I can’t let the Holidays pass me by without mentioning Charles Dickens’ little nugget of joy: A Christmas Carol. I know it’s been said and done a million times, but it truly did help shape how we celebrate Christmas today. My very favorite animated version of the classic tale is this production right here. However, it seems to me that the rest world either hates it or doesn’t know it exists. But with its catchy tunes and stellar cast, it’s easy to see how I became captivated by it. I can’t even remember how the tape ended up in my house. Maybe Santa? It’s just always been here, waiting patiently for Christmas to roll around, so we can watch it over and over again.
Sure, you’d think I’d want to cook up something grand like the prize turkey, but I’ve decided to emulate pre-ghostly visitors Scrooge and make hash instead. He orders it all the time at his local tavern because it’s the cheapest thing on the menu. He doesn’t even notice when the waitress switches his order and gives him scraps while his dog, Debit, gets his meal. Yeah, hash is basically the king of leftovers and not too far from scraps, but it’s the tasty version and you can add whatever you want to it.
Recipe makes 5-6 servings.
Ingredients
Hash:
4 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
¼ cup milk, half-and-half, or heavy cream
Salt
Pepper
Granulated garlic
4 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 ½ cups cooked and chopped corned beef, fresh or canned
1 16 ounce can of baked beans
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ cup shredded cheese, optional
Carrots:
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into medallions
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons honey
½ tablespoon lemon juice
½ tablespoon water
Salt
Pepper
Broccoli
1 large head of broccoli, cut into florets and chunks
2 tablespoons butter
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Hash:
Place potatoes in a large saucepan or pot. Add salt and water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until potatoes are tender, 15-20 minutes. While the potatoes are boiling, melt 2 tablespoons of butter and heat half-and-half in a small saucepan over medium heat until it simmers. Drain off the potatoes when cooked. Mash and add heated half-and-half. Stir together and season with salt, pepper, and garlic. Set aside.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent. Add the corned beef, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
Add baked beans to a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook for a few minutes until warmed through and it loses some of its liquid.
Spread baked beans along the bottom of a baking dish. Layer the corned beef mixture over the beans. Spread the mashed potatoes on top. Bake for 30 minutes. If adding cheese, wait until the 20 minute mark to do so. Remove from oven.
Carrots:
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan or pot over medium-high heat. Add salt and carrots and cook until carrots are tender, 5-8 minutes. Drain off the carrots and add them back to the pan. Add butter, honey, lemon juice, and water. Cook over medium heat until a glaze forms and coats the carrots. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
Broccoli:
Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan or pot over medium-high heat. Add salt and broccoli and cook until broccoli is tender, 3-4 minutes. Drain off the broccoli and add it back to the pan. Melt butter and coat broccoli. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
Putting It All Together:
Scoop out portions of hash, carrots, and broccoli onto a plate. Now dinner is ready!
He tells the waitress that his “hash” isn’t fit for a dog, but I find the real thing pretty good. Maybe that’s the real reason why he orders it when he can afford a feast every night. You can’t really tell because he doesn’t seem to care about anything but his profits. But after his fateful Christmas Eve, he’s become older and wiser. He now knows that he’ll never find happiness in his stacks of money. True happiness comes from helping others and living and loving. Not just on Christmas, but every day of the year.
I wish you and yours the Happiest of Holidays!
I’ll be taking a break for the next couple of weeks.
The Holiday Season is in full swing, so my family is quickly working its way through all the Christmas movies and specials we can get our little, sugar-coated hands on. The Polar Express is no exception. I’ve always loved the book, so I was excited to see it done up on the big screen. I wasn’t disappointed. (I know it’s got some flaws, but I don’t find it creepy.) And my dad loves it more than the rest of us. He gets mad if we go a season without watching it.
The Polar Express is a refreshing break from loud, silly/sweet Christmas movies with its beautiful dark tones and deep meaning. And just when those might start to scare someone off, something fun and lighthearted shows up, like a song about hot chocolate. If any beverage should have a song, it should be hot chocolate. It’s warm and creamy and did I mention that it’s CHOCOLATE? That’s all the reason it needs to be the refreshment of choice aboard a magic train.
Recipe makes about 5 servings or 2 really big ones.
