Wicked Witch Fingers

We all know that the Wicked Witch was green but who knew her fingers could be so tasty?

WICKED WITCH FINGERS
Dough:
3/4 C warm water (115 degrees)
3 t SAF dry active yeast
1 T buttermilk powder or powdered milk
1 egg
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C soft butter
2 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t green food coloring
2+ C flour

Topping:
1 egg white, beaten
1/2 package of shredded Italian cheese blend
sliced almonds
1/4 C melted butter

In a Bosch mixer combine all the dough ingredients in order, except at first add only 1 cup of flour. Mix until blended. Add the rest of the flour. On speed 2 mix the dough until it pulls clean away from sides and bottom of bowl. If it's too dry add a bit of water, if it's too wet add a bit more flour. (Turn on the oven to 200 degrees). Knead on speed 2 for 6-8 minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic like. Pinch off balls of dough, place onto a lightly oiled surface and roll into bread stick shapes. Place bread sticks on a sprayed baking sheet. When all the bread sticks are formed turn the oven off and place the bread sticks in the oven to proof. Let the bread sticks rise, about 20-30 minutes, until about doubled in size. Pull bread out of the oven. Brush the bread sticks with the egg white, sprinkle the Italian cheese blend over the bread sticks then gently push a sliced almond into the tip of each bread stick. Bake the bread sticks at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Pull the bread out of the oven and brush with melted butter. Serve warm or let cool and store in an air tight container.

Eyeballs a la Fork

This recipe was in Family Fun and I just had to try it. It was trickier to pull off than I thought! Good luck and make sure to really keep your eyes on the white chocolate... hee hee hee!

EYEBALLS A LA FORK
2 dozen doughnut holes
1 bag of white chocolate chips
2 T milk
24 milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tube of red decorator's icing
24 strong plastic forks

Place the doughnut holes on the prongs of the forks. Melt the white chocolate and milk in a small saucepan until smooth. Dip a doughnut hole into the chocolate and coat well. Push a chocolate chip into the coated doughnut hole, using the tip to push inside the doughnut. Place doughnut and fork in a glass to set. Repeat until all the doughnut holes have been dipped. Let them sit for at least an hour or two. After the chocolate coating has set use the red decorator's icing to draw eyeball lines on the doughnuts. Let sit so the icing can harden. Serve when ready.

Monster's Brew

When I was growing up there was a house in our neighborhood that always served homemade root beer for Halloween. Naturally, I associate homemade root beer with Halloween now. I was so excited to give this a try and luckily it turned out great.

MONSTER'S BREW (aka Root Beer)
3 C sugar
3 C dark brown sugar
1 bottle of root beer extract
6 liters of club soda
2 liters plus of cold water
10 lbs. dry ice

In a large container, such as a cooler or cauldron, mix sugars and 2 liters of water until the sugar is dissolved. Add the bottle of root beer flavoring. Stir then add the club soda. Mix and taste. If it's too sweet add more water. If it's not sweet enough stir in more brown sugar until the taste is right. Once you feel the taste is right drop in 4-5 lbs. of the dry ice. Let it "brew" for about an hour. When it's ready to serve add the rest of the dry ice and it'll look like a creepy concoction for all your guests to enjoy.

Poison Apples

One of my favorite things on Earth is a good caramel apple. How could I resist making some for Halloween desert?

POISON APPLES
10 organic Granny Smith apples, organic ones don't have a wax layer
2 bags of Kraft caramel bits
2 T water
2 T milk
butter or non-stick spray

Optional toppings:
crumbled Oreo cookies
diced nuts
mini-marshmallows
chocolate chips
candy sprinkles
M&M candies
melted chocolate

Remove any stems from the apples. Push a craft stick into the bottom of each apple. In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, melt caramel bits, water, and milk until smooth. Dip each apple in the mixture then place onto buttered/sprayed wax paper sheet. Let sit for at least an hour or two before serving. If you want to add toppings you'll need to roll the caramel covered apple in the desired topping right after it's been dipped. You can even drizzle melted chocolate over the apple too. Have fun!

