Monster Party Mix

Ingredients:

* Be warned this mixture is very rich and contains quite a bit of sugar… serve in small amounts!

1(11 ounce) package of small pretzels
1 (10 ounce) package miniature peanut butter filled crackers
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter or margarine
½ cup light corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 (10 ounce) package M&M's
1 (18 ounce) package candy corn

Directions:

In a large bowl combiner pretzels and peanut butter crackers and set aside.  In a large saucepan combine sugar, butter and corn syrup.  Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for approximately 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and baking soda.  Pour over pretzel mixture and stir until coated.  Transfer mixture to a greased baking pan. 

Bake at 250F for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and break apart while warm then allow to cool completely.  Transfer to large bowl and toss with candy corn and M&M's.  Store in an airtight container.

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Skeleton Bones

Ingredients:

4 large egg whites
2 cups icing sugar 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250F.  In a large bowl beat egg whites until stiff.  Gradually start adding the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. 

Keep beating and adding sugar until you have a meringue.   Line baking trays with paper.  Using a piping bag with a plain nozzle pipe a straight meringue bone line (approximately 4 inches long). Pipe a meringue ball at the end of each bone.  If necessary shape bones further using a small knife. Bake for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes or until bones have dried out. 
Remove from oven and let cool on paper.

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Easy Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:
2 cups pureed pumpkin
2 eggs (beaten)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 (12 ounce) can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter (melted)
1 pie crust
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients and mix well.  Pour batter into pie crust.  Bake in preheated oven at 350F for approximately 60 minutes or until set through.

Topping:

1 pkg cream cheese
1 cup whipped cream
½ cup powdered sugar

Blend all ingredients together and use to top pie.

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Halloween Poke Cake

Ingredients:

CAKE:
3 ounces orange Jell-O mix
3/4 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cold water
1 package white cake mix

TOPPING:
1 1/2 cups cold milk
1 small package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 envelope dream whip topping
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 handful of candy corn


Instructions:

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water.  Add cold water and stir until mixed and set aside until ready to use.  Prepare cake following the package directions for a 13x9 pan sized cake.  Let the cake cool for some time.  Using a meat fork or a bamboo skewer "poke" holes to the bottom of the cake about an inch apart, you can do it at random or in a pattern it's up to you.  Pour the liquid gelatin into the holes!  Beat together the topping ingredients until stiff peaks begin to form, add food coloring if desired.  Frost your Halloween poke cake, sprinkle with candy corn for decoration.  Allow to chill so that gelatin sets. This recipe can be altered for other holidays and themes as well but changing the flavor of gelatin and adding food coloring to the frosting.

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Cornbread Muffins Made with Real Corn

Traditional cornbread muffins are made with cornmeal, if you don’t have any on hand or prefer fresh corn, you can still make cornbread muffins. This recipe is easy to make and the results are delicious.

We’ve made them with whole wheat flour, but all purpose flour can certainly be substituted.

Ingredients:

    3 cups corn kernels. You can use fresh, canned or frozen. Just defrost first.
    2 cups whole wheat flour
    2/3 cup sugar
    1 tablespoon baking powder
    A pinch or two of salt
    4 eggs, beaten
    2 cups milk
    ½ cup vegetable oil

Makes: 24 cornbread muffins

How to Make Them

Start by preheating the oven to 400 F.

Next, chop up the corn until it looks something like this. I’ve used a Pampered Chef food chopper on a cutting board to achieve this. You could use a food processor, but don’t create a puree…unless you want to hide the texture of the corn in the muffins. It’s actually quite delicious with little bits of corn in it, so I just chop it. Set aside.

Now combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, including the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Then, add the beaten eggs, milk and vegetable oil. Stir until well combined.

Then fold in the corn, until it’s evenly distributed.

Now, you can pour the batter evenly amongst 24 muffin tins. The paper muffin cups are optional. I like to use them for easy clean up and then we put the papers in the green recycling bin when we’re done.

