food – Dabbled

Halloween Food: The Mummy’s Hand..

Dot — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 12:47:06 +0000

Happy weekend… this is from several years ago, but it was so good, I thought it deserved a repeat!

My dear creative friend, Chad, made this for the Halloween party … and was kind enough to give us a tutorial, so we can all make our own!

Published on: Oct 3, 2009

Halloween Food: Dot’s Mozzarella Eyeballs

Dot — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:26:43 +0000

These Mozzarella Eyeballs have been a staple of my Halloween party food for several years now. They are delicious, and suitably creepy!

The curse of Halloween food blogging is that many of my Halloween delicacies, made up for the Halloween party, are done at the last minute. So I can’t write them up very well before Halloween, and it seems silly to post the recipes AFTER Halloween. So I was noticing that some of my really cool Halloween treats are relegated to quick photo posts, rather than giving them the treatment they deserve. To fix that, here is the ‘how-to’ on my world famous Mozzarella Eyeballs, classy enough for the fanciest Halloween dinner party!

Recipe/Technique: How to make Marinated Mozzarella Eyeballs

Supplies:

Big firm olives (black & green). Try the olive bar at your local grocery, or you can go for the canned stuff. The olives need to be firm, not squishy. Jarred black olives work perfected fine for the pupil.
A large diameter drinking straw (I find McDonalds straws to be the perfect size) .
Marinated mini mozzarella balls. I get mine at Trader Joe’s.
Optional: jarred red pepper slices.

Technique:

My original version of this just used sliced pimento stuffed green olives, but then I saw the Evil Mad Scientists and their Eyeball Caprese, and adapted that technique to my appetizer. You basically use the olives to make your nice rounded iris and pupil. For the most rounded, slice of the end of a green olive, then use your straw to punch a hole in the center. Then slide of a piece of black olive, and use the straw to punch out a plug of black. Then place the black piece in the hole of your green olive. If it does stay level with the green, you can use a little cream cheese stuffed in the open end of the olive to hold the black in place. You can also do slices off the side of the green olive, but be aware they will be slightly oblong. you can see I did a little of both for mine in the photo.

Note: You can make red pupils by using jarred roasted red pepper, peeled, instead of the black olives.

Once you have enough irises for all your mozzarella balls, you simply arrange the balls on a platter, and top with your olive slices. Depending on the shape of your balls, you may need to slice off a little of the top to get a flat surface on which to sit your olive eye.

Drizzle the whole thing with the marinade from the package, and optionally stab each eyeball with a toothpick for added ‘ewww’ factor and ease of serving!

St Patrick’s Day cooking…

Dot — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:12:07 +0000

St. Patrick’s day is coming up… got any cooking plans? Here are some of the recipes shared previously on Foodwhirl.com.

Guiness Corned Beef

Irish Car Bomb Bread Pudding

Niki’s Homemade Corned Beef and Cabbage

St. Patty’s Ideas – Corned Beef & Cabbage Tacos

Irish Car Bomb Ice-cream Sundae

Spotlight- Guinness Spiced Muffins

Leftover Potato Pancakes

How to Cook Greens……for St. Patricks Day!

Happy Saint Patty’s day: just add pesto.

Spotlight: St Pats Day Maki!

Planning ahead for Holiday Cookie/Candy Baking

Dot — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:10:48 +0000

Here’s a few cookie ideas that I’ve posted and linked to in the past, that I thought were worth a repeat!

Start planning ahead now… many cookie recipes can be made ahead and frozen, which makes things easier when the season gets more hectic. Plus, that leftover halloween candy you’ve been trying to get rid of is great for replacing chocolate chips in your fave chocolate chip cookie recipe!

12 Days of Ass Friendly Christmas Cookies from The Novice Chef… Some really tasty looking treats, and under 100 calories… I love the Chocolate Hazelnut Pinwheels– They can double as an edible ornament! (though I think I’ll make some with Jam inside instead)
From Tip Junkie: Semi-homemade food gifts – from peppermint bark, to ‘ready to make’ rice krispy treats.
Also from Tip Junkie: A roundup of peppermint treat ideas… lots of good ones.
Chocolate-Hazelnut Spritz Cookies at La Mia Vita Dolce
Norwegian Sand Cookies at Pam’s wonderful site: Gingerbread Snowflakes
Candy Cane Cake pops at Hostess with the Mostess (and check out these Rock Candy Trees!)
Gingerbread houses and More at Crafting in a Green World – and here’s some great ideas for a Gingerbread house party from Chica & Jo
Chewiest Molasses Cookies at Can You Stay For Dinner – I LOVE molasses cookies.
Almond Joy Truffles at Duhlicious. These are so pretty.
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies at Little Brown Pen. Easy and Pretty!
Salted Toffee Chocolate Squares at Pink of Perfection
Super Easy Last Minute treats – Holiday Pretzel Kisses at Little Birdie Secrets
Cookie Tree ideas at the Kitchn (Dabbled’s own Cookie Trees are at Foodwhirl — pictured above!)

Harry Potter Themed Halloween Ideas

Dot — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:16:20 +0000

I got too busy today to upload a tutorial on the Draco Malfoy Death Eater costume, so that will have to wait until tomorrow.

To tide you over, here are some clever Harry Potter halloween ideas, for those who like to mix their All Hallows with the Deathly Hallows!

A few photos below, then links to those ideas and more under the photos.

