Witchy Kitchen

Category: Halloween

  • Celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday with a New England Clam Chowder Adapted from Vincent Price

    Celebrate Edgar Allan Poe’s Birthday with a New England Clam Chowder Adapted from Vincent Price

    This post originally appeared on Nightmare on Film Street.

    Edgar Allan Poe, an author synonymous with American gothic horror writing, and Vincent Price, an American horror actor with a velvet voice and looming stage presence, are a match made in hell. Working with filmmaker Roger Corman, Price starred in a number of Poe pieces adapted for the silver screen, and brought macabre classics such as House of Usher (1960), The Pit and the Pendulum (1961), and The Raven (1963) to life.

    Price wasn’t just an actor though; a true Renaissance man, he was an accomplished art collector and museum founder, as well as a fantastic cook and co-author of several cookbooks with his wife Mary Price. A Treasury of Great Recipes (1965) is probably the most well-known, but Mary and Vincent Price’s Come into the Kitchen Cook Book (1969) seemed like a good place to find a recipe worthy of Poe. It is organized by era with an enlightening historic intro to each, beginning in colonial America, spanning Antebellum years and westward expansion, and ending in “modern” recipes that are charmingly very 60s.

    Poe was born January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts, so a classic regional recipe seemed like the perfect choice. For this New England Clam Chowder, I started with a combination of Price’s recipes for “Chowder” and “Stewed Cod,” and added potatoes to pad it out and celery to scandalize everyone in my house who claims they don’t like celery (but then gobbles up what I make with it anyway). Instead of the white wine that the recipes call for, I opted for sherry. But not just any sherry – amontillado – for that ominous Poe flourish.

    New England Clam Chowder

    • 1 pound clams, chopped, juice reserved
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 2 slices turkey bacon, chopped (if you use pork bacon, which is recommended but my kids don’t eat pork, you can omit butter)
    • 1 onion, diced
    • 2 stalks celery, diced
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
    • 2 tablespoons flour
    • 1/4 cup dry sherry (preferably amontillado) + 2 tablespoons to finish
    • 3 cups vegetable broth
    • 1 pound potatoes, peeled and diced
    • 1/2 teaspoon thyme, roughly chopped
    • 2 bay leaves
    • 1/2 cup heavy cream
    • juice of half a lemon
    • chopped parsley, oyster crackers, and hot sauce for garnish
    In a pot, heat butter on medium heat and cook bacon until brown and crispy. Add onion, celery, salt and white pepper and cook, stirring, until onion begins turning golden. Lower heat and add flour, and cook, stirring, for several minutes. Turn heat up to high and add sherry, cooking and stirring until almost dry, then add vegetable broth, potatoes, thyme, bay leaves, and reserved clam juice. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes until potatoes are very tender and able to be easily smashed against the side of the pot with a spoon. Smash a few but leave some for texture. Stir in the heavy cream, lemon juice, and remaining 2 tablespoons sherry. Serve hot, with chopped parsley, oyster crackers and hot sauce.

    Check out previous horror confections from Witchy Kitchen here on Nightmare on Film Street, like Michael Myer’s Pumpkin Pie, Slender Man Creepypasta, and more!

  • Halloween Birthday Cake Milkshakes

    Halloween Birthday Cake Milkshakes

    This is a collaboration with Geeks Who Eat. Check out all their geeky recipes, including many inspired by horror!

    The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, based on the 2014 Archie Comics series of the same name, is coming to Netflix in just a few days and it looks positively spooktacular! It’s a darker, scarier Sabrina the Teenage Witch, but also seems to be keeping a lot of the same humor. Kiernan Shipka (who I adored in Mad Men) seems like the perfect pick for Sabrina Spellman, the half-witch half-mortal who has some choices to make on her sixteenth birthday, and I’m excited for Miranda Otto and Lucy Davis as Aunts Zelda and Hilda as well. It’s set in the 60s and has a very cool retro vibe (look at those dresses!), and takes place in the fictional town of Greendale, “where it always feels like Halloween.”

    Zoeya is pretty damn witchy.

    So here’s something chilling…Halloween Birthday Cake Milkshakes! The undercurrent of the show is pure soda shop, so a milkshake version of her birthday cake seemed fitting. But not just any birthday cake – this one is pumpkin spiced up so feels like Halloween. Now just imagine Sabrina and Harvey sipping one milkshake through two straws.