Ingredients
3 cups chocolate milk
1 cup heavy cream
¼ cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
Salt-just a pinch
6 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
In a medium saucepan, combine chocolate milk, heavy cream, sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar, cocoa powder, and salt dissolve and the milk mixture starts steaming. Don’t let it boil, though. Add about half of the chocolate and stir until it completely melts. Add the remaining chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract. Divide into mugs and drink up!
Every Christmas Eve, I look out my window before bed, hoping to see the Polar Express waiting to take me on a trip to the North Pole. It hasn’t shown up yet, but I won’t let that shake my belief in the “Big Man.” At least I’m always welcomed to Christmas Day by a nice cup of hot chocolate. This drink is fine all year round, but there’s something about Christmastime that makes it just a little bit sweeter.
Gingerbread men have become synonymous with the Holiday Season, but when I think of those guys, my mind goes straight to Little Audrey. My grandparents had one nondescript little VHS tape titled The Gingerbread Man, and we watched it quite frequently. Tarts and Flowers easily became one of my favorite cartoons and it still ranks up there. I’m a sucker for anthropomorphic food and I’ve always been a sweet fiend. Needless to say, I want to live in Cakeland! Well, if I did, no one else would. I’d eat all of my neighbors.
Everything about this cartoon is just so darn charming. Angel Cake getting dolled up for her wedding with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and a cherry. And my favorite part is when Little Audrey busts out an egg beater and whips the Old Milk Stream to stop that nasty Devil Food Cake. And I can’t forget about that heroic, little Gingerbread Man. He was in a hurry because he was getting married and he invited Little Audrey to follow him if she could keep up. I was so used to hearing stories about a mischievous cookie, so the friendly one was a nice change.
The recipe that Little Audrey follows from her radio chef is kind of odd because she adds things like mustard and a cake of yeast. The Gingerbread Man also started out as batter before he went into the oven. I know that gingerbread can be made a thousand different ways, so I’m just going to stick with the rolling and cutting cookie dough method.
Recipe makes about 13 giant gingerbread men, but it varies with the size and shape of the cookie cutter.
Ingredients
Gingerbread Men:
¾ cup (1 ½ sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
¼ cup molasses
3 cups flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves (It’s a gingerbread must, but I don’t really like it, so I say optional.)
2 teaspoons ground ginger
2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
Royal Icing
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Black and Brown food coloring
If you want to avoid raw eggs, use these in place of the egg whites:
3 tablespoons meringue powder
½ cup warm water
Directions
Gingerbread Men:
Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ground ginger in a medium bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar together in a stand mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the egg, molasses, and grated ginger and beat together another minute. Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and stir until combined. Divide dough in two and flatten each half into a disk. Cover each disk with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Lightly dust a counter with flour and roll out a disk to ¼ inch thickness. Cut out desired shapes and place on a cookie sheet. Re-roll and cut until you run out of dough and continue this process with the other disk. Place cookie sheets in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. This will help your gingerbread men stay in shape.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place cookies in the oven and bake, rotating trays halfway through, until the edges are set, about 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on their sheets for 2 minutes and move to a wire rack. Let them cool completely.
Icing:
Beat the egg whites (or meringue powder and water) and vanilla in a stand mixer until just combined. Add the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to high and beat until the icing is stiff and shiny, about 5-7 minutes. Divide icing among smaller bowls and add different food colorings to each one.
Putting It All Together:
Transfer icing to piping bags and pipe features onto cooled cookies. You can also draw them on with a toothpick dipped in the icing. My gingerbread man has a simple face with a brown nose and small black mouth and eyebrows. Let the icing stand for just a minute to harden. Now they’re ready to eat!
When my grandparents decided to clean house and get rid of most of their videos, we were happy to snatch this tape up. It sits safely in my sister’s room and we still pop it in every now and then. With all the baking I do, I really hope that one of these days I’ll get to go on a magical dessert-themed adventure. My Gingerbread Man looks like he’s about to run off somewhere, but I think the only place I’ll be following him to is a glass of milk.
“I watch Peanuts videos with my mom and dad. I watch Peanuts videos with my dog.” Yeah, I’ve got that commercial down pat. (I watched a lot of Nickelodeon videos.) But I really do watch Peanuts with my family, dogs included. We all grew up on them and no matter how many times you’ve seen them, they’re still fun to watch. I’m a bit like Charlie Brown, (Who isn’t?) so I can easily see me serving a Thanksgiving dinner of nothing but snack foods. I can make more than cold cereal and toast, but if I’m in a pinch, who knows? I know a lot of people have made up Charlie Brown’s “dinner,” but I surprisingly never did.
