Happy Halloween Boils and Ghouls!

Posted by The Editorial Desk / Monday, October 31st, 2011

Halloween!!

The air is crisp, the leaves are a palette of vivid fall colors and it’s time to collect some candy!

I love Halloween.

I also love getting into the spirit (har har) of things in an over-the-top sort of way. Take this past weekend for example.

We hosted a Halloween party this past Friday for 20 of our closest friends in an apartment made to hold roughly 5 people. And we went all out. Hanging skeletons, cobwebs and fake blood abound turned our living space into a nightmarish vision. We even changed out all the regular light bulbs into orange or black ones.

We still haven’t changed them back, but that’s beside the point.

Anyway, my favorite part of getting way too into Halloween  is the food. It allows you to be completely creative and gross out your friends in a delicious way. This year, I wanted to serve something so gross looking, that people might be too afraid to eat it.

That’s what Halloween is all about, right?

Let’s start with the severed fingers. A logical place to start.

My severed finger cookies were a huge hit. They look disturbing and taste great- which is exactly what you want at your Halloween buffet.

You will need:

2 tablespoons red food coloring
30 sliced almonds
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or foil and set aside.
2. Place food coloring in a shallow bowl. Dump your almonds into the bowl and fully coat. Set on a paper towel to dry.
3. Separate 1 egg. Set aside the white. In a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. Set aside.
4. With an electric mixer (handheld or upright) combine butter, confectioners’ sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. Wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.
5. Divide the dough in half. Work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. Divide the first half into 15 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. Pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. Score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. Transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough.
*Small note: make the fingers longer and thinner than you might think looks “normal” because the cookies will expand while baking.
6. When all fingers are formed, brush lightly with egg white. Position almond nails; push into dough to attach.
7. Bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. Cool completely.
8. Once cooled, dip the “severed” ends into more red food coloring to give it that just chopped off feeling!

Gross, right? But it makes a tasty shortbread-type cookie that everyone will LOVE.

Now let’s move on to eyeballs.

Everyone loves deviled eggs, and I found a way to make them into a spooky and delicious Halloween treat.

You will need:

12 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
1/2 teaspoon dry ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon white vinegar
blue food coloring, as needed
24 slices of green olives
Ketchup
Tabasco sauce

Directions:

1. Peel the hard boiled eggs and slice in half lengthwise. Scoop the yolks out into a medium bowl and reserve the whites until needed.
2. With the back of a fork, mash the yolks until smooth.
3. Add mayo, mustard, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Mix well.
4. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to turn the yellow mixture a soft green. About 4 should do the trick nicely.
5. Spoon green yolk mixture into the cavity in each white half, dividing evenly.
5. On top of each yolk filling, place one green olive slice.
6. Mix together the ketchup and Tabasco until it’s somewhat thick. Use extra red food coloring if you want the color to be deeper. With a toothpick dipped in the mixture, draw red veins on the egg white’s surface.
7. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

These items are sure to be a hit at your Halloween party. So stay creepy, my friends!

Oh, and Happy Halloween!!

– Jennie Whistler

Tags: cookies, deviled eyeballs, eggs party recipes, food, Gut Check, Halloween, Halloween party food, Jennie, Northern Virginia, Northern Virginia Magazine, NoVA, nova mag, party food, recipes, severed finger cookies, spooky, treats, tricks and treats