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.
‘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.
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.
Day-in day-out Sally, #nevernotpoisoning, tries to poison the Evil Scientist using ingredients from her quaint little garden of deadly herbs. On this particular night, she uses her deadly nightshade masked by frog’s breath and worm’s wort.
My version swaps ingredients for each of these – instead of deadly nightshade, an edible nightshade (green pepper), seaweedy dashi for the most pleasant interpretation of frog’s breath, and mirin, a sweet alcohol for the worm’s wort (wormwood is sweet and the main ingredient of absinthe). For the gruesome green shade I added a little matcha.
What was originally a poisonous soup translated to a beautiful restorative broth. Sip on its own or use it to cook a lovely bowl of rice noodles and veggies!
Poisonous Soup
3 cups water
1 2×2 inch square kombu
1/2 a green pepper, cut into large chunks
1 pinch bonito flakes
1 teaspoon mirin
1 teaspoon matcha
Put water in a sauce pan and soak the kombu for at least 30 minutes. Add the green pepper and bring to a boil, then lower to a low simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add bonito flakes and let stand for 10 minutes.
Strain, and gently warm, stirring in mirin and matcha.
This dish was first posted for Fiction Kitchen Episode 47: THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS in which Carrie and Diana discuss the classic Tim Burton Halloween (or is it Christmas?) movie, and all the rotten goodies within. #NeverNotPoisoning
Boys and ghouls, it’s MAY MONSTER MADNESS hosted by Annie Walls. Find more bloodcurdling blogs with the links below!
Tis the season! I’ve decked the halls with pumpkins and cobwebs, and fall baking is in full swing. Here’s a deliciously fragrant witchy spice mix for all your fall treats, everything from gingerbread to roasted veggies to pumpkin spice lattes.
It’s nothing revolutionary, it’s like chai masala with different levels of spice (not that you couldn’t make a lovely chai with this), and like store-bought pumpkin pie spice only so much more lovely and piquant because the spices are fresh ground. I’ve made a nice batch which I’ve stored in a little jar in my spice cabinet, but it’s going so quickly I know I’ll need to make another batch before the holiday season is over – and this time make it a double!
Also, this wouldn’t be half as witchy without some magical correspondences, so if you’re curious:
Allspice: money, luck healing
Black pepper: protection, exorcism
Cardamom: lust, love (so you’ve got the sweet playful version with green cardamom and the smokey sexy one with black cardamom)
Cinnamon: spirituality, success, healing, power, psychic powers, lust, protection, love (so, pretty much everything)
Clove: protection, exorcism, love, money
Ginger: love, money, success, power
Star anise: psychic powers, luck
All the good stuff; if you’re looking for love, money, or just need a good old-fashioned exorcism, a batch of pumpkin bread may be just the thing. Happy baking!
Witchy Autumn Spice Mix
10 green cardamom pods
10 allspice berries
14 cloves
3 star anise
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tablespoon black pepper pods
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (about half a pod)
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
Lightly toast all spices except the ground nutmeg and ginger in a dry pan. Grind all spices in a spice grinder until very fine. You may need to crack the cinnamon sticks first, and then sift the spices once and grind the larger pieces again.
Stir in the ginger and nutmeg, and store in an airtight container. Will last indefinitely but spices will lose potency over time, so try to use within a month or two.
For the last several years, it’s been a tradition to make pumpkin quesadillas on Halloween – they’re easy, the kids love them, and they go great with Beetroot Chili (or any chili for that matter).
Pumpkin Quesadillas
4 oz cheddar cheese, or a mix of cheddar and jack, grated
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp garam masala (or a mix of cumin and cinnamon)
1/2 tsp paprika
good pinch cayenne
salt & pepper to taste
small corn tortillas
Heat a pan or griddle over medium high heat – I use my tawa 🙂
Combine cheese, pumpkin, and spices and mix well. Spread a smallish amount over a tortilla and top with another, cook on both sides, flipping, until toasty and brown. Allow to cool slightly then slice in quadrants, serve with salsa/sour cream/chili.
This month I’ve made a couple of traditional recipes associated with Samhain (namely Irish Boxty and Barm Brack), so here’s an English one for the mix. It has nine ingredients – hence the name – and is also played as a fortunetelling game, with a ring (symbol of marital happiness) hidden inside to be served to a lucky guest.
For the record, I got the ring, but Zoeya got upset so I re-hid it and she totally by chance got it and was really excited about it. Which is to say, usually in these situations I just tell her to get over it, but I think it’s ok to spoil your kids a little once in awhile to see them smile.
2 leeks, cleaned and chopped into thin slices, including some of the green tops
6 ounces farmhouse cheddar cheese, grated
salt & pepper
2 tablespoons cream (or half & half, which I always have around)
Heat oven to 350°.
In a big pot of salted water, bring the potatoes, carrots, turnip and parsnip together to a boil, and cook until soft. Mash them thoroughly (I think it’s supposed to be more uniform but I left it a little lumpy) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat the butter and saute the leeks for a few minutes until soft. Add to the potato mixture along with the cream and mix. Stir in the grated cheese – and the ring! – and spread in a baking dish. Bake until golden brown, about 30 to 45 minutes.