Thanksgiving has always been such a hectic holiday for my family with multiple dinners. I’d get up and my mom would already be cooking. I’d help her out with whatever I could and we’d watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, then my local parade, then the National Dog Show. The cooking still wasn’t finished by then, but we’d already be late for dinner at my grandma and grandpa’s. Thanksgiving is all done at my house now, but that doesn’t make it any easier. I usually have store-bought bread, pretzels, jellybeans, and popcorn hanging around in my kitchen anyway, so maybe one of these days I’ll just snap and serve this instead.
Ingredients
Butter
Bag of pretzel sticks
Bag of jelly beans
2 pieces of bread
Or:
Bread for Toast:
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
5 cups bread flour
2 ½ tablespoons butter, cold, cut into chunks
Popcorn:
White popcorn kernels
¼ cup vegetable oil
Salt
Directions
Bread for Toast:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes, or until foamy. Add the salt, flour, and butter and combine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes. Form the dough into a ball again and place in a large, clean bowl. Lightly coat dough with oil and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. Punch down the dough and divide in half. Shape each half of the dough into an oval or loaf shape and place in greased loaf pans. Let the dough rise uncovered for another hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Bake loaves for 35-40 minutes. Place the pans on a cooling rack and let rest for 5 minutes. Turn the bread out and let rest on a rack until completely cooled. Cut into slices.
Popcorn:
Pour vegetable oil into a large pan or pot on medium heat. Place one kernel inside and cover. Once it pops, add enough kernels to cover the bottom of the pan. Cover and gently shake. When the popping stops, remove from heat. Season with salt to taste.
Putting It All Together:
Place two slices of bread in a toaster and toast until they’ve reached the desired doneness. Butter and stack on a plate. Surround with a handful each of pretzel sticks, jelly beans, and popcorn. You may now feast.
You want me to eat toast and snacks for Thanksgiving Dinner? Sure! I better whip up a sundae to wash it all down. Who needs the turkey, and the mashed potatoes, and the cranberry sauce, and the pumpkin pie? Thanksgiving isn’t about the food. It’s about the people you share it with.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m taking a break next week, so tune in next, next week for more Cartoon Cravings!
I am a PokéManiac. Been one since the day I got my hands on Pokémon Red and Blue. After that, I played all the games, collected the cards, bought as many toys as I could, and watched the show religiously. But none of that could’ve prepared me for what would become one of the best nights of my life. The night I saw Pokémon: The First Movie. My aunt took all five of us kids (her two and my crew) to the theatre on opening night. There was a huge cardboard display and someone dressed as Pikachu to take pictures with. Of course I couldn’t pass that up because Pikachu’s always been my favorite. We got so caught up in the excitement, the movie started without us. I was so hyped up watching Pikachu’s Vacation, you would’ve thought my bucket of popcorn was a bucket of pure sugar. Once we got to the birth of Mewtwo, I’m pretty sure I stopped breathing.
When we finally got to Ash and the gang, I felt like I was meeting them for the first time all over again. Ash was goofing off while Misty was keeping busy. And there was Brock whipping up his famous Lazy Boy No-Chew Stew. Even with my mouth stuffed with popcorn, I wanted to dig in then and there. I felt like poor, hungry Team Rocket. I’ve had to endure this every time I’ve watched this movie and I’ve finally had enough.
Recipe makes 5 one-cup servings.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound chicken or beef, chopped
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 carrots, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 broccoli stalk, cut into small florets
2 ½ cups chicken broth
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
4 tablespoons cream cheese, room temperature
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Next, add chicken and sauté until it begins to brown. Add carrots and potatoes and cook for two minutes. Then add chicken broth and reduce the heat to low. Simmer until the vegetables soften.
While the stew is simmering, make the roux. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk constantly. As the mixture starts bubbling, whisk in the milk. When the mixture begins to thicken, reduce the heat to low. Add the cream cheese and cook until the sauce is thick, still whisking. Remove from the heat.
Add the roux to the stew and stir to fully incorporate it. Increase the heat to medium and add the broccoli. Simmer for 5 minutes and add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat and serve!
