EASY-BAKE COVEN: INJUN CORN By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, and welcome to The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween!  This here is Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin, postin to you through this here blog.  Us will be bringin you all kinds of things and first one thing and then another, so be sure you are keepin up with us.  Today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven, and bringin you a recipe for Injun Corn.  It ain't actual Injun, but that is all right.

A lot of folks make them crispy rice cereal treats around Halloween, what is crispy rice cereal and butter and marshmallows all mixed up together.  This here is somethin like that, but it uses that peanut butter and chocolate puffed-up cereal, and it put me to mind of what Sam the scarecrow who lives down the hollow from us in Witchhazel is doin with popcorn, which is growin ears of popcorn what's already popped, and some of em even got butter.  Don't ask me how he does it cause I don't know, but anyway, this is somethin that's pretty good for your young ones at Halloween.  Harriet specially liked it cause she loves peanut butter and chocolate.

What's In It:
1/4 cup of butter or margarine (for pers'nal preference, I like butter best, and it's about half a stick)
1 package (10 1/2 ounces) mini-marshmallows
Some yellow food coloring (I like that gel colorin, cause it gives better color and don't have no funny taste)
8 cups of peanut butter and chocolate puffed corn cereal
1 cup candy-coated chocolate pieces (like M&Ms), divided in half
10 lollipop sticks (you can find this at craft stores and such)
Some tan and green raffia (this here is at the craft store too)

What You Got To Do:
Line up a large bakin sheet with waxed paper and set it aside.  You won't be bakin nothin, but you'll need this to set the corn on, and the wax paper will keep it from stickin to the sheet.

Melt up your butter in a cauldron or a big heavy saucepan over low heat on the stove.  Add your marshmallows to it and stir it up till it's all melted and smooth.  Tint this with your food colorin until you get the shade of yellow you want, and then add your cereal and 1/2 cup of your chocolate pieces.  Stir this all up until it's evenly coated, then take it off the heat.

Butter or grease up your hands and divide this mixture up into 10 oblong pieces.  You got to work quick afore it cools down too much.  Stick a lolly stick about halfway into each piece, and then shape em up like ears of corn.  Place em on your bakin sheet and press the rest of your chocolate pieces into each ear.  Let em set a while, then tie or tape the raffia to the lolly sticks so it looks like a corn husk.  If you want some variation in the chocolate part, you can use the ones that's got peanuts* in em (I like those), and they is makin a lot of other kinds now, such as ones that got pretzel bits or crispy rice bits in em.  Just do as you like.

And that's it.  I shall be bringin you some more recipes as we are goin along, and I hope you try some of em and have some fun with em.  Come back round for what we shall be doin next with The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween, and blessings be on you!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade 

*SPECIAL NOTE: Some little ones has got peanut allergies, so if you are thinkin of makin these for a young ones' party, ask round the other mamas afore you do them.  We don't want nobody goin to the hospital on Halloween.  Unless it's an old abandoned hospital what used to be a mental asylum and someone's throwin a party there.  Course, that might be somethin else altogether.  --P.N.

EASY BAKE COVEN: HARVEST MOON STEW By Punkin Nightshade

Punkin's Easy-Bake Coven

Howdy there!  This here is Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin, and welcome to this year’s MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween.  Today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven, which will be givin you some recipes and such that you can try at home for the season. 

Most mamas out there will be wantin to give their young’uns a good supper on Halloween night before everbody goes out for tricks and treats, so they won’t fill up on all that candy and everythin.  Also, some of you who is throwin Halloween parties might want a good meal to serve your guests, so I am startin off with a recipe for y’all that is a crackerjack.  This is called Harvest Moon Stew, and it’ll fill you up and keep the cold out on a chilly fall evenin.

