Halloween Party Time!

In early October Jack begged me to have a halloween party and being one who loves putting a party together I said “of course!” and then as October 31st approached I was like ehhhhhhhhh. And then a couple days before Halloween my friends were like, “hey, didn’t you say you were having a Halloween party? We were planning on coming!” and so then I pulled a party together in two days.

A few of these snack ideas I’d had pinned for close to a decade, so it was fun to finally make them! I have appx 20 ghost bananas leftover so I think banana bread and banana smoothies are in my future, lol. I still can’t get over how cute the tangerine/celery pumpkins are. I think pretty much all of these snacks are over on my Autumn Pinterest board so if you want those details head over there!

DIY Coffin Charcuterie board

I was perusing halloween decor at Target and spotted a coffin shaped charcuterie board and immediately got the bug to make one for myself. Could I have bought it at target? Sure, but why buy something for 25 bucks when you can spend a week making one with scrap wood you have in your garage?

I had some nice Birch plywood leftover from a previous project sitting in my garage, so I started by cutting that into the shape of a coffin using my circular saw. The shape of a cofffin is just an elongated hexagon, and I sketched out one side of it till the shape felt right, then reflected that to the other side so that it was a symmetrical shape. The overall dimensions are shown below so you can replicate the exact measurements if you’d like. The size felt pretty ideal for a charcuterie board, but you could always make it smaller or bigger if you’re making your own!

Once It was cut out I gave it a quick sand, then finished it with edge banding. I wasn’t originally going to do this (I was planning to just paint the whole thing, but I need to test the edge banding out for another project, and it actually ended up making it look very nice and finished).

I then used my router to create little rounded channels as handles. I had planned on using some drawer pulls to make handles, but when I realized that the grain on one side made a very spooky looking face, I didn’t want the handle to get in the way of the spooky face, so I ended up using my router and a round bit to create the groove “handles”

I had planned on painting in black, but with the discovery of the face in the wood grain I pivoted and instead stained that side ebony so the spooky face remained. I painted the underside black, that way I could have it black or stained- best of both worlds. Since this isn’t something like a bowl, or something that knives will be used on, I finished it with Lacquer. Based on what I could find online, for this application that sounded like a fine food-safe finish once it’s dried and cured. (it’s also what I had on hand). But if you’re concerned about food safety, do you own research on what feels like the safest finish for you.

Once it was all dry and finished, it was time to load her up with tasty things! This is, of course, up to your own taste. You can make it a sweet-things board, a savory things board, whatever the heck you fancy. Since it’s a coffin shape, I made a simple skeleton shape out of the food (though I’ve see this done with a little plastic skeleton surrounded by the food, which is also super cute).

I filled my charcuterie board with:

Brie (cut into the shape of a skull)
Goat Cheese (sliced into a “spine”)
Candied Mango slices
Pear Slices
Blueberries
Blackberries
Figs
Meringue Cookies
Yogurt covered pretzels
Crackers
Pistachios
Salami
Prociutto
Tiny White pumpkins

There you go! If you don’t feel like tackling the DIY project, but still want to do a charcuterie board like this, there are a bunch of fun coffin-shaped boards out there like these ones on Etsy, or these ones on Amazon.

How to make edible paint with Everclear

Let’s be honest, parties are all about being a little EXTRA.
There are tons of occasions for making pretty desserts so I wanted to figure out a way to make something super fun that would stand out from the crowd when it’s sitting on the table, so I decided to make a brushstroke cake! Did you know you can make edible PAINT with Everclear and food coloring? Amazing right?

To make edible paint that you can brush on with a regular paintbrush, all you need to do is put a few drops of food coloring into a small bowl, and then pour in a bit of Everclear (use more for a more “watercolor-y” look, then dip your brush into your mixture and paint directly onto your frosting (in my case I used fondant icing).

The Everclear evaporates, leaving the food coloring behind! Since Everclear doesn’t leave behind any odor, color, or flavor, it’s the perfect medium to make your edible paint. It was a perfect technique for my brushstroke painted cake.

I love how many different ways you could utilize this technique: making a watercolor cake, an ombre cake, painting iced sugar cookies, or even painting a scene! Please enjoy responsibly.

dubliner apricot scones

luffy, sweet, and savory scones.  Breakfast of champions.  Or carb-lovers.  You pick.  I've only made scones once or twice before, but every time I do I think, "Damn, I should do this more often."  I try to keep my breakfasts more healthy, but it can definitely be nice to just grab a scone, toast it up, slather on some butter and jam and shove it in my mouth.  In the interest of healthy eating I had planned on bringing most of these to work and letting my coworkers have at them, but alas, Dan and I annihilated them.

When it comes to breakfast pastries, I like the intersection of savory and sweet.  I wanted to try making a scone that had a balance of sweet and savory, and I remembered how amazing the baked brie with apricot was that I made a couple years ago, so I decided to pair cheese and apricot again for these babies.  I'd say that it was a great success.  If anything, if I made them again I'd add more cheese and more apricot.  ALL OF THE THINGS.  

INGREDIENTS (Yield: 8 scones):

2-1/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1-1/2 sticks Cold Unsalted Kerrygold Butter

1/2 cup Whole Milk

2 whole Eggs

1/4 heaping cup diced Dried Apricot

1/2 cup grated Kerrygold Dubliner Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet.

1/  Combine the two eggs and the 1/2 cup of milk in a small bowl or measuring cup and keep cold in the fridge.

2/  In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Drop in the cold butter and using a pastry cutter (or two knives), cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse, wet sand.

3/  Add the egg/milk mixture, apricots, and Dubliner into the flour mixture and stir just until combined.

4/  Lightly flour a clean surface and drop the dough down on to the floured surface and knead into a ball. Use your hands to flatten the dough out to an inch thick. Use a knife and cut the dough into eighths and place onto the prepared pan.

5/  Bake the scones for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden, rotate the pan halfway through baking. Remove the scones immediately to a wire rack and let cool.

Serve warm (with butter and jam!) and enjoy!

8 Favorite Summer Recipes

Summer is all about backyard barbecues and fresh fruits, and summer recipes are some of my favorites.  With fall approaching I'm sure I'll start to crave baked things and soups again, but I'm still craving the fresh tastes of summer cuisine.   

I've been wanting to try some new summer inspired recipes lately, but here are some of my favorite recipes from the past perfect for the sunny, long days of summer!

above: Taco Salad with Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Sweet Potato Steak Tacos

Peach Huckleberry Rustic Tart

Peach Bruschetta

Peach Strawberry Basil Pie

Street Corn

Salmon With Peach Salsa

Classic Macaroni Salad