Halloween Treats from Caramel Apples to Cakes!

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As someone who likes to dress up or just dress outrageously, I've always been a fan of Halloween. As a child, I always wanted to be a "punk rocker" or the popular cartoon character of the year, but my mother wouldn't have it. She made every costume I wore, from the time I was Queen Elizabeth to when a refrigerator box was crafted in to a costume to make me a House, complete with a real lawn. (I could not sit down in the house costume, so my mother made me wear another homemade costume underneath!) This year was no exception & my mother produced 3 awesome costumes for myself, Ryan, & Strummer before I had even settled on what we should be. Ryan made a dashing Captain Hook, while I opted for the role of Peter Pan, Strummer was the Crocodile & I even had a lantern with a little Tinkerbelle on it to round out the cast. Strummer was a little less than thrilled by her costume, so I think the total minutes her costume was worn hover around 15.

We decided to host a Halloween potluck at our place, as San Francisco now lacks a celebration in the Castro & we're always happy to fill up on delicious vegan food! I started by making Caramel Apples from an excellent & easy recipe Kittee mentioned from Chow. I opted for three varieties, plain & Chick-O-Stick or Peanut Butter Bar coated. Next I took mini Chick-O-Sticks & Peanut Butter Bars & made candy bars by covering them in chocolate, similar to Butterfingers. I know most people say Chick-O-Stick taste like Butterfinger centers, but I must say the Peanut Butter Bar is far superior, as it lacks coconut. They're both downright delicious though & far too many were consumed!

The assortment of dishes & costumes were excellent! Elmo, a Deviled Egg (not vegan!!), Holly Golightly, a bumble bee, a tree, & even Sarah Palin & President Ahmadinejad were just some of the people in attendance! The treats on the table were great too, such as Pumpkin Whoopie Pies & Uncheese + Crackers from Erin at Vegan Homemade, Mummy dogs, baked beans, my Buffalo Tofu with Blue Sheese dressing, an excellent eggplant dip from Megan at The Sisters Vegan, & a killer Rice, Avocado, Tempeh dish that we all marveled at when it was served in a dome shape! We also snacked on vegan Doritos, chocolate covered pretzels, Candy Cane Joe-Joe's, Sour Patch Kids, Swedish Fish, & Ghost Dots. A filling feast was consumed by all & I feared I wouldn't fit in my costume by the end of the night! Luckily, that didn't happen & instead I just went to bed at 6am, happy that the shindig was a success.

Previous to the party, I made a Halloween themed birthday cake for a friend & awesome gal, Chris. She wanted something to fit in with the spooky theme of her birthday, so we opted for a Chocolate Orange cake, so we would have the Halloween colors in full effect. I topped it with a ganache spiderweb & left it at that, so she could further decorate with candles. It was pretty fun to make & I can see more ganache spiderwebs in my future!

By the way, I will be headed to Lula's Sweet Apothecary in NYC at 9pm on November 15th. If you're in the area, come join me, Ray Ray, & the PPK crew for some serious sweet tooth business!