Welcome to the 13 Days of Halloween

So this week’s theme is the vampire. There are so many different interpretations of this mythical creature that I could spend a month talking solely about vampire stuff. But I must say–the same rules I established in “Walk like you’re a Zombie“, apply here as well. However, with that being said, I think there is another issue we need to address also. I think it’s important to forbid the “white out”. This is when you take the white face paint and (for what ever ridiculous reason) try to do this but it looks like this–stop it. Neither one is cool.

In this post I’m going to show you how to have a vampire-themed day of Halloween fun by providing examples of the following:

• song of the day
• movie
• dinner, beverage, dessert

Song of the Day

Bloodletting by the Concrete Blondes is a great vampire song for 2 reasons: 1. it conjures Anne Rice’s world of vampires with its references to New Orleans and “never seeing the light” 2. its dark and moody video reminds me of the 1960’s TV show Dark Shadows—highly recommend BTW.

Bonus track

2 reasons: 1. it’s a catchy tune, 2. I dig Powerman 5000.

Movie: Classic and Current

At first, this was hard for me because I have so many favorites, but then I remembered that I’m not doing a top 5 list or anything (I already did that in “Vampires VS Werewolves“) so that definitely took some pressure off.

Classic: Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995), Mel Brooks–Director

This movie is a parody of  Bram Stoker’s Dracula (novel and screen adaptation) and although some have said this is not Mel Brook’s best work, I think it’s definitely got its knee slapping moments.

Current: Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009), Patrick Tatopoulos–Director

This movie gives you the best of both worlds in this origins story about the centuries old battle between vampires and werewolves (Lycans). Even though some critics describe this movie as an indistinguishable and unnecessary prequel to the other Underworld movies, I think its a great “13 Days . . .” flick. I also recommend you check out Underworld (best one), Underworld: Evolution and Underworld: Awakening.

Dinner, Beverage, Dessert

As I’ve said before: The key to remember when cooking for visual effect is that it still needs to taste good. It has to mess with your mind but not your palette, otherwise, the whole point of Halloween cuisine is lost. So what I’m going to suggest you make for dinner is not always necessarily a recipe, but some tips on presentation.

Tonight’s Menu

• Bat Wings
• Unearthed Worms
• Lime Chiller
• Blood and Chocolate

The first item on our menu is the bat wings. These, of course, are actually chicken wings–but with a twist. I picked up this recipe years ago from one of those Better Homes and Gardens mini cookbooks, you know, the ones you always see hanging out around the checkout aisle at a grocery store. This recipe has become an annual family favorite for the 13 Days of Halloween.

Bat Wings

20 chicken wings (about 3 1/2 lbs total)  

1/2 cup soy sauce

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger or

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon five-spice powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Place wings in a plastic bag set in a shallow dish. In a small bowl stir together soy sauce, ginger, crushed red pepper, five spice powder and garlic. Pour over wings. Close bag and toss to coat. Chill in refrigerator several hours or overnight, turning bag occasionally. Remove wings from bag, reserving marinade.
2. Place wings on a foil-lined 15x10x1-inch baking pan. Bake, uncovered, in a 450 degree F oven for 10 minutes. Brush with reserved marinade (discard remaining marinade). Bake 15 to 20 minutes longer or until chicken is tender and no longer pink. Serve with Swamp Dip. Makes 20 appetizers.

Note:

I usually stretch out the wings before marinading and cooking. This way, they look more like bat wings. Also, brushing on the reserved marinade, before and during cooking, helps to deepen the color of the wings.

Swamp Dip

8 ounce sour cream

3 tablespoons coarse-grain brown mustard

Directions

1. In a small bowl stir together sour cream and mustard. Garnish with fresh whole chives. Serve with bat wings.

Unearthed Worms

For this one:

• Cook spaghetti noodles as you normally would.
• While the pasta is cooking, add a little black food paste colorant to the boiling water: 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon  oughta do it.
• This adds a real “ick” factor to the  pasta. My kids have a hard time with this one; it’s fantastic.

Lime Chiller with Blood Drippings

1/4 cup honey or corn syrup   (don’t freak out–it’s just for the blood drippings)

12 drops red food coloring

4 cups chilled pineapple juice

6 ounces frozen limeade concentrate

3 cups ginger ale

Directions

1. Combine honey and food coloring in shallow pan; mix until well blended. Dip rims of 10 wine goblets into mixture one at a time, coating rims. Turn upright and let stand to allow mixture to drip down sides, resembling blood. Place paper towel around base of glasses to catch drips.
2. Combine pineapple juice and limeade in punch bowl. Stir until limeade dissolves; stir in ginger ale. Fill each wine goblet with lime chiller.

Blood and Chocolate

So for this one:

• I basically do a brownie mix (your choice) and place the batter evenly in a mini muffin pan.
• Bake as directed.
• Let them cool for about 10-15 min and then place on small plates.
• Now it’s time to spoon on the raspberry sauce (blood). I use raspberry pie filling but if you want to make a raspberry sauce from scratch–more power to you.
• You can also top with a dollop of whip topping and/or drizzle chocolate syrup.

And there you have it: a vampire-licious day of celebrating. Enjoy.

Until next time . . .

Happy Haunting