Easy Halloween Treats for the Last Minute Entertainer

Yep - I can resist this one last post about Halloween treats.  Gotta get it in before the Thanksgiving dish ideas come along.  She check this out.  There are a lot of simple treats to have out for the last minute 'drop by' neighbors, friends and families.

Are you tired of buying the pretzels at the mall and never knowing if you will get a fresh or stale one?  Well check out this easy and quick recipe for yeast free pretzels.  Also check out the shape that is perfect for this day.

and for the recipe

2 cups (500ml) All purpose Flour
3 tbsp Unsalted Butter
2 tbsp White Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/3 (75ml) cup Full Cream Milk
pinch of salt
Coarse Salt or Salt Flakes
1 Egg - beaten

Rub the Unsalted Butter into the Flour until it looks like crumbs. Add Sugar, Baking Powder and Salt and mix together. Add Milk slowly till all the ingredients are wet. Do not add all the milk at once. You have to make sure that the dough is not too sticky, but also not too dry. If you need more milk, you can add another drop. Once the dough is formed you do not have to let it rest, you can work with it straight away.

Divide the dough into smaller balls. Roll out each ball into a long snake. Twist them into shape and put onto prepared baking sheet. Once you have made all your pretzels, brush them with the egg (egg wash) and sprinkle with coarse salt or salt flakes.

Bake in preheated oven  250 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius) for 10 minutes (depending on size of your pretzels) - they should be nice and golden on the top.

Now, make some goolish dipping sauce and serve warm or room temp.

 

What else might you add to the table?  

Fingers are really in.  Try them made of cheese sticks with notches cut in them for the knuckles.  Or even carrots, topped with almond for the nail, with a little creamy dip.  And just one more thought.  Take those carrot fingers and wrap a bit of thin sliced ham round it for a more fleshy look.    Yummmm !

An easy way to get a little something in those little goblins before they go out haunting and hunting for treats - a simple ghost sandwich cut  from your favorite bread and filled with absolutely anything.  

Can you do some grillin' in your front yard?  The adults could do a fun little dinner while keeping an eye on the trick or treaters, hand out treats and tell stories to the older kids gross stories about where the meat on the grill came from.  While you are at it, be a little creative with cheese slice designs.

Last but not least - finish it all off with a little something on the healthy side.  Apricot spiders and apple lips sound perfect to me.  

Hope your Halloween is a super safe one.

Enjoy !

Last One - Halloween Super Snacks

We are closing in on the great costume day and the excuse to make fun snacks.  As if you ever need an excuse.  I know I don't.  But here are a few super snack ideas to add to the healthy ones from the past and the sweet ones too.  

 

This is super cute and has year 'round possibilities by changing up the cut outs. You can picture cut outs of Christmas trees, bunny faces, happy faces, abstract designs - the sky's the limit.  You could possibly allow the kids to draw designs that you could cut for them.   Any citrus would work and you could fill with fruit or maybe even other goodies.  I am wondering about scrambled eggs, maybe with ham.  Think about this one.

Does your child have a microwave or toaster oven in their class room?  This would be a perfect snack for home or class.  Kids can make their own mummy pizzas with muffins or mini crust, olives, pizza sauce, green onion and a bit of white cheese.  Fun to look at and great to eat.  Want to add a little meat, just replace the olives with tiny pepperoni cut outs. 

Who doesn't like a nice spider stuffed egg?  Simple and great for kid, teen and adult gatherings.  Fix your boiled eggs as always (have you tried the baked replacement?), cut black olives for the spider parts, and add on top of the stuffing.  Want to try a little bit of a change?  Add a bit of guacamole to the stuffing.  Maybe spice it up with chili powder and garlic.  There is a world of possibilities. 

 Love these little bite size treats.  Snap peas or green beans, fresh from the market, with just a couple extras. And you have total control of what you want to use.  The tongue could be cuts of pepperoni, slices of cherry tomatoes or even watermelon if you want to add a bit of sweet.   Shredded white cheese is the finishing touch of the rotten teeth.  Again an item that the kids can make too. Yummy.

Again with the bite size snack.  This one is self explanatory.  A slice of carrot, a dab of cream cheese and an olive topper, and you have a nice edible eyeball.  I think that a few green eyes would be pretty good too.  Prefer cooked carrots?  That works too.  Just let them cool before adding the toppers.

Last but not least - mummy babies.  Your choice.  Make it super simple by using pre-made pie crust or croissant rolls, cut into tiny strips.  Wrap around your choice of hot dogs or make them minis by using Smokies sausages.  Just bake until brown.  For the eyes?  I am not totally sure what I would use.  If you just poke a couple of holes in the meat, I think the inside color would be plenty.  But you could add cloves to a full size hotdog.  Other than that, I really don't know.  Please let me know what you think.  

That's it for now.  More snack for this holiday and many for any time

of the year. 

Super Jack-o-latern Trick

Halloween is a great holiday, for those of you who like to play dress up.  And it can be a real mess for those of you who enjoy the jack-o-lantern routine.  You know what I mean.  You want to cut out the fun face, save the messy seeds and sort out all the yucky stuff you don't want and get it to the garbage.  You know all the stringy stuff ends up trailing on the floor and covers the side of the garbage can, no matter how careful you are.  (hummmm - maybe I am projecting a bit here)

NOW - You know how it is when you see a little trick that makes life so much easier and you wonder, why didn't I think about this myself?  Or better yet - why didn't anybody else think about this and share?

So - here it is.  For all of you who singe the finger hairs or melt the tips of your nails, in an attempt to light the candle that is placed deep into good ole' Jack. 

Like I said - why didn't I think about this when I was helping my kids do their Jack-o-lantern?

Coming soon will be my great Halloween treat ideas.  Some that the kids can do all by them selves.  Some that are just nothing but tasty junk food (love those) and even some really fun healthy decorative and edible ideas.