What You Need:

Harvest Moon Stew

2 frozen chicken breasts what has been took off the bone or ain’t got no bone, and what has been skinned (deboned, boneless or skinless)

1 can of rotel tomatoes

1 can of kernel corn, with the juice (undrained)

1 can of black beans, with the juice (undrained)

1 block of cream cheese (1 16-ounce box or two 8-ounce boxes)

1 packet of dry Ranch dip mix (use your favorite)

1 teaspoon of chili powder

1 tablespoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of onion powder or bottled onion juice

What You Got To Do:

This here is cooked up in a crock pot, which is a contraption what works a lot like a witch’s kettle except it’s got electricity so you ain’t got to build a fire under it, and it’s a lot easier to carry around.  Start by layerin all the ingredients in the order we listed them in the crockpot, set the dial to High and let it cook for about six hours.  You can cut back your time a little if you’re usin thawed-out chicken, and as everythin starts breakin down, give it a stir now and again durin the cookin time.  This makes a real good smell when it’s cookin.

When the time is up, take the chicken out (lettin all the good stuff on it drip back in the pot) and shred it up.  Put it all back in the pot, stir it up together good, and then serve it over cooked rice or noodles.  If you’re servin this at a party you better make up a lot and stand back cause there’s goin to be a run on it.

And that is all there is to it, and my ain’t it a simple one to be startin with.  If you’re used to cookin in a crock pot you might think you ain’t done much of a much the first time you try it, but it’s a mighty good chew that tastes like you spent forever and a day on it.  Y’all be sure you come back for our next postin in The MonsterGrrls’ Thir13en For Halloween, cause we’re startin up early this year and you know it’s always first one thing and then another with us when Halloween time rolls around.  Blessings be on you!

Sincerely,

Petronella “Punkin” Nightshade

MAD DOCTOR’S NOTE:  The MonsterGrrls give special thanks to Paul Brown, who shared this recipe with us.

EASY-BAKE COVEN: PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES By Punkin Nightshade

Well, hey there, and Happy Halloween to y'all! This is Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin, and we done got round to The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween again. I will be bringin you some more recipes what's good for the Halloween season and such, and I shall also be doin some more of that talkin to Halloween folks like we been doin before. But today, I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven.
This here recipe come to us by way of Mistress Rebecca Bishop out of Oxford, MS, and I swan that they don't get no simpler than this. You'd have to walk a midnight mile on bad road through half of Witchhazel Swamp afore you'd find somethin easier. I'm thinkin you should make a whole mess of them, though, cause everbody loves them Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and these do go fast if you put em out at a Halloween party.

What You Need:
A big roll of that refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough (you can get this at airy grocer's, or that Wal-Mart or Target, what they call them "big box" stores, even though I ain't seen no big boxes for sale in any of them)
A whole bunch of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (You can find them sold in a pack in the same establishments what I just mentioned, most times.)
One of the tiny muffin tins what makes tiny muffins, or airy old cookie sheet

What You Got To Do:
Warm up your oven to 350 degrees. Open up that refrigerated dough and divide it up into small portions for as many as you wish to make. Put one portion (flatten it out to fit) into each part of the muffin tin. Bake these up for 9 minutes. While they are bakin, start unwrappin the peanut butter cups, and have them ready.

When you take the cookies out the oven, pop a peanut butter cup on top of each cookie first thing. The cup will melt up a little bit cause of the hot cookie, which is just fine. Set them aside to cool completely, then put them out on the table and stand back so's you don't get run over. Make sure you have set aside some for you, cause you won't get none if you don't. I reckon you should use the little bite-size peanut butter cups with the ones in the muffin tin and the big ones for them what's on the cookie sheet.

Now as I said, this here recipe was about makin everthing easy, cause if you celebrate Halloween like we do round here then you are probly some kind of busy. But there is folks what has got a bee in their bonnet about that refrigerated cookie dough, so here is a peanut butter cookie recipe from Mistress Claudia White what's in Greenwood, MS, what ought to work fine for you if you is one of them fussy cooks.

What You Need:
1/2 cup of butter, softened (one stick)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup plain white granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar (pack this down good)
1 egg
1 1/4 cup self-rising flour (if all you have is plain flour, add 3/4 teaspoon baking soda, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and mix it in good)

What You Got To Do:Warm up your oven to 375 degrees. Mix the butter, peanut butter, the sugars and the egg with thoroughty. Blend in your flour until it makes up a dough, cover it and chill it in the refrigerator for a bit. Then start doin the same old thing with the muffin tin and such, but make sure you grease the tin or sheet lightly first. Bake these for 10 to 12 minutes or until they're set up but not hard, then pull them out and pop on your peanut butter cups, and take the same precautions what I told you afore.

