Things have been a little crazed around the ol’ Flamingo Pond these days, and I apologize to everyone for not putting together a #GreatHallowTweet Halloween bloghop, this year.

But that doesn’t mean that I’ve forgotten about our fave holiday of the year, around here, and I haven’t forgotten that you need to give those kids of yours (young and old) a special supper before they hit the Trick or Treat trail!

Slime Soup! This falls into both categories: Trick and Treat. I mean, c’mon – what kid doesn’t want to eat slime on All Hallow’s Eve? The color’s a wonderful, bilious green, the texture is smooth and silky, and best of all – and you don’t have to tell them this part – it’s actually healthy.

Slime Soup (Quick Broccoli Vichyssoise)

Ingredients:

4 cups (1 quart) vegetable broth (I used my store brand’s organic version)
2 potatoes (about 1 to 1 1/2 lbs russets or golds)
1 16 oz. package frozen broccoli
1 cup unflavored soy milk or regular milk (1% is fine)
salt & pepper

Preparation:

Pour the vegetable broth into a 4 or 5 quart sauce pot.

Peel the potatoes, cut into roughly half-inch pieces, and add to the pot. Cover, bring to a boil, and cook for about 5 minutes.

Add the broccoli to the pot, cover, and bring back to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for another 10 minutes.

Add the milk to the pot, whip out your handy dandy hand blender, and puree until completely smooth. (You can carefully do this in a regular blender and then return the soup to the pot). Stir, and warm through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with pita chips, crackers, or a nice crusty bread.

I love this soup for a number of reasons. For one thing, it’s quick – you can make this in 30 minutes or less. It’s super-healthy and perfect for Meatless Monday or anytime you want to trick the kids or your significant other to eat some veggies. It’s equally delicious hot or cold. So, if it’s chilly where you are, it makes a nice warmer-upper. If it’s 87 billion degrees outside, like it is here, it’s refreshing and nourishing at the same time. So, you can even make this in the summertime for a healthy light supper as a turn on vichyssoise!

Slime Soup would be great served cool at a party, too. Just pour it into a cauldron (okay, fine – a punch bowl would work, too), and let folks pour themselves a cup.

Happy Halloween, everyone! Bwahahahahahahahaha!

Today is Halloween, and our resident toddler, Sly Cat, decided that he wanted to write a guest post for me. Take it away, Sly!

Happy Halloween, Everybody! It’s my favorite day of the year and I’m just VIBRATING with excitement!

In fact, you could say, I’m BESIDE myself! MOL! (Translation for those who don’t speak fluent Feline: Meow Out Loud!) Actually, I’m trying to show off the Skull & Crossbones collar that Mommy picked out for me ‘specially for Halloween, but I just can’t hold still! Either that, or Mommy’s just not a very good photographer. ROFMMTO! (Translation: Rolling On The Floor Meowing My Tail Off!)

Anyway, Mommy and I just want to thank our Phantasmagorical #GreatHallowTweet Bloggers for making this a Halloween Week To Remember! If you need some last minute ideas, there’s still time to haunt the #GreatHallowTweet sidebar (it’s the orange thing with the pumpkin on top, over there on the right. No, your other right!). There’s lots of stuff to see and do there, and lots of treats to make and eat – many of which take hardly any time at all!

I love everything that everybody posted for Halloween, and you will too. There’s even stuff for kitties! My personal favorite (I hope no one gets mad at Mommy or me – it’s a Cat thing) is the Chocolate Cherry Mice post from Helle’s New England Kitchen:

What do you mean, “Kitties don’t get any chocolate?” Rats! Speaking of which, there’s also this awesome Rat Loaf from Kudos Kitchen by Renée:

Mmmm… Raaat. But that’s just me. ‘Cause I’m a Cat.

Everybody was truly inspired for Halloween this year, and there’s all kinds of bugs and eyeballs and creepy stuff out there on the #GreatHallowTweet trail, so hop on! Have a Catulous and Safe Halloween, kidz!

That’s JJ. “It’s 9:00 A.M.! Shouldn’t the Trick or Treaters be here, already?!?“

Didn’t your mother teach you about hygiene, people? If you don’t take that stinky garbage out, see what you’ll have to deal with? Maggots! Eeewwww! Heeheehee!

This is one of my favorite variations of the “Krispy Treat”, just about as easy to make, and sure to be a hit with kids of all ages. Today’s creepy entry for the #GreatHallowTweet is

Maggot Balls

Ingredients:

4 Tbs. butter
1 10.5 oz. bag of mini-marshmallows
2 Tbs. corn syrup
1/2 tsp. clear vanilla
5 cups puffed rice cereal (not crispy rice)
vegetable oil

Special equipment: latex or nitrile gloves

Preparation:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper, set aside, and pour some of the vegetable oil in a dish, and set that aside, too.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add the mini-marshmallows and stir. As the marshmallows begin to melt, add the corn syrup, and continue to stir until the marshmallows are almost completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Stir in the puffed rice cereal until completely combined.

