OMG a Spoooooooooky Recipe: Bloody Good Blood Orange Cocktail for All Hallow's Eve

Per usual, my Halloween preparation relies on The Addams Family movies. Someone asks Wednesday Addams, wearing her everyday Little Girl Goth ensemble on Halloween, who she's supposed to be. Actress Christina Ricci's perfect deadpan voice replies: "I'm a serial killer. They look like everyone else." Genius. Short of vandalizing a perfectly good bed sheet and going as a ghost, I'm sorely unprepared for Halloween beyond snacking on way too much candy weeks before October 31st. But fear not. I did make a drink.  And it's spooooooooky!

Blood orange makes for a gory-good cocktail - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Mixed Plate: Happy Haunting on Halloween

Have a marvelously spooktacular, sugar-coated, pumpkin-smashingly good Halloween this week. It's a bit of a bummer when All Hallow's Eve falls on the middle of the week, but that doesn't stop anyone from binging on candy corn way back in September, in anticipation for October 31st.  And don't forget to practice your Thriller zombie dance, you never know when a Michael Jackson musical ensemble will happen.

This is a Wasabi-Dials-it-in post because as of this moment, I'm on vacation for a whole freakin' week! I'm leaving the homestead in the Mister and Indy the Pup's capable hands, and running away to Las Vegas, to meet up with the rest of the Wasabi Clan who's flying out from Hawaii, Oregon and even as far as Sweden to celebrate my cousin's birthday. We'll take our family reunion moments where we can get them! I've never been away on Halloween, nor have I been in Las Vegas during Halloween, so I fully expect to see some some crazy-ass crazy during my time on The Ninth Island, as Hawaii-folks lovingly call it.

I don't gamble, but rest assured, I will always bet on Wesley Snipes. I may buffet-it-up once or twice, so keep tabs on my exploits on Twitter. So till we meet again on the bloggosphere (first week of November, no worries), be safe out there, begging for candy like sugar-junkie-hobos and wearing that shirt "This Is My Halloween Costume" for the fifth year in a row. Because that never gets old.

Happy Halloween, Y'all!

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good to Eat...

Happy Halloween, Boos and Ghouls! I hope you're ready for the one night out of the year where it's socially acceptible to run around from house to house, banging on the door for free snacks! You're probably already sugar-coma-ed out from all the pre-holiday candy you've enjoyed; you know what I'm talking about, the bag of Reese's peanut butter cups you bought on sale weeks before Halloween, but then started to slowly eat them one by one before the 31st...  So instead of sweet, I went with savory for Halloween. Along with a peek at our spookily pimped out Halloween house, I bring to you a Ghoulishly Green Tomato Chili! *Insert Vincent Price cackle at end of Thriller song *

The Prime and "V" wishes you a Happy Halloween! - Photo by Wasabi Prime

This post is very Halloween-like, in that it's just a big UnRecipe post wearing a scary holiday costume. I wasn't planning on making "green" chili, it was more like our tomato plants were starting to die off from the cold, there were too many green tomatoes still on the vine, and there's no way I was going to just sacrifice them to the Compost Gods without a valiant effort. So our garden boxes are cleaned out for the season, resting in the chill and rain for another year, and I found myself with several pounds' worth of green tomatoes of all sorts, from a collection of heirloom plants and other varieties. I let them sit in brown paper sacks for a few days, but when it's this green, there's no magical ripening powers that are going to make them bright, juicy red. But that doesn't mean you can't use green tomatoes. Aside from the usual suspects like fried green tomatoes, I wanted to see how they would do in a chili. Green tomatoes are known for being really tart, the sugars haven't really developed yet, and they're quite firm, almost like a tomatillo. Which, by the way, I had a few of those from a CSA delivery. Those are kind of Halloween-y as what's up with the weird sticky film that's on the surface of tomatillos when you remove the paper-like husk? And the fact they kind of taste like apples? Ingredients with costumes and their own sticky ooze -- It's the Great Tomatillo, Charlie Brown!

