Frugal Café Blog Zone

Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on October 15, 2010

Jack O' Lantern | Photo credit: Weeta, Flickr, Creative Commons

FOOD. GLORIOUS HALLOWEEN FOOD.

I love Halloween — it brings out the kid in me. Halloween foods tend to be appetizer/party food or desserts, but there are several photos here that may tickle your imagination for making for dinner or a luncheon during the fall months.

There are recipes included with some of these Halloween food photos… many of these look like they could be easy enough to duplicate even if recipes aren’t included.

All look spooky, frugal, and yummy!

Halloween Eyeball Truffles | Photo credit, Nancy Dorsner, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Squash Pie | Photo credit: Isabelle Palatin, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Gingerbread House | Photo credit: Anthony Citrano, Flickr, Creative Commons

This fabulous Halloween gingerbread house photo is credited to Los Angeles fashion photographer Anthony Citrano. Check out his site to see his fashion and celebrity photos.

Halloween Chili with Cheese Ghosts | Photo credit: Stephanie Lamphere, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Apple Cider Donuts | Photo credit: Jenn Vargas, Flickr, Creative Commons

Apple Cider Doughnuts
Adapted from Lauren Dawson at Hearth Restaurant

Makes 18 doughnuts + 18 doughnut holes (suggested yield for a 3-inch cutter; my larger one yielded fewer)

Most apple cider doughnuts, despite their name, are kind of a bummer because they don’t taste very apple-y. One of the many things that appealed to me about this recipe was the way the apple cider was reduced and concentrated to hopefully give it more presence. And despite the fact that these are cake doughnuts, which have always played second fiddle to yeast doughnuts in my experience (likely because cake are more likely to get stale sooner, or you know, by the time you buy them), I think this is all the more reason to make them at home.

Personally, I don’t think a sweetened doughnut needs any kind of topping, but I went with a cinnamon-sugar coating anyway. Hearth dips theirs in an apple cider glaze, and serves them with applesauce and barely-sweetened whipped cream. We had ours with a dark beer.

• 1 cup apple cider
• 3 1/2 cups flour, plus additional for the work surface
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• Vegetable oil or shortening (see my explanation in the post) for frying

Toppings (optional)

Glaze (1 cup confectioners’ sugar + 2 tablespoons apple cider)
Cinnamon sugar (1 cup granulated sugar + 1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon)

Halloween Borough Market, London | Photo credit: Zak Gollop, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Zombie Cupcake | Photo credit: wockerjabby, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Chicken Hot Pot 'tori nabe', with Jack O'Carrots | Photo credit: Ken Lee, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Spooky Veggie Tray | Photo credit: William and Mary Law Library, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Food Table | Photo credit: Jill Matasuyama, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Radio-active Mash | Photo credit: Toby Bradbury, Flickr, Creative Commons

No recipe accompanied the Halloween Radio-active Mash above, but it appears easy enough to duplicate and cheap to make. From the photo, this dish appears to be mashed potatoes with a few drops of green food coloring, accompanied by grilled onions and hot dogs. Kids should love this for dinner.

Halloween Witches' Fingers Cookies | Photo credit: jillmotts, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Stinkbug Eggs | Photo credit: Chris Booth, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Chocolate Spider Cake | Photo credit: Andy Davy, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Wizard Wands | Photo credit: Christa Burns, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Pumpkin Cranberry Upside-Down Cake (gluten-free) | Photo credit: Elana Amsterdam, Flickr, Creative Commons

Recipe for Halloween Pumpkin Cranberry Upside-Down Cake provided by Elana Amsterdam, Elana’s Pantry — the cake is gluten-free… from Elana’s website:

It all started a few weeks ago when my son’s viola teacher, Sandra, asked for advice regarding traditional Thanksgiving family fare.

The next thing I knew, she had given me a copy of a recipe for Pumpkin Cranberry Upside-Down Cake featured in Sunset Magazine’s November 2007 issue. I made several changes to it, most notably removing the sugar, dairy and gluten and was pleased with the results.

This dessert is a rich, moist cross between a pumpkin cake and a pumpkin pie. Perfect for that post-Halloween, pre-Thanksgiving time of year. Try it on a windy day with a warm cup of tea.

