Pages, Pucks and Pantry

Halloween - October 29, 2010

I know I'm usually against anything "cute" for Halloween but when it comes to food, I do make exceptions. Especially when you are trying to feed kids. These cute Breadstick Mummy Dogs from Picky Palate would be great to serve your little trick or treaters on Halloween. I also think giving your costumed little boy or girl some Ooozing Monster Apple Mouths (pictured below)  before stepping out for the big night would be a great way to curb their hunger and sweet tooth. And hey, I think some of us adults wouldn't mind eating both of these too,

Picky Palate is another blog that I follow regularly because the food and the photos speak to me. And if you like Pumpkin flavored food at all, you must check out her blog this month as she is posting the most mouthwatering pumpkin items ever. (Gooey Pumpkin Butterscotch Brownies anyone?)

You can find the recipes for Picky Palates Mummy Dogs and Apple Mouths here (along with recipes for Bug-apillar Banana Dude). Be sure to also check out her Fudgy Graveyard Brownies and Mummy Munch.  Go here for the Picky Palate blog.

I think next year I might devote the whole month of October to all the wonderful blogs and Halloween food recipes folks are posting!

Photos are property of the Picky Palate blog and are used here with permission

Halloween - October 28, 2010

It's always fun this time of year to check around the interwebs and see how many other folks are just as crazy as me about Halloween. You'll find many of your favorite food bloggers getting into the spirit of things by posting recipes for foods that go along perfectly with the Halloween holiday.

Not Quite Nigella doesn't live in the United States, she currently resides in Australia. And she didn't even make these Blood Clot and Brain Cupcakes for Halloween (Australia isn't as Halloween crazy as us). She made these for Friday the13th. Now how cool is that! When I came across these cupcakes last year, they made me stop dead in my tracks. Cuz if you're not careful, at first glance, they just look like some cupcakes with squiggly icing. It's when you look a bit closer you notice that icing forms a brain and once you bite into the cupcake?  Ahh, blood clots inside the brains. Perfect.

And even if they don't go crazy for my favorite holiday in her country, Not Quite Nigella does. You should see her all dressed up with her Vampire Cookie Pops! And check out her 2010 Halloween party with all sorts of wonderful decorations and food here. Flayed Skin Face, Bat Bon Bons and Bloody Brain Pannacotta? They can be found on her 2009 Halloween post here. A recipe for Slime Soup, Goblin Pies and Blood Clots and Pus? That can be found in a post about her 2008 Halloween party here. Wow, those are my kind of Halloween parties. The food looks amazing, folks are in costume, what's not to love!

These Blood Clot and Brain Cupcakes would go really well with the Bloody Brain Shots I posted the other day, don't you think? To find out how to make them go here.

And do check out Not Quite Nigellas blog for some amazing (and not scary) recipes, stories about traveling and some incredible food photography. She so makes me want to visit her country with all the enticing things she posts.

The above photo is property of the Not Quite Nigella blog and is used with permission.

Friday Food Fashion (and a cool blog)

If you don't understand what this t-shirt means, well...I won't try to explain it. You can find it for sale at A Table For Two's Etsy shop. Alas, it's out of Sydney Australia so I won't be able to get one soon (though that shouldn't stop anyone from maybe getting me one as a present). But it did lead me to a great blog: "A Table For Two". Amazing photography and some cool videos (I so want to make the pineapple tarts! The video makes it look easy). The recipes sound great, he posts reviews of places in the Sydney area (I'm making a list in case I ever make it to Australia), of places he travels and local events. But it's the photography that really just speaks to me. I mean really, take a look at his Dark Soy Pork Spareribs and tell me you don't want to eat that NOW!

You can find his Etsy shop here:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/atablefortwo

You can find his blog here:  http://www.atablefortwo.com.au/

Try not to drool.

IMAGE SOURCE

I've Been Adopted!

I've been adopted by the coolest food blogger. How did that happen? Well, the wonderful Kristen at Dine and Dish decided to have a blogger event. She paired newbie food bloggers (those that have been blogging for less than a year) with veteran food bloggers. When she was a new food blogger she was taken under the wing by some veteran bloggers and she wanted to return the favor.

I almost didn't send my name in to Dine and Dish, I mean, who the heck am I? Just some girl trying to learn to cook (a bit late in life) and trying to work her way through her...um...shall we say rather large stack of cookbooks? But I decided to sign up and then kinda forgot about it...until I heard from Kristen who said I'd been paired with veteran blogger Peabody of Culinary Concoctions by Peabody.

Talk about hitting the mother lode! You must go check out her blog. I have a sneaking suspicion we were paired because Peabody is a hockey fan. She has an affinity for the Calgary Flames (which works for me because of Owen).  We both have mothers who are cancer survivors, we both have, ahem, a few to many cookbooks.  Of course she hates summer and I hate winter so I think we'd work well together.

She states that what she wants to do with her blog is to inspire people to go to their kitchen and bake. Taking a look at her blog, that would be pretty easy to do. I thought I would spend a few minutes checking out the recipes on her blog and I ended up being occupied for days. This woman really makes me want to bake. She makes me want to put on an apron, surround myself with flour (throw out my scale) and spend the day in the kitchen baking concoctions like Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cake, Marshmallow Snowflake Cupcakes, Texas Big Hairs Lemon-Lime Meringue Tarts, Snickery Squares, or Pumpkin Cheesecake Towers (which, don't laugh, made me think of diving right into that stream of caramel).

It's not just the recipes, her food photography is amazing.  It really showcases the recipes and makes you want to try to recreate them.  Normally I keep a sheet of paper that lists all the food blog recipes I want to make. I had to get a separate notebook to record the recipes of Peabodys I want to try.

So go check out her blog here...you won't be disappointed. I can't thank Kristen enough for pairing me with such a great food blogger. And I dare you to check out the blog and not want to get into the kitchen to bake!

Spotlight On - Coconut and Lime

COCONUT AND LIME - I admit, I check out a lot of food blogs. It's a little vice I have. Some I check out because they post awesome looking recipes. Some have the most amazing food photography. Sometimes you find food blogs that combine both. Coconut and Lime is one of those. The recipes on her food blog are those she created herself. None of her recipes are so far out there (either in ingredient or technique) that I wouldn't want to try to make them. Her photos are especially good (sometimes she'll even post several as a 'how to' of the recipe). After every recipe she'll give you her thoughts (any tips or techniques that will help you with the recipe).

On her home page she has a list of "How To's" (How to Freeze Berries, How to Make Pizza Dough) which are great for reference. She also has a great index where you can search her recipes by category (Cupcakes, Pasta Sauce, Dips), by ingredient (have some Kiwi's left over? Search all her Kiwi recipes), by occasion (find out what to serve for Purim) and by cuisine (I want to try all the ones listed under Caribbean). And if you are looking for more than just recipes, she has a second blog called Food Maven where she posts her food related thoughts, tips and product finds. Be sure to check out her FAQ's where you'll find more about what she puts on her blog and a little about her as Coconut and Lime. 

There are so many of her recipes I want to make...Taste of The Tropics Oatmeal Cookies, Mango Avocado Burger, Hot Pepper Cornbread, Pasta with Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions...actually there are so many recipes I want to try I had to stop book-marking them, I just book-marked her entire site!

Go check out Coconut and Lime here.