Bake at 400 F for about 20-25 minutes. They’re done when you gently press your finger on the top and the muffin springs back.

Serve warm. Add a little butter for an even more special treat.

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Candy Cane Marble

Ingredients:

1 pound dark chocolate
1 pound white chocolate
30 small peppermint candy canes


Instructions:

Put dark chocolate in a microwave bowl and heat on high setting in microwave 2 to 3 minutes or until chocolate is melted and smooth.  Stir chocolate about every 30 seconds to make sure lumps are melting.  Put white chocolate in microwave bowl and heat like dark chocolate.  Put candy canes in a large freezer bag. Using a rolling pin break the candy canes into different size pieces. Place half the crushed candy canes in a strainer and shake small crumbs into dark chocolate.  Place the remaining crushed candy into strainer and shake crumbs into white chocolate.  Line a 9X9X9 baking pan with heavy aluminum foil.  Spread dark chocolate out into bottom of pan.  Spread white chocolate over the dark chocolate in pan.  Sprinkle the rest of the crushed candy canes over the top.  Cover and refrigerate for about 2 hours.  When hardened break up pieces of candy by dropping straight down on the counter.  

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Thai Fried Rice

Fried rice is always a versatile dish because you can 

incorporate any meats and vegetables you have on hand. This is our version of Thai Fried Rice…feel free to modify it as needed.


Ingredients

•    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•    1 diced onion
•    2 cloves of crushed garlic
•    2 cups cooked rice
•    1 tablespoon soy sauce
•    1 tablespoon fish sauce
•    2 sliced tomatoes
•    1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•    4 eggs

Garnish:

•    Chopped green onion  
•    Cucumber slices (we also cook some into the rice, but it’s traditionally a garnish)
•    Lime wedges

This recipe makes 4 servings.

Preparation

Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan or wok at medium high. When it’s hot, add the garlic and onions and cook until tender.

Next add the rice and stir to heat all the way through. Add the soy and fish sauce and continue to stir until everything is fully combined.

Next, you can remove the rice from your wok or pan too cook the egg. Or if you prefer, simply heat up a new pan on medium high heat with vegetable oil.

Cook the egg until the white is cooked, but the egg yolk is still a bit soft. When the egg is ready, add it to the rice. You can also add the tomato and cucumber slices at this time. Of course, if cooked cucumber slices sounds a little strange (even though they are delicious!), you can reserve the cucumber for a garnish only. You can also add the green onion at this point, but not everyone in our house likes it, so we add it when serving.

Keep stirring until all the ingredients are fully combined. Get your chosen garnishes ready including the cucumber slices, green onion (if you didn’t cook it into the rice) and a lime wedge.

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Put a Bow On It Corn Bake

Ingredients:

1 box corn muffin mix
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 (14.75 ounce) can cream-style corn

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pour muffin mix into a large mixing bowl.  Add eggs and milk. Blend until muffin mix is just moistened.  Add butter, salt and pepper and mix well.  Fold in both cans of corn.  Grease a 2-quart casserole dish.  Pour corn mixture into casserole.  Bake uncovered for 45 minutes or until knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of casserole.

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Applesauce/Banana Bread

Ingredients:
4 ripe bananas
1 cup of sugar
¾ cup of applesauce
2 eggs
2 cups of bread flour
½ teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9” x 5” loaf pan. In a large bowl, slice the bananas and use an electric mixer to mash. Add the sugar and blend. Let mixture stand for 15 minutes. Add applesauce and eggs and mix well. Blend in the remaining ingredients. Pour into the greased loaf pan and bake for 55 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand again for 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

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Gyoza Dipping Sauce

Gyoza dipping sauce is easy to make and all it takes is two ingredients. Serve with homemade gyoza for a delicious appetizer that’s sure to please.
   
Ingredients

•    ½ cup soy sauce
•    ¼ cup rice vinegar

Preparation

Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot and cabbage and sauté, stirring occasionally, for a few minutes. Serve with hot gyoza.

For recipe on how to make Homemade Vegetable Gyoza, click here!

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