Okay, you really don’t need the gloves, but you’ll thank me if you put them on right now. Now, coat your hands in the vegetable oil, grab a hunk of the cereal-marshmallow mixture, and roll it into a ball, compacting it with your hands as you roll, and set aside on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. Allow the maggot balls to set for several hours before serving.

You can make the balls as large or small as you like. I made several different sizes and got 14. Serve in a “trash pail” lined with a brown paper bag.

Don’t they look just like maggots? Yes, I know… and I’ll be getting myself checked – right after Halloween!

Now, go over to that bright orange sidebar to the right, and see what creepy, strange and FUN Tricks and Treats my #GreatHallowTweet crones… er… cronies are up to!

I’ll have some new stuff for you, tomorrow, but in the meantime, check some of my #GreatHallowTweet ideas from last year – bet some of ‘em will be new to you!

Black Martinis with Devil’s Eyeballs

Squashed Soup

The ever-popular Mummy Dogs!

And some last-minute party day serving suggestions!

Don’t forget to hop down the Halloween Trail with the other 17 #GreatHallowTweet bloggers over there in the #GreatHallowTweet orange sidebar! Lots of fresh Halloween recipes and other ideas to make this the most ghastly Halloween ever!

Here we go, kids! It’s Day One of The #GreatHallowTweet Bloghop! Eighteen of your favorite bloggers are doin’ up Halloween all week long and we want you to join us on the haunted trail leading up to the big day, itself!

You’re going to need something warm and filling before going out for an exciting evening of Trick or Treating, so let’s warm things up with a bowl of hot and spicy Butternut Squash & Black Bean Stew with Kale. Yes, I said kale. I don’t usually much care for it, either – except maybe as chips – but in my never-ending quest to figure out how to make all these dark, leafy greens you’re supposed to eat taste good, I think I’ve nailed this one. ‘Cause just about anything tastes better in a spicy bowl of stew, right?

Just tell the kids (and your spouse) that it’s “Bugs & Lawn Clippings Stew”. It’s Halloween, right?

Butternut Squash & Black Bean Stew with Kale

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, coarsely chopped (about 1-1/2 cups)
3 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped (about 2-1/2 tsp.)
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 cups butternut squash, cut into approx. 1/2″-3/4″ pieces)
1-1/2 tsp. ground chili powder (I used chipotle, of course!)
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbs. Worcestershire (I used Oxford Falls vegan)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)
1 29 oz can (or 2 15.5 oz cans) black beans, drained & rinsed
1 small bunch kale, chopped (about 3-4 cups, packed)

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a 6 quart pot, over medium-high heat, and add the onion, garlic, and salt. Sauté until the onion begins to turn golden-colored, about 5-6 minutes. Add the butternut squash, chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, and Worcestershire sauce, and stir to combine.

Pour in the diced tomatoes with their juice, the black beans, and the vegetable broth. Stir thoroughly and bring to a boil. When the stew begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the squash becomes tender, about 10-15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Add the chopped kale to the pot and stir to combine completely. (If you prefer, you can substitute Swiss chard) Allow to simmer for an additional 3-4 minutes, till the kale wilts but retains a bright green color.

Are you warmed up, yet? Great!

In case you missed it, check out my Wilton Halloween post from earlier this month – lots of good stuff there, too!

Now go take a look at the #GreatHallowTweet blog list in the sidebar there on the right, and hop on over to the next blog on the list! Or go somewhere you’ve never been before! We’ve got some great bloggers who are just BATTY for Halloween waiting for you – and do they have some Tricks and Treats – all week long!

Spicy Butternut Squash & Black Bean Stew With Kale

We’re Heeeeere! Finally!

Halloween is here and, if you’ve been hopping along the #GreatHallowTweet Blog Hop trail all week, then you should be loaded up with a gazillion ideas and recipes for spooky celebrations for grownups and kids, alike!

These last two aren’t recipes. Let’s call them, umm, serving suggestions. Hee!

These Bloody Marys, garnished with Witches’ Fingers (It doesn’t get much more appropriate than that!), were made with Oxford Falls* Bootleg Bloody Mary Mix. Seriously, the best I’ve ever bought – if you click on the picture and enlarge it, you’ll see all the bits of veg and spices in there. Yum! I say, why work that hard if there’s something out there that’s as good or better than you can do yourself.

