Ingredients:

11/8 cups unsalted butter
11/2 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
41/4 cups cake flour
11/4 tablespoons baking powder
19 ml. whole almonds raspberry jam

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream the butter, sugar and salt in an electric mixer with a paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the egg, then the milk, vanilla and zest. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix again. Sift together flour and baking powder. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and blend just until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm. Take about 2 to 3 tablespoons of dough per finger. Roll each into a ball, then a log, and shape into a finger with knuckle marks. Make an indent at one end for fingernail, smear some raspberry jam into it and place whole almond in the indent. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. You might need to add more jam once cooled for a bloodied look. Makes approximately 15 to 20 cookies depending on size.

Ingredients:

1 11-oz. package (12) refrigerated bread sticks
12 jumbo frankfurters
ketchup
mustard

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Unwrap breadsticks. Stretch each bread stick to 12 inches. Wrap dough around frankfurters, letting the frankfurters show slightly through the bread. Bake about 12 minutes or until bread is golden brown. Serve with ketchup and mustard. Makes 12 servings.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 package (15 ounce) refrigerated pie crust
1 tablespoon mustard
3 cups shredded cheese, or cheese of choice
2 tablespoons water
1 large egg
red and yellow liquid food coloring

Procedure:

Cook the ground beef, onion, garlic, salt and pepper in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir until beef is cooked through and crumbly. Stir in ketchup and Worcestershire sauce; cool. Unfold 1 pie crust and place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread mustard evenly over crust. Stir 2 cups of cheese into meat mixture and spoon onto the center of the crust, leaving a 2 inch border around the edge. Unfold the remaining pie crust and cut a jack-o-lantern face into it. Place the cut out crust on top of the meat mixture. Crimp all edges of the crust to seal. Using cut out pieces of crust, create a “stem” for the top of the pumpkin. Whisk together 2 tablespoons of water, egg and 1 drop of red and yellow food coloring; brush over the entire crust. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes, remove from oven and brush again with the egg mixture. Fill eyes, nose and mouth with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake 5-10 more minutes or until golden brown.

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen corn kernels
2 tablespoons olive oil
juice from one lime
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons salsa
2 ripe avocados, seeded, peeled and mashed
1 teaspoon cumin
1 cup sour cream divided
1 cup chopped lettuce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup chopped tomatoes
corn tortillas chips
black olive for the spider

Procedure:

Combine corn and oil on a baking sheet, stir to coat. Broil 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until the corn is roasted. Watch this carefully, if it over cooks it will pop in the oven. Allow to cool completely. In a medium bowl, combine lime juice, 2 tablespoons salsa, avocado, and cumin. Stir well. Stir in the cooled corn and chill for 4-6 hours. When ready to assembly the dip, spread 1/2 cup of sour cream on the bottom of a large round platter.
On top of that, spread 1/2 cup of salsa. Next, spread on the roasted corn guacamole. Place corn tortillas around the edge. On top of the tortillas, layer the shredded lettuce, cheese and chopped tomato. Using a plastic bag, put in 1/2 cup sour cream and snip the corner. Pipe the sour cream in 3-4 circles on top of the corn guacamole. You can also use squeezable sour cream for this step. Drag a toothpick or knife tip through the sour cream from the center outward to make the “spiderweb”. Place a black olive onto the web to resemble the “spider”. Serve with tortilla chips.

Ingredients:

1 package oreo cookies, crushed
2 cups cold milk
1 package chocolate instant pudding mix
1 small container cool whip topping, thawed
1 package gummy worms

Procedure:

Put cookies into a zipper style bag and close tightly. Using a rolling pin, roll and crush the cookies until crumbly. Set aside. In a large bowl, pour the milk and chocolate instant pudding mix. Whisk well until all of the pudding mix is dissolved. Let stand 5 minutes. Add the Cool Whip and 1/2 of the crushed cookies. Stir until well blended. Place a large spoonful of crushed cookies into the bottoms of the plastic cups. Add the pudding mixture on top of that until the cups are 3/4 full. Add 1 large gummy worm so that it is half in the cup and 1/2 hanging out of the cup. Spoon in more crushed cookie around the worm to hold it in place. Can top with Cool Whip if desired. Serve chilled. You can use as many worms in the pudding as desired.

