HALLOWEEN CANDY AND THE PANDEMIC
Last year posed quite the conundrum – to hand out treats at the door or not, (and I expect that his year may be a ‘mixed bag’). So last year, we decided to do the next best thing and hand deliver treats to all of the kids in our immediate neighborhood early in the day.
I decorated paper lunch bags with cute spider cut-outs and then David generously filled them with a nice variety of candies. Though it wasn’t the same, or nearly as fun, as watching the parade of adorable goblins coming to our door, it was the most sensible of solutions. This year, we will do a combination; make up a few bags for delivery and hand out treats at the door. Here is hoping that those cute little goblins are out this year.
A HALLOWEEN PUMPKIN CARVING PARTY
Since October 31st is Halloween and Carve A Pumpkin Day, what could be more fitting than to take a walk down memory lane and share a spectacular pumpkin carving party? (And without a doubt, the best Halloween party I have ever been to.) Here are a few highlights of that magical evening.
Carving Stations Set-up
Pumpkin carving is a messy proposition so being prepared AND doing this activity outside is key. Bruce and Carol set up several tables which they covered with newspaper. Carving tools and other implements purchased from the dollar store were placed on each table. Garbage cans were strategically set by the tables and, since this is late October in the Pacific Northwest, heaters were placed next to the tables.
CARVING SOME FUN WITH OUR FRIENDS
Not to brag…OK, maybe just a little… we have amazing friends! These are people with mad culinary skills, who are ridiculously creative and know how to have a lot of fun. You can look forward to reading about many examples of this in the future, but today, since Halloween is just around the corner, let’s talk about PIZZA AND PUMPKINS!
Our friends, Bruce and Carol have a wonderful wood burning pizza oven in their kitchen so they are “always looking for new takes on a pizza party”. One of their objectives in doing these sorts of gatherings is to “force people out of their comfort zones to make new and different combinations for pizza”. One year they did a Christmas themed pizza party and to Carol’s delight and surprise, all of the guests decided to sing a carol which related to their pizza every time a pizza came out of the oven. (White Christmas was sung for a white pizza, etc). Like I said, ridiculously creative people.
THE THEME
For this party, the theme was PIZZA AND PUMPKINS! 12 of us were invited to have a spooktacular celebration with Bruce and Carol. The evening was designed to embrace both our inner-child and culinary creativity. (Incidentally, it was also Carol’s birthday so we had a lot of celebrating to do)!
A FEW DETAILS
The date of the party was October 28th. The invitation with all of the important details was sent out on October 12.
Our hosts were providing;
- Pumpkins
- Basic carving tools
- Seasonal Cocktail
- Appetizers
- Pizza Dough
- Basic “toppings”: Sauce, Mozzarella, Parmesan
- Salad
- Dessert
We were to bring;
- Toppings for our Halloween themed pizza
- Wine to pair with our pizza creation
- Any specialty carving tools that we feel we might need
- Costumes were optional
One more email was sent out on October 26th with a couple of last minute details and the ‘weather report’–forecast to be a cool night so be sure to bring a jacket or two.
READY, SET, GO
I admit that at first blush, I wasn’t sure what a Halloween themed pizza might be and I hadn’t carved a Jack-O-Lantern since my son was quite young. Not to be intimidated, I accepted the challenge and put my thinking cap on. First, for the pizza. David and I like pepperoni and black olives, (he refers to most things that deviate from this combination as “artsy fartsy”). I decided to make spiders using pitted black olives for the bodies and I cut the olives lengthwise to fashion the legs. I made eyeballs using fresh bocconcini and sliced green olives. For the “pièce de résistance”, I added red eyes to the spiders using the pimentos from the green olives. Whew! Pizza figured out–no sweat. Almost ready to go–costumes were optional so we will save that for some other time. We gathered our pizza ingredients, a nice bottle of wine, (maybe two), a couple of warm coats and we headed out for this eagerly anticipated affair.
Carol’s birthday cake which was baked by her local grocery store bakery.
