Some Food for Halloween Weekend

Halloween is not a big celebration here in Australia but this year it falls over the Melbourne Cup (very) long weekend, which is four days for us this year.  My daughter has a friend in her class from Chicago and she has become infected with the Halloween spirit and is desperate to go trick or treating on Halloween Eve (tonight).  I suspect this will involve us driving hopefully not too aimlessly around looking for houses with balloons.   

Anyway, we have done lots of cooking.   

If I did not have this largely random blog I think I would have a blog called Things on Toast, or possibly, and more depressingly, Demolished Houses of Melbourne.    Whilst they might seem like very specific topics, I don't actually think I would run out of posts for either!  

My current favourite thing on toast is avocado.  Not just any avocado. It must be perfectly ripe (to be honest anything other makes me feel physically ill) and cut into chunks and gently mixed with Greek feta chunks, chopped coriander, olive oil, lemon juice and salt.   And served on thick bread.  Complete and utter Thing on Toast heaven.

How can so much greenery not be good for you?

How great are these tiny skull biscuits?   Quite scary I think,   I found some Halloween cookie cutters in that Vortex of 20$ redcurrant jelly: Essential Ingredient.    The children have hysterics every time they eat them. 

Less successfully the kit contained a black cat and bat shapes.  Which is pretty apt because my Small Spiderman son has morphed into Small Batboy.  I had to buy him another costume so I could peel off and then wash the Spiderman one. 

I even managed to find a not-too-garish balloon or two.  I love this because it looks a bit like the spiders are trapped inside.  Which is on any view the best place for them. 

I have trouble persuading my daughter to eat breakfast.  Not surprising really when you learn she doesn't like eggs, butter, milk on cereal, 99% of the cereals available and porridge, fruit unless its wet and cold and most kinds of bread for toast.    But what she does like, which I found out accidentally when they were giving little cups of it away in the supermarket, is granola.    

Nigella Lawson's Feast has a wonderful granola recipe.  This one is the chocolate (ie cocoa) and peanut one.  I made a huge batch this morning and too my surprise it is exceptionally good.

In keeping with the creepy theme we then made chocolate cupcakes with black icing and little tombstone cats:

And finally, something grown up:  a roasted pumpkin, pine nut, raisin and rocket salad which we ate for lunch today with some roast lamb. 

Now for the dressing up...

Tweet

Pin It