I walked out of the theatre that night with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face. Each time I re-watch this movie, I relive that night and the rollercoaster of emotions. I really did go on that journey with Ash and friends. I’ve got a great big bowl of stew to prove it.
Even though we’re already drowning in Christmas ads, it’s still only November. You know, that month with that one holiday where we feel obligated to say what we’re thankful for. Hands down, for me it’s my family. They drive me crazy sometimes, but there’s nobody else I’d rather go down with. And I don’t tell them how much they mean to me as much as I should. It’s not like I really have to come out and say it though. It’s in the little things I do. Like spelling out a message in some soup that says, “I love you,” or maybe just, “Hi, Dad.”
Is this all ringing a bell? Sounds just like Max, right? I’ve never been as much of a jerk as he is, though. Goofy’s his dad and he doesn’t appreciate him! No, I get it. Families disconnect all the time. You let so many other things get in the way that you lose sight of what’s truly important. All it takes is something like sharing a can of soup to make you realize that. I guess having Bigfoot trash your camp and trap you in your car helps too.
Recipe makes 8 servings.
Ingredients
½ an onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons butter
1 can (28oz) whole or chopped tomatoes
6-6 ½ cups chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1-2 tablespoons sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp white pepper
½ cup heavy cream, optional
1-1 1/2 cups uncooked alphabet noodles
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, 5-10 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomato paste and butter. Stir until butter has melted and tomato paste begins to brown. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, bay leaf, sugar, salt, and pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf and puree in batches or with an immersion blender. Add cream and additional seasoning if needed. Boil the pasta according to the directions on the box, drain, and stir into soup. Or add uncooked pasta to the soup and simmer until fully cooked, 10-15 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Ah, both this soup and A Goofy Movie make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It must be the power of good food and good memories. Hmm, kind of what Thanksgiving is all about. As for Max and Goofy, it didn’t instantly fix their problems, (Max still went and changed the map.) but it got them on the road to seeing it I 2 I.
Saturday Morning Cartoons were a way of life for me. My mom tended to have trouble getting me up for school, but on Saturdays, I’d be up before the sun. No alarm clock needed. I needed the time to come up with a plan of TV attack because there were so many channels with great Saturday Morning line-ups. No matter what order I chose, I always stopped in at Fox Kids to get my scare on with something “spooky” like Toonsylvania. I call it the red-headed stepchild of the “Steven Spielberg Presents” Family because it’s smart, funny, and educational like the others, but it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. (Like a DVD! Come on DreamWorks!) And that’s a crying shame because a cartoon about Dr. Vic Frankenstein and his gang, charming dead families, bratty girls who get what they deserve, and the demon dolls, weregrannies, and boogeymen that come along with them is something that everyone should have in their lives.
On more than one occasion, I’ve wished my family could be more like the Deadmans. They are super cheerful, optimistic, and easy-going. They’re the perfect family. Except for that whole being expired thing, but that can’t keep them down. So my Saturday morning meal usually consisted of a bowl of cereal or some kind of snack food that I really shouldn’t have been eating for breakfast. The Deadmans however, start their day more like a typical family and eat a nice, hearty breakfast. Fred’s favorite happens to be worms and curdled eggs. And his mom cooks them in the microwave. Yeah, that’s making my mouth water too.
Recipe makes 1 serving.
Ingredients
1 teaspoon butter
2 eggs
1 hotdog
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Cut hotdog into long, thin strips or take a vegetable peeler to it. Heat a microwave safe plate in your microwave for 2 minutes. Swirl butter around on the plate until it completely melts. Carefully crack your eggs directly onto the plate. Take the tip of a knife or a skewer and pierce the top of the yolks, being careful not to tear them. This will allow steam to escape, so the eggs don’t explode. Spread your wormy hotdog bits around the plate and place it back in the microwave. Cook for 1 minute. If they aren’t done, continue to cook in 15 second increments until they are just about at your desired doneness. Season the eggs with salt and pepper and let sit for 1 minute. Now you’re ready to eat.
Cooking eggs in the microwave is new to me, but I’d have to say I’m a fan. It’s perfect if you don’t have a whole lot of time on your hands in the morning. I wish I had done this as a kid. It would’ve been perfect to do during Saturday morning commercial breaks. And the whole worm thing is fun when you’re looking for something a little wacky or creepy to eat. Like on Halloween, when your food gets to be in costume too.
