Halloween Treats

Oh, how I love Halloween! When I was younger it was all about the costumes and the goodies - caramel apples, popcorn balls and candycandycandy! Then as I got older and started exploring Paganism, it also became about the last harvest, about remembrance, divination, the thinning of the veils between worlds. Oh, and candy. :D

I love browsing Halloween magazines and websites and looking at all the disgustingly named foods - Swamp Dip, Brain Pate, Witches Fingers, etc. I'm not sure when Halloween changed from being about the spooky to the gross, but it's kind of fun.

What I like to do is put a Dia de los Muertos twist on my Halloween festivities, since the two holidays have so much in common and are so close together. El Dia de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) is observed in Mexico on November 1-2. Families visit the graves of their loved ones, clean the stones, place fresh flowers there, and spend time visiting, eating, praying and sharing. Skulls made of pressed sugar and decorated with icing and non-edible items such as sequins and feathers are a popular symbol of this holiday, as is Pan de Muerto - Bread of the Dead. This bread is flavored with orange and anise (which symbolizes love), and decorated with bones made of dough.

Not being a fan of anise myself, I probably won't make the bread this year, although I have made it before. I still plan to put a Mexican twist on some of the foods I plan to provide for the party. The menu, so far, includes:

Black bean rollups
Toasted, spiced pumpkin seeds
Hauntingly Good Hot Chocolate
Jell-O shots - it isn't a Zedral Z party without them

I'd also like to make popcorn balls but I think that would be too much of a hassle. Caramel apples are another choice, and I did bring a bottle of corn syrup back from the U.S. with me, so I could do that.

If you want to make the black bean rollups (which I cut into little pinwheels), I suggest using a tomato/sundried tomato-flavored tortilla so you can have the orange and black colors together for the holiday. I can't get flavored wraps here, though, so I will have to make do with plain.

Ingredients: (adjust for the number you are feeding, of course)

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
big handful cilantro
1- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chili powder OR 1/2 a canned chipotle plus a good dollop of the sauce - depends on how hot you like it, but remember that chipotle is a strong smokey flavor
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

To prepare the tortillas, I lay the tortillas on a cutting board and slice off about an inch on two sides. That way you don't have beanless "overhang" when you roll. You can slather those ends in leftover bean dip and eat them. Cook's privilege!

Spread the tortillas with a layer of the bean mixture. You should get 4-6 tortillas' worth.

Topping options:

Sliced green onions
Grated cheese
Thinly sliced tomato and/or avocado

I normally just sprinkle on some sliced green onions and grated cheese. Use Cheddar or Monterrey Jack if you can get it. I use gouda with cumin seeds, which is delicious. Roll the tortillas and chill for at least 30 minutes. Slice into pinwheels and put a tray to serve. Oh, and stand back! These things move fast.

My Halloween Playlist

This list was made at playlist.com. I'd prefer to share the list itself, but I'm not good at figuring out this computer crapola. I sorta had the list over on the right side, but you couldn't see the groovy skin that I picked for it, nor could you see the songs' artists. Instead I am just going to give you a list of the songs themselves, along with the artists. I hate it when websites start playing annoying music when you navigate to the page, so why would I want to do that to someone else?

Music to Spook By:

“Thunderhead” The Ghastly Ones
“Hell’s Bells” AC/DC
“Peek-a-Boo” Siouxsie and the Banshees
“I Was a Teenage Werewolf” The Cramps
“The Beast” Concrete Blonde
“Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)” Concrete Blonde
“I Put a Spell on You” Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
“This is Halloween” from “The Nightmare Before Christmas”
“Remains of the Day” from “The Corpse Bride” (both by Danny Elfman)
“Every Day is Halloween” Ministry
“Riders on the Storm” The Doors
“Monster Mash” Bobby “Boris” Pickett
“Welcome to my Nightmare” Alice Cooper
“Bad Moon Rising” Credence Clearwater Revival
“Highway to Hell” AC/DC
“Living Dead Girl” Rob Zombie
“Spooky” Daniel Ash
“Rhiannon” Fleetwood Mac
“Hell” Squirrel Nut Zippers
“Thriller” Michael Jackson
“Time Warp” RHPS
“Boris the Spider” The Who
“Season of the Witch” Donovan
“Witchy Woman” The Eagles
“Black Magic Woman” Santana
“El Monstruo” Los Shains
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” Blue Oyster Cult
“Sympathy for the Devil” Rolling Stones (Laibach version)
“Frankenstein” Edgar Winter Group
“End of the World” The Living End
“The End” The Doors
“Tubular Bells”
“The Raven” Alan Parsons
“Black Sabbath” Black Sabbath
“Bela Lugosi is Dead” Bauhaus
“Grave Digger” Dave Matthews
“This House is Haunted”
“Halloween” Siouxsie and the Banshees
“Jack’s Lament” Danny Elfman
“Jack the Ripper” Morrissey
“They are Night Zombies!” Sufjan Stevens
“Death at the Chapel” The Horrors
“The Return of Evil Bill” Clinic
“Children of the Grave” Black Sabbath
“Witch Queen of New Orleans” Redbone
“I Walked with a Zombie” Wednesday 13
“Brains!” Voltaire
“Human Fly” The Cramps
“Gallows Pole” Led Zeppelin
“Night of the Vampire” Roky Erikson
“Halloween” theme
“Superstition” Stevie Wonder
“Creepy Doll” Jonathan Coulton
“Cannibal” Vast
“Mummy Rock” Future Pigeon
“Bat Out of Hell” Meat Loaf
“The Vampire Club” Voltaire
“Lotion” The Greenskeepers
“Psycho Killer” Talking Heads
“Zombie Prostitute” Voltaire
“Lone Wold” The Eels
“Halloween” Stephen Lynch
“House of 1000 Corpses” Rob Zombie
“People are Strange” The Doors
“Werewolves of London” Warren Zevon
“Zombie Dance” The Cramps
“The Halloween Dance” Reverend Horton Heat
“Ghastly Stomp” The Ghastly Ones
“War Pigs” Black Sabbath
“Dead” Voltaire
“Headless Horseman” Starr, Kay & Billy Butterfield Quintet
“The Reaper” Mannheim Steamroller
“House on Haunted Hill” Kenny and The Fiends
“When You’re Evil” Voltaire
“Diabolo’s Theme” The Ghastly Ones
“Skinned” Blind Melon
“Mississippi HooDoo Man” Omar and the Howlers
“Dead Babies” Alice Cooper
“Haunted House of Rock” Whodini
“Grimly Fiendish” The Damned
“Old Man Down the Road” John Fogerty
“Nightmare on My Street” DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
“Torture Me” The Damned
“Children of the Damned” The Softies
“It’s Halloween” The Shaggs