Halloween Art Day - Monocle Cat Redux

I've been drawing Halloween Cats like crazy this year. And I love Monocle Cat! This is my second take on the classic Beistle Halloween decoration. I did a different one back in 2010, which you can see here.

And of course, here is the Beistle piece that inspires me to draw cats with hats & monocles.

Halloween Ideals 1964

Halloween Foodage: Pumpkin Waffles

For about two years or so, I've been wanting to buy a waffle maker. I had one a long time ago and I loved it. Not quite sure what happened to that, it may have died. When I started taking an interest in vegan cooking, I picked up my first Isa Chandra Moskowitz book, 'Appetite for Reduction' in 2011. Most of the dishes I made were very good, so I ended up ordering two more of her books, 'Vegan Brunch' and 'Veganomicon' with co-writer Terry Hope Romero. In 'Vegan Brunch', there are several waffle recipes that I have just been dying to try out, so I finally broke down and bought a new waffle maker. I haven't made any of the waffles from 'Vegan Brunch' yet, but I will in time. So far I've only made two different kinds of waffles, Pumpkin Waffles and Cinnamon Walnut Fig Waffles (also appropriate for fall). Here is the pumpkin waffle recipe I used, and it comes from Isa's website 'The Post Punk Kitchen'.

Pumpkin Waffles

by IsaChandra

Makes 16 waffles

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all purp flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 Tablespoons soy yogurt
2 cups soymilk
15 oz pureed pumpkin, fresh or canned
1/3 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
Sift together dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl, vigorously wisk together wet ingredients until well emulsified. Pour wet into dry and combine. Prepare waffles according to manufacturers instructions.

It's pretty straight forward. Mix dry ingredients in one bowl, mix wet ingredients in second bowl, then add wet to dry. These waffles were pretty tasty, and oh what a wonderful smell! Along with the waffles, I also made a Cinnamon Cream 'Drizzle' from 'Vegan Brunch'. This 'cream' is made using cashews, soaked in water overnight and then blended with almond milk (or other non-dairy milk). Next time I think I will blend the cashews, before I add the almond milk. I blended the two at the same time, and I think that's why my cream ended up kind of 'gritty'. Here's another thing: I don't know if it's my cheap waffle maker or what, but it seems like no matter how long I leave the waffles in the maker, they never seem to be crispy enough for my taste. So once these were done, I popped them in the oven, directly on the rack (no pan or cookie sheet) at about 350˚ until the outside seemed pretty firm. I also put some chopped pecans on a piece of foil and popped them in the oven for about 5 min. Lightly toasted nuts have a really nice flavor.

The Post Punk Kitchen also offers these pumpkin recipes if you'd like to try out some of them. I made the Pumpkin Pie Brownie, which didn't turn out too well for me the one time I made it, but was thinking about having another go at it. I've made the Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf a few times and it's really good.

Here's another one of my attempts to take a classy food photo. Some day I'd like to get good at taking foodie pics.

Halloween 'Grab Bag': What's going on here?

So this Saturday's 'Grab Bag' post. A few random things. First of all a few photos from last night's Dia de los Muertos show at ZaPow. I didn't take very many photos & they aren't the best quality, but I got some of the highlights.

Skull face painting

Mariachi band

Palm reading

Gallery shot

And finally my piece for the show, which I'm happy to report, sold that night!

We had a lovely night out. In addition to attending the show opening, we had a wonderful dinner, where we sat outside, enjoying the beautiful fall evening.

Now, here's some pictures that I took at Target about a week or so ago. I know this is probably old news to anyone who lives near a Target, since they've probably already seen all this. But some of you might not have a Target, or haven't made it out to one. And for my historical record, I wanted to go ahead and share the pictures.

Some of the Halloween finery at Target:

Love the black & off white, with these champagne colored accents.

Some of the good 'ol Orange & Black!

And actually, here is what I'm hoping to buy Nov. 1 when they have clearance. These awesome orange & purple light balls! They have such a retro 60's kind of feel, and I'm also hoping that when Christmas rolls around, they will have more, in different colors. I want some blue ones too!