The Green Tomato Caper, as captured on iPhone camera - Photos by Wasabi Prime

I didn't want to just stew the green tomatoes and tomatillos in a pot, I roasted them first, to cook off some of their liquid and intensify their flavor. There were a lot of pans and casserole dishes full of green tomatoes roasting away in the oven for a few days, as I had several batches. Not everything went into the chili, but the bigger Early Girl and heirlooms were what eventually made it into the slow cooker for the final stew. For the chili, I had a large pork loin that I cut into large chunks, browned in a pot, then softened onions and garlic in the drippings before throwing in several pounds' worth of the roasted green tomatoes. As for the chili seasoning, I went heavier on the cumin than the typical chili powder. I like the smoky flavor of cumin and thought it would go well with the tartness of the green tomatoes. The thing I was most surprised about in the cooking of green tomatoes is even after the oven and slow cook time, the tart citrusy flavor never really went away. Which is a good thing, as it ends up brightening the dish quite a bit. I didn't have fresh cilantro on-hand, just coriander seed, but fresh sprigs of that would have been nice as well. The green of the tomatoes eventually cooks down to a brown color in the slow cooker, especially after adding the spice mixture of cumin, coriander and a personal dry mix I make that has chili powder, finely ground coffee, mustard powder and pepper.

Can't you tell how much I LOVE this time of year??? - Photos by Wasabi Prime

So how was the Ghoulishly Green Tomato Chili? Not ghoulish at all, pretty tasty, in fact. For something that came together out of necessity, as most of our dinners end up being, it was nice to work with the underripe tomatoes and see how they work with other ingredients. It makes me less hesitant to plant tomatoes during iffy seasons, knowing even the green ones have their own unique uses. And having the oven and slow cooker doing most of the work gives me extra time to deck our halls with Halloween decor! I'm a total nut for fall and autumn colors, and L-O-V-E Halloween. I have to stop myself from buying more decorations because I can never provide an acceptible answer to the voice in my head that says: "Sure, it's cute now, but where are you going to store it for the rest of the year?" Pesky voice of reason. I will kill you with more beer, just you wait.

Getting skully with it (no Mulder, har-har) - Photos by Wasabi Prime

And given the fact that it's Halloween, I'm indulging myself in sharing some non-food photos. I was obsessed with skulls in the last few weeks. Seriously, they were everywhere, and not just for Halloween. I was browsing one of my favorite shops, Common Folk, over in Bellevue, and they had glitter skulls and spooky wreaths -- wanted to buy everything, but you know, that pesky Inner Voice of Reason crashed the party in my brain. So I took photos instead of taking my wallet out. Same goes for the Alexander McQueen scarf I reeeeeeeeally liked, but couldn't justify the $200+ price tag for, yes, a single scarf. Maybe I'll treat myself to a little gold skull ring if it's still around and on sale after the holiday... Happy Halloween, y'all. Stuff your face with candy and get your drawstring pants ready -- it's November tomorrow, and you know what's coming up next: Thanksgiving! *Vincent Price cackle*

Tipsy Baker: Halloween Hangover

It's been over a week since Halloween graced our jack-o-lanterned doorsteps and perhaps over an hour since the leftover candy has graced my waistline. I was taken in by the siren song of individually wrapped packets of candy corn, thinking "Oh, Halloween's on Saturday this year, we'll have a ton of kids showing up," and I bought an ambitious amount of candy. We were able to give away a bit of the goods, but not nearly as much as I'd hoped, so we're of course awash in sweets that tempt us every time we walk in and out of the kitchen. My sugar-addled brain came to the conclusion that making Botched Butterscotched Bars with Candy Corn was a nifty plan, even though the candy corn was only for garnish and we now have cake to go with candy.

It's a piece of cake to bake a pretty cake... if you're feeling boozy - Photo by Wasabi Prime

Given that it's baking and Homie don't play with a smidge of this and a dash of that, I used a recipe. However, a glass or two of wine made my head foggy and I used the wrong amounts, thankfully to non-catastrophic results. And thus, Tipsy Baking was born.

I used a basic butterscotch bar cookie recipe from a tattered copy of The Joy of Cooking that my mom threw into a moving box when I made the trek out to Washington. I used more flour and butter than the original recipe, and it resulted in a more dense, cakey bar. Realizing the mistake, I remade the recipe using the correct measurements, but it resulted in more of a toffee-like bar that seemed confused over whether or not it wanted to be candy or a cookie. Comparing the two batches, I have to admit the tipsy batch using the mistaken quantities had a more pleasing texture, almost like a caramel pound cake. When the pan of just-baked cake emerged from the oven, I pressed in the candy corn in ample-spaced rows. The heat from the cake softened the candy corn, just enough to help fuse it to the surface. Granted, this didn't really whittle down our supply of candy corn as much as I'd hoped, but at least the finished bars looked pretty.

