Cooking, American StyleClass 4

HalloweenInternational Center

at Catholic Charities Community Services

October 22, 2013Instructor: Virginia Guilford

Cooking, American Style

• Class 1 – American Cuisine

• Class 2 – Fall Foliage

• Class 3 – Supermarkets

• Class 4 – Halloween

• Class 5 – Thanksgiving

Cooking, American StyleClass 4

• Halloween Traditions• Trick or Treat• Halloween Costumes• Carving a Pumpkin• Recipes• Halloween Parties

What is Halloween

• Halloween is celebrated the evening before All Saints’ Day– Halloween (All Hallows Eve), Oct 31– All Saints’ Day (All Hallows Day), Nov 1, celebrates all the

saints who have died.– All Souls’ Day, Nov 2, celebrates everyone else who died.

• Halloween is celebrated on October 31st

– It is a Christian holiday, although it may have its roots in pagan celebrations such as the Gaelic holiday Samhain.

– This is the day that is furthest away from last year’s All Saint’s Day

• It is a day on which it was thought that the ‘gates of hell’ were the weakest, and devils and witches from hell might come through into our world.

• If people dress up like devils and witches, it may scare away the real ones.

Halloween in Other Countries

• Ireland – Halloween– Trick or Treat]– Costumes– Treasure Hunts

• Mexico - Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) – November 1, All Saints Day– Visit cemeteries & decorate with offerings of

food and sweets and flowers– Parades, costumes, dancing

NYC Halloween Parade• NYC Halloween Parade – Oct 31, 7 PM

– Participate• You must be in costume, • Lineup begins at 6:30 PM on 6th Avenue, between

Canal Street & Spring

– Watch in Person - 6th Avenue from Spring Street to 16th Street  from 7:00pm - 10:30pm

– Watch on TV – WPIX Channel 11: 7:30pm - 9:00pm, and on NY1: 8:00pm - 9:30pm

• Find out more - http://www.halloween-nyc.com/

Other NYC Halloween Celebrations• Haunted Pumpkin Garden at the New York

Botanical Garden– Sun, Oct 20 – Wed, Oct 31 (closed Mondays) – 1:30 PM – 5:30 PM.

$20 admission fee.

– Other special exhibits include “Kiku – The Art of the Japanese Garden” and “The Edible Garden”.

• Haunted Highline Halloween– Sat, Oct 26, 11 PM – 3 PM, various locations on The Highline, from

14th Street to 17th Street, Free

• PhantasmaGory 2013 Grand Halloween Ball– Sat, Oct 26, 9 PM, India House Club,1 Hanover Sq, between Pearl

and Stone Streets. Admission $40. Advance tickets $25–$30 available at dancesofvice.com. More info at indiahouseclub.org

Trick or Treat

• Traditionally, children would knock on doors of neighboring houses, saying “Trick or Treat!”. There was an implied threat that, if there was no a treat, a trick would be done – writing with soap on your windows, decorating your garden with toilet paper, or some similar prank.

• NYC tradition has children in costumes stopping at local businesses – dry cleaners, shoe repair shops, nail salons, etc. – and asking to be given candy.

Other Halloween Activities

• Bonfires

• Apple Bobbing / Bobbing for Apples– A large tub is filled with water and apples are

floated in it.– People try to catch the apples, using only their

teeth.

• Telling Scary Stories

• Watching Horror Movies

Halloween Costumes

• If you are invited to a Halloween party, you should wear some kind of a Halloween costume.

• You will see many people wearing Halloween costumes, even during the day, even while they are at work.

Halloween Makeup

• A Halloween costume can be mostly makeup, like this “Day of the Dead” girl, or the “Evil Queen” from Martha Stewart Living magazine.

Halloween Costume

• Many people like to dress as a superhero or a character in a TV show or movie. Costumes like these can be made at home, but are more often purchased or rented - like this Batman costume.

Halloween Masks

• A costume can be just a mask. The mask can be an elaborate silicon, over-the-head mask in the image of a celebrity or a monster, like the one shown here. Or the mask can cover just the eyes and forehead, like this glamorous black feather mask.

Carving a Pumpkin

• Cut a lid

• Clean out the interior

Carving a Face on the Pumpkin• Using a sharp knife, carve a scary face or

an interesting design.

• Place a votive candle in the inside of the pumpkin. Use the carved pumpkin as a table decoration or as a decoration on your doorstep.