Anyway, the garnish is made with Oxford Falls* pickled asparagus spears. Dot one side of an almond slice with cream cheese, and stick it to the tip of the asparagus spear (which you’ve first dried off with paper towel). Witches’ Fingers! Float a couple of (washed) plastic spiders on top of an ice cube, and there you have a perfectly macabre cocktail!

Of course, too many of those macabre cocktails, and you might end up like this! Hahaha! Kidding.
Anyway… This is Oxford Falls* Dix Fried Green Tomato Salsa. It’s just called that – it’s really a tomatillo-based salsa, that we can’t stop eating. No kidding. MJ and I will suck down half a jar in a sitting. It’s not super-hot, but there’s enough of a buzz to let you know you’re eating salsa.

Lately I’ve noticed a lot of pumpkins decorated to look like they’re throwing up their guts… and other stuff. Not one to buck a trend, I’ve carved a couple of tomatillos and arranged them with the salsa for similar effect. Aw, come on! It’s freaking cute! Admit it!

If you haven’t been here all week, scroll down for some of my other favorite Halloween stuff, and when you’re done here, go over to that orange #GreatHallowTweet Blog Hop sidebar and visit 18 of my other blogger friends who have gone all out, all week long, for our favorite holiday!

Happy Halloween, Everyone! Stay safe, have fun, and don’t forget to check the closets and under the beds before you turn in tonight! BWAAHAHAHAHA!

*Yes, I know it’s all Oxford Falls brand stuff. No, they didn’t pay me, ask me, or even know that I’m featuring their products. I bought all of it. Out of my own paycheck. So there. I just like the stuff, okay? Look ‘em up on the web at www.oxfordstuff.com

Mummy Dogs have become kind of a Halloween tradition in our house for the past several years. Tradition? Hahahahaha! Anyway…

They’re ridiculously easy to make and are a fun, quick holiday-inspired food to give the kids while they’re champing at the bit to start Trick or Treating. At least it isn’t sugar! Adults love them, too, and if you’re having a party, this twisted version of “pigs in a blanket” is sure to be a hit! I really hesitate to call this a “recipe”, but here’s what you’ll need:

One or more packages of your favorite hot dogs (depending on how many you’re feeding)

Puff pastry, or a tube of refrigerated crescent roll dough (figure one sheet or one tube per package of hot dogs)

Mustard

Preheat oven according to packaged dough directions; for puff pastry, preheat to 400º.

Remove the hot dogs from the package and dry completely. If serving little ones or for a party, cut them in half, across the middle.

On a lightly floured surface, lay out the pastry dough in a rectangle. With a knife or bench scraper, cut the dough into strips about 1/2 inch wide.

Starting at the end that will be the head, wrap each hot dog in a pastry strip, leaving a gap for the face. When you reach the “feet”, continue wrapping back up toward the head. If the dough strip tears, just stick it back on – hey! we’re making mummies here! They’re supposed to be a little raggedy!

Place the mummy dogs on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes. After baking, take a toothpick, dip it in some mustard and dot on little faces. Arrange on a plate and serve with dishes of pus (mustard) and blood (ketchup) on the side for dipping.

Okay, seriously? This is a prime example of why I’ll never be a food stylist. Don’t use my serving suggestion in the photo. It was a really bad idea, but I couldn’t re-shoot because we were hungry and ate them.

Enjoy!

Remember a couple of weeks ago? I was bitching about Fall taking absolutelyfreakingever to reach South Florida? Like many of you Northerners look for the first Robin of Spring, how I look for the first Vulture of Autumn?

Well, boys and girls, just in time for the #GreatHallowTweet, the Turkey Vultures are back!

First, there was one. Then there were three:

Then there were about a dozen!

As the season progresses, that whole rooftop will be covered in sunning Turkey Vultures. A little unsettling when you think that this is the heart of downtown Miami! And then again, appropriate in a way…

This is what they look like close-up. I could never – nor would I ever – actually want to get this close, thankyouverymuch, but if I’m going to talk about the beasties, you should at least see what they look like. Charming, right? There’s a reason their heads are pretty much devoid of feathers: Being carrion-eaters, they’re able to avoid retaining a bunch of blood and guts and nasty microbes that might later cause disease if it were stuck to feathers. It’s hygenic. Hee!

Courtesy of Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Click on this photo or link and learn more about Turkey Vultures – the unsung clean-up crew of nature!

For more appetizing (in a sense) celebrations of Halloween, travel the #GreatHallowTweet Halloween Blog Hop sidebar, over there to the left, and see how 18 of my best blogger friends are whooping it up! Happy Halloween!

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Michelle at Rambling Woods is hosting Nature Notes: Signs of the Season, a weekly meme dedicated to challenging us to take a moment out of our hectic lives and notice the seasonal changes – large and small – taking place in nature all around each of us, in our own little corners of the world. Please visit Michelle and all the other participants, and maybe take some of your own Nature Notes!

