Planning on having a Halloween Cocktail Party? My friends got together for a girls night out last night. We were asked by the hostess to bring an appetizer and a drink. I purchased a small loaf of sourdough bread and cut it on the diagonal to create a larger surface. I cut into each bread slice with a pumpkin cookie cutter. Surprisingly it was quite easy! I dyed olive oil orange by adding yellow and red food coloring and whisking it until it turned orange, then brushed the pumpkin cutouts with the orange olive oil, and sprinkled them with small amount of garlic salt. I toasted the bread at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes until the edges a slightly browned. I cut a 4″ X 6″ piece of pate with mini Halloween cookie cutters. For the eyes on the ghost, the cat and the bat I used black sesame seeds. When the toast cooled I placed the pate on top.
For the second appetizer I tried to create a spider. I used 8 toothpicks and placed 3 pieces of shrimp on each toothpick. For the head I used baby bella mushrooms and stuffed them with crab (see my recipe for crab cakes). I baked the stuffed mushrooms at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. To assemble I placed two toothpicks of shrimp together to form the body (six legs). The stuffed mushrooms attach to the toothpicks and become the head. My simple recipe for shrimp sauce is catsup (1 cup) + horseradish (1 tablespoon) to taste.
Candy Corn Martini - 1 part Rose’s Mango + 2 parts candy corn infused vodka*
*1 cup candy corn + 2 cups vodka – mix and refrigerate for one day and up to 3 weeks.