Who wouldn’t want the Grim Reaper to be his/her best friend forever? You get to pal around with the master of the forces of life and death. And in Billy and Mandy’s case, you get to boss him around. Talk about power. You also get to encounter all sorts of monsters and magic that most people don’t even know exist. I can see how that can lead to trouble pretty quickly. Just look at Billy and the whole Chocolate Sailor debacle. He becomes so addicted to the chocolate he’s supposed to be selling that he becomes solid chocolate and eats himself.
It’s sad to say, but that would probably happen to me too because I like chocolate! I’ve just about taken out my dad over the stuff. Just like Billy. I’m not proud of it, but I just can’t stop. If the Chocolate Sailor offered me an assortment of enchanted chocolates, I’d have to try them all. So just in time for Halloween, here’s an assortment that you can eat all of without exploding into a big, chocolatey mess.
Ingredients
1 pound milk chocolate, coarsely chopped or melting wafers
1 pound dark chocolate, coarsely chopped or melting wafers
2 pounds white chocolate, coarsely chopped or melting wafers
Light green food coloring
Caramel
1 cup sugar
¼ cup light corn syrup
¼ cup water
½ cup heavy cream, room temperature
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature- cut into chunks
½ teaspoon salt
Buttercream
¼ cup (half stick) butter, room temperature
¼ cup shortening
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups (half pound) powdered sugar, sifted
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
1 cup hazelnuts, skinned
3 tablespoons sugar
12 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
Marshmallows
1 ½ packets of unflavored gelatin
½ cup cold water, divided
½ cup light corn syrup
¾ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup powdered sugar, sifted, plus more if needed
Peanut Butter Filling
1 ½ cups peanut butter
3 tablespoons butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
Or 1 package caramels
1 container buttercream
1 jar chocolate hazelnut spread
1 package marshmallows
Directions
Caramel:
Grease and line an 8 inch baking dish with parchment paper.
In a saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water. Place over high heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook until the mixture reaches 230 degrees F. Reduce heat to medium and cook, without stirring, until the syrup mixture is golden. When the syrup reaches close to 300 degrees F, gently stir. Continue to cook until the syrup turns dark amber and closes in on 350 degrees F. Remove from the heat, stir, and let sit for a couple minutes. Slowly add heavy cream, butter, and salt. The mixture will bubble, so be careful. Return the saucepan to the stove and stir until the butter is completely melted. Cook over medium heat until it reaches 255 degrees F. Take off the heat and pour into a prepared pan. Tap the pan to remove bubbles and place on a cooling rack. Let sit for about 4 hours and cut into pieces. (If you plan on making your chocolates right away, you can just leave your caramel in the saucepan and just allow it to cool slightly.)
Buttercream:
In a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add vanilla extract. Beat powdered sugar in, a little at a time. Scrape down sides of the bowl and add milk. If the icing is too thick, add more milk, ½ teaspoon at a time.
Chocolate Hazelnut Spread:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet and toast for 15 minutes, or until deep brown. Let cool.
Grind hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor for about 1 minute, or until smooth. Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and let cool. Add vegetable oil, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, and salt to hazelnut paste and process until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and combine. Strain if there are excess hazelnut chunks. Let cool completely to thicken.
Marshmallows:
Lightly grease an 8 X 8 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Dump powdered sugar into the dish and swirl it around until the bottom and sides are completely coated. Shake excess powdered sugar into a bowl for later use.
Pour gelatin and 1/4 cup of cold water in the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment. While the gelatin is blooming, combine the remaining 1/4 cup of water, corn syrup, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan. Place the saucepan over medium high heat and cook until the sugar has dissolved. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan and continue to cook, without stirring, until it reads 240 degrees F. Immediately take the syrup off the heat. With the mixer on low, pour the syrup into the gelatin. When all of the syrup is in the bowl, increase the mixer’s speed to high. Whip the mixture until it’s thick, about 12 minutes. Add the vanilla extract during the last minute of whipping.
Pour the marshmallow into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a lightly greased spatula. Things may get messy! Sprinkle some of the remaining powdered sugar over the marshmallow to completely cover the top. Let the marshmallow completely rest until firm, about 4 hours. (If you plan on making your chocolates right away, you can spread the marshmallow into your molds before it fully sets.)