Michelle is also one of our #GreatHallowTweet participants, so be sure to stop by and say Hi! You might even learn something!

Continuing with this week’s Halloween theme, I bring you Squashed Soup.

I’ve adapted this recipe from the Butternut Squash Soup that used to be served at the Simon Pearce Glassworks and Restaurant in Quechee, Vermont. We discovered this soup one October several years ago, when MJ and I took a “leaf-peeping” road trip to take in the foliage colors through Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

As a glass-lover, I’d heard about the Simon Pearce Glassworks and we made a special point of including it on our drive. We’d also heard that the restaurant they have onsite is top-notch, so we also made a point of having lunch there. If you’re in the neighborhood, you should, too. The food is absolutely delicious, served on their own dinnerware, with a view not to be believed – especially at the height of the leaf-peeping season!

This recipe is especially attractive to me, because it’s one of the only creamy soups I’ve ever had that doesn’t get its body or texture from the addition of dairy, making it perfect for the lactose-intolerant, kosher, or vegan! Simon Pearce actually handed out this recipe at their restaurant, if you asked for it, so I’m not giving away any trade secrets here. They’ve since changed their butternut squash soup recipe to include cream, so I’m glad I retained the original!

Butternut Squash Soup with Scallion Cream (adapted from Original Simon Pearce Recipe) – Yields about 6 cups

One 2 to 2 1/2 pound butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2-inch cubes
8 Tbs. olive oil, divided
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 medium celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium leek, white and tender green, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1 tsp. dried
1 quart vegetable stock

Optional Scallion Cream Topping:

1/4 cup cold heavy cream
2 medium scallions, minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large roasting pan, toss the squash with the 4 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Roast for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion, celery, leek and carrot and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until barely softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the ginger, thyme and roasted squash. Add the stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Partially cover, reduce the heat to moderately low and simmer until the vegetables are very tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree the soup in a blender, or use a stick blender and puree directly in the pot. Return the soup to the saucepan and season with salt and pepper and reheat.

In a medium bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the scallions and a pinch of salt and whip to firm peaks.

Ladle the soup into bowls or shallow soup plates and garnish with a dollop of the scallion cream (if using) and a sprinkling of the chives or additional chopped scallions.

*Notes:

Butternut squash is hard. I find it easier to peel the squash with a vegetable peeler and cut it up after. Just take care – naked squash is slippery.

I’ve modified Simon Pearce’s recipe by substituting olive oil for the butter, using vegetable stock for their chicken stock, and using half the amount of squash to intensify the flavor. The scallion cream is completely optional. If you’d like to garnish or really feel the need for a creamy topping, sour cream works well, as does Tofutti’s non-dairy sour cream replacement.

You can also double or treble the recipe to serve a crowd. It’s also a great make-ahead dish – you can prepare this soup a couple of days ahead of time and store in the refrigerator. Just reheat gently and serve when ready.

For Halloween, try serving this in black or Halloween-themed mugs – makes a nice warm-up after a chilly evening of Trick or Treating… or is that Twick or Tweeting?

This is, of course, another post for The #GreatHallowTweet Halloween Blog Hop – Don’t forget to hop on to the next blog in the #GreatHallowTweet sidebar to see what’s lurking around the corner!

Come in! Make yourself… umm… comfortable. Heh heh heh! May I offer you a cocktail? How about a nice Black Martini with Devil’s Eyeballs? BWAAHAHAHAHA!

For the Black (Espresso) Martinis you’ll need:

2 cups prepared espresso
2 cups black vodka or espresso-flavored vodka
1 cup Kahlua (or other coffee liqueur)
1/4 cup sugar (or to taste)

Dissolve the sugar into the hot espresso and chill. Combine the espresso with the remaining ingredients. Chill well and serve in chilled martini glasses.

Alternatively, fill a cocktail shaker half-full with ice, add espresso mixture, shake well, and strain into chilled martini glasses.

Makes about 8 servings.

*Note: You can make the martinis a couple of days ahead, if you like. The advantage, other than time-savings, is that the flavors meld further and the drink concentrates a little, enabling the Devil’s Eyeballs to float menacingly in the cocktail!

For the Devil’s Eyeballs you’ll need:

1 can lychee fruit, drained
1 small bottle maraschino cherries, drained (not jumbo-sized)
chocolate chips (preferably semi-sweet)

Blot the lychees and cherries with paper towel to dry a bit.

For each eyeball, insert one cherry, stem-end up, into a lychee. Take a chocolate chip and press the point into the cherry stem dimple. For best effect, it should turn a little sideways for that creepy, evil, cat-like pupil.

Great way to get your Halloween party guests in the proper spirit – enjoy!