Halloween Is Almost Here: Gougere Ghosts

I am busy cleaning the house in preparation not only for a party, but a weekend house guest! It has been a busy day, and the little professional mess makers we employ are in full swing, which makes for one grumpy mommy. After realizing that keeping up with them by myself today was just not going to happen I sat down and looked at my "Recipes to Try" and got busy in the kitchen. Nothing like baking a brownie truffle pie to get you feeling happier!
Anyway, while I was looking through the recipes I found one of the recipes we are going to make for Saturdays 4th Annual D&D Halloween Party. I wasn't in the mood to post what I had planned on posting today, so I decided I would share this recipe with you instead! This recipe comes from Kitchen Daily and sounded so yummy, fun, and easy! Perfect for your next Halloween party!


Ghost Gougeres

1 cup water

1 stick unsalted butter, cut up (1/2 cup butter = 1 stick)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

4 large eggs

1 cup grated Gruyere cheese (4 oz)

black sesame seeds (for eyes)

1.Preheat oven to 400 F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a heavy saucepan bring water, butter, and salt to a boil, stirring to help melt butter. Add flour all at once and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until mixture forms a dough. Continue beating over medium-low heat until dough is smooth and pulls away from sides and bottom of pan, about 2 minutes.

3. Remove pan from heat and let cool 2 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time with the wooden spoon or an electric mixer, beating after each addition until batter is smooth again. Beat in the grated cheese.

4. Transfer dough to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain tube. Pipe "ghosts" onto lined baking sheet so that they are about 1-inch wide at base and 3 inches long, tapering to a point at top (they will be about 1/2-inch thick).

5. Press two black sesame seed eyes onto each ghost and bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching positions halfway through, until golden and crisp, about 25 minutes.

Read more: http://www.kitchendaily.com/recipe/gougere-ghosts-149776#ixzz13h4qvFg7

I can't wait for October to be over! This has been such a crazy busy month that I have hardly had time to sit down and do something I REALLY want to do.
Anyway, I guess I am off to the kitchen to sweep and mop!

Halloween Continues: Mummy Face Pizzas!

Last year I was in charge if dinner on Halloween and I decided to make everything Halloween themed. We had monster toes, breadstick bones, bug juice, and some Mummy pizzas! My oldest thought it was so much fun! He especially liked the pizzas though, because he is a pizza junkie! They were so easy to make that I thought they would be a great addition to this weeks Halloween recipes! These little guys can be made ahead and frozen for fright night, but they are so easy I recommend just making them!

Mummy Face Pizzas
1- 6 count package of English Muffins
Your Favorite Pizza Sauce
12 Sticks mozerella string cheese
1 Can sliced olives

1. Heat oven to 400ºF.

2. Spread english muffin halves with sauce. Pull cheese into thin strips; place in random criss-crosses on tops of bagels to resemble mummy bandages. Trim ends with kitchen shears. Add olives for the eyes.

3. Place on baking sheet. Bake 10 min. or until muffins are crisp and cheese is melted.

These would be great to have a child help with, they will love pulling the string cheese apart!

Halloween: Edible Jack-o-Lanterns

This weekend is Halloween! Halloween is a big deal in my family. My little sister was born on Halloween, and my mom has always gone all out for Halloween. She does so many crafty things and makes all kinds of fun meals. Because she is so into Halloween I decided I would do a whole week of fun Halloween recipes!
This first one comes from the blog of one of my Husband's cousins. I stole it, with permission, it's always fun to see what other people are doing! The idea came to her as she was flipping through a Halloween magazine: stuffed orange peppers with Spaghetti and cut them up like Jack-O-lanterns. Here is her take on the idea!

7 orange peppers

1 cup brown rice

1 package mushrooms, sliced

1/2 onion, diced

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Cook rice according to directions

2. Hollow out and cut peppers like jack-o-lanterns, make sure you reserve the tops! You can't make a proper jack-o-lantern without a stem.

2. In a sauce pan, melt the butter. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add the soy sauce and mushrooms, cook until tender.
3. Turn off heat. Add Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese.
4. Mix vegetable and cheese mixture with cooked rice, stuff into peppers.
5. Place on baking sheet, cook at 350 degrees for ten to fifteen minutes, until peppers are tender.

Don't these sound fantastic! And they look so much fun! I imagine you could mix just about any veggie in with the rice mixture and it would be just as good! I'm thinking of trying these with some spinach added, as it is hard to get my kids to eat the green veggies unless they are mixed in with other yummy things!