Zombie Pretzel Cookies

It's time for a super cute and fun ZOMBIE cookie using Rold Gold Pretzel Thins! I made these fun pretzel dipped cookies despite my last promise to NEVER, EVER MAKE ANYTHING WITH THOSE DREADFUL CANDY MELTS! However...my competitive nature lured me back to give it another go.  I just could not let those confectionery buggers get the best of me. 
This is a terrific recipe for the "melting chocolate challenged" folks, like me because they don't have to be perfect! They're Zombies! They're supposed to look cock-eyed and a little disheveled. My kids loved them, said they tasted like Mother's Circus Animal Cookies! That's a win in my book!...not that I'm keeping score or anything.


Castellon's Kitchen-1(Yay!)   Candy Melts-2

Zombie Pretzel Cookies 

(Makes 12)

12 Rold Gold Pretzels, Pretzel Thins

1/2 bag of light green candy melts plus 3 chips of black to darken the green to a moldy hue

black melting chocolate

red melting chocolate

white melting chocolate

24 candy eyeballs

Chocolate jimmies

Prepare the Zombie Eyes:
From the pack of Candy eyeballs, pick out the misshaped candy eyeballs and some that are off-center. Pair these wonky ones with the small perfect eyeballs. Mixing the big and the small eyeballs will make for great zombie eyes. Set aside.
Now, place 10 or so black candy melts chips in a small zippered sandwich bag and melt in microwave for one minute at half power. Knead until melted.  Cut small hole into a corner of the plastic bag. On a separate piece of parchment paper, Squeeze out small dots of black chocolate and then place a candy eyeball onto the black chocolate. Refrigerate until set.

 

Prepare Zombie Teeth:
Melt two white chocolate chips on a piece of parchment for about 20 seconds in the microwave. Using a butter knife, smooth out the chocolate into a thin coating. Let harden. Using a sharp knife, cut white chocolate into small irregular squares. These will be the zombie teeth. It's okay if they break or look jagged, that adds to the zombie feel of the cookies. Plus you can now proudly state that they're supposed to look like that and not worry that you've done them wrong. We'll call it dramatic license. :)

Prepare Zombie Dipping Chocolate:

Prepare the moldy green chocolate by heating 1/2 bag of light green chips plus 3 chips of black in a small bowl, according to package directions. Add 1/2 T of shortening if you need to thin the chocolate out a bit. 
Once thoroughly melted, drop pretzels in one at a time and use a fork lift it out of the chocolate. Gently tap the fork on the side of the bowl to shake off extra chocolate. 


Place chocolate covered pretzel on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining pretzels. 
While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle tops of pretzels with chocolate jimmies to create the zombie hair. 

Next, place your Zombie eyes into the wet chocolate. Don't worry if your chocolate covered pretzel has hardened, simply scoop a tablespoon of your moldy green chocolate from your bowl into a zippered sandwich bag and melt in microwave. Dot a small amount of the green chocolate on the pretzel and place the zombie eyes. Ta-Dah!

Zombie Mouth:

Place 10-12 chips of red melting chocolate into a zippered sandwich bag and melt for about 30 seconds at half power. Knead until melted, heating as necessary. Cut a small corner of the bag and pipe a small line of red chocolate to make the mouth. Using a toothpick, place 3-5 zombie teeth into the red chocolate. Again, if they look goofy and caddiwampus...Dramatic license! Just repeat these words as you place the teeth..."BRAINS!...I NEED BRAINS!"

Get your kiddos into the Halloween spirit and make mobs of these undead cookies! Enjoy! Happy Halloween!

