Happy Halloween!

We went to see The Ring last night, which made for very strange dreams.

I made pretzel fingers yetsterday, packed them all up in airtight containers, and now all the salt has dissolved. I’m not surprised, they are sort of bagel-y, and the lifespan of a salt bagel is considerably shorter than other bagels. They look even grosser looking now, however they are not something I want to serve to guests so I’ll have to redo a batch tomorrow. They are sort of tough, I’m not sure if it’s because I don’t have a mixer and may have over over kneaded them. I’ll post pictures later.

Despite my hopes for an elaborate costume I’m going as generic Ren Fair wench type. I have a dress from way back which my mother made (thanks Mom!) which can be either peasant Renaissance or peasant Colonial, depending on the accessories. I don’t, er, fit into it quite the same way as I used to, however it’ll do just fine. My mother (thanks Mom!) also made a big full chemise, I’ll have to show you pictures of it when the drawstring is let out, it’s huuuge, and creates lovely gathers. I wore this costume to trip down Castro street in SF last year, and someone else in a Renaissance gown stopped, curtsied, and said “G’day M’lady” to me. She was probably an SCA person. It caught me off guard and I stumbled out a “hi”, much to my embarrassment. My whole point? Everyone should have a generic peasant costume, it comes in handy. So far this dress has been used for a handful of Ren Fairs, two SCA events, worn as a seller at a (small, local, library) Ren Fair (in my optomistic youth), one Colonial peasant volunteer, two Halloweens and counting, and one Princess In Disguise in a high school play (which is why it was created, I think).

I was sure I had mentioned it, but checking the archives I see I haven’t – Superhero Designs had added some fabulous faux fur Superhero Scarves. If you are not familiar with it, go and drool over the delicious jewelry and be sure to check out the Photo Booth.

Check out the pictures of Halloween Food in ljc’s Projects! Those witch fingers cookies are gross. The Halloween marble magnets are great too.

Her finger cookies reminded me that I wanted to find the Martha Stewart witch pretzel finger recipe, which she sells as a kit. Ssshhhhh don’t tell the Martha Stewart people, there is a copy of it here.

Look – glow in the dark cake frosting. Via Boing Boing.

Shannon has been busy over at Dogmestic hanging gauzy swags and making furniture. She includes great instructions and pictures.

Like everyone else I sympathised with Pamie‘s deodorant troubles. She shared lots of the advice lots of people gave, including elaborate shirt rolling techniques, scary sounding stuff like Drysol and Certain-Dri, even botox underarm injections. Yikes.

Women�s Fashion: Part 1, Classics by Margaret Berry of Mighty Girl, at The Morning News

I tried the caramel apples again and it worked! I kept the heat lower, and while it took a long time nothing burned.

The spun sugar was fun and pretty, however it was impractical. Ouch! When I make these for the real event I’m going to make bowls or nests for the apples to sit in so no one has to tear away spikey sugar. Or get spun sugar splinters. Click for another picture.

I also made pumpkin seed candy [recipe], which is surprisingly good, I normally don’t like honey all that much. The raw, hulled pepitas (pumpkin seeds) were a little difficult to find, I found them in the bulk containers in the baking aisle at a local grocery store, Draegers. I bet one could find them at Whole Foods, and maybe Trader Joe’s as well. I cooled the rest of the caramel from the apples and cut into square candies. It tastes more like toffee, does that mean I cooked it too long? I’ll have to look this up.

Help! I once again attempted to make caramel apples, using this recipe, and this candy thermometer. But, tragically, the bottom layer of the sugar burnt, so there are oogy dark brown burnt bits in my caramel. I suspect it was something like I was using normal pans, not ones with extra thick copper bottoms. Or I had the heat too high? Has anyone else had this trouble? How did you successfully make caramel? Should I give up and buy some of that apple dip at the grocery store?

Take a look at ljc‘s latest project – Free Table, pink! with mosaics! mostly free!

At Get Crafty – Tattoo Your Towels, helpful basics for cool embroidery by Jenny Hart, owner of Sublime Stitching, which rocks.

Malika, who runs the wonderful Nobody’s Fool: Food Notes and Stories, is opening a Q&A section! So if you have any questions about food or wine or cooking, ask the expert. I myself tend to have really basic questions, like why doesn’t Sur La Table stock enough meringue powder to last them through Christmas?

Take a look at ljc‘s home improvement – Bathroom Mosaic Cupboards, so nice! Keep an eye on ljc’s Projects.