A CLIPCANTEEN HALLOWEEN!

Get in a macabre mood...its HALLOWEEN again! My good friends Gary & Wendy Leach are off to Chicago tomorrow, reminds me of being there myself for Halloween 2009...

The Yanks do Halloween the best...The windy city had a carnival atmosphere, everyone dressed up, even a few traffic cops! Halloween deals & promotions in the stores, blood coloured fountains...luv it! (& I know Gary & Wendy do too!) Another Hallows eve I spent in Salem Massachusetts- witch killing, leafy, colonial town...dark rain clouds, chilly winds whipping up the coppery leaves, pumpkin lanterns outside severe Puritan houses, witch museums, witch houses...even a statue of Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) from Bewitched!...You would swear this was where Halloween was invented!
This year Halloween is the first day back at school after half term..the diabolical dinner ladies & myself will be around the cauldron cooking up some tricky treats for the kids....Heres what they're having....

CAULDRON OF TOADSTOOL SOUP

BLOOD THIRSTY BURGERS

TWISTED FRIES

CHEESE & TOMATO SPOOKGETTI with

BAT BREATH BREAD

JINXED JACKET POTATOES with

BOO! BBQ BEANS

RASP-BURIED SLICE with WHIPPED SCREAM

GINGERBREAD GHOSTS

CREEPY CUPCAKES

FATAL FLAPJACK

Hope the boys & ghouls enjoy goblin it down...especially the fatal flapjack...he he!..only joking!



Easy peasy recipe 10 mins max prep time...versions for veggies & meaties...uses up that Halloween pumpkin....also its malicious delicious...

Cut up some wedges of pumpkin or butternut squash (remove any seeds or stringy bits).

FOR MEAT EATERS: Finely chop some pancetta or streaky smoked bacon,

chop some garlic add rubbed sage (or fresh sage) & creme fraiche.

FOR VEGETARIANS: Crumbled feta cheese, chopped garlic, dried oregano mixed with creme fraiche.

Divide the mix between the pumpkin wedges, finely grate parmesan over the top & a few twists of black pepper- bake in a medium oven until done (40ish mins)

Serve with an unadorned green veg- tenderstem broccoli, steamed kale or savoy cabbage. YUM...Talking of yummy....

''MAY I BORROW A CUP OF CYANIDE?''

Frighteningly fantastic American cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams specialised in black humour & the macabre, born in New Jersey in 1912, died in New York City in 1988, he invented the Addams family (Morticia Addams & Grandmama above), & was a big fan of food & cooking...the cartoon above from my copy of 'Chas Addams Half-Baked Cookbook' (Simon & Schuster 2005).

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A HELLISHLY BAD HALLOWEEN! TRICK OR TREAT!

ILLUSTRATIONS - Copyright 1964  Darrin Stephens @ McMann & Tate  Madison Ave. New York. NY.