    Side note, I snobbishly thought I’d never buy a box cake mix ever again, but something this retro, fun and kitschy screams for it.

    Halloween Birthday Cake Milkshakes

    • 2 cups ice cream
    • 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1/2 cup yellow cake mix
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    • Hot fudge and Halloween sprinkles

    Combine ice cream, pumpkin puree, milk, cake mix, cinnamon and nutmeg in a blender. Drizzle hot fudge down the sides of two glasses (5 points for a nice pentagram), pour milkshakes and top with Halloween sprinkles.

  • Myers Lemon Pumpkin Pie

    Myers Lemon Pumpkin Pie

    ‘Tis the season! We’ve decked the halls with cobwebs and pumpkins, and are so ready for the final confrontation between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers in 2018’s Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green.

    John Carpenter’s original Halloween film (1978), is iconic. We get the fearsome, stalky villain that launched a thousand slashers, the original Scream Queen, goddess Jamie Lee Curtis, and the spooky synth soundtrack that became a genuine classic. The film is almost beyond reproach. Almost.

    The one problem…it doesn’t feel like Halloween at all! The houses are barely decorated, and a few half-hearted trick-or-treaters do not a proper Halloween make. Most of the lack of seasonal feel comes from the fact that though it’s set in the Midwest in October, it was filmed in Southern California in May. The film crew struggled to find pumpkins, used artificial fall leaves on streets lined with fully green trees, and every once in a while you even get a glimpse of a palm.

    Here’s hoping the new film is every bit as scary and trope-y as the first, but pumped up with pumpkin spice! To honor the original, we’re making a pumpkin pie – the official pie of Illinois (which also happens to include our fictional town of Haddonfield) – marbled with California citrus. And not just any citrus: Myers, I mean Meyer, lemons. Meyer lemons are sweeter and less sharp than your basic lemons, but they aren’t quite in season – so if you have trouble finding them, using a mixture of lemon and orange works as well. The pie has a very snappy gingersnap crust, which is unfussy and compliments the filling well. There’s also a ribbon of pomegranate molasses flowing through, a quite autumnal ingredient with a gorgeous color that I never miss a chance to use. It works particularly well here to evoke blood. Slice with a BIG SHARP KNIFE and serve!

    Myers Lemon Pumpkin Pie

    For the crust

    • 9 ounces gingersnap cookies
    • 3 tablespoons butter, melted

    Heat oven to 350°. In a food processor, blitz the cookies to crumbs, then add melted butter and pulse several times to combine. Press into a greased 9 inch glass pie plate, using the heel of your hand to flatten and gently spread it up the sides of the plate, and toast in the oven for 10 minutes until golden. Cool slightly before filling.

    For the pumpkin mixture

    • 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree
    • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
    • 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 stick butter, melted
    • 3 eggs, beaten
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 1/2 cup heavy cream
    • 1/4 cup flour

    Using a hand mixer or whisk, blend together pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, butter, eggs, vanilla, and heavy cream. Sift flour into the mixture and blend until combined.

    For the citrus cream cheese

    • 6 ounces cream cheese, softened
    • 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon zest (or a combination of lemon and orange zest)
    • 2 teaspoons Meyer lemon juice (or a combination of lemon and orange juice)
    • 1/4 cup sugar
    • 3 tablespoons heavy cream

    Using a hand mixture, blend all ingredients.

    To assemble

    • 2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (you can purchase this at a Middle Eastern grocer, or make it yourself by boiling down pomegranate juice to about a third of its volume and cooling)

    Pour pumpkin mixture into pie crust. Spoon cream cheese mixture over top and use a knife to marble it into the mixture. Drizzle pomegranate molasses on top and give it a last swirl with the knife before putting in the oven, at 350° for 50 minutes until just set.

    Allow to cool at least 3 hours and even better, overnight, before serving.

    First published on Nightmare on Film Street.

  • Gingerbread

    Gingerbread

    Bored now.

    If Buffy the Vampire Slayer is my one of my all time favorite TV shows (and it is; Buffy has gotten me through some dark times), then Willow Rosenberg is one of my all time favorite characters. Maybe because she’s the closest representations of myself I’ve ever seen in fiction: nerdy, quiet, sweet, smart, witchy – and more darkly: selfish, controlling, with an addictive personality. If this post seems a little me-centric, it is, and I will point out that that too is Willowesque.

