Harvest Time Tricks and Treats
The bounty of the harvest on Long Island’s North Fork.
The trick: Word of Mouth’s been hiding.
The treat: We’re back!!
It’s been a busy time in Word of Mouth world — gathering, tasting, experimenting, creating. But mostly, I’ve been wearing my marketing hat in a media position that offered a mad frantic, but interesting, mix of food, entertaining, DIY and home design brands. Happily, Word of Mouth is back with some exciting new ideas just in time for the holiday season.
What better way to kick off the season than with my favorite holiday – Halloween. Is there a more fun or creative time of the year? The farmers markets are still filled with the bounty of late summer and fall and it has finally cooled down enough to add complexity to your creations. Back when I had a big house to fill, party planning and decorations started early. There were the vignettes for the “haunted house,” the endless trips to flea markets and Wicca boutiques to source the coolest Halloween props and, of course, the careful menu planning and naming of gross-sounding but delicious-tasting savory and sweet treats for party goers.
It’s been a few years since I’ve filled a theatre prop coffin with ice and stocked it with beer. In fact, this post is apt to prompt a call from T & J asking me when I’ll retrieve the 10+ boxes of Halloween junk from their basement! But, I still love the season and jump at any chance to concoct a few new potions for the occasion. Whether you’re heading out on Halloween to work your inner Snookie/Situation, plastering your house with cobwebs (or just plain old getting plastered) or taking it easy in the country watching the leaves fall, here are a few quick ideas for a heavenly harvest. And… to all my pagan friends, happy Samhain.
Favorite Halloween prop: Freak out trick-or-treating goblins with a life-sized, animated ghoul. All you need is an oscillating, standing floor fan. Remove the cage and fan paddles. Prop the fan, securely, on a sturdy crate or low, square table. Place a scary mask over the motor. With electrical tape and Styrofoam squares or a wire hanger, build out “shoulders” under the “neck” of the mask and drape floor-length black fabric as if it were a cape. Turn the fan on and the head will turn! Make it even more real by adding eyes like the blood-shot eyeball gliders available at Oriental Trading Company.
Show your spooky side with creative Halloween table settings. Created and styled by Lisa Cradit.
Unforgettable tablesettings: Skip the black and orange and go Goth. Cover your table to the floor with a white table cloth or sheets and overlay it with remnant black velvet cloth from your local fabric store. Top it off with a layer of cheese cloth — shredded. Use your grandmother’s candelabra’s, find something great on eBay or check out Grandinroad, a great one-stop Halloween source and more. Don’t forget the black candles! For a fun centerpiece, soak a piece of florist foam in water for a half hour and place in a shallow bowl. Place a small skewer in the bottom of vegetables like, purple artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, and finger potatoes and stick them into the florist foam so the skewers are invisible. Patch up holes with kale, creepy Spanish moss and a couple of rubber spiders and a rat! Wrap your napkins with twine and a spider.
Create your favorite vintage: Who wants a pretty label from a fancy vineyard when you can trick your treaters with these great vintage looking labels from Grandinroad. Or, if you’re really ambitious, make your own. Find a spooky image of a skeleton or ghoul — about 3 1/2” x 4 1/2”. Overlay the image with a fun name like, Bone Dry Red and Ghostly White. Print the labels onto vellum paper and glue the image onto the bottle(s).
Set the mood with music: Mix your own party music with a combo of spooky sounds, traditional tunes and a few of these selections sure to become regulars on your rotation: Tom Petty’s Zombie Zoo; Rat Trap from the Boomtown Rats; Donovan’s Season of the Witch; Die by the Drop from Deadweather; ELO’s Strange Magic (Evil Woman also works); The Nationals’ Anyone’s Ghost or Bloodbuzz Ohio; The Pirates Cove from Tom Petty; Ryan Adams’ Afraid Not Scared; and, you can’t forget Black Magic Woman from Santana.
The food: Halloween is a great time to let your creativity shine. You don’t have to be a top chef to create an unforgettable menu. Set a spicy black bean dip in a brain mold for a gross-out presentation. Try some black squid ink tortellini skewers and a simple ranch dip. You’ll get tons of mileage from my two favorite go-to seasonal recipes are a thick sweet potato and butternut squash soup and delicious pumpkin chocolate chip squares.
This thick, delicious and slightly spicy soup is great topped with fresh parmesan, a dollop of sour cream or the tasty candied pepitas. I’ve also used the soup as a puree and served it with roasted cod with wild mushrooms.
Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup with Candied Pepitas
Serves 8
Ingredients:
2 pounds of sweet potatoes (about two large or three skinny ones), peeled and cubed
1lb. butternut squash or sugar pumpkin, peeled and cubed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
4 cups of low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Sour cream, grated Parmesan or candied pepitas (see recipe below)
Prepare:
Heat the olive oil on medium in a large soup pot, and cook the onions and carrot for 6 - 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute.
Add the sweet potatoes and squash, broth, hot pepper flakes, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg to the pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes and squash are tender.
Let the soup cool, and then in batches, puree it in the blender. If you prefer, you can use an immersion blender in the pot instead.
Once the soup has been pureed, add salt and black pepper to taste.
Serve topped with a dollop of sour cream, grated Parmesan and/or candied pepitas.
Candied Pepitas
Makes about 2 cups
Ingredients:
6 ounces (about 1 cup) pepitas, crumbled
6 tablespoons sugar
1 large egg white, beaten
Pinch of coarse salt, plus more for seasoning
Pinch of ground allspice
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Prepare:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together all ingredients in a bowl. Spread mixture in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Bake until pepitas are golden and slightly puffed, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Stir gently, leaving some clumps. Transfer to a bowl; let cool completely. Pepitas can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.
These pumpkin chocolate chip squares from Everyday Food can fool even the most vocal pumpkin haters. Mr. Cradit, my friend’s dad, ate an undisclosed amount before we disclosed the ingredients. The kicker? These treats had been frozen for more than 6 months! Photo: MarthaStewart.com
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Squares
Makes 24
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips
Prepare
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with foil, leaving an overhang on all sides. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, pie spice, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
With an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on medium-high speed until smooth; beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in pumpkin puree (mixture may appear curdled). Reduce speed to low, and mix in dry ingredients until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Bake until edges begin to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan.
Lift cake from pan (using foil as an aid). Peel off foil, and use a serrated knife to cut into 24 squares.
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