So that there ought to satisfy everbody, and these cookies will sure satisfy your party guests. I am goin now, but be sure you come on back for what we are doin next for The MonsterGrrls' Thir13en For Halloween, cause we has got every sort of ruckus planned up and it shall be a crackerjack. Blessings be on you and yours this Halloween season!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

EASY-BAKE COVEN: HALLOWEEN PARTY BREWS By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, we're gettin down to the wire now! Welcome back to The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and for them what does not know me I am Petronella Nightshade, what am Punkin to my friends. This here is our last Easy-Bake Coven recipe, and I thought I should give a couple recipes today on some things to drink for a Halloween party--punches and such. Everyone will be preparin to either go to a Halloween party or preparin to give one, so these here is nice for special beverages and so forth.

First up is a nice punch called Bloody Blast, what would be good to serve up if you are havin a vampire-themed party. I know this is good cause Bethany liked it and she don't like nothin.

What's In It:
3 12-ounce cans tomato or vegetable juice (our Mad Doctor sure likes that V-8)
2 tablespoons of Worchestershire sauce (which is pronounced "Wooster-shire" even though it's spelt different)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon hot sauce
Celery sticks and pimento-stuffed olives (optional)
What You Got To Do:
Combine everythin except the celery sticks and the pimento olives together in a pitcher and stir it up real good, then chill it in your icebox for an hour before your party. Pour it up into ice-filled glasses and garnish them with celery sticks and the pimento olives for "eyes," which is all optional since young ones should not be pretendin that they all down the pub and such, but it is all right for adults. Bethany herself said that she ain't never had no eyes with her blood, but the olives is right tasty with this. This here serves six but doubles right quick.
Next one up is called Boo Brew, and this has some cloves in it for spicin it up like pumpkin pie and such. This here is a heated drink, which is good if you are livin in a place where the fall comes in early and it gets a little chilly round Halloween time.

What's In It:
8 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
5 cups of white grape juice
16 whole cloves
2 small unpeeled oranges, cut up
2 unpeeled lemons, cut up
Multi-colored candy sticks (optional)

What You Got To Do:
Put everythin but the candy sticks in a 4- or 5-quart kettle or Dutch oven (I am sayin kettle cause that is what us witches would use) and bring it all to the boil on a high heat. Turn the fire down and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Strain this mixture through a sieve (or one of them wire-mesh strainers) into a 4- or 5-quart slow cooker set to warm or low heat, and throw out the cloves and the fruit. Serve this in cups with a candy stick for a garnish. It is also good to stir this around in your brew--right tasty. This here will serve 24 folks. If you cannot find the cranberry-raspberry juice I am sure it will be just fine to substitute your favorite cranberry mixed juice. White grape juice is the kind what's made from seedless green grapes.

Now this last one is almost an ice-cream dessert, called Crypt Coolers, and will be nice for them what has been runnin around trick-or-treatin and chasin each other and wants to cool off.

What's In It:
2 cups vanilla ice cream
2 cups of orange sherbet
2 cups orange juice (get a real nice kind in the carton, not the canned concentrate)
5 drops of yellow food coloring
5 drops of red food coloring
1 cup of lemon-lime soda (such as Sprite or 7-Up, or that Sierra Mist)

What You Got To Do:
Now for this one, a blender is handy. Combine your ice cream, sherbet, juice and food colorings in the blender (makin sure to put on the top or you will have a mess all over the kitchen) and process until it's smooth. Add the soda and process it again until it's just blended, then serve it up quick before it melts.

This here will make you 5 cups' worth, but any of these recipes can be doubled, tripled, and so on to make as much as you need for your guests. If you like, you can make them all and then everbody will have some of what they like best, and can try somethin they ain't tried before, which is a good thing to my mind.