The apple above was done by my four year old son, isn't it a beauty?

Frankenbrownies

This treat is so simple it's frightening! I stumbled upon this idea on the Betty Crocker website and had to give it a try.

FRANKENBROWNIES

1 box of brownies, prepared according to package
1 can of vanilla frosting
green food coloring
1 small bag of candy corn
1 small tube of black decorator's frosting
1 bag of mini-marshmallows
1 bottle of chocolate sprinkles

Prepare the brownies in a 13"x9"pan then let them completely cool. Carefully cut the brownies into 12 equal pieces. Drop some green food coloring in the can of frosting and stir until blended. Frost the brownies with the green frosting. Sprinkle the chocolate sprinkles on the "top" of the Frankenbrownie "heads". Cut 12 marshmallows in half to make 2 circles. Place the halves to make the whites of the eyes. Use the black decorator's frosting to add the pupils to the eyes and draw mouths. Stick candy corns in the sides of the brownies to add some monster bling and you're done. Yummy yet creepy too!

Mini Mummies

I found this recipe on Picky Palate. It's really easy and doesn't wrap up too much of your time... pun totally intended.

MINI MUMMIES
12-14 hot dogs
2 cans of Pillsbury crescent dough sheets

Roll out the dough sheets onto a lightly oiled surface. Cut the dough into thin quarter to half inch size strips. Start at the end of a hot dog and wrap the dough around until it runs out. It took 2 and a half strips to wrap each hot dog. Make sure to leave a small space for the "face". Place wrapped hot dogs on a sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool then dot mustard to make eyes on the mummies. Serve.

Ghouly Guts and Bat Blood

My mom always served us this devilish dish before we headed out trick-or-treating. With a little help from our imaginations, and food coloring, we turned regular old spaghetti into a monstrous meal.

GHOULY GUTS
1 package of spaghetti pasta, prepared al dente according to package
green food coloring

After preparing the pasta add some green food coloring and stir. Coat the noodles until green.

BAT BLOOD
Prepare a batch of tomato sauce and just call it bat blood. I have a good recipe for sauce already posted in case you need one.

White Dinner Rolls

SHAR'S WHITE DINNER/CINNAMON ROLLS
3 C unbleached white flour
1/2 C buttermilk powder or powdered milk
1/4 C potato flour
3 T SAF instant yeast

In a Bosch mixer with the dough hook place the above listed ingredients. Mix on speed 2 for several minutes so the powdered dairy will not lump up. Now add, in order:

3 C warm water, 115 degrees
1/2 C honey or xagave
1/2 C canola oil
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 T sea salt

Continue to add unbleached flour until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the mixing bowl but never picks up the bottom. This dough will be sticky. Knead on speed 2 for 5 minutes or until the gluten develops. Put the dough in a large, sprayed bowl and let rise until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

Shape dough into small "golf" sized balls. Place balls close together on parchment lined baking sheet, about 24 dough balls should fit. Brush with a egg wash made up of 1 egg beaten with 2 T water. Turn oven off and place dough into the oven to rise until double in size (25-30 minutes). Remove from oven and preheat to 350 degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Shar's Whole Wheat Bread

In my attempt to become a great bread baker I took a class at Shar's Kitchen Center. If you live in the Phoenix area, this is a great place to take FREE baking classes. Here is the wholesome, health conscience recipe that I got at the class. Oh, and it's delicious bread too!