Pumpkin Flower Vase

• Cut open the pumpkin; remove seeds; discard top

• Place a small jar inside the pumpkin to hold water and flowers.

Pumpkin Dip Holder

• Cut open the pumpkin; remove seeds and any loose pulp.

• Spoon a dip into the pumpkin & arrange cut vegetables on a tray around the base of the pumpkin.

Pumpkin Drinks Cooler

• Select a large pumpkin. Cut off the top 1/3 of the pumpkin. Remove seeds & loose pulp.

• Fill with ice and beverage bottles.

Recipes• Warm Spiced Apple Cider• Halloween Spider Cupcakes• Coconut Ghost Ice Cream Balls• Aunt Betty-Bob’s Brownies

Warm Spiced Apple Cider

• Ingredients• 32 allspice berries• 24 cinnamon sticks• 24 cardamom pods• 12 whole cloves• 12 strips of orange peel• 1 gallon apple cider• Apple Jack, Captain Morgan

Rum, Brandy or Bourbon (Optional)

• Directions• Combine spices & cider

in a large pot.• Bring to a simmer over

medium heat, and cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cider can be kept warm over very low heat. Strain before serving, reserving some cinnamon sticks for garnish if desired. Add a splash of brandy or bourbon, if desired.

• Makes 16 1-cup servings.

Ingredients

• Allspice Berries

• Cinnamon Sticks

• Cardamom Pods

• Whole Cloves

Halloween Cupcakes

Cupcake Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups flour• 1 cup sugar• 1 teaspoon baking soda• 1 teaspoon salt• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder• 1 egg• 1 cup water• ½ vegetable oil• 1 teaspoon vinegar

Frosting Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar• 1 teaspoon milk• 1 teaspoon vanilla• 1 tube black decorating gel• 18 plastic spider finger rings

Cupcake Directions

• Preheat oven to 350• Mix all ingredients together with an

electric mixer or a wooden spoon.• Fit paper cupcake liners into three 6-

cup muffin pans. • Pour batter into the 18 cupcake liners.• Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let cool.

Frosting Directions

• Mix butter, powdered sugar, milk & vanilla together with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon until frosting is smooth.

Ingredients & Techniques• Decorating the Cupcakes

– Frost cupcake tops with white frosting. (Or add a dash of red food coloring and a dash of yellow food coloring to the frosting to color it orange for a more Halloween-y effect.)

– Draw concentric circles on top of the white or orange frosting with black decorating gel.

– Using a toothpick, pull out from the center to the edge of the cupcake to create a spider web design.

– Place a plastic spider ring somewhere on the spider web.

Coconut Ghost Ice Cream Balls• Ingredients• 1 quart vanilla Ice cream• Flaked coconut• Chocolate chips

• Directions

• Place wax paper on a baking sheet

• Using an ice cream scoop, scoop out round balls of ice cream. Drop into a bowl of flaked coconut, and roll to coat ice cream.

• Add 2 chocolate chip eyes.

• Place in freezer until ready to serve.

Aunt Betty Bob’s BrowniesIngredients• ½ cup butter (1 stick)• 1 cup sugar • 3 Tablespoons unsweetened

cocoa powder (Ghirardelli is a good brand)

• 2 teaspoons vanilla • 2 eggs• ½ cup flour plus 1 teaspoon for

the pan• 1½ cups pecans, roughly

chopped or whole• PAM oil spray

Directions• Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Prepare a 7”x10” pan by spraying it with PAM and then shaking the teaspoon of flour around the pan to spread the flour all over the bottom & sides.

• Melt butter in saucepan. Add sugar, cocoa powder & vanilla to the melted butter and whisk together. Let this mixture cool for 5 minutes. Stir in eggs & flour and mix with a whisk until blended. Stir in pecans, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

• Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 30 minutes. Cut into squares.

Techniques - Prepare the Baking Pan• If you don't have a 7” x 10” size baking pan, you can just use a flat

cookie sheet and create a pan by folding up a piece of heavy aluminum foil into a pan shape - create sides that are about 1.5" high.

• Make sure to use a pan of the correct size – too big and the brownies will be dried out; too small and they will be undercooked.

• To grease & flour the baking pan for cakes and brownies:

Spray with PAM Add flour & shake

Halloween Parties

• Halloween Themes– Witches & Cats– Skeletons & Ghosts– Spiders & Bats– Moon– Black & Orange

• Your Halloween Costume ?

• Your Halloween Party ?