Homespun

October 24, 2001

Spooky Treats for Little "Monsters

Many of us are opting to have our children attend Halloween parties and other events rather than the traditional door to door Trick or Treat. There are many community events that you may choose from.

Making special "treats" for your goblins this year can be simple or complicated, but always fun for everyone. The following are a few of the more complicated ideas, but the results are "thrillers"! Have a happy and safe Halloween!

JELL-O EYEBALLS

These squishable treats look (and feel) like real eyeballs! Prepare yellow Jello gelatin according to package directions. Pour the mix into ice cube trays with rounded bottoms and refrigerate for 30 to 45 minutes. Then press a blueberry down into each cube, so that it touches the bottom of the tray. Continue refrigerating for at least 1½ hours, or until ready to serve the "eyes".

JACK-O'-LANTERN FRUIT SALAD

This Halloween, carve jack-o'-lanterns out of oranges instead of pumpkins. Fill them with fruit salad, and serve as snack, appetizer, or dessert.

Ingredients:

Assorted Fruit, such as melon, strawberries, apples and kiwis

Oranges (1 per person)

Mint leaves

Chop the assorted fruits and mix them in a large bowl (you will need about ½ cup per orange). To carve a pumpkin cup, slice off the top of an orange (as you would a jack-o'-lantern). Using a knife to loosen the edges, scoop out the inside of the orange with a spoon. Toss the juice in with the fruit. Carve a small face in each orange. Fill the orange with the fruit salad and replace its top. As a finishing touch, garnish each top with mint leaves for stems.

FROZEN WITCHES

Throw a fiendish party the neighborhood kids will never forget. They'll screech with delight over these bewitched desserts. For best results, assemble ahead of time and freeze.

Ingredients:

Tube of chocolate decorating gel

8 chocolate sugar cones

8 thin, round chocolate wafers

1 pint pistachio ice cream

Black shoestring licorice

Chocolate chips

Candy corn

To avoid witch meltdowns, make these desserts in batches of four. For each witch hat, squeeze a ring of the decorating gel around the edge of a cone and attach the cone to a chocolate wafer "rim", then set it aside. Using an ice-cream scoop, drop "heads" of the ice cream onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Arrange cut licorice pieces into hair and a mouth. Add chocolate chip eyes and a candy corn nose. Top each ice-cream head with a cone hat (flatten the ice cream slightly so that the hat doesn't fall off). Freeze for at least 2 hours, or until the hats are set in place.

This page created by Margie Yarnell, Extension Secretary/Webmaster.
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