And that's it. I have sure had a lot of fun bringin you all these recipes, and am hopin that all of you have a right fine time this Halloween season. I am also hopin, if you ain't never tried to cook before, that you have learnt a little somethin and maybe feel like you can spread your wings some and get you some more confidence in the kitchen. It don't take nothin but time, and if you make a mess, why, you just clean it up, dust off and start again, cause every mistake will teach you somethin, and no one should be scairt to learn somethin new cause that is how we get a right smart. Blessings be on you and yours!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

EASY-BAKE COVEN: HOT DOG MUMMIES By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this here is Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin, doin another Easy-Bake Coven. Folks is allus worried about safety on Halloween, and one notion of safety I have seen is that before you take your young one trick or treatin, you ought to have a nice dinner beforehand so's they shan't fill up on Halloween candy. This here recipe is called Hot Dog Mummies, and is fairly easy to do. Our Mad Doctor likes sausages better'n hot dogs, so I reckon this could be done with sausages too if you pre-cook them a bit.

What's In It:
1 can of refrigerated breadsticks (like Pillsbury brand, or some such)
1 dozen hot dogs (or sausages and so forth--precook your sausages a bit)
Cooking spray
Mustard and ketchup

What You Got To Do:
Heat up your oven to 375 degrees. Bust open that tube thing that the breadsticks come in and separate all the breadsticks, hen with a knife or a kitchen scissors, cut each breadstick in half and then cut the pieces into two strips. This here will be your wrappin for the mummies. Each breadstick ought to make 4 pieces, with a total of 48 pieces all round.

Wrap 4 pieces round each hot dog so it looks like bandages, and stretch them a little bit so it covers them good. About half an inch from one end on each hot dog, separate the "bandages" so the hot dog meat shows through to make a face on. Place your wrapped-up mummy-dogs on an ungreased large cookie sheet, then spray them lightly with the cookin spray.

Bake these for 13 to 17 minutes until the dough is light golden brown and the hot dogs are heated up. With your mustard and ketchup, draw some eyes on the "face" of each mummy-dog.

And that's it. I hope you have a happy Halloween and do not fill up on too much candy or nothin, and wish many blessings on you yours for the season. See you tomorrow for more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and y'all start gettin ready cause it shan't be long now.

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

POST-MORTEM: If you are livin at a high altitude (say 3500-6500 feet up) bake these for 15 to 19 minutes so they shall be good and done. --P.N.

EASY-BAKE COVEN: HALLOWEEN LAYERED FUDGE by Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this here is Petronella Nightshade, but everbody calls me Punkin, and I am speakin to you through this here computer blog for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven, and this here is a real easy fudge recipe that you can do with one of them microwave machines, and it's just right for Halloween cause it's that layered fudge, with Halloween colors. Besides, I don't know nobody that don't like chocolate at Halloween.

What's In It:
1 teaspoon butter
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk, divided
8 ounces white candy coating
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
2 to 4 drops orange paste food coloring

What You Got To Do:
Line up an 8-inch square pan with foil and butter it (so's the fudge won't stick) and hold aside.

In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up your chocolate chips and one cup of the milk on high for 30 seconds, then stir it together real good. Repeat this until it's real smooth, then pour it in the pan and chill it up in your icebox (or refrigerator*) for 10 minutes.

While that's chillin up, in another microwavable bowl, melt up the candy coatin with what's left of the milk. Stir in the orange extract and food colorin and spread it over your chocolate layer, then chill it in the icebox for one hour or until it's firmed up. Use the foil to pull the fudge out the pan, and cut it up into 1-inch squares, and that's all there is to it. You can make up a bunch of this and tie it up in treat bags for Halloween, too.

So I hope you are havin fun with all these recipes and such, cause postin recipes ain't somethin we have tried before, but of course it is no harm to try somethin new and be different now and again. I shall see you soon for our next postin on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and many blessings be on you!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

MAD DOCTOR'S NOTE: When Punkin refers to an 'icebox' she means a refrigerator, as this is how most witches refer to such a device. Just clarifying. --M.D.

EASY-BAKE COVEN: MORTALS' CHOW By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this is Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin, and welcome back to the Easy-Bake Coven what's here on The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I am bringin to you a recipe called Mortals' Chow, what's awful popular here in Morlock Heights, and it'll probly be popular amongst all of you too cause this recipe is completely human-safe and humans can actually eat it. Us witches and other monsterkind like servin this as a snack round Halloween and at Solstice Festival too.