SHAR'S WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
6 C warm water, 115 degrees
2 T sea salt
2/3 C canola oil
2/3 C of honey or xagave (xagave is better for diabetics)
3 T dough enhancer
1/3 C vital wheat gluten
3 T SAF instant yeast
6 to 8 C of fresh ground flour to begin with

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. The recipe is designed to be used with a Bosch mixer using the dough hook. Combine the ingredients in order starting with the water going down until you add the flour. Turn the machine to speed 2 after you've added all the ingredients. Watch the dough and add flour until the dough pulls away from the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. When you can see the sides pull clean as well as the dough coming clean from the bottom you know you've added enough flour. Do not add too much flour, but if you do add a bit of water to fix the consistency. The dough should be very sticky and should not come together at this point but the bowl should be "clean".
Knead the dough on speed 2 for 8-10 minutes or until the gluten is developed. Again, if the dough seems dry add a few tablespoons of water making sure the sides of the bowl stay clean. If the dough starts sticking add a tablespoon of white flour to fix it. Take a small ball of dough, roll it, flatten it between your oiled palms into a pancake type shape, then take the edges of the dough and slowly pull it apart. You should be able to make it quite thin and elastic like without getting a big hole in the dough.
Oil your hands and counter. Remove dough from mixer and divide it into 4-5 large loaves (8.5"x4.5"), weighing 1 lb. 14 oz. each, or 9-11 small loaves (5.5"x3"), weighing 12 oz. each. Shape the loaves and place in well sprayed pans. Turn off your oven. Place pans in the oven to proof and rise. This usually takes 25-30 minutes. When the dough has risen about 2 inches above the pan it is ready to bake.
Remove dough from oven then preheat to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the bread is 200 degrees. To do this remove a bread pan, take the loaf out of the pan, insert an instant read thermometer in the bottom center of the loaf. If it is not 200 degrees place back in pan and bake an additional 2-5 minutes and check again.
Cool bread on cooling racks. Place bread into freezer bags and place in freezer. The bread can be frozen for up to 30 days and keep all the nutritional value.

Carol's Mac 'n Cheese

If I'm gonna have mac n cheese make it Carol's please! My friend Carol makes the best macaroni and cheese there is. Her awesomely simple recipe is sure to put cheesy mustaches on your children's smiling faces.

CAROL'S MACARONI & CHEESE

16 oz. bag of large elbow macaroni or similar pasta
4 cans of cheddar cheese soup
2 cans of evaporated milk
Cheddar cheese, shredded

Cook pasta al dente, drain then place in a non-stick sprayed casserole dish. In a bowl whisk the soup and milk until blended. Pour that mixture over the pasta, then stir, coating the noodles well. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Pull dish out of the oven and stir in desired amount of cheddar cheese. Place back in oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the top of the dish gets a nice bit of golden color. Remove from oven and let sit for a few minutes. Serve while still warm.

White Chicken Chili

I always fall for fall time. I adore the rich, earthy colors, the nutty spices that are used in the kitchen, as well as the cooler weather. One of my favorite fall foods is chili. This year I decided to try something new and make a batch of white chili. I have to admit I was nervous when I started. I found a recipe, made a few improvisations, and waited to see if it would turn out. Luckily, it did!

WHITE CHICKEN CHILI
4 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
1 T olive oil
1 T garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 cans white beans, rinsed & drained
2 cans of green chiles
1 t chili powder
1 t oregano
1 t salt
1 t white pepper
1 can of chicken broth
1 can of corn, drained
1 C sour cream
1/2 C of heavy cream

In a skillet fry the onions and half of the garlic in the olive oil until clear and fragrant. Combine all of the ingredients, except for the sour cream and heavy cream, in a crock pot. Cook on the low setting for 3-4 hours. Right before you want to serve the chili add the sour cream and heavy cream and stir well heating all the way through to prevent lumps. Serves up to 10.

Sausage Ratatouille

My children love to watch the movie Ratatouille. Last time we watched it I thought about how I had never actually eaten ratatouille. I was intrigued, to say the least. To my utter delight the October issue of Family Fun magazine had a recipe for ratatouille. I studied the recipe, made a few minor changes, and cooked me up some yummy ratatouille. It was definitely a good experiment!