“Setting the stage” with gnarly looking pumpkins, (a beautiful silver one for contrast) and a host of creepy crawly critters.
Lisa’s Pizza Dough
This is a recipe that I have been tweaking for the past 35 years or so. Sometimes I add olive oil to the dough, but most times the oil I drizzle into the bowl is enough. I must confess that I don’t measure the pepper and the onion salt, a healthy shake of pepper and a nice mound of onion salt in the palm of my hand is just right. I also add about 1/4 teaspoon of sugar into the warm water to help give the yeast a boost. I like to use 00 flour, (double zero is high protein/high starch/ high gluten which makes it ideal for pasta and bread making), but all-purpose flour will work just fine.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 3/4 cup 00 flour, All-purpose flour can be substituted
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon onion salt
- extra-virgin olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir and allow to stand until foamy.
- Place flour, pepper and onion salt in the bowl of a food processor.
- With food processor running, SLOWLY add yeast mixture in a steady stream until the dough forms into a ball.
- Continue processing up to a minute to develop the gluten.
- Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil into a medium sized bowl.
- Place the dough into the bowl, then flip it over- oiled side up, and cover with plastic wrap.
- Place in refrigerator and allow to raise for a minimum of 8 hours.
Perfect Pizza Dough
Ingredients
- 1¾ cup 00 flour decrease amount to 1½ cups if using all-purpose
- ¾ cup warm water
- 2¼ tsp dry yeast
- ¼ tsp coursely ground black pepper
- ½ tsp onion salt
- ¼-½ tsp Italian Seasoning optional
- Extra-Virgin Olive oil
Instructions
- Sprinkle yeast over warm water, stir and allow to stand until foamy
- Place flour, pepper, onion salt, Italian Seasoning (if using) in the bowl of a food processor.
- With food processor running, SLOWLY add yeast mixture in a steady stream until the dough forms into a ball. Continue processing about a minute to develop the gluten.
- Drizzle about a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil into a medium sized bowl. Place the dough into the bowl then flip it over- oiled side up, and cover with plastic wrap.
- Place in refrigerator and allow to raise for a minimum of 8 hours or up to 2 days.
Carol’s Tomato Sauce
We won’t be able to duplicate Carol’s recipe exactly because she doesn’t use specific measures and she cooks the sauce in a Cazuela, (pictured above), in a 750 degree F wood burning pizza oven. (These bowls started out terra cotta orange on the outside too, but are black now because of the time they have spent in high heat). This is the recipe which she shared with me followed by my interpretation for approximate quantities.
INGREDIENTS
- plum tomatoes, halved
- garlic from the jar
- olive oil
- Seasoning Mixture**
- spicy smoked paprika
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and seasonings into a Cazuela.
- Cook at the highest temperature your oven will go, until the tomatoes are “mushy”.
- Remove from oven, remove the skins from the tomatoes, (cutting the tomatoes in half before cooking is the trick), mash with a potato masher and then use an immersion blender to smooth it out. If the sauce is too runny, put it back into the oven to reduce it to the right consistency.
**SEARING SEASONING RECIPE
Carol found this seasoning recipe by Woodstone. You will probably find lots of uses for it.
- 1 Cup Coarse Kosher salt
- 1/2 Cup Coarse grind black pepper
- 1/4 Cup fine grind white pepper
Carol uses any remaining sauce as a base for her spaghetti sauce, so make plenty and look forward to leftovers.
Here is my interpretation for Carol’s Sauce:
- 3 pounds plum tomatoes, halved
- 1 Tablespoon minced garlic
- 1/3 Cup olive oil
- Seasoning Mixture, 1 teaspoon or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon spicy smoked paprika, may substitute smoked paprika with 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes
Place all ingredients in a Dutch oven and cook at the highest temperature in your oven until tomatoes are “mushy”, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, remove the skins from the tomatoes, (cutting the tomatoes in half before cooking is the trick), mash with a potato masher and then use an immersion blender to smooth it out. If the sauce is too runny, put it back into the oven to reduce it to the right consistency.
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