Harry Potter Halloween Idea Links:

Just. Too. Awesome. Star Wars Party Food

Dot — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 13:00:14 +0000

I’m blown away by the awesomeness of this Star Wars party by Just Jenn. From the cutest lil Princess Leia cupcakes to clever Cloud City Pops, to Yoda Soda (straight from Dagobah!) to Carbonite Jello (complete with Han Solo action figure!), this is a great spread… She even did a deathstar watermelon (remember our deathstar cantaloupe from the Star Wars party this summer)? There’s bunches more too…

Go Check out the Star Wars party by Just Jenn.

A new series at Foodwhirl: an Asian recipe Mix!

Dot — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 00:42:13 +0000

So what’s this? Tofu. And it’s really good, I promise. I just posted the how to at Foodwhirl, and I’ll be adding some yummy Pad Thai tomorrow.

Plus next week comes Summer Shrimp Sushi, and Asparagus Shrimp Noodle Salad… All with overlapping ingredients, so you can plan several days worth of meals without over spending!

Also upcoming, blackberry tarts…or dewberry tarts, really. I just have to get around to writing it up!

So hop over to Foodwhirl to check it out. And if you think you have some inspired foodie goodness to share, just let me know! We love to feature guest posts! Get the Foodwhirl RSS feed too!

I promise new crafty goodness soon too (and yeah, I know, I haven’t been drawing….soon!)… Just been on a foodie focus lately! And I’ve been working… web design anyone?

Happy Fourth! (Shrinkie Glass Markers & Holiday Link Roundup)

Dot — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:51:17 +0000

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday today (for those in the States of course, others can just have a lovely day!). If you’re still trying to get into the spirit, or throwing a little party today, here are some links to get ya going!

Here’s one of my favorite party projects, from July 4th a few years ago… Shrinky Stemware Charms made from recyclable #6 plastic (like from to-go containers)!

“For the 4th of July, my husband and best friend were running the Peachtree Road Race, so I decided to have brunch at my house and invite over friends for mimosas and food. Since we were doing mimosas (champagne and OJ for the uninitiated), i figured everyone would be drinking out of stemmed glasses and they’d get mixed up, so what about making some fun, temporary glass markers using shrinky dinks. I made up 6 the night before on a whim, and they were quite loved by all, but the funny part was that the morning turned into a shrinky dink party as everyone wanted to try and make their own (both more glass markers, and other fun stuff).”

Go Read the Whole thing and get the How-to! Shrinky Dink Stemware Charms

Here’s some more cool Independence Day links, too!

Dessert and Drink ideas for the 4th of July from An Opera Singer in the Kitchen
Creative July 4th Party Ideas at Tip Junkie
A Frozen Trio of Red, White, and Blue (sort of) at Perry’s Plate

Recipe: Coconut Granita with Lychees (she suggests adding red and blue fruit for 4th of July colors!) at Zakka Life
Mega-crafty’s cupkins for July: Cupkins: 4th of July Red, White and Blueberry Muffins …and Red White and Blue Cupcakes from her partner in crime, Ready, Set, Craft!
More Cupcakes! Independence Day Cupcakes at Ooh Shiny!

Lots of Decor and Food Fourth of July ideas from Chica and Jo
Rhubarb, Blueberry & Cream Parfait From the Chronicle Kitchen
One Pretty Thing’s Fourth of July Roundup Here, and more 4th of July here!

July 4 Roundup at Dollar Store Crafts (lots of cupcake ideas…)
Love this Nautical Crab Boil at Design*Sponge
Hot ‘n’ Smoky Baked Beans from Niki, here at Foodwhirl!
And here’s Rawls’ Potato Salad, if you need more food…

And More from Foodwhirl:

Phineas & Ferb / Star Wars the Clone Wars Party Food!

Dot — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 17:19:00 +0000

I promised more on the food for the party – we did it as a brunch to try to beat the heat a little bit. Since it’s food related, I’ve actually posted the writeup over at Foodwhirl: Menu for the birthday party brunch food. So go check it out!

The menu included Deathstar Cantaloupe, Mr Slushie Dogs, Roast Bantha, and even Platypus Eggs!

(Thanks to the Evil Mad Scientists for the Deathstar Cantaloupe idea!)

(See all Phineas & Ferb Meet the Clone Wars Party Posts!)

Make your Own Homemade Pop-Tarts!

Dot — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:13:13 +0000

How cool is this! Talk of Tomatoes shows off how she made homemade ‘pop-tart’ look-alikes! What a fun and clever idea. And so much better for you than the store bought ones, I’m sure (at least you should be able to pronounce all the ingredients!)

Janelle Says:
“I made pop-tarts today.” That wasn’t a sentence I thought I would say. I made pop-tarts from scratch!

The crust was super easy to make, the longest stretch of ‘work’ was the rolling, measuring and cutting into proper rectangles. But then, the filling was super easy: I just used nutella, jam and a quick cinnamon blend. SO worth the time.

And then, the ultimate test: the freezer. I froze a number of the pop-tarts between sheets of parchment (then inside a Ziploc). Then a few days later, popped them straight from freezer to oven, and you know? They turned out beautifully. I am on a newish mission to fill my freezer with everything from ragu to entrees and chicken stock, tomato sauce and pesto. I want to figure out what ‘works’ in the freezer and what doesn’t. Having my freezer be my kitchen friend means I have meals ready-ahead-of-time, homemade chicken stock when I need it or breadcrumbs at the ready. It is nice to be able to pull together a meal—or slide pop-tarts from freezer to oven—with all the ‘work’ already finished.

Go read the whole thing… she gives several different filling recipes. I’m so going to try this!