Fun Samhain Recipes

from Sacred Mists Shoppe

Witches’ Brooms

Besoms and brooms while often misunderstood, are often used in Witchcraft and Paganism for ‘sweeping the negativity away’. Besoms are also used as a protective device and often as the role of an ‘inanimate familiar’. This sweet treat does double duty on Samhain.

Ingredients
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 tsp salt
10 pretzel rods, about 8 1/2 inches long, cut crosswise in half
2 tsp shortening
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Butterscotch-flavored chips, melted

Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix brown sugar, butter, water and vanilla in medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt. Shape dough into twenty 1 1/4-inch balls.

Place pretzel rod halves on ungreased cookie sheet. Press ball of dough onto cut end of each pretzel rod. Press dough with fork to resemble “bristles” of broom. Bake about 12 minutes or until set but not brown. Remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely on wire rack, about 30 minutes.

Cover cookie sheet with waxed paper. Place brooms on waxed paper. Heat shortening and chocolate chips over low heat, stirring occasionally, until melted and smooth; remove from heat. Spoon melted chocolate over brooms, leaving about 1 inch at top of pretzel handle and bottom halves of cookie bristles uncovered. Drizzle with melted butterscotch chips. Let stand until chocolate is set.

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Stuffed Jack-O-Lanterns

One of the most famous Halloween traditions is carving a pumpkin into a Jack-O-Lantern. This custom originated in Scotland and Ireland, where large turnips or other fruits and vegetables were carved into lanterns and placed along the roadside to light the way to the harvest festivals. The term Jack-O-Lantern has been handed down to us from an old Irish legend about the town drunkard, an ill-tempered man by the name of Jack.

What could be more witchy fun than edible Jack-O-Lanterns! You can follow this tasty recipe, or create your own stuffing mix using your favorite ingredients according to your diet.

Ingredients
6 bell peppers, any color
1 pound ground beef (we like using a vegetarian alternative)
1 egg
4 slices bread, cubed
1 small onion, chopped
1 small tomato, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup prepared yellow mustard
3 tbs Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 inch baking dish.

Lightly mix together the ground beef, egg, bread cubes, onion, tomato, garlic, chili sauce, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a bowl.

Wash the peppers, and cut jack-o’-lantern faces into the peppers with a sharp paring knife, making triangle eyes and noses, and pointy-teeth smiles. Slice off the tops of the peppers, and scoop out the seeds and cores. Stuff the peppers lightly with the beef stuffing, and place them into the prepared baking dish so they lean against each other.

Bake in the preheated oven until the peppers are tender and the stuffing is cooked through and juicy, about 1 hour.

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