    Gingerbread is not a great, or even that good, episode of Buffy, but it’s one that I remember fondly and think back to often. Maybe because it’s one of the first ones I ever saw, and one of the reasons I started watching the original run, but also because the combination of fairy tales, creepy kids, Willow character development, and a hilarious line by Cordelia about her mom confiscating all her black clothes and scented candles make it a really entertaining one, one close to my little black heart.

    Also it’s the one where Amy turns into a rat.

    Gingerbread

    Adapted from King Arthur Flour

    • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
    • 1 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1 tablespoon Witchy Autumn Spice Mix (or a mixture of spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, etc.)
    • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
    • 3/4 cup molasses
    • 1/4 cup honey
    • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
    • 1 egg
    • 1 cup buttermilk (or allow 1 cup milk with a 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sit for 10 minutes)
    • 1/4 cup water

    Heat oven to 350° and prepare a 9×9 baking pan.

    Whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Pour in the melted butter, molasses, and honey (you can combine the molasses and honey in a measuring cup and heat for 20 seconds in the microwave to make it pour easily) and stir gently into the flour until moistened. Add ginger, beaten egg, buttermilk and water and stir gently until evenly combined.

    Pour into baking dish and bake for about 35 minutes (start checking around 33) until cake is pulling away from the edge of the pan.

    Cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 23: BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER in which Carrie and Diana discuss the cult TV show with various vampy concoctions – Happy Meals on legs, textured blood, yummy sushi, foamy nectar, and some really bad puns. #TeamSpike #Spiffy

  • Turniphead Cawl

    Turniphead Cawl

    Howl’s Moving Castle is a 1986 fantasy novel by Diana Wynne Jones and subsequent 2004 Ghibli movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. It’s the tale of the young hatmaker Sophie who was cursed with old age, and escapes to Howl’s castle, a steampunk fortress home to several enchanting characters, careening across the countryside. They are tonally different, the book having that very matter-of-face Britishy voice and the movie being soft, strange and meandering, but both very charming and observant. They explore themes of destiny – and the movie dips into pacifism – and a refreshing take on old age, when a person can be at peace with themself and therefore truly free.

    When brainstorming a dish for Howl’s Moving Castle, I thought Welsh Cawl might be a nice choice – is the national dish of Wales from whence hails Howl, and although Sophie hates turnips she has somewhat affectionately named the stalky scarecrow Turniphead. I carved little faces into my turnips, so Halloweeny – keep Halloween in your heart all through the year.

    Recommended, do the meat and broth step the day before so it has time to cool and you can spoon off the fat.

    Turniphead Cawl

    • 1.5 pounds bone-in lamb shoulder, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
    • flavorless oil
    • salt & pepper
    • herbs (I used several sprigs of thyme and a sprig of rosemary)
    • 2 leeks, trimmed and sliced into half moons
    • 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced into half moons
    • 3 medium turnips, peeled, halved, and carved into faces
    • handful parsley finely chopped

    Salt and pepper the meat and heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium high in a large soup pot. Brown in two batches, then add 6 cups water and the rest of the meat into pot, stirring well to scrape up any brown bits. Add herbs, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for an hour.

    Cool completely in the fridge. Scrape off fat and discard. Strain the meat out to a plate, and strain the broth.

    In the soup pot, gently heat 2 teaspoons oil. Add leaks and carrots to the pot and gently stir to coat, cooking several minutes until wilted and soft. Add broth, meat, and turnips. Bring up to a simmer and simmer until turnips are soft and can be easily pierced with a paring knife, 10-15 minutes.

    Arrange in a bowl and serve hot, garnished with parsley.

    Recipe for Fiction Kitchen Episode 49: HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE in which Carrie and Diana discuss the novel by Diana Wynne Jones as well as the Ghibli movie – with fire demon-cooked bacon, luscious cream cakes, magical honey and questionable turnip heads.

  • Jamaican Banana Curry with Shrimp and Coconut Rice

    Jamaican Banana Curry with Shrimp and Coconut Rice

    Live people ignore the strange and unusual. I myself am strange and unusual.