We ate this on Friday movie night while watching Frankenweenie.
When looking for Halloween appetizers that were not revolting, I came across these Italian recipes (although I was not prepared for the zombie I scrolled down to, that was a little revolting – made me jump!).
I made my version of the pumpkin and mozzarella bruschetta using burrata instead (which I guess is a little trendy right now but I just tried it and turns out it’s awesome, I also used it for my Vampire Slayer Pizza) and adding a dollop of harissa which adds a pretty pop of color as well as a little spice! They are simple and elegant and so easy to make that I’ll probably make it again when we have people over on Halloween.
Acorn Squash and Burrata Toasts
One acorn squash, halved and seeded
Olive oil
Sea salt & pepper
One whole wheat half baguette
1 clove garlic
4-6 oz burrata, sliced
few tablespoons harissa
Sliced green onions for garnish
Heat oven to 400°. Coat squash with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and roast until very fork tender but not falling apart (20-30 minutes or so? I timed about as well as I measured). Cool squash enough to handle, then slice and scoop out (they will be mushy slices but still keep a little shape).
Heat broiler. Slice baguette and place on a baking sheet. Rub with garlic and brush with olive oil. Broil until toasty. Put a slice of burrata and a slice of squash on top of each one, then return under broiler for just a minute or two until the cheese just starts to melt.
Remove, put a dollop of harissa on each one, and a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and green onions. Serve warmish but would be find room temp.
These are the perfect appetizer for your Halloween party – sweet and salty and devilish! And completely too easy to pop one after another as if possessed.
Devils on Horseback are normally a bacon-wrapped prune or date, but for those who don’t eat pork I had originally set out to make a vegetarian version. But then, as I was procuring dates from the halal market, I also happened upon “Applewood Smoked Breakfast Beef” which greatly amused me.
I also happened upon fig goat cheese, which sounded delightful. So this is my halal version of the devilish treat – two out of three ingredients were pure chance, almost as if they were set in my way by some angel or demon…
Devils on Horseback
24 dates
4 oz fig goat cheese (you can use goat cheese with a spoonful of fig preserves mixed in, or just plain as I had originally intended)
12 strips Applewood Smoked Breakfast Beef, thawed (or bacon if you must)
Heat oven to 500°
Pit the dates and replace each with a spoonful of the goat cheese. Slice the “bacon” strips in half, width-wise, and wrap half a slice around each of the dates, and place on a foil-lined baking sheet.
Roast for 15 minutes or so, flipping once with tongs, until crispy. Remove to a paper-towel for a few minutes (these are admittedly pretty greasy, but then what did you expect? Devils!), then serve warm.
For a creepy, devilish tale to listen to as you are cooking (or munching), check out the latest podcast episode New World Witchery Special Episode – The Last Dance.
Barm brack is an Irish sweet bread studded with dried fruits and candied peel. Though traditionally made with sultanas, I changed it up with dried figs and ginger, one of my favorite combos. It’s a Halloween tradition to eat it and play a fortune-telling game for the coming year based on little trinkets wrapped in muslin cloth baked into the bread.
A pea: no marriage for you this year
A stick: even worse, an unhappy marriage, or continual disputes
A cloth or rag: rotten luck, poor poor poor
….hmm so far not sure I want to play this game…but then!
A coin: good fortune, riches!
A ring: marriage! This year!
(Thanks again my favorite academic source Wikipedia)
I am not even going to bother linking to the recipe I worked from because the liquid to flour measurements were way off! (At least for me). I had to add almost double the flour the recipe called for before it would come together in a dough…however, through some unexplained wacky kitchen witchcraft the end result was madly marvelous!
So because of this, apologies for the flour measurements, but if you add a little at a time you can’t go wrong. This was fantastic, so I will definitely make this again and try to close the margin a little.
Fig and Ginger Barm Brack
1 packet (.32 oz) rapid rise yeast
3/4 cup warm water
4 tbsp sugar, divided
3-4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 tsp salt
4 tbsp (half stick) butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
4 oz dried figs, chopped
2 oz candied ginger, chopped
In a small bowl, combine yeast, warm water and 1 tbsp of the sugar and let stand for 10 minutes or so (after which time it should be foamy – if not, use new yeast).
Meanwhile, whisk together 3 cups of the flour, remaining 3 tbsp sugar and the salt, then stir in butter and eggs (does not need to be homogenous). Add fruit and the yeast mixture, stirring and adding more flour little by little, just enough until a dough forms (will be a little sticky).
Turn out onto a floured board (or your counter) and knead for 10 minutes, adding sprinkles of flour as needed as it gets too sticky to handle. Roll into a ball and place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Put in a warm spot to rise for one hour.
After an hour, lightly oil 9×5 loaf pan. Knead the dough for a few minutes and spread the dough into the loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise for 30 minutes.
Bake at 400° for 30 minutes – near the end if it starts getting too brown on top you can cover with foil and finish baking.
Cool in the pan.
Have with tea, sliced, toasted, slathered with butter and sprinkled with sea salt.