SAUSAGE RATATOUILLE
4 links of light Italian sausage
6 T olive oil
1 eggplant, peeled and diced
2 zucchini, halved and sliced
1 onion, peeled and diced
1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
1 red bell pepper, cored and diced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
2 T fresh parsley, chopped
3 T fresh basil, chopped
salt
pepper
1 bag of grated Italian cheese mix

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Puncture the sausages in many places then place in boiling water. Cook on a low boil until cooked through (around 14 minutes). Put sausage on a paper towel covered plate and let cool. Slice sausage to desired size. Over medium-high heat warm 4 T of the olive oil in a deep skillet. Add the eggplant and zucchini. Saute until lightly brown but not soft (around 7 minutes). Transfer the eggplant and zucchini to a bowl. In the same skillet over medium heat warm the remaining 2 T oil. Add the onions, half of the garlic and peppers. Saute for 3 minutes. Stir in the rest of the garlic and sausage. Saute for another 3 minutes. Add the can of diced tomatoes, then the eggplant and zucchini mix. Stir, turn the heat down to medium-low, then partially cover the skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste, parsley, half for the basil, then salt and pepper to taste, stir and simmer for another 5 minutes. Place a serving of ratatouille on a dish, sprinkle with some of the cheese, then top with a dash of the remaining fresh basil. Serve and enjoy.

Cheese Enchiladas

Above is the flat, stacked enchilada.

Above is the rolled enchilada.

Gramma MAS grew up as a rancher's daughter in south-eastern Arizona. One of the many things she grew up with was great Mexican food. This recipe is modeled after the one Gramma MAS grew up eating, just a bit easier than the real thing!

CHEESE ENCHILADAS
1 large can of Rosarita red enchilada sauce
1 can of Ro-tel diced tomatoes and chiles
12 corn tortillas
shortening
salt
grated cheddar or Mexican style cheese
lettuce, shredded
tomatoes, diced
green onions, diced
olives
sour cream

Pour the enchilada sauce and diced tomatoes with chiles in a pot. Stir and let simmer on medium-low heat. Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, on high heat, melt a spoonful of shortening. When it's hot add a corn tortilla. Fry it, turning it over after about 30 seconds, to get each side of the tortilla. The tortilla should still be somewhat pliable, not too crisped. Remove the tortilla from the pan and place on paper towels to cool. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Repeat until the tortillas are all fried.
For a flat, stacked style enchilada: Place a tortilla on a plate. Cover with cheese. Spoon sauce over the cheese. Repeat until you have 3 layers. On the very top add more cheese. Place in microwave for a minute to melt the cheese, if desired. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sour cream, and an olive. Serve.
For the rolled style enchilada: Place a tortilla on a plate. In the center of the tortilla sprinkle a row of cheese. Roll the tortilla around the cheese. Repeat to form a second roll. Smother the rolls with sauce and cheese. Place in microwave to melt cheese, if desired. Top with lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sour cream, and an olive. Serve.

Easy Tomato Sauce

A good pasta sauce is a staple in most homes. Growing up, my parents served many of the neighborhood children spaghetti. They somehow would smell the garlic and tomatoes and invite themselves to supper. This recipe is not gourmet, it's just quick, easy and good.

EASY TOMATO SAUCE
1 jar of garden style spaghetti sauce
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of stewed tomatoes
1 T basil
1 t oregano
2 T Parmesan cheese
5 cloves of garlic, diced
1 onion, diced
1 lb. of extra lean ground beef (optional)
1 T olive oil
1 t garlic salt
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

PASTA
1 bag of the pasta of your choice
water
2 T butter
1 T garlic salt
3 T Parmesan cheese

Pour oil in a deep saute pan and warm on medium-high heat. Add the garlic and the onions into the pan. Saute for a few minutes then add the beef. Add the basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Brown the beef until cooked through then drain any excess grease. Pour the rest of the ingredients in with the beef. Let sauce simmer on low heat while you boil the pasta according to package directions. When the pasta is cooked to al dente drain the water from it. Add butter, garlic salt, and Parmesan to the noodles. Stir to coat all the pasta. Place a serving of pasta on a dish then top with desired amount of sauce. Enjoy.