What's In It:
1 cup of butter or margarine (just for pref'rence, I like butter best)
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
18 cups of dry cereal (such as a mixup of them wheat, corn and rice squares, or that Cheerios oat cereal)
2 cups of nuts (cashews, peanuts, walnuts, pecans, or any mixed-up nuts)
6 cups of powdered sugar
1 cup miniature marshmallows

What You Got To Do:
Melt up your butter and chocolate chips in a heavy saucepan on low heat (so's it won't burn, mind) and cook and stir it till it's all smooth.

Put your cereal and nuts in a big bowl, then pour the chocolate mixture over it and mix it up till it's all coated up real good with the chocolate. Then sprinkle in your powdered sugar, 2 cups at a time, and keep mixin it up till it's all coated up real good. Then add your marshmallows and serve it up to your comp'ny.

And that's it. Now since all monsters (or humans) has not got a sweet tooth, it's real easy to make up a savory version of Mortals' Chow, and here 'tis:

Instead of meltin the butter and chocolate, just melt up the butter, but spike it real good with cajun seasonin, or some onion and garlic powders (but no garlic if you are Invitin vampires round), or whatever's your favorite spice mix, and maybe put in a little of that Worchestershire sauce. Don't add no powdered sugar, and instead of the marshmallows, add in a cup of pretzel sticks, pretzel pieces (the plain kind), bagel chips, or oyster crackers, or maybe all of them things, and mix it all up real good. Now I'll tell you, this'n will go real real fast at your Halloween party, whether savory or sweet, and it's also right nice for little treat bags since it makes so much.

So there y'all are, and may blessings be on you and yours this Halloween. Y'all come back tomorrow for The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and I shall see you then!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

EASY-BAKE COVEN: GARGOYLE TONGUES By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all. This is Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin, speakin to you through this computer blog, and today I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven. It's come to my noticin that folks like finger foods at Halloween parties, but Halloween parties for humans ain't the same as some of the ones in Morlock Heights, where you might be served real lady fingers instead of them little cake things. So I got up with our Mad Doctor, and asked him about finger foods what humans was likely to eat. Well, Mad Doc likes salsa and tortilla chips, and I swan he'll eat him a bait of them ever time he gets a chance, so I got to dabblin in the kitchen and come up with today's recipe, called Gargoyle Tongues. This here is real, real simple and don't take no time.

What's In It:4 soft corn or flour tortillas (or more if you are servin a lot of folk)
1/2 teaspoon of chili powder (or cajun seasonin, or cumin, or whatever is your favorite kind of hot spice)
1 cup finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (again, use more if you are servin a lot of folk)
1/8 cup chopped black olives
3 tablespoons salsa

What You Got To Do:Preheat the oven up to 450 degrees.

Sprinkle your hot spice evenly over your tortillas and rub it to coat them, then cut them into 4 wedges each.

Coat up a bakin sheet with some cookin spray and arrange your wedges on it, then sprinkle them with the cheese and olives. Bake them about 4 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, then top them off with a little bit of the salsa in the center (about 1/2 teaspoon per wedge). Serve these up on a servin tray or large platter.

Now of course these ain't real gargoyle tongues, as humans would not want to eat somethin made out of stone and bust up all their teeth, but they are right tasty. This here makes about sixteen Tongues, but it can be doubled up or even tripled up to make as many of them as you want.

So I am done here, and hope you are all enjoyin The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween. I shall be back soon with more cookin and such, and may blessings be on you and yours!

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

EASY-BAKE COVEN: GRAVEYARD BROWNIES By Punkin Nightshade

Hey, y'all, this here's Petronella Nightshade, but most everbody calls me Punkin, and today I am presentin the Easy-Bake Coven for our 31 Days Of Halloween. Today I was thinkin that brownies would be a nice treat for a Halloween party, and so this here is Graveyard Brownies, which uses a basic brownie recipe but has got a little bit of a Halloween feel to it. This is also a homemade brownie recipe, but of course some folks has not got time to do homemade as everythin nowadays is all fast-paced and whatnot, so I reckon this will work just as fine with your favorite brownie mix if you are pressed for time. Just be sure you follow the package directions.