I did make a run out to Target again today, and here's what I ended up with:

Starbuck's instant coffee packets in 'Pumpkin Spice'. You actually add this mix to warm milk instead of water. I had some this afternoon with some almond milk and it was ok. It was no Pumpkin Spice Latte, but it is just an instant mix. The 'Pumpkin Spice' cream cheese is something a friend let me try last year, but I'd never seen it for sale. Target had it this year so I grabbed a tub. I'll have to come up with something to do with it. I can only eat so many bagels. And the final purchase, an 'Autumn Harvest' Yankee Candle. It's the little things that make me happy.

Okay, so two other things came to my attention yesterday, and I wanted to spread the word. Two television programs airing tomorrow night that I'm really looking forward to. And some of you might be interested as well. First up, The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror comes way early this year!

Image Source - Huffington Post article

Yes, tomorrow night, Oct. 7, 8PM ET, it's the 23rd installment of what is a Halloween tradition in my house. I always try to watch ToH when it airs. I'm glad that I happened upon this article because otherwise, I probably would have missed it. For awhile it didn't even run until AFTER Halloween. While most of the newer ToH shows aren't as good as say, oh, the first 10 years, I still enjoy watching them. 

Now the second thing. Last year I happened to catch this show on the Food Network called 'Halloween Wars'

It's a team challenge show. There are 5 teams, each team made up of a person who makes cakes, a person who makes candy and a person who carves pumpkins. They all have to work together to create a display that incorporates all these elements. Here is one of my favorite pieces from last year. The challenge theme was 'Vampires vs. Zombies' and team 'Bling Bats', did an amazing job on this one:

Image Source: Karen Portaleo/Highland Bakery's Flickr

That thing is mostly cake & candy folks. Amazing.

 I really enjoyed watching it last year, and was pleased to find out Halloween Wars has returned! Halloween Wars will be on the Food Network at 9PM ET. Can't wait!

Halloween Book Day & Give-A-Way!

So I mentioned in my Sept. 30 post (where I ran down the schedule for this months posts) that Friday was going to be a 'Book Day' with a possible give-a-way. Well, I may not do the give-a-way all four weeks, but I am having one today. And the book of the day is:

Dressed For Thrills: 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade

I love vintage Halloween costumes and I love beautiful photography. And here we have both. This is a great coffee table style book that every Halloween enthusiast should enjoy. Here take a peek:

Not only are the photos terrific, but the layout of the book is really nice. And the cover is to die for. Here's one of my favorite pics from the book, the Hep Cats:

This isn't really an in depth look at costumes of yesteryear, or a price guide type of thing. It's just a pretty book with pretty pictures. And looking at it always inspires me.

Now a little about the contest: Any books that I give away are used or like new copies. I'm not sponsored by anyone, I'm paying for these out of pocket because I wanted to share some of my favorite Halloween books with my blog followers. So these will not be 'mint' condition books.
To enter, just leave a comment below. I will pick a random winner next Thursday, Oct. 11 and the winner will be posted on Oct. 12, when I will also post a new book. We'll see how this works, I'm new to this give-a-way thing. Also, feel free to comment, even if you aren't entering the contest. If you're name happens to get drawn, I'll go for a second draw from the hat.

I don't want to exclude my readers that are overseas, but if you enter, be aware that if shipping is going to cost me more than $20, you may have to give up the prize. But like I say, I'm new to this so it may not cost that much at all.

This is an experiment. If things go well, maybe next year I'll have more give-a-ways, we'll just have to see.

Halloween Art Day - Dia De Los Muertos 'Sugary Spirits'

ZaPow gallery in Asheville, NC is hosting a Dia de los Muertos group art show which opens tomorrow night. This is my piece for the show. I wanted to do a kind of Halloween/Day of the Dead hybrid piece in the style of a die-cut decoration.
The opening reception is October 5 (tomorrow night) from 7-9 pm. There will be Free Beer, a live Mariachi Band, Sugar Skull Face Painting and Palm Reading. Sounds like lots of fun, and I'm looking forward to attending this event.

Halloween Ideals 1963