AN Elegant Halloween Party

 Halloween parties are not just for kids.Adults can have fun with elegant dishes and drinks to make the night more bewitching. It can be a fun night , full of delicious recipes with a sophisticated spin.

What would make a Halloween party worthy of Gomez and Morticia Addams?Think a Brie wrapped up in puff pastry ala mummy style. Use puff pastry to create the bandages and drape them over the top of the cheese.It's an egg wash first then baking them for twenty minutes until the puff pastry is golden. Add pepperoni and green olive eyes for some spooky decoration. The best part of this is smearing the cheese on the puff pastry for an added treat. Mostly serve with crackers or toasted French bread slices. For a sit down dinner think a pasta dish with eyeball meatballs.The meatballs are baked with flattened ciligiene  - small rounds of mozzarella on top in their last two minutes f baking. Sliced olives are used as irises.Smaller meatballs would make excellent hors d'ouvres too.Pumpkin patch deviled eggs are also a fun starter. Round out the filling more and then lightly press the surface with a fork to resemble the pumpkins' indentations. Add a tiny bit of scallion on the top for the pumpkin stem and liberally sprinkle with paprika for the bright orange color. You can also serve finger sandwiches , preferably roast beef that squish blood gravy when bitten into.

Adult parties call for adult drinks.Start everyone off with Midnight Jello shots which is vodka and grape  Jello cooked together with black food coloring. Set in the fridge for two to three hours before serving.No one would say no to a candy corn martini. This is a layering of grenadine, vodka and orange juice with a topping of whipped cream. For a stronger quaff think a poison apple cocktail. This is taking sour apple Schnappes and mixing it with Crown Royal apple flavored whiskey and cranberry juice. A shot of grenadine gives it a dose of sweetness.Of course the best Halloween cocktail is ---- the Bloody Mary!. This mix of tomato juice, vodka and Worcester sauce is the ultimate drink, especially if you're hosting a Halloween brunch party. You can even set up a Bloody Mary bar where guests can choose between Clamato juice or regular tomato, along with hot sauce and different add ins from celery to olives. What about dessert? You could have caramel apples but add miso to a homemade caramel. Roll the dipped apples in ground pistachios or walnuts. A blood soaked cake may not sound too good. but imagine a devil's food cake that squishes out a raspberry coulis when cut. It's simply  lightly hollowing out the first layer , pour the coulis into that and then top with the second layer. Frost with a fudgy chocolate butter cream.. Stick a large steak knife in it for an extra scary effect.

Yes, adults can have fun and elegant Halloween parties too. Think Brie as a tasty mummy washed down with a  spicy Bloody Mary. Or a dessert with a candy apple ripe with umani. Have an fun and elegant All Hallows party.

A Dash Of Heat

Sometimes all it takes is a pinch of this or a dash of that to zing up a meal. This elevates any bland dish and makes it amazing. It could be an herb or spice, a chopped jalapeno or serrano.

Winter stews are always in need of some punching up. Yes, they're hearty and rib sticking but they can be a bit tasteless. Think about adding something as simple as freshly ground black pepper. Just doing this adds a bit of heat and color. For a bit more color, think pink peppercorns. These add a different kind of heat , similar to chilis and have a sweet fruitiness too.If you want a different flavor, dried ginger give any stew an Asian vibe with a more eye opening fire. This would be a great throw in if your stew has more cabbage and carrots in it. It can also be added to chicken stew too. Don't be afraid to flick a teaspoon into your stir fry either.  It's a nice way to balance out the other flavors. Another fire ball of a spice is smokey paprika. Many home chefs just associate it with dusting it on top of deviled eggs or giving color to roasted ham. Yet it can give layers of flavor and fire to even the simplest of dishes. One of the best recipes is chicken paprikash. This incredibly flavorful dish from Hungary , calls for hot or sweet paprika but you can also use the smoked kind. They're made from the same  crushed dried chilies but the smokey version has been smoked dried with oak. The flavor will just be heightened a bit more, highlighting the other ingredients such as tomato paste and sour cream.