What's In It:
12 Vienna Fingers Cookies (or other similarly shaped oval cookies)
5 eggs
2 sticks of softened unsalted butter
8 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: tubes of decorating frosting and gel, green cake frosting, crushed chocolate cookie crumbs

What You Got To Do:Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and grease up a 9x13-inch pan. Combine the chocolate and butter in a double boiler and heat it over simmerin water till it’s all melted. Take it off the heat and hold aside.

Beat your eggs and sugar together with an electric mixer at high speed for 10 minutes. Turn your speed down to low and add in the chocolate-butter mix and the vanilla, and blend it all together. Add the flour and salt and mix till everythin is all combined.

Pour the batter into the greased pan and bake it up for 30-35 minutes, or until the edges are dry but the center is still soft.

Now here’s what you need the cookies for: they are goin to be the gravestones. When you take the pan out of the oven, press the Vienna Fingers into the brownies so that they stand up like little gravestones. Space them out evenly, mind, so that when you cut the brownies up for servin, each piece will have one gravestone cookie. Let them cool for 20 minutes before you cut and serve them. If you are feelin artistic and such you can use tubes of decoratin frostin or gel to write R.I.P. on the cookies before stickin them in the brownies, or put some green frostin and chocolate cookie crumbs (for grave dirt) on top of the brownies to make them look more graveyardish.

So I am done here, and hope you all enjoy this recipe from the Easy-Bake Coven. Don’t forget to serve these with tall glasses of cold milk, and I shall see you all next time for the 31 Days Of Halloween cause I am goin to have me a Graveyard Brownie right now. Blessings be on all of you this Halloween!

Sincerely, Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade

EASY-BAKE COVEN: PUMPKIN DIP By Punkin Nightshade

Well, Happy Halloween, y'all, and welcome to the 2009 Edition of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween! My name's Petronella Nightshade, what am called Punkin by my friends, and since you's all friends you shall know me so. Me and the other Grrls and Mr. John what's our Mad Doctor was all talkin about what we was goin to do for this year's 31 Days, and I allowed as how I thought we ought to do some cookin.

Us witches is privy to plenty arcane knowledge and whatnot, but one thing what makes any witch worth her broom is her cookin. And somethin I was noticin was that there's a whole lot of witchly folk out there what is showin folks how to do good eats real quick and simple, such as that Martha Stewart, who I swan is an Elder Witch in somebody's coven if ever I seen one, and that Paula Deen, who reminds me a lot of the witch what runs the pastry shop round WitchHazel Township. So with cookin bein a magic all its own and bein taught to folks again, I am doin the Easy-Bake Coven, which will show y'all some treats you can make for Halloween parties, coven meetins, friendly gatherins, and all kind of merry socializin.

First thing I'm showin is this Pumpkin Dip, what turns up at a lot of the Mad Doctor's Halloween parties. It's real quick to do and right good eatin with gingersnaps and apple slices as accomp'niment, and is one of them recipes what don't take no time to make but makes folks think you spent a whole lot of time on it.

What's In It:
2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, softened
1 box of powdered sugar, sifted
1 can of pumpkin
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger (or 3 teaspoons apple pie spice)
1/2 teaspoon (or more) ground cloves
Dash of nutmeg
I teaspoon vanilla flavoring

What You Got To Do:Cream together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. (For them that don't know cookin, 'cream' means to blend it all up till it's real smooth and creamy.)
Stir in the pumpkin and all the flavorins, makin sure to stir them all in smooth. Then chill it in the icebox (or refrigerator) till it's time for your gatherin. You can serve this in a pretty bowl with your apple slices and gingersnaps arranged round it real fancy. Graham crackers is good with it too.

So I am done here, and blessings be on you and yours for this Halloween season. We'll be back tomorrow with more of The MonsterGrrls' 31 Days Of Halloween, and I shall be back soon with another recipe from the Easy-Bake Coven if I am not doin somethin else.

Sincerely,
Petronella "Punkin" Nightshade
POST-MORTEM: I am sayin thanks muchly to Mistress Sandi Wheatley, who shared this recipe with us for the 31 Days Of Halloween. Y'all enjoy! --P.N.

