Halloween house party Make October 31 a spooky night, with these kid-friendly meals and treats: Spooky Pasta: Stir-fried vegetables combined with pasta and frozen cooked meatballs make for a quick dinner. For fun, you can pretend that the curly pasta looks likes worms and meatballs look like eyeballs. Boo burgers and chili: For a quick-and-easy Halloween supper, carve jack-o’-lantern faces into slices of orange Cheddar cheese. Top patties with the “pumpkin” cheese slices and broil until just melted for delicious Halloween burgers. For another easy meal the kids will love, top individual bowls of chili with a spooky slice of cheese cut into a witch, black cat, pumpkin or ghost shape. Creepy cakes: Finish a caramel-apple flavoured Scary Spider Cake (recipe follows) with a super-easy “spider” decoration crafted with a gumdrop and black licorice. Wormy apples (recipe follows): For a fun Halloween party treat, stuff apples with granola and chocolate chips before baking. Before serving decorate with a gummy worm. Scary Spider Cake (Caramel Apple Cake) Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you. It’s really just a one-layer cake with diced apple and toffee bits, an icing and an easy decoration. Without the decoration, it’s still a great cake. Preparation Time: 15 minutesBaking Time: 45 minutesServes 8 Cake:2 cups (500 mL) all-purpose flour1 cup (250 mL) granulated sugar2 tsp (10 mL) baking powder1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground nutmeg1/2 cup (125 mL) unsweetened apple juice or milk1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, softened2 Ontario Eggs2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla1-1/2 cups (375 mL) diced peeled Ontario Apples (2 small)1/2 cup (125 mL) toffee bits Caramel Icing:1/4 cup (50 mL) butter1/2 cup (125 mL) packed dark brown sugar2 tbsp (25 mL) milk1-1/2 cups (375 mL) sifted icing sugar White Icing for Spider Web:1/2 cup (125 mL) sifted icing sugar1 to 2 tsp (5 to 10 mL) milk Spider Decoration:Black gumdrop and thin black licorice laces Line bottom of 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan with parchment paper; grease side of pan. Set aside. In large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg. Add juice, butter, eggs and vanilla; beat with electric hand-mixer on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds until smooth (batter will be thick). Fold in apples and toffee bits; scrape into prepared pan. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean and top is golden. Let cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Release pan side and let cool completely on wire rack. In small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar; increase heat and cook until bubbly. Remove from heat. Add milk; beat until smooth. Gradually add icing sugar, whisking until spreading consistency. Immediately spread over cake top and side, working quickly to create smooth surface. Stir icing sugar with just enough milk to make piping consistency. Spoon into piping bag or small resealable plastic bag and cut 1 corner off bag to make hole. Pipe 4 or 5 concentric circles on top of cake. Immediately draw 8 lines with knife from centre of cake to edge at regular intervals to create spider web. Place black gumdrop on cake top. Arrange 8 licorice laces as spider legs radiating from body. If not serving immediately, cover and keep at room temperature. Nutritional Information:1 ServingPROTEIN: 5 gramsFAT: 23 gramsCARBOHYDRATE: 109 gramsCALORIES: 651 Wormy Apples For a Halloween treat, stuff apples with granola and chocolate chips before baking. Before serving, top with a Gummy Worm. Idared, Cortland or Northern Spy are good choices for baked apples because they hold their shape. Baking time will vary with different types of apples. Preparation Time: 10 minutesBaking Time: 40 minutesServes 6 6 Ontario Baking Apples, Idared, Cortland or Northern Spy1/2 cup (125 mL) granola1/4 cup (50 mL) chocolate chips1/4 tsp (1 mL) cinnamon2 tbsp (25 mL) butter1 cup (250 mL) apple juice6 Gummy Worms Remove cores from apples, leaving bottoms intact. Combine granola, chocolate chips and cinnamon. Cut butter into small pieces and work into mixture with fingers until combined; stuff into apples. Place in baking dish just large enough to hold apples; pour in apple juice. Bake, uncovered, in 350°F (180°C) oven until apples are tender when pierced, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes. Tuck one end of each Gummy Worm into filling in each apple, leaving most of the worm dangling out. Serve warm. Nutritional Information:1 ServingPROTEIN: 2 gramsFAT: 9 gramsCARBOHYDRATE: 39 gramsCALORIES: 240 – Printed with permission from Foodland Ontario
Halloween house party