Guacamoldy Mousse

Today is my 46th birthday and I got to spend most of the day by myself which is exactly what I needed. My kids were at school, husband at work and I effectively shrugged off all unnecessary obligations, much to the dismay of some of my friends that were anxious to do something with me last weekend and today. Last year, I celebrated my "Half way to 90" birthday by renting a limo with my girlfriends where we painted the town with wine and vodka sodas, like we were in our twenties again. It was tons of fun. But this year, not so much. These last few months have been tough ones for me and to be honest, I just didn't feel like celebrating my birthday. I don't have it in me to fake it and be social because inside I just feel sad. Next week, I fly out to Texas to bury my father who passed away in July. His last wish was to be buried near his parents in Texas, so next week my brother and sisters will finally lay him to rest. Maybe it's not just sadness that I feel, I guess I also feel guilty because I've been so busy with getting through all the daily things in life that I haven't spent any time, since his memorial, grieving for my father. I feel numb like I'm just moving through obligation to obligation. Not happy, not upset, but just automatically taking care of the task at hand, with little outward feelings about it. But inwardly, I have lots of feelings...like "I hate doing this" "Why am I having to take care of all these things?" and "I just want to be left alone".
As next weekend approaches, I feel anxious and sad. Next weekend makes it final because buring him next to his parents is the last bit of help my father will need from me. He won't need my help anymore and since I've spend the greater part of the last 15 years caring for him in some way each week, I find myself feeling the gravity and finality of losing him. ...I love you Daddy. 

I realize that this was not the best introduction for this recipe..This is just what I wanted to write about today...

Guacamoldy Mousse

1  large avocado
1 -8oz. package cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 c. fresh cilantro, loosely packed
1/2 cup Serrano chile 
juice of 2 limes
1 t. salt (to taste)
2 t. cumin
1 t. onion powder
1 t. garlic powder
red chile flakes (to taste)
1 cup cold water, divided
2-1/4oz. envelopes unflavored gelatin


Tape up openings of Halloween Mask like this...

Spray inside of taped mask with cooking spray.Set aside.

Combine avocado, cream cheese, cilantro, chiles and lime juice in a food processor and puree until smooth. Add cumin, salt, onion and garlic powders and red chile flakes until desired spiciness and set aside. 
(Note: I made this recipe spicy so adjust amount of chile to your preference. Reduce the amount of Serrano chiles and/or omit the red chile flakes if milder spice is desired.)
 
In a small bowl, add 1/2 cup of the water and the two envelopes of gelatin and stir. Heat the other 1/2 cup of water in the microwave until boiling, about 1-2 minutes. Add the boiling water into bowl of gelatin and stir until fully dissolved.
With the food processor on high, add the gelatin to the food processor insert to slowly incorporate the gelatin to the avocado/cheese mixture. Continue to puree on high until all the gelatin has drained out of the insert. 

Taste your mousse and add more salt or seasonings as needed.
 
Pour the mixture into the prepared mask mold and cover with plastic wrap. refrigerate for 2 hours or until mixture is set. To serve, invert mask onto a platter. The mask is not rigid so it's easy to coax the mousse out with a little squeeze of the mask. For more rigid molds, place bottom of the mold in hot water for about 30 seconds and then invert on your serving plate.
Serve with tortilla chips. 

Other Halloween-inspired appetizers to try:
Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte                     Spiderweb Eggs                            Amputated Appetizer

Black Magic Spellcakes (Black Velvet Cheesecake)

I'm ready for shorter days and cooler weather. I'm ready for fall. I'm ready for brisk morning walks and coming home to delcious smells of simmering Crockpots. I'm ready for jeans and boots and sweaters. I'm ready for cold nights and extra blankets, scented candles and cinnamon coffee. I want comfort foods and Halloween...

Ahh yes, Halloween. The only holiday where I can dress up and pretend to be someone else for one glorious night....or one glorious month if I do it right.:) I want to decorate with headstones, orange lights and spiderwebs. I want to carve pumpkins, and eat creepy Halloween inspired foods while sipping on bubbling drinks. I want to eat Halloween candy for dessert...or even better, these super rich and decadent Black Velvet Cheesecakes! 
The perfect mini cheesecake that is easy to prepare and oh so yummy! Make them for your next Halloween gathering. They're the perfect finale to a dark and festive Halloween meal of, Spiderweb Eggs, Love at First Bite Linguini and Fangtinis. Enjoy!
 

 

Black Magic Spellcakes

Makes 12


1- 8 oz. package plus 4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, melted
2 T milk or cream
1 t. black gel food coloring
black sugar granules

Crust
1-2 cups Chocolate Oreos, finely crumbled 
1 T butter, melted


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Line muffin tin with paper baking cups. 

