Maybe I'm biased because my birthday is the day before, but Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays. Once again I'm planning to entertain and celebrate both holidays. Because Oct. 31st is on Thursday I decided to have my shindig on the following weekend, Nov. 2nd. (I realized my mistake last year when I had my party the weekend before and found myself in some tough competition!)
So I am going through my Pinterest boards, my RSS feeds, and various books & magazines searching for inspiration. So I thought I would share some of the possibilities for my gathering and see what else people are brewing up for All Hallow's Eve!
Thai-spiced Deviled Eggs
Ingredients
6 Eggs
2 Tablespoons thick coconut milk, cold(not low fat) or mayonnaise
2 Teaspoons Thai Curry paste (we used the Thai Kitchen brand)
1 Teaspoon ketchup
½ Teaspoon paprika plus more to sprinkle
½ Teaspoon spicy mustard
¼ Teaspoon Sriracha or other red chilli sauce
Salt to taste
For the pumpkin look -
Paprika
1 Spring/green onion
Preparation
Cover the eggs with an inch of cold water and bring to a boil. Boil for a minute, then cover and set aside for 10 minutes. Drain and then fill the pan with cold water. After 5 minutes, peel the eggs. Slice each egg length-wise and gently remove the yolks.
Place the yolks and all the other ingredients in a small bowl and mash until very smooth. Mound the yolk mixture into the egg whites or transfer it to a ziptop bag and pipe it out. Wet your finger and pat the surface of the filling smooth. Using a toothpick draw lines to make the 'pumpkin' indentations. Sprinkle with paprika if desired. Cut up the green part of the onion to make tiny stems and add them to finish off the pumpkin look.
Roasted Pumpkin Seed Hummus
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups raw pepitas
4 gloves garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon smoked paprika, divided
1 teaspoon chili powder, divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups cooked cannellini/great northern beans (or 1 can, drained and rinsed)
1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for drizzling
1 lemon, juiced
salt and pepper, to taste
pita bread , Naan bread or chips, for serving
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease baking sheet or line with aluminum foil. Right on the pan add the the pumpkin seeds (pepitas), 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, salt and pepper. Toss well with you hands. Add the garlic cloves to one side of the pan (leave them in their skin). Roast for about 15-25 minutes or until seeds are cooked and begin to lightly brown. Remove the pan every 10 minutes to stir the seeds and check for doneness. Remove from the oven, let cool 5 minutes and then peel the skin away from the garlic. If the the garlic is not tender and fragrant when the seeds are done roasting, wrap them in foil and continue to roast until soft and roasted.
Add the pumpkin seeds to a food processor and process until a smooth paste forms, scrap down the sides as needed. This took about 5 minutes. Once the pumpkin seeds form a paste, add the beans and garlic. Pulse and blend until combined and the beans begin to puree, about 2-3 minutes. With the processor still going, stream in olive oil, blending continuously for a few minutes (and scraping down the sides if needed) until as smooth as desired. Add the remaining, 1/2 teaspoon of chili powder and smoked paprika. Blend until combined add some salt + pepper and taste, adding more if desired. Add hummus to a bowl and drizzle with extra olive oil. Start dippin!
And I've gotta try at least one fancy cocktail recipe!
Caramel Apple Martinis
1 oz Green apple-flavored vodka
1/2 oz Apple schnapps
1 oz Butterscotch liqueur
2 oz Half and half
Caramel sauce for the glass
Apple slice for garnish
In a cocktail shaker with ice, shake vodka, apple schnapps, butterscotch liqueur and half and half. Strain into a martini glass that you have drizzled with caramel sauce. Garnish with an apple slice.
Now I'm not much of a baker but here's some tempting treats:
Marble Pumpkin Chocolate Bread
Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
What would you make/bring to a Halloween/Birthday party? I love hearing about tried & true dishes. I'm still trying to decide what to have as a nice hot dish in the crock pot so feel free to share your favorites!