Year: 2011

Dracu-kin

Holding vampire teeth closed, trace a line around them onto the pumpkin. Use a pumpkin saw to remove the area and enough of the inside for teeth to sit like in picture. Trim 2 red pushpins. Stick them in for eyes.

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Fried Pies

3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup Crisco or other good vegetable shortening
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup cold water
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
Note: sometimes I add 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg to flour.
Mix together the flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender, fork, your hands, or whatever method works best for you, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir together the beaten egg with the water and sprinkle over flour mixture. Sprinkle in the vinegar, mixing lightly, until ingredients are well combined. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and cut it into four equal pieces. You can then cut each of the four pieces into three equal pieces, leaving you with 12 golf-ball-size dough balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll each ball into a 5- to 6-inch circle. Your circles do not have to be perfect, and ragged edges are okay.

Put 2 generous tablespoons of filling onto one side of the circle of dough. Seal the pie by wetting the inside edge of the dough with water (use your finger), and then fold over the dough, making the familiar half-moon-shaped pie. Make sure the edges of the dough are even, and press and crimp to insure a good seal. You can use a fork to give you a bit of a decorative edge if you like. You can also correct the more ragged edges during this step because the dough is pliable. Just make sure the filling is sealed in and any holes in the dough are crimped.
You can deep fry or pan fry. If you pan fry you just need to turn the pies.

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Or make this Fried Pi.

instructions HERE

Homemade Goldfish Crackers

Ingredients

  • 1 cup(s) all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoon(s) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces (I used salted butter, but didn’t add any salt afterward)
  • 8 ounce(s) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese (around 2 cups). Note: you can experiment with other cheeses. Some people have tried this and loved the results!
  • 3/4 teaspoon(s) salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon onion powder (note: this is optional since it isn’t part of the original recipe, but I decided to add anyway since I used it)
  • 1/2 teaspoon(s) fresh-ground pepper
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

Directions

  1. Pulse the flour,onion powder, salt, pepper, and baking powder together using a food processor.
  2. Add the butter and cheese, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. Pulse in 3 to 4 tablespoons of water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and only enough so that the dough forms a ball and rides the blade. Remove, wrap in plastic, and chill for 20 minutes (I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes and in the fridge for 10) or up to 24 hours.
  4. Bake the crackers: Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking pans with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside. Roll the dough out to 1/8th-inch thickness, using flour if necessary to prevent stickiness. Cut out as many crackers as possible.
  5. To add character to the fish: break off an end from a side of a toothpick so it is blunt. Use that point to make the goldfish eyes. To make the smile, lay the toothpick down on its side, press, and drag. If you try to use the toothpick point, it will ruin the smile.
  6. Optional: Refrigerate for another 15 minutes or so to make sure they won’t spread.
  7. Place them on the prepared baking pans. Bake until golden and crisp (13-18 minutes). Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
  8. They are best when completely cooled and the next day in my opinion. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Homemade Goldfish Cracker Cutter

  1. Draw outline of goldfish on a piece of paper for reference. (Mine was about an inch in length)
  2. Take an empty soda can and cut through it horizontally using a sharp knife.
  3. Using your scissors, cut a strip of metal from the soda can (it should be the circumference of the soda can).
  4. Straighten edges with scissors
  5. Using your goldfish paper template, determine how big the head will be and fold both sides outwards accordingly. Don’t fold too harshly or the strip will break. If this happens, just cut off another strip and start again.
  6. Using your template, determine when to fold the tail. Make sure the end of the tail overlaps at some point, and cut off the excess strip if necessary.
  7. Staple or tape or glue the ends of the tail together. (I used tape over the tail).
  8. For more safety, you may put a protective layer of tape over the top part of the fish (the non-cookie cutting side where you’ll be applying the pressure) as a protection against the metal when cutting.   via