    I’ve enjoyed the 1988 creepy comedy Beetlejuice since I was a kid, and was into the animated series too – so much so that I dressed up as Lydia one Halloween (as a spooky little kid I related to her quite a bit). It was a frightfully fun rewatch, full of snakes, ghosts, and shrimp, not to mention a Winona Ryder fix which I needed after Stranger Things.

    The scene where Recently Deceased Adam and Barbara possess the Deetz’s garish dinner party with the Banana Boat song – culminating in attack of the shrimp cocktail – is pretty delightful. It inspired this Jamaican-style banana curry, with shrimp of course.

    I’ve never met a curry I didn’t love. I consulted this Jamaican Curry Powder recipe for an authentic mix of spices. The result was a haunting balance of sweet, salty and spicy; with some simple coconut rice, it was to die for!

    Jamaican Banana Curry with Shrimp and Coconut Rice

    For the banana and shrimp curry

    • whole spices: 1/2 teaspoon coriander, 1/4 teaspoon each cumin, mustard, and fennel, pinch each fenugreek and allspice
    • 2 tablespoons butter, divided
    • 12 ounces shrimp, peeled and deveined
    • 2 green onions, whites and greens divided and sliced
    • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
    • 1 inch ginger, peeled and grated
    • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
    • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or you can leave out if you’re cooking for kids and add some sriracha later)
    • 2 large bananas, mashed
    • zest of 1 lime
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 cup water
    • lime wedges to serve

    On a dry pan, toast the whole spices until fragrant. Grind and set aside.

    In a wok or frying pan, heat the butter on medium high. Cook the shrimp until just pink (about 2 minutes) and remove to a plate.

    Heat another tablespoon butter. Stirring, cook the onions until softened, add the garlic and ginger and cook another minute or so, then add the ground spices plus the turmeric and cayenne if using and cook for another minute. Add the bananas, lime zest, and salt, and cook, stirring, until the mixture is very thick and golden. Add the water and mix well. When it is back up to heat, add the shrimp and cook gently until they are just heated through.

    Serve garnished with green onions, with a lime wedge and coconut rice.

    For the coconut rice

    • 2 cups short-grain rice, washed and soaked for at least 30 minutes
    • 1 cup coconut milk
    • 1 1/4 cups water
    • good pinch salt

    Combine rice, coconut milk, water and salt in a pot and cover. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat but keep covered, steaming for another 20 minutes.

    If you want a slightly more elaborate side, try this Hara Masala Coconut Rice.

    Beetlejuice fits perfectly into our month of Tim Burton-inspired recipes (see the darkly delicious #Burtoween link-up hosted here on Witchy Kitchen) and is also the movie of the month hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for Food ‘n Flix!

  • Roasted Tomato Soup with Sherry and Cream

    Roasted Tomato Soup with Sherry and Cream

    You are part of me now, and I cannot let you go. After awhile you will forget what you were, and you will begin to love me as I love you.

    The 1983 film The Hunger is a spooky chic take of a vampire story. The cast is amazing: French goddess Catherine Deneuve, the weird and wonderful David Bowie, and smart, sexy Susan Sarandon.

    hunger-poster

    I watched it after I became aware of the myriad references in American Horror Story. In Hotel, Lady Gaga and the other vampires are heavily influenced by The Hunger, from the ankhs to the slicing vs. biting kill technique to the use of Bahaus’s Bela Legosi’s Dead (which you can find on my ever-growing Spooky Shit Spotify Playlist). There’s a reference in Coven too, with Jessica Lang seeking youth from the scientist who does tests on monkeys, and probably even more that I’m not aware of because apparently Ryan Murphy is a huge fan and goes back to this well.

    I loved the movie for its stylishness, twist on the classic vampire lore, and of course the charismatic actors. The sexy AF aspect of vampires is not new but it’s well used here. It’s also quite enjoyable that in a movie about obsession with youth, the hottest scene is between two women who were in their late 30’s/early 40’s at the time (not old by any means, but ancient by Hollywood standards).

    Deneuve’s Miriam begins her seduction of Sarandan’s Sarah with a glass of sherry (another move echoed by Gaga in AHS), which makes an appearance in this sleek and velvety soup. Garlicky too, not a problem as these aren’t your average vampires. It’s an elegant starter for a dinner that ends in blood.

