Review: Ghoulish Goodies

If you’re looking for some fun treats for Halloween, then Ghoulish Goodies is for you!  This adorable cookbook has recipes for candies and goodies, cookies, cakes, party food, drinks and even a Halloween supper.  There are darling photographs for most (but not all) of the recipes.  There are some deliciously scary looking treats in here that would be great to make for the classroom!

Since olives and cheese are two of the major food groups, I decided to try making the Cheddar Eyeballs.  The recipe was easy and delicious, but I came out with about half as many eyeballs as it said I would.  Here’s the recipe:

8 ounces extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)

½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 6 pieces

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 (6-ounce) bottle pimento-stuffed green olives, drained

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
2. Combine the cheese, butter, cumin and salt in a food processor and process until well blended.  With the machine running, slowly add the flour and stop as soon as a ball of dough forms.
3. Scoop up a tablespoon of the cheese dough and mold it into a ball.  Push an olive down into the middle of the eyeball, leaving only the stuffed end showing.  Place on an ungreased baking sheet.   Repeat with the remaining dough and olives.
4. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.  Serve hot or warm.

These are delicious hot or cold.  I used white cheddar cheese, so mine aren’t as brown as they would be if I’d used orange cheese.

A great idea in this book is to make a frozen hand for your punch bowl.  All you have to do is take a rubber surgical glove and rinse it out several times.  Fill it with water, tie the wrist tightly closed, and freeze.  Once it’s frozen solid, cut the glove off the palm and each finger with sharp scissors.

This is a great book for those with kids or for the kid inside of you!

I received this book at the SIBA Trade Show.