving my kitchen decorating prowess for Christmas,  but this year may change all that.  Around this time, I usually break out my "general fall-themed" dish towels, which feature generic pumpkins, falling leaves and such.  However, my son picked out some super cute Halloween-themed baking cups and I'm tempted to redecorate the entire kitchen to complement them.

Do you decorate your kitchen for Halloween?  How far is too far?

Image credits:  www.crateandbarrel.com