Lifestyle

Here are some fun Halloween-themed cookbooks with highlighted recipes to add to a spooky menu for Halloween week, as well as other great cookbooks worth reviewing and possibly adding to your collection.

Cookbooks with a Halloween theme:

• "Eerie Elegance Eats: A Halloween Cookbook of Creepy Cuisine" by Britta Peterson
• "Tricky Treats: Halloween Delights for appetizers, Snacks, Dinner, and Dessert!" by Vincent Amiel
• "Goulish Goodies: Creature Feature Cupcakes, Monster Eyeballs, Bat Wings, Funny Bones, Witches' Knuckles, and Much More!" by Sharon Bowers
• "Halloween Recipes Cookbook: Quick and Easy Halloween Recipes" by Adelisa Garibovic
• "Halloween Dinner Recipes: Halloween Dinner Ideas to Die For" by Eric Mendoza

Chicken Pot Pie with Crawling Hands

Ingredients:

Crawling Hands:

• 1 large egg yolk

• Wilton Red Icing Color

• 1 package frozen puff pastry

• Wilton hand-shaped cookie cutter

Chicken Pot Pie:

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 3 cups chicken broth

• 2 packages frozen mixed vegetables

• 3 cups shredded roasted or rotisserie chicken

• 1 tablespoon garlic salt

• Pepper to taste

Directions:

• To make Crawling Hands: heat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk egg yolks and 2 drops red icing color in a small cup until blended; set aside.

• Roll out one sheet of puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface. Using cutter, cut out 6 hands. Place on prepared baking sheet. Using a small paintbrush, paint egg yolk onto tips of fingers to resemble fingernails.

• Bake pastry 15 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining sheet of puff pastry dough.

• To make chicken potpie: melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour; cook, whisking, until bubbling. Gradually whisk in chicken broth. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a rapid boil and thickens. Stir in remaining ingredients. Return to a simmer; cook for 4 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Pour mixture into serving bowls and garnish with Crawling Hands.

"Betty Crocker Halloween Cookbook" by Betty Crocker

Crusty Mummy Fingers

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled (about 2 large potatoes)
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 egg whites
• 1 cup Italian-style dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• Cooking spray

 Directions:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray.

• Cut potatoes into 4x1/2-inch strips. In shallow dish, mix water and egg whites with wire whisk or fork. In another shallow dish, mix bread crumbs, cheese, salt, black pepper and red pepper. Working in batches, dip sweet potatoes into egg white mixture, roll in bread crumb mixture. Place potatoes in single layer on cookie sheets. Spray potatoes with cooking spray about 10 seconds.

• Bake for 18-20 minutes, turning after 10 minutes, until crisp.

"Halloween Recipes" by Hannie P. Scott

Fizzy Blood Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sprite
• 1 1/2 cups lemonade
• 1 cup frozen raspberries
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• 1 cup raspberry sherbet

Directions:

• Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
• Pour into glasses and serve

Candy Corn Poke Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box white cake mix, plus ingredients that the mix calls for
• 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
• Yellow and orange food coloring
• 16 ounce tub of whipped cream, thawed
• Candy corn

Directions:

• Mix the cake according to the box directions, then evenly divide the cake mixture between two separate bowls

• Using the food coloring, dye one bowl of batter yellow and one orange

• Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick spray and spread the yellow cake batter across the bottom

• Cover and put the dish in the freezer for 30 minutes

• Remove the dish from the freezer and gently pour the orange batter over the yellow and carefully spread it evenly

• Bake the cake according to the package directions or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. It may take a few extra minutes since the cake batter was slightly frozen.

• Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over it with the end of a wooden spoon

• Pour the sweetened condensed milk evenly into the holes and all over the cake

• Place the cake in the refrigerator for at least two hours

• Before serving the cake, evenly spread the whipped cream over it

• Top the whipped cream with candy corns

A sampling of cookbooks for young and mature chefs:

•  "The Big, Fun Kids Cookbook" by editors of Food Network magazine
• "Super Good Baking for Kids" by Duff Goldman
• "Betty Crocker's Cookbook for Boys and Girls" by Betty Crocker
• "Super Simple Cooking for Kids: Learn to Cook with 50 Fun and Easy Recipes for Breakfast, Snacks, Dinner, and More!" by Jodi Danen RDN
• "Good Housekeeping Kids Cook!: 100+ Super-Easy, Delicious Recipes"
• "My First Cookbook: Fun recipes to cook together… with as much mixing, rolling, scrunching and squishing as possible!" by America's Test Kitchen Kids
• "Omari McQueen's Best Bites Cook Book" by Omari McQueen - will be released January 2021
• "The Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker and Ethan Becker
• "Better Homes & Gardens New Cookbook" by BH&G Editors
• "The Art of Simple Food: Notes, Lessons and Recipes from a Delicious Revolution" by Alice Waters
• "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child
• "Betty Crocker Cookbook: Everything You Need to Know to Cook from Scratch"
• "How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food" by Mark Bittman
• "The Pioneer Woman Cooks: The New Frontier: 112 Fantastic Favorites for Everyday Eating" by Ree Drummond
• "Once Upon a Chef, the Cookbook: 100 Tested, Perfected and Family-Approved Recipes" by Jennifer Segal

The act of preparing food can be therapeutic and a wonderful way to spend quality time with children and loved ones. National Cookbook Month is the ideal time to peruse cookbooks and experiment with new recipes. Embrace time in the kitchen as a way to enhance your life, and as the perfect opportunity to make this Halloween even more fun and festive with those you love.