Turn out marshmallow onto a cutting board. With a lightly greased knife or pizza cutter, cut into marshmallows. I usually aim for 2-inch squares. Roll the marshmallows into the rest of the powdered sugar to coat all sides.
Peanut Butter Filling
Add peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar in a stand mixer and beat on medium-low speed until combined.
Putting It All Together:
Caustic Caramel Cream:
Melt half of the white chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir in a small amount of light green food coloring. Spoon a small amount of chocolate into the chocolate molds of your choice and swirl around. Use a small paintbrush or similar tool to ensure that chocolate covers the entire mold. Dump excess chocolate back into the bowl. Let the chocolate set.
Melt caramel and 2 tablespoons milk in a saucepan. Spread caramel and then buttercream in the mold, leaving enough room to encase it in chocolate. Pour more colored white chocolate on top to seal in caramel and buttercream. Tap mold on the counter to remove bubbles. Let chocolate completely set. Remove from mold.
Horrific Hazelnut:
Melt milk chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Spoon a small amount of chocolate into the chocolate molds of your choice and swirl around. Use a small paintbrush or similar tool to ensure that chocolate covers the entire mold. Dump excess chocolate back into the bowl. Let the chocolate set. Spread chocolate hazelnut spread in the mold, leaving enough room to encase it in chocolate. Pour more chocolate on top to seal in spread. Tap mold on the counter to remove bubbles. Let chocolate completely set. Remove from mold.
Mutating Marshmallow:
Melt dark chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Spoon a small amount of chocolate into the chocolate molds of your choice and swirl around. Use a small paintbrush or similar tool to ensure that chocolate covers the entire mold. Dump excess chocolate back into the bowl. Let the chocolate set.
Melt marshmallows either in a small saucepan or in the microwave. Spread marshmallow in the mold, leaving enough room to encase it in chocolate. Pour more chocolate on top to seal in marshmallow. Tap mold on the counter to remove bubbles. Let chocolate completely set. Remove from mold.
Antidote:
Melt the other half of the white chocolate in a double boiler or a bowl over a pot of simmering water. Spoon a small amount of white chocolate into the chocolate molds of your choice and swirl around. Use a small paintbrush or similar tool to ensure that chocolate covers the entire mold. Dump excess chocolate back into the bowl. Let the chocolate set. Spread peanut butter filling in the mold, leaving enough room to encase it in chocolate. Pour more white chocolate on top to seal in filling. Tap mold on the counter to remove bubbles. Let chocolate completely set. Remove from mold.
Variations:
Whenever I make candy, I try to make it worth my while. I just whip up a bunch of stuff and make candy until I run out of ingredients. You can easily make more or less of anything by halving or doubling any of the recipe.
Antidote doesn’t have a specific flavor, so I made what I wanted. I wanted peanut butter, but you can fill it with whatever you want or not fill it at all.
Although I have a ton of candy molds, nothing comes close to the big-mouthed monster looking things in the enchanted chocolate assortment. I used skeletons because they were on hand, but you can use whatever molds you want. If you don’t want to make them in molds, you can put the candy together in a parchment lined pan and cut them into bars.
Now we’ve got an army of enchanted chocolates minus the enchantment part. As hard as I tried, I still ended up a big chocolatey mess. At least I’m still human. I think. So maybe I haven’t learned my lesson yet. Enough chocolate induced stomach aches and I’ll change my ways. Either that or someone gets me an issue of Man Eating Comics.
For a brief point in my childhood, this movie was almost taboo in my house. It wasn’t that the movie was Satanic or anything. My mom just didn’t care much for it and told us not to watch it. You know, so we wouldn’t waste our time. However, we took it to mean that the movie was evil and if we watched it, we’d be punished. Stop motion animation was so new to me, I was completely captivated each time I saw a commercial. It didn’t take long for us to ignore my mom and watch the movie. Before “This is Halloween” was even over, I was hooked and we’ve loved the movie ever since. My sister’s room is practically a shrine dedicated to Jack Skellington and there’ve been some years where we’ve watched Nightmare every night from October through December.