    Roasted Tomato Soup with Sherry and Cream

    • 1 pound roma tomatoes
    • 1 head garlic
    • olive oil
    • salt & pepper
    • 1/4 cup sherry
    • 4 cup chicken broth
    • 1/2 cup heavy cream
    • basil chiffonade for garnish

    Heat oven to 300° and line two baking sheets with parchment. Slice tomatoes to medium thickness, toss with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and lay on baking sheets in a single layer. Meanwhile, slice top off the head of garlic, wrap in foil, and drizzle with olive oil.

    Bake tomatoes and garlic, flipping tomatoes after 30 minutes, then again after another 30 minutes. Bake a final 30 minutes (1 1/2 hours total) until nice and roasty, checking that they don’t burn. Allow the roasted garlic to cool enough to handle, and squeeze out the cloves.

    Put tomatoes and garlic in a soup pot with the sherry, and cook until sherry is reduced. Add half the chicken broth, mix well, and cook for 20 minutes. Cool slightly and puree in a blender. Return to the soup pot (optional, for vampire-worthy soup do it through a mesh strainer), add the rest of the chicken broth and heat through. Check seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Add heavy cream and just heat through, serve hot garnished with basil.

  • Upside Down Eggos

    Upside Down Eggos

    Like most everyone else, I got completely swept up in Netflix’s Stranger Things – spooky shit painted with a layer of nostalgia? Yes please. I love the look and feel of the show, and on the homage vs. ripping-off debate, I am firmly in the former camp. The show stands on its own without all the references, but picking out the elements taken and remixed from all the 80s movies we loved is super fun! (Especially ET, one of my favorites as a kid, and The Thing which I saw for the first time just a few weeks ago). And yesssss, hit me with that sweet synth soundtrack.

    (Don’t worry, this will be spoiler free, either just general thoughts on the show, or just plot points from the first episode.)

    Winona Ryder as the frazzled single mother desperately trying to find her kid is fantastic, but my favorite performance is little Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven. Child actors are usually not great, but she beautifully conveys the fragile fear of a child, the strength of having strange powers, and the sweetness of making a new friend, all with limited dialog. She also loves Eggo waffles, which is both funny and sad as this mundane pleasure means so much to her after a life of being hooked up to wires and floating in isolation tanks.

    alb-eleven

    I love this beautiful watercolor by ALB

    Another thing I love about the show is the look of the Upside Down – the world that is a shadow of ours – darker, colder, scarier. The design is simple, but effective; it’s very dark, with these spooky snowflake particles swimming through the air, and everything is coated with this seaweedy, fungal slimy mesh.

    When brainstorming something to make, I thought about how Eleven’s beloved Eggos would appear in the Upside Down. Darker of course (these waffles are chocolate maple), and layered with my amateur attempt at maple spun sugar – it’s not the beautiful wisps of a professional, I purposely let it get lumpy and veiny and more Demagorgony!

    Upside Down Eggos

    For the waffles
    Adapted from Maple Chocolate Cake on Epicurious

    • 3/4 cup cake flour (all purpose flour is fine)
    • 5 tablespoons cocoa powder
    • 3/4 teaspoons baking soda
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/2 pure maple syrup
    • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
    • 1 egg
    • 1/2 cup canola oil
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 2 tablespoons melted butter
    • upside down spun sugar mesh (see below)
    • sweetened coconut flakes for garnish

    Heat waffle iron (if you don’t have a waffle iron, you can easily make these as pancakes).

    In one mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. In another, whisk together maple syrup, Greek yogurt, egg, canola oil, and vanilla extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until combined.

    Cook according to waffle iron instructions, and brush the tops with melted butter.

    For the gnarly spun sugar mesh
    Adapted from Food Network

    • 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
    • 1/4 cup maple syrup
    • 1/4 cup water

    Spread a sheet of baking parchment on the counter, and have a mixing bowl half filled with water and a fork handy.

    In a saucepan on medium high heat, heat the mixture, swirling only and not stirring (mine did get a little grainy as you can see in the picture, although it started off nice and clear), until it is 300° on a candy thermometer.

    Cool the saucepan by dipping it in the water bath until the mixture is 275° Dip the fork tines in the mixture, and quickly wave it back and forth (both vertically and horizontally) over the wax paper. Let it get a little lumpy to look more Upside Down-like. When it cools, gently lift from the paper (I used a metal spatula) and gently place pieces over your waffles.

    You can sprinkle a few coconut flakes for that artifact effect.