Gluten-Free Pumpkin Cranberry Upside Down Cake

• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped and toasted
• ½ cup agave nectar
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil

****

• 3 cups blanched almond flour
• ½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon cloves

****

• ¼ cup grapeseed oil
• ½ cup agave nectar
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups fresh baked pumpkin

1. Line an 8 x 8-inch Pyrex dish with a piece of parchment paper (use scissors to cut to size).
2. In a medium bowl, combine cranberries, walnuts, agave and grapeseed oil.
3. Pour cranberry mixture into lined baking dish.
4. In a large bowl, stir together almond flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.
5. In a Vita-Mix (or other high powered blender), combine oil, agave, eggs and cooked pumpkin; blend on high speed for 30 seconds or until smooth like pudding.
6. Stir wet ingredients into dry.
7. Pour batter evenly over cranberry mixture.
8. Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let cool for 20 minutes.
10. Run a knife around the edge of the baking dish, then place a large plate over the cake and invert cake and plate together.
11. Remove the baking dish from the cake and then peel off the parchment paper.
12. Allow to cool to room temperature and serve.

Serves 24.

Halloween Cream Puff Tower | Photo credit: Hamachi, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Candy Corn Cupcakes... devil's food cake cupcakes with chocolate frosting and candy corn | Photo credit: Katie Stine, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Cinnamon Candy Apples | Photo credit: Leslie Atcheson, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Bloody Witches' Fingers | Photo credit: Alpha, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Dinner in a Pumpkin | Photo credit, Aethyric, Flickr, Creative Commons

Sweet pie pumpkin filled with: ground beef, onion, bell pepper, rice, tomato sauce, raisins, dried cherries, dried cranberries, ginger, seasoned salt, marjoram, cider vinegar, and a tiny dash of Penzey’s Rogan Josh seasoning cooked into the beef.

Potentially one of the most disgusting looking dinners we’ve ever had. Good for Halloween.

Halloween Jack O' Lantern Pizza | Photo credit: Brian Gatreau, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Spider Cookies | Photo credit: Christa Burns, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Preschooler Bento Boxes | Photo credit: Wendy Copley, Flickr, Creative Commons

Halloween Pumpkin Applesauce | Photo credit: sweet beet and green bean, Flickr, Creative Commons

Vintage Halloween Recipe Card for Spiced Pumpkin Seeds | Photo credit: Kim Beatty, Flickr, Creative Commons

The above photo is of a rare Halloween recipe card from the 1950s, with instructions on how to roast pumpkin seeds in the oven.

Food photos selected and posted are credited and have Creative Commons-licensed content with some rights reserved for noncommercial purposes, unless otherwise noted.

************************

Previous Fab Food Friday Fotos posts:

Asian Meats, “Happy” Bread, Tempeh Pizza with Artichoke Hearts, Beef & Red Wine Casserole, Chili Peppers, Teddy Bear Tea Party Cake, Makaronilaatikko, and More

Chinese Pig Dumplings, Hot Pastrami, Chicken Pot Pie, Pepperoni Pizza Soup, Tiger Bento Box, Spaghetti with Mushrooms, & More

Watermelon-Infused Vodka Balls, Chocolates, Peppercorn Beef Filet Steak, Cauliflower Cheese Soup, & More

Also for Halloween…

Halloween Frugality & Fun: Pumpkin Buying & Carving Tips for Longer-Lasting, Spooky Jack-O’-Lanterns, Plus Awesome Jack-O’-Lantern Photos

Categories: Business & Economy, Conservatism, Food, Drink, Frugal Kitchen Tricks, Health, Holidays and Family, Social and Political Climate
Tags: appetizer, appetizers, apple, applesauce, bad economy, baking pumpkin seeds, bento, bento box, cake recipe, cheap, cheap cooking, cheap dishes, cheap meal, cheap recipe, chili, cookies, cooking, cooking pumpkin seeds, cooking tips, cranberries, cupcake, dessert, dessert recipe, dessert recipes, diy, drink, easy recipe, economic crisis, economic hardship, economy, Fab Food Friday Fotos, food, food budget, food costs, food photos, frugal meal, frugal recipe, frugal recipes, frugal tips, frugality, fruit, gingerbread house, Halloween, Halloween cookies, Halloween Day, Halloween dinner, Halloween food, Halloween jack o lantern, Halloween pictures, Halloween pumpkin, Halloween recipes, Halloween theme, Halloween treats, Haloween, hamburger, happy Halloween, holiday cooking, holiday recipe, holiday recipes, homemade, homemade lunch, jack olantern, jack-o'-lantern, Japanese bento box, meal, oven, pie, pizza, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, recipe, recipes, roasted pumpkin seed recipe, roasted pumpkin seeds, save money, saving money, spooky food, squash pie, thrift, thrifty, thrifty meal, thrifty meals, truffles