Because the bars are so dense and sweet, small petit four-sized portions seemed the most appropriate, lest we turn into Mike Myers' Phillip, the Hyper-Hypo kid from 1990s SNL. In uncharacteristic Wasabi manner, I'm listing the botched-up recipe below. Wine-drinking optional but highly recommended.

Indy's keen disguise may have worked on others, but we are not fooled. No cake for you! - Photos by Wasabi Prime

Botched Butterscotched Bars (adapted/wrecked from The Joy of Cooking)
* makes up to 20 small, bite-sized bars

1 cup of unsalted butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 sifted cup of flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
20-30 candy corn candies (for optional decoration)

Line a 9 x 9 inch pan with a criss-cross of parchment paper, so that all the surfaces are covered; this will make for easy removal once it's baked. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Turn burner on to medium, take a small saucepan and melt butter and dissolve brown sugar. Mix until incorporated and turn off heat. Wait until the mixture cools slightly and slowly incorporate the eggs; can temper them in to be sure they don't scramble. Add in vanilla extract.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Take the wet ingredients and slowly incorporate with the dry until mixture is fully combined into a loose, sticky batter. Pour batter into lined baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, checking midway through and rotating pan for even cooking. Use a toothpick to check center for doneness -- toothpick should come out clean when it's finished baking.

When cake is baked, remove from oven to cool. While still hot, press candy corn into surface in three or four well-spaced rows. Each cut bar should have one candy corn in the center. Remove cake using parchment paper and allow to cool on a rack. Once fully cooled, cut into small bite-sized squares and serve.

Mixed Plate: Tricks and Treats

Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet, Give Me Something Good to Eat... What the hell is wrong with kids to think that a rhyme like that would guarantee the giving of candy?? I guess anything that threatens the involvement of stinky feet is pretty irresistible. Instead of a hastily-planned pantry dinner or a happy hour crawl, I decided to do a Halloween-themed list of movie tricks and favorite treats, along with a funny photo of our bewildered pet, Indy, the Dog that Tweets.

How do you say in dog language: "Mom, I hate you?" - photo by Wasabi Prime

Don't get your cruelty-free britches in a bunch, PETA, she only wore the dorky marabou jiggly bat headband for maybe a minute before shaking it off. You're just lucky I didn't turn the blinky light on. Yes, it blinks. The real cruelty would have been putting her in a ridiculous getup like this one. Thank your lucky doggie stars, Indy! Aside from using the same photos being featured on the Prime's lil' sistah site, The Jaunty Magpie (sorry, it's been a busy week), I thought the photos would be a pleasant visual accompaniment for both the tricks and treats of this post.

Last Sunday, one of my favorite spooky thrillers was on TV and I made the terribly awesome mistake of watching it before going to bed. It was the original 1955 Henri-Georges Clouzot classic, Les Diaboliques. There was an awful remake of it in the 90s that deserves to be thrown down the well in The Ring, but the marvelous original deserves to be fully experienced in its creepy, black and white film noir glory. There's murder, deception, a missing body, and unsettling events that follow. It had a twist that puts The Sixth Sense to shame, and retains a rich, eerie presence in one's mind after you've seen it. Much like the warnings given to viewers after the movie was shown, I'm not saying anything more, other than you should watch it.

Additional Halloween-appropriate film themes that aren't overt gore-fests include:

Creepy Kids are Awesome: 1961's The Innocents starring Deborah Kerr and a similar-themed The Others with Nicole Kidman in 2001. No cringe-worthy blood and guts, just genuine fright that leaves you truly haunted, long after the credits roll -- the best kind of scary movie. Old houses, eerie kids communing with the dead, and disturbing psychological trauma? Yes, please.

Just Because You're Dead Doesn't Mean You Don't Have a Sense of Humor: Sam Raimi's Evil Dead trilogy (Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness) pretty much solidified actor Bruce Campbell's place in B-movie history, as well as the Hail to the King, Baby-worthy Bubba Ho-Tep, directed and written by Don Coscarelli. These movies have a campy self-awareness and will still manage to sneak in a good scare now and then. Plus, as mentioned before: Bruce Campbell. What else do you need, really?