EASY-BAKE COVEN By Punkin Nightshade: ZOMBIE COOKIES

Hey, y'all! My name is Petronella Nightshade, but everbody calls me Punkin, and I am speakin to you through this here computer blog. You don't know about me without you have read a book by the name of The MonsterGrrls, what was written by Mr John Rose, who I have been thinkin must had some witchery way back in his family as he is such a creative sort of feller. (I have read his book and it is a right smart, with the occasional bit of kerfluffle here and there.) 

Somethin I was noticin was that a while back, the movin picture folks was makin a whole bunch of scary movies about zombies, which shows that most folks are scairt of bein eaten by zombies. This is all twaddle, as anybody with any common sense can see that dead folks do not need to eat,* even if they are roamin around a bit. However, I am postin this first recipe so that some of these folks may regain their self-confidence and well-bein by gettin to eat zombies instead of zombies eatin them. This here's pretty simple and is most efficacious for those households with young ones as it will give them somethin to do, but mind them whilst they are about the stove as we don't want nobody gettin burnt. Also, it is right nice for Hallowe'en, which is fastly approachin.

What You Need:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt

What You Got To Do:
Preheat your oven to 375 F. Cream butter and sugar together (this means beatin it with a hand mixer till it gets all fluffy). Add the egg and mix. Add your remainin ingredients and mix until smooth. Refrigerate your dough for 2 hours.
Roll out your dough about 1/8 in. thick on a lightly floured surface, and dip cutters into flour before each use. Use one of them gingerbread-man cutters, or make your own pattern, cut it out and trace around it on the dough with a knife. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Place on a coolin rack for 5 minutes, remove from sheet and cool.

After the cookies has cooled, you decorate em to look like zombies. This decoratin recipe come to us from Mistress Keetha DePriest Reed, who has written a couple of cookbooks and I reckon is a right smart when it comes to bakin. You can divvy up the frostin and add a few drops of food colorin to each batch to get the different colors you need. Some folks reckon that since these is zombie cookies they ought to be decorated in black and gray and such, but I am of a mind that you should want to look at what you're eatin. Here's Mistress Keetha's recipe:

Royal Icing
All manners of cookies can be decorated with this icing, which can
be tinted virtually any color. It’s great for simply
outlining cookies and can also be used to create elaborate,
detailed images. Simply thin icing with water until it reaches
the consistency you like.

1 pound confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder*
4-6 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons flavoring (such as vanilla, lemon, butter, or
almond)

*Meringue powder is available at cake decorating supply
shops as well as many craft stores and large discount stores.

Sift powdered sugar into large mixing bowl. Add meringue
powder and combine. With mixer running on medium, add
about 3 tablespoons warm water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Add
desired flavorings and additional water as needed.

To outline cookies and pipe details, icing should be fairly stiff.
After outlining and piping, simply return any unused icing to
the bowl, mix, and add more water until icing is thin enough
to spread or pour easily.

To quickly fill in large portions of cookies that have been outlined,
fill a squeeze bottle (like ketchup and mustard are in at
hamburger joints) with icing and use it to fill in the areas. This
is a quick method, great especially if you are making a large
quantity of cookies. Be careful not to overfill the cookie, causing
the icing to run over the “dam” created when you outlined
the cookies.

Allow cookies to dry completely, several hours, before stacking.
Mistress Keetha also tole us about somethin called Candy Melts, which is from a company called Wilton that makes all kind of pans, tubes and equipment for decoratin cakes and such. They come in ever kind of color and taste like chocolate, and can be melted up real quick in a microwave oven or over low heat on a stove for decoratin with. These can be found at craft stores and that old Wal-Mart place.

So that's it. Next time I'll be back with some more recipes and maybe some other stuff. Hope y'all enjoy this recipe and have some fun with it, 'cause you can make any kind of cookies with it, for other holidays or just any time of the year. Y'all take care, and peace be to you.

Sincerely,
Punkin Nightshade

*They really don't. But we has noticed that zombies got a right smart taste for human fast food burgers, which I am thinkin says more about some humans than it does about zombies.

POST-MORTEM: If you got a recipe you want to share with everbody, send it through the e-mail to fangclub@netdoor.com, and be sure to give us your name, city and state. We will sure put it up as we go, but please allow us time to get everthing straight. --P.N.