Ingredients:

1 bag of microwave popcorn, popped
2 cups bugle shaped corn snacks
2 cups small pretzels, sticks or braided
1 cup peanuts
1/3 cup butter
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup candy corn
1 1/2 cups orange and black holiday M&M candies

Procedure:

In a large bowl, combine popcorn, corn snacks, pretzels and peanuts. In a saucepan, melt butter. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour butter mixture over the popcorn mixture and stir gently to coat. Gently toss in M&M’s and candy corn.

Ingredients:

1 16.3- to 18-ounce roll or package refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough, cut into 1/4-inch slices
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
assorted candies
dry-roasted peanuts
hot fudge or chocolate ice cream topping

Procedure:

Line a 12- to 13-inch pizza pan with foil; grease foil and set aside. Press cookie dough slices into prepared pan to within 1 inch of the edge of the pan. Shape a pumpkin stem in dough. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned and center appears set. Immediately sprinkle with chocolate pieces; drop peanut butter by spoonfuls atop chocolate pieces. Let stand for 5 minutes. Gently spread chocolate and peanut butter over warm crust; mixture will swirl slightly. Top with candies, peanuts and fudge topping to make a pumpkin face. Chill for 1 hour or until chocolate mixture is set. Cut into wedges to serve. Makes 16 servings.

Ingredients:

8 medium apples, green or red
2 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla
15 drops red food coloring

Procedure:

Wash and dry apples, remove stems and insert a wooden stick into the bottom (not stem end) of the apples; approximately 2/3 of the way into the apple. Set apples aside.
In saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup and water. Heat slowly on low heat, stirring constantly. Once mixture starts to boil, stop stirring and leave boiling until candy mixture reaches 300°F on a candy thermometer, or until a small amount of mixture dropped into cold water separates into breakable threads. Remove from heat and stir in food coloring. Wait until mixture stops bubbling, then add vanilla, mix well. Dip each apple into the mixture while mixture is still hot, swirl to cover apple evenly. You will need to work fast to get all the apples dipped before mixture becomes too hard. Place dipped apple on greased cookie sheet or greased wax paper.

Ingredients:

12 ounces white chocolate chips
12 large marshmallows
food coloring of choice
12 popsicle sticks
tubes of colored frosting
tubes of colored gels
licorice and other candies to decorate

Procedure:

In a microwave safe bowl, pour in one bag of white chocolate chips and microwave on medium for 30 seconds. Stir the chips, if not quite melted microwave for an additional 30 seconds and then stir again. Repeat until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Add food coloring of choice and stir to combine. You may need to add a couple drops of canola oil to the chocolate if it turns clumpy. Microwave for short amounts of time and stir in between heating to get the chocolate to smooth out. Insert popsicle sticks into each marshmallow. Dip and swirl marshmallows into the melted chocolate until covered. Lay each out onto the waxed paper to dry. Once set, use decorating gels, colored frostings, licorice or whatever you like that is edible to create monster faces. Be creative and have fun!

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 cups sugar
2 5/8 cups all purpose flour (see note below)
3/8 cup corn starch
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
paper cupcake liners

Frosting:
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
3 tablespoons or more of milk depending on how you want your consistency
2 teaspoons vanilla
food coloring

Procedure:

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350°F. In mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue mixing. Gradually add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Combine dry ingredients together then alternate adding the dry ingredients into the butter mixture with the milk; mix until well blended together. Pour batter into paper lined muffin tins until about 3/4 full. Bake until golden brown on the top and center is firm or insert a toothpick into the center of the cupcake, they are done when the toothpick comes out clean.

Homemade Frosting:

Combine powdered sugar, softened butter, vanilla and a small amount of milk in mixing bowl, mix with hand mixer on low speed. Gradually add small amounts of milk to obtain the consistency that you are looking for. The more milk, the more creamy and smooth the frosting will become. Less milk with make the frosting more manageable and firm.Once you have reached the desired consistency add food coloring to create the color you want. Repeat steps to create frosting for each color. Decorate your cupcakes as desired and serve, be prepared to be spooked.

Note: 3 cups of cake flour can be substituted for the 2 5/8 cups of all purpose flour and 3/8 cup of cornstarch if preferred.