Potomac Almanac

Halloween is the holiday when Judy Kleinman lets her spooky culinary imagination run free. The North Potomac mother of three enjoys creating desserts ranging from rice crispy treats that look like yellow and orange candy corn to chocolate layer cakes covered with creepy plastic spiders.

“When I was growing up, Halloween was my favorite holiday,” said Kleinman. “I love being in the kitchen, creating spooky treats and passing on that tradition to my children.”

From cupcakes to cookies and all manner of desserts in between, culinary enthusiasts say Halloween offers one of the greatest opportunities to unleash your ghoulish creativity in the kitchen. In fact, creating Halloween fare is an ideal way to spend time in the kitchen with your child.

“To make treat making fun, I would say that the biggest thing is to pick an age-appropriate recipe,” said Jenni Bashaw of Tiny Chefs with locations in Potomac and Bethesda. “Don't expect a preschooler to be able to create a really great looking Halloween design on a cookie or cupcake, or to be interested in a recipe that has too many steps or takes too long to complete.”

If you still want to make a recipe that is a bit long or too complicated for their age, simply get everything ready in advance. “Try breaking it down into smaller steps, or even do some of the prep work before [like] chopping or cooking over a hot stove,” Bashaw continued. “Try adding steps to an easier recipe if you want to keep an older child interested, like popping your own popcorn for party mix or making your own marinara sauce for ‘spaghetti with eyeballs’ or ‘mummy pizzas.’ Also, since we are talking about treat creation, pick something you know your child will want to enjoy after you make it. Now is not necessarily the time to try and get your child to eat something brand new.”

While Halloween is one of the sweetest holidays of the year, treats don’t need to be sugar-laden to be delicious.

“I like to fill a piping bag with pasta sauce,” said Susan O'Neill, a Potomac mother of four. “I place orange and yellow pasta on a plate and let my children use the piping bag to create spider web from the pasta sauce. It is spooky, but still nutritious.”

Swamp Juice

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

Supplies

½ cup small tapioca pearls (found in baking aisle of most grocery stores)

Measuring Cups

Food coloring

Measuring Spoons

4 Tbs sugar

Medium saucepan

8 gummy fish

2 small mixing bowls

8 gummy worms

Wooden spoons

Sparkling water (lemon or lime flavored)

Colander/sieve

Lemonade

Clear “solo” cups

6 cups water

Plastic spoons

Directions

1. MAKE THE EGGS: Bring 6 cups of water to a boil and add the tapioca pearls. Reduce the heat slightly and boil the pearls, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes.

2. COLOR THE EGGS: Divide the pearls, with the remaining water, between two bowls. Add 4 drops of food coloring (we used 3 drops of yellow and 1 drop of green in one bowl, and 4 drops of blue in the other) and 2 tablespoons of sugar to each bowl. Stir the mixtures, then allow them to sit uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain and rinse the pearls with cold water.

3. ASSEMBLE THE DRINK: Spoon 2 tablespoons of pearls into each glass and drop in a gummy fish. Fill the glasses with sparkling water, then add a splash of lemonade. Wrap a gummy worm around a spoon and place in the drink for eating the eggs and fish!!

Scarecrow Snack Mix

Makes 15 cups

Ingredients

Supplies

4 cups crunchy oatmeal cereal squares (such as Quaker Oat Squares)

Measuring cups

4 cups tiny twist pretzels

Large bowl

1 (22 oz) bag autumn mix honey candy (candy corn)

Large spoons for mixing and serving

2 cups chocolate-covered raisins

Serving bowls

1 bag microwave kettle corn

1 (6.6 oz) bag graham cookies (such as Teddy Grahams)

Hot plate

Oven mitts

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.

2. Scoop into bowls and enjoy!

This recipe can be made as printed here, or you can use a bag of premade popcorn, or, to add to the fun, you can buy popcorn kernels and pop them in a pan.

Pizza Mummies

Makes 6 (2 “mummies” per person)

Ingredients

Supplies

6 English Muffins

Measuring spoons

Pizza Sauce

Cutting boards

12 black olive slices

Knives

Red or green pepper, chopped into small pieces

Baking sheets

Cheese sticks or slices of Mozzarella cut into thin strips

Small spoons (for spreading pizza sauce)

Spatula (for serving)

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350º F.

2. For each mummy, spread a tablespoon of pizza sauce onto half of an English muffin.

3. Set olive slices in place for eyes and add bits of red or green pepper for pupils.

4. Lay strips of cheese (we used a pulled-apart cheese stick) across the muffin for the mummy’s wrappings.

5. Place pizza rounds on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the muffin is toasty.