Chilies also add to various recipes. There are so many different kinds that you can vary the same recipe with each one and get a different result each time. Most home chefs use jalapenos . They're fun to stuff with bacon and cream cheese or breaded and air fried. Yet, jalapenos can be sliced and mixed into all sorts of dishes.Try some in a meat loaf recipe. This is a great way to zing up a usually bland dish and transform it into something special. Serve with a side of guacamole or sour cream. Jalapenos can also jazz up any kind of burger.They can be mixed into the ground meat or layered with cheese and bacon for a hot of heat. Chopped jalapenos can also bring up the heat on crockpot chilis too. Other chilis such as the temp rising serrano can do wonders with simple cheese dips and even the famed artichoke one. Serrano chilies come in a variety of different colors and are smaller than jalapenos. The piri-piri is another spicy jolt that's used mostly in South African cooking. Piri piri or peri peri chicken is a delicious and fiery way to zing up an ordinary dish. It's usually a marinade that coats and soaks the meat for twenty-four hours before cooking.You could also use it for wings and thighs too,

Bring the heat to your winter cooking. Any dish can be zinged up with spices and chilies. Try them to liven up a blandly cool dish on a chilly night.

A Big Southern Do

Today is Derby Day  a big celebration in Kentucky where Southerners revel in the glory of the Kentucky Derby. You have to hand it to Southerners. They know how to do a party right - inspiration for us Yankee party givers. Do a do Southern style - with good food and good drink. Everyone will love it.

Biscuits, always a favorite , can make an appearance at s Southern themed party. Serve them with bacon ,pimento cheese, a favorite filling in sandwiches. Another idea is homemade tomato jam top with cheddar, sort of like an American's take on bruschetta. Tomato jam is easy to make .It's just taking whole peeled tomatoes and half a cup of sugar and cooking into a jam  boiled in a large skillet. A teaspoon of kosher salt is added to bring out the tomatoes' flavor. It's then cooked for about fifteen minutes until thick and jammy. Deviled eggs have always been a staple in almost every celebration and holiday. These are easy to make and can be decorated to look quite fancy. It's just taking the egg yolk and mayo mash and putting it into a cake icer with  small tip (Like a Wilton decorating tip - number 199). Swirl in the filling into the halved egg whites and then dust with paprika or finely minced gherkins.Okra is a big staple in Southern cooking, especially in Louisiana where it's used in gumbo. It can take on a modern twist as a popper. It's simply cutting the stalks into one half inch pieces and first soaking them in buttermilk. They then are rolled in a spicy cornmeal batter that's been spiked with cayenne and garlic powder.

Barbecue is a way of life down South and it too is always the star of many a party.May barbecues have a whole roasted pig . This may be too much and too labor intensive - after all - a pit has to be dug to accommodate the spit and coals. Ribs would be a better choice. They're easier to cook and eat.Marinate them in a spicy and tangy sauce that's laced with hot pepper sauce and sweetened with ketchup and brown sugar to create an interesting marriage of flavors.. Barbecue and fried chicken are also staples of Southernn home chefs. Again brown sugar is added to the chicken's barbecue sauce for that earthy sweetness while chopped onion and garlic gives it some zing. The recipe calls also for ketchup but tomato jam could be subbed in. A fun party food  is homemade fried chicken - what the South is all about. The best tasting ones start with a simple batter , consisting of just flour, eggs and a cup of milk. First  soak the chicken in the milk  and egg mix and then thoroughly coat with flour.Fry in lard for a truly authentic Southern taste.  A Southern do ends with peach cobbler or banana pudding.If it's fancy then bake a traditional hummingbird cake.It's a banana  - pineapple cake laden with pecans and cinnamon. It's iced with another Southern classic  - cream cheese frosting . Serve it with after dinner coffee laced with bourbon for a fantastic ending.

The South knows how to throw a party with good food. Create your own Southern do with tasty fried chicken and biscuits, or barbecue and hummingbird cake. It's what entertaining is all about.