  • Imperius Pears

    Imperius Pears

    These Imperius Pears, poached in red wine and bathed in chocolate, are one of the unforgivable dishes. They cast a pleasant thrall over those who eat them; there’s a darkness tinged with spices, especially the unusual black pepper, but the chocolately sweetness is so dreamy that the eater doesn’t mind losing their will.

    Only the wizard with exceptional strength is able to resist – but why would they want to?

    Harry Potter Imperius Pears

    • 4 Bosc pears, almost ripe
    • 2 1/2 cups red wine (such as cabernet)
    • 3/4 cups sugar
    • 1 vanilla bean, split
    • 12 black pepper pods
    • 1/2 inch ginger, sliced into coins
    • 1 1/2 tablespoons cocoa
    • pinch salt

    Peel the pears and scoop out the core at the bottom with a spoon.

    In a small saucepan, heat wine, sugar, vanilla bean, black pepper pods, and ginger to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and submerge the pears two face up, two face down.

    Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, then flip pears and simmer another 20 minutes. Check to see that they are easily pierced by a fork but not falling apart. Remove to a plate.

    Strain the remaining wine mixture and return to the saucepan, add cocoa and salt, and bring to a boil. Lower heat slightly and simmer until mixture thickens, coating a spoon. Remove from heat and cool.

    Arrange pears on a plate and drizzle with the wine and chocolate reduction. Service with more on the side.

    potter-week-gold

    Submitted for PotterPowers day of Common Room’s PotterWeek – check out #PotterWeek around social media for tons of fun Harry Potter-related goodness!

    Mischief managed.

  • Frankenweenies

    Frankenweenies

    Frankenweenie is one of those spooky Tim Burton stop motion animation features that I adore. The story is simple and sweet, a young Victor Frankenstein who uses Science! to bring his beloved dog Sparky back from an untimely end. It’s stylishly black and white, and draws heavily from vintage monster movies.

    It takes place in the charming town of New Holland, where each of the school children are hilariously creepy in their own way – my favorite is the weird blond girl who has a pretty Victorian bedroom and makes divinations from her cat’s litter box (“you’ll dream of me one day, won’t you kitty??”)

    There’s a good bit of food in the movie, including Mr. Frankenstein using fondue to make a point about compromise – aka no one getting what they want – and Mrs. Frankenstein has a classic housewife thing going and spends a lot of time in the kitchen making waffles and cookies and other homey foods. There’s even an actual recipe from a cookbook for Double Dutch Cherry Cupcakes (the town’s Dutch Day Festival is a fall carnival) which of course I’ll try at some point. There’s some good carnival food too that proves useful – salty popcorn is surprisingly effective for defeating reanimated sea monkeys.

    What made me really fall in love with it was the ending. (Beware, spoilers for Frankenweenie). Whereas I thought it was going to be a bland story of dealing with loss, instead the message is about using all your power to hold on to what you love. Maybe not the healthier of the two messages? But definitely the more interesting.

    For this recipe I cobbled together a few ingredients, electrified it with some savory seasonings, and served it up hotdog style – it’s aliiiive!

    Frankenweenies

    • 1 pound ground beef
    • 1 pound ground chicken
    • 2 slices bread
    • 2 tablespoons melted butter
    • 4 cloves garlic, grated
    • 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and finely chopped
    • good palmful sage, finely chopped
    • 2 teaspoons salt (and an extra pinch)
    • fresh cracked pepper
    • oil for frying

    Blitz the bread into soft crumbs in a food processor. In a large bowl, combine breadcrumbs, melted butter, garlic, apple, sage, salt and pepper. Add beef and chicken and mix well.

    In a frying pan, heat a small amount of oil. Shape the meat mixture into long sausage shapes and fry in batches, rolling to brown on all sides, adding more oil as necessary. Drain on a paper towel.

    Serve on potato hotdog buns with lots of dijon mustard!

    I’ve been listening to a lot of Bloody Good Horror podcasts lately; they did NOT like this movie. It’s worth a listen though, because what they say about it is not wrong – they dislike the super dry humor, the too dark imagery, and the muddied end message. I liked it for all the reasons they didn’t; at one point they ask, “who is this movie for??” to which I answer “for me!” It’s not going to be everyone’s dog biscuit, but it hits all the quadrants (spooky, stylish, quirky and sweet) of the things I love.