Real Vampires Eat Quiche. And People: The Twilight franchise sucks. I don't want my vampires like Azrael Abyss, Prince of Sorrow, wishing they lived in the 17th century so they don't have to Turtlewax the van. I like vampires as what they are: beastly abominations of human pathos with a serious case of the munchies. Two of my favorite vampire movies have their bloodsuckers as less of a smooth operator and more monstrous and gritty. F.W. Murnau's silent 1922 classic, Nosferatu, still gives me chills. The design of their vampire, Count Orlok, is the stuff of nightmares. An interesting fictional take on the making of this classic is Shadow of the Vampire, where Willem Dafoe takes on the role of Max Schrek as if he truly were a vampire during the making of the original silent film. My other favorite vampire movie is Kathryn Bigelow's Near Dark, a vamped-out version of The Wild Bunch. The gritty, unapologetic portrayal of the vampire family is both depraved and compelling, and would seriously disturb the sissy calm of Twilight's ethereal, overly-romanticized Cullen family.

In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream: The tagline for the first Alien movie neglected to point out the fact that in space, it's a vacuum, so no one can hear much of anything, but it sure sounded spooky in 1979. Director Ridley Scott combined moody, gothic storytelling with the genre of science fiction in the first and best of the Alien/Aliens movies (and I refuse to acknowledge the existence of the Aliens vs Predator movies -- oh the humanity!). With the visceral aesthetic of artist HR Geiger, it makes for a delightfully unsettling experience. The subsequent sequels ranged in quality, but this first one was the best in its intelligent observation of primal fears.

Do You Believe in Magic... and Last-Minute Movie Entries? One midnight entry, thanks to my friend Alice who reminded me of Christopher Nolan's The Prestige. I couldn't think of similar movies or sequel groupings because it's such a unique, atmospheric tale. I loved Nolan's debut with Memento and his treatment of the Batman movies. His adaptation of Christopher Priest's novel about frenemy magicians in turn of the century London is a bizarre, engrossing story about the overlap of science and magic, and the tenuous thread of humanity that weaves between these worlds. Not overtly scary, but it will surely leave you haunted.

But on to sweeter things... time for some treats to go with the tricks! There's been a lot of chatter over favorite candies these last few days and it inspired me to list some of my personal favorites:

Whatchamacallit - A lesser-known Hershey's product, this is a perfect specimen of crispy wafer, peanut, caramel, and chocolate. I love the balance of sweet, savory and crunchy. It's a bit of a rare bird, as I have a hard time finding it in stores, but it makes it all the more sweet when I do find it on the shelves!

Sour Patch Kids - Brock/Mr. Wasabi cringes at these, but it also guarantees I get the bag to myself if we're at the movies. GENIUS! I love sour candies and these chewy, scrunch-face-inducing candies are the best, even if it looks like I'm trying to pass a kidney stone while I'm eating them. Yummah.

Botan Rice Candy - OK, so maybe no one was handing these out on Halloween, but it's always been one of my favorite candies since I was a kid, even though I was such an OCD freak that I used to peel off the clear, edible rice wrapper before eating the lightly sweet, jelly-like candies. As a bonus, they used to come with little toys before copping-out to cheap stickers of crappy Anime.

Junior Mints - Who doesn't love these little bittersweet minty gems? The only argument that could be made around Junior Mints is the Mason-Dixon Line of frozen vs. not frozen. Thankfully, some movie theaters provide both and everyone walks away happy -- world peace is nearly in our grasp.

Jolly Rancher Apple - Yeah, I know there's other flavors, but my palate refuses to acknowledge their existence. Especially the dreaded blue raspberry. How many blue raspberries have you seen and who started that craze, so I know whose house to leave the flaming bag of dog poo?

I hope you liked the Tricks and Treats of Wasabi Prime. Feel free to leave comments over your favorite candies, costume ideas, or disputes over Jolly Rancher flavors. Happy Halloween!!

Why yes, that is a Guy Fawkes mask, and yes, Alan Moore rules - Photos by Wasabi Prime