Beat cream cheese and sugar in a medium bowl until fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs one at a time. Set aside.
Place Chocolate chips and milk in a double boiler and heat until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool for 2 minutes or so. 
Slowly add melted chocolate to cream cheese batter and beat until incorporated. Add black gel food coloring until you get a deep black batter. 

Place Oreo cookies in a food processor and pulse until you get fine crumbs. Add melted butter and process again until incorporated. 

Line cupcake pan with baking cups and add about 1-2 Tablespoons of Oreo Cookie crumbs to the bottom of each baking cup. (I used a small cookie scoop) With the back of a small spoon, press and smooth out the crumbs so that it forms a packed crust that lines the bottom of the cupcake liner. Fill each of the baking cups three-fourths full with chocolate cream cheese mixture. 
Bake for 15 minutes. Cool for 20 minutes and then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 
Once cooled, remove paper wrappers and dip the cheesecakes in black sugar sprinkles. Enjoy!

Other Halloween-inspired dishes to try:
Black Velvet Creme Cakes            Candy Corn Peppermint Patties            Candy Corn Sugar Cookies        

Love at First Bite Linguini

I love to read just about anything, but my favorite guilty pleasure is reading Vampire books! Give me a good vampire book and I'm a happy woman. For this dish, I drew my inspiration from my love of vampire books. I asked myself, "What are vampires known for besides living off of blood?" 
Answers:
1. Vampires are creatures of the night, darkness made manifest, right? 
So I decided to make some inky, black-as-night, pasta to set the stage...or the plate, in this case.

2. Vampires are powerful and strong and magical. 
So I decided to make the pasta spicy, but with layers of spice. A bold strong spice from the red chile flakes and the subtle but magical flavor from preparing the pasta in chile infused water.

3. Vampires are repelled by garlic. 
So of course I added a boat load of garlic to this dish to repel those blood suckers. Roasting the garlic mellows it out so it doesn't burn our mere human taste buds. 

4. Even Vampires like cheese. ...it's true. It's written somewhere. 
So, I topped off the whole thing with generous amounts of Parmesan cheese. So there you have it...Vampire inspired Pasta!   

Now...what do I call this wonderful dish? 

Initially, I named this garlicky and spicy pasta, Death by Garlic but my husband suggested, Love at First Bite Linguini playing up the vampire inspiration by naming it after the 1979 movie, Love at First Bite. It was the perfect name for this dish.
If your not old enough to remember this movie, it's a comedy starring Susan Saint James and George Hamilton. George Hamilton plays Dracula who moves to New York where he falls in love with a supermodel played by Susan St. James that he wants to make his vampire bride. It's absolutely hilarious and of course George Hamilton is perfect as Dracula. 

Spend the evening at home, make this cool dish and watch Love at First Bite.  Enjoy!

 (Picture above) This pasta would be perfect for a vampire themed dinner party where you can set your place settings like this. I used vampire teeth as napkin rings and scattered a few bulbs of garlic around.

Love at First Bite Linguini 
Serves 6

1 lb linguini
12 cloves of garlic
4-6 hot chiles, (I used Serrano chiles)
2 cups water + more for boiling pasta
salt
1/2 t. Black gel food coloring 

6 heads roasted garlic
Parmesan cheese
olive oil
salt and red pepper flakes
parsley (for garnish)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 
You will want to roast the six bulbs of garlic first so they have time to cool. Cut the top off of each bulb and then lightly drizzle olive oil over the cut tops. Wrap bulbs in foil or place bulbs in a shallow roasting dish and cover with foil. Roast in 425 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 

Prepare the Pasta water:
Add chiles and 12 garlic cloves to a food processor and pulse until well chopped. Add 2 cups of water to the processor to further chop up the vegetables. Add this mixture to your well-salted pot of water. Bring the salted water with garlic and chiles to a boil. Boil water for 20-25 minutes to infuse the garlic and chile flavor into your water. Add black gel food coloring to water and mix well, boil for a little longer to make sure the food coloring is dissolved. Turn off heat, get a new pot of similar size along with a fine mesh strainer over the top of the pot. Transfer the chile garlic water into the new pot while straining out the garlic and chiles from the water. Discard the chiles and garlic. 

