Monday, October 29, 2007

Haunted Halloween Treats

Saturday night John and I went to a Halloween bash.... yes! An excuse to make cute Halloween cupcakes and other vegan munchies. And, since I have now become addicted to scrapbooking (working on one for my wedding and the other will be a few pages for every month of our first year of marriage....I know, dorky), I even made cute little Halloween-themed signs. I had been so excited about my idea to use those little spider rings you got as a kid for cupcake decorations. I call them my Creepy Crawler Cupcakes.

Recipe for the chocolate cupcake and vegan buttercream frosting (dyed orange) from VCTOTW. And, I discovered the secret for making cupcakes disappear at parties ... make them mini! I think full size cupcakes are too much of a commitment for parties, people want bite-sized items. So I just shortened the baking time to about 14 minutes. And what better way to display my mini-cupcakes than in my new mini-cupcake tower! These were gone before the end of the evening.
I was also in the mood for hummus, and lots of it, hence my Tricky Trio of Hummus. Clockwise from the bottom right: sesame peanut hummus (from Everyday Dish DVD), sun-dried tomato and caper hummus (modified from Everyday Dish DVD), and regular hummus (from Vive Le Vegan). I love Dreena's hummus recipes, and I love how quick and easy it is to make them! For dippers, we had pita chips, baby carrots, sugar snap peas, and rice crackers.
And finally I made another favorite appetizer of mine, Spooky Stuffed Shrooms from VWAV. I substituted panko for regular breadcrumbs, I just love the crunchiness. Party goers popped these like candy, I should have doubled the recipe! But I did save some of the stuffing for our dinner last night, just put it in portobellos instead. I think I even got a conditional invite to another party from someone I barely knew, as long as I brought some of these!
I love baking with a theme! I think I will need to do some more Halloween-themed baking before Wednesday. Of course, you are all probably wondering if we went in costume. Well, yes, sort of. Neither John nor I get very excited about dressing up, so we went for something that wouldn't involve any effort, and something we thought was appropriate for us. So we went as an office couple "caught in the act". You know.... my shirt on inside out, his tie loosened, our hair disheveled, lipstick smeared on both of our faces. It was subtle but cute, especially since we met in the office! It was the best costume scare we dared to bare.

24 comments:

Ashasarala said...

Everything here looks so good. You are very creative. I, myself, LOVE themes whether it's costumes, parties or cooking. I wish I had time to create some holiday goodies, but my big gig with the band had me tied up the entire month!

It's sad because Halloween is actually my favourite holiday and I didn't even have time to make a costume.

Ah, well. For now, I will live vicariously through your pictures. :)

Anonymous said...

your cupcakes should win an award for "best Halloween-themed cupcakes". seriously...

Ruthie said...

LOL you are so cute. I love your tricky trio of hummus. You should post your "caught in the act" photo! ;-)

bazu said...

I love your Halloween food! Those cupcakes, especially look wonderful. I also think it's cool that you are scrapbooking- lately, I've been in a really crafty mood, trying to figure out what to make.

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

You did a really good job on those pancakes and what can I say, i love mushrooms! Perfect!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Haha scrapbooking is uber-cool, NOT dorky! And your cupcakes are too cute-- I want one (or two)!

My sister said Boston is going crazy! She's excited about going to the parade even though she's not a Red Sox fan.

Anonymous said...

that food looks very elegant and delicioso!!

aTxVegn said...

I would have loved to have seen you in your costumes.

You did a GREAT job on ALL the food! The cupcakes are especially nice in the tower. Did you like the peanut hummus? I really want to try that recipe since I love anything with peanuts.

laura k said...

I wish I loved scrapbooking as much as you. I really want to re-make our wedding scrapbook but the thought of it tires me out! Oh well.. I'm sure yours will be beautiful.

Those cupcakes are so pretty. And your hummus trio sounds like something I would do--in fact, something I have done before! But my favorite photo this time is those shrooms--how have I missed that recipe? That's it--I'm making them the first chance I get!

vko said...

Ah, I know you wowed everyone with your vegan goodies- changing omni minds one bite at a time!

Those cuppers are damn cute and those spooky shrooms- yummy...

And your costume idea, brilliant!

the little one said...

Okay, so I'll have to go back and read about those other things . . . hummus and mushrooms. Right now I'm absolutely too blown away by those cupcakes. You're giving a little vegan baker like me something to strive for! Amazing.

Kayla said...

All of your halloween food is so cute! I love the mini cupcake tower. I seriously need one of those, since our new thing is making everything mini. And your hummus looks truely perfect.
What a funny costume idea. So simple, yet brilliant. I love it!

Veggie Cookster said...

GREAT ideas and even better presentation.... love, love, love the mini cupcake tree! It screams eat me! My fiance loves shrooms, so I'll definitely be giving that recipe a try. And, your Halloween costume was brilliant; very creative idea!! :)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

haha, I TOO am obsessed with scrapbooking - and crafts!! my goodness, those Creepy Crawler Cupcakes are so festive; it's no surprise that they disappeared at the party!! and wow, your Spooky Stuffed Shrooms and Hummus both look spectacular as well!! I love your clever recipe titles :0)

And your costume? Priceless. So cute!

Lori- the Pleasantly Plump Vegan said...

yeah, how fun is yr food!!! i especially LOVE the three hummus treats. oh, and Jared loves mushrooms, especially when they are stuffed! when he sees these, he'll be asking for some!

Lizzy said...

Hey, I saw your cupcakes on The PPK blog!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Gingerbread, did you say? *Sigh* I'm back to being the jealous one.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Gingerbread, did you say? *Sigh* I'm back to being the jealous one.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh I wish! If only Austin were closer to Dallas...

Are you going? Have extra fun for me if you are :o).

BLASe said...

Hi

Thanks for the much welcomed comments on my vegan blog. Your halloween cooking looks excellent. Love the pictures.

Vegan Meet

Anonymous said...

I love the scrapbooking idea. I've been meaning to scrapbook about our England trip this summer, but summer is long gone now and I can't even remember what it is I wanted to do.

The mini cupcakes are so cute, and scary!

jd said...

This is such a cool post! I especially love the "Tricky Trio of Hummus" - how adorable!

And I don't even like mushrooms, but those sure look good!

Emilie said...

So awesome!

Melisser; the Urban Housewife said...

Beautiful cupcakes!! I want to come to your parties!