Out of all the characters, Sally is actually one of my least favorites. I know she’s just trying to be reasonable, but why does she have to be such a party pooper? She does have some good qualities, though, like how she’s not afraid to slip Deadly Nightshade into Dr. Finkelstein’s food and drink every chance she gets. And keeping a slotted spoon in her sock is absolute genius. I’m not too sure about eating something with ingredients like Worm’s Wort and Frog’s Breath, but I would like to give that soup a try.
Recipe makes about 6 one-cup servings.
Ingredients
1 pound dried split peas
4 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
½ cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme or parsley
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon lemon juice
8 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half (optional)
Directions
Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add celery and cook for 3-4 minutes, or until onions and celery are soft. Add garlic and cook for 20 seconds. Pour in chicken broth. Add peas, salt, pepper, thyme or parsley, bay leaf, and lemon juice. Cover and cook for 1 hour or until peas are tender, stirring occasionally
Remove bay leaf. Puree the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. If the soup is too thick, add some water. If you want a creamier soup, stir in half-and-half. Adjust the seasoning, if needed. Serve and enjoy.
Variations: You can soak split peas for 8 hours or overnight and they’ll cook a bit quicker (about 40 minutes). You can also use 5 cups of fresh or frozen peas. You’ll only need to cook these for about 10 minutes before pureeing.
I don’t know how popular this soup would be in Halloween Town, but the ghosts and witches here like it. It’s good, and green, and won’t knock you out and give you a heck of a headache. I can understand how The Nightmare Before Christmas has become the phenomenon it is. Just like mashing Halloween and Christmas, it’s magical, spooky, and a little weird. That’s why it’s always near the top of our “must watch” list for the holidays.
My house has been decked for weeks with lights, pumpkins, and every kind of dead person you can imagine. We’re on pins and needles waiting for the day we can dress up, eat half our weight in candy, and see how badly we can scare said candy out of each other. That’s fun and all, but I truly respect how other cultures still have meaningful reasons behind their similar holidays. El Día de los Muertos, or The Day of the Dead, is a beautiful tradition that I’d love to celebrate.
The Book of Life puts such a fun spin on the holiday with the Land of the Remembered. With all the fiestas, parades, balloons, and food, I could get along just fine there. That place is really hopping and they have all you can eat churros! That’s delicious but I’m going to focus on the even yummier holiday staple, pan de muerto. There were piles of these wonderful little guys all over the cemetery and it makes me want to hop a plane to see this in real life. Even though La Muerte and Xibalba asked for bread as a way to gauge Manolo and Joaquín I’m pretty sure they just really wanted the bread. It’s that good.
Recipe makes 5 breads
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm milk (105-115 degrees F)
1 ¼ teaspoons yeast
¼ cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange blossom water
2 teaspoons orange zest
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg plus 1 tablespoon of milk or water for egg wash
2 tablespoons butter, melted
¼ cup sugar
Directions
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the warm milk. Let rest for 5 minutes or until foamy. Add the remaining sugar, salt, melted butter, eggs, orange blossom water, and orange zest and mix until just combined. Add flour and mix until everything is combined and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until elastic and smooth, 10 minutes. Form dough into a ball, lightly oil, and place in a large bowl. Cover and let rest in a warm area until doubled in size, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Punch down dough and divide into 5 equal portions. Pinch off ¼ of each portion to use for decorations. Shape a large dough piece into a slightly flattened ball. Break down the decorative dough piece into 7 equal portions. Shape one into a ball, slightly flatten, and place directly on top of the large piece. Roll out the other pieces between your hands to form long strips. Pinch the ends of each strip, so they resemble bones. Place a “bone” on the large dough piece, so the top is below the ball and it extends to the bottom of the piece. Working clockwise, attach the other 5 bones in the same manner. Repeat this with the other sections of dough. Cover breads and let rest another hour or until they’ve doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Brush each bread with egg wash and bake for 25 minutes or until golden. Remove breads from the oven and move to a cooling rack. Once the breads are cool enough to handle, brush each bread with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. All that’s left is to enjoy them!
These breads come in a whole slew of sizes, flavors, and colors, but this is a good place to get started. (Seriously, this was my first time making them.) The Book of Life shows the importance of honoring and remembering your loved ones, so you can lead the best life you can from their examples. The decorations and food may be extra, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go all out and have fun.
CARTOON CRAVINGS 