Place the strained pot of water back on the stove and bring it back to a boil. Add linguini and cook according to package directions. Strain the pasta, do not rinse and make sure to reserve 1 cup of black pasta water. 
Place pasta in a large bowl and add olive oil, some of the reserved pasta water (you may or may not need the whole cup, add enough to flavor the pasta and keep the noodles from sticking as you add the olive oil) and chili flakes. Mix well. 
Taste and add salt as needed. Serve pasta on plates. Top each plate of pasta with one whole bulb of roasted garlic. Squeeze roasted garlic cloves out of each bulb and top generously with a little more olive oil, Parmesan cheese and additional red chile flakes. Garnish with minced Italian parsley. Enjoy!

 Other Halloween recipes to try:
  Black Bean Hummus                          Roasted Fingers and Toes                    Fangtini

Autumn Rainbow Salad

If you don't already know...I adore Halloween! It's my favorite holiday and I plan all year for it;dreaming up fun food and decorating ideas.  It's trial and error really. Not all my ideas are good ones. In fact, this week I had to concede defeat to Candy Melts and Chocolate. I spent the whole day in the kitchen wrestling with chocolate that wouldn't melt properly and those dreadful candy melts. I told my husband if I ever attempt a recipe that calls for Candy Melts, just remind me of this day AND the last time I used candy melts for a Halloween blog. *Sigh*

Castellon's Kitchen-0   Candy Melts-2

Anyway, there's no need to dwell on the past, let's look at this gorgeous salad. I was inspired to make this Autumn Rainbow Salad when I saw this salad on Pinterest. I loved that the carrots were carved into little jack-o-lanterns along with the potatoes that looked like little ghosts.  Super cute idea! Admittedly, I tried to cut my carrots into the cute little jack-o-lanterns...see? But I wasn't too happy with the way they came out. This one here is the best one. Anyway, I scrapped the idea to make jack-o-lanterns out of them and opted to just keep them as pumpkins. Still cute, but much more versatile. My salad could now be made for Halloween, Thanksgiving or just a simple fall meal with a cute little detail to keep it festive. I topped this salad with Green Goddess Dressing because I like the creaminess with all these crunchy veggies, but feel free to use your favorite dressing. In fact, I used a vinaigrette with leftover salad and it was super yummy too! Enjoy! 

Autumn Rainbow Salad 
(Serves 8)

3 cups of mixed red/green lettuces
1 1/2 cups red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, sliced
1 cups orange cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 cup blueberries
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled 

Prepare all veggies. Layer serving platter with red/green lettuces. Top lettuces with vegetables in a rainbow pattern finishing each end with crumbled feta cheese. Top with your favorite dressing! 


Green Goddess Dressing
2 cups mayonnaise
1/2 ripe avocado, mashed
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup olive oil
3 T white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 t. fresh tarragon, chopped (1 t dried tarragon)
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a blender. Store in air tight container and refrigerate until use. Shake well before serving.



How to: Pumpkin shaped carrots

First, cut about a two inch slice off your carrot. I worked in small increments because it was easier to work with smaller sections of carrot when you cut out the stem portion. 
Cut along the length of the carrot only cutting about a quarter inch deep. Then, cut 45 degrees from the first cut to notch out a quarter round piece of carrot. Make another cut about 1/4 inch from the first cut and opposite the notched out side. This will be the stem of the pumpkin. Repeat the notching on the other side of your latest cut.

After notching out both sides of your first cut it should look like this. A roughly shaped pumpkin.

Use a paring knife to trim away the sharp corners and round out the pumpkin shape. Ta-Da! Pumpkins. Now cut the carrots into many pumpkins.

Other Halloween recipes to try:
Ghoulish Goat Cheese Torte            Midnight Sushi w/Wasabi Skulls         Pickled Shrunken Heads