Eerie Elegance

For our Young Frankenstein movie menu, I tried yet another experiment of my handpainted Monster Mask Munchies including brand-new Bride Bonbons. Molding each covered cakelet individually then painstakingly painting with food coloring took a long time, but it was fun, especially since I sculpted the Bride from scratch!
Poor Bride of Frankenstein was left off of the NordicWare Monster Mask pan (how rude!) so I had fun sculpting my own positive from Model Magic air-dry clay, trying for accurate Elsa Lanchester details like the cleft in her chin, her pencil-thin angled brows, and her vintage pouty lips, while still being as cute as the Monster Mask pan stylized characters. After it was completely dry for 24 hours, I used food-grade silicone putty to make one mold which also required setting for 24 hours. At least the cakes went quickly since I baked a 9”x13” pan of vegan apple cider cake to crumble with vegan apple cider buttercream frosting as cake clay. I pushed just enough purchased vegan fondant into the mold to fill the details completely without being too thin, filled with the cake clay, pushing to fill all the space, then closed the back with a thin layer of fondant.
The Frank faces were a separate experiment using homemade marshmallow fondant which has gelatin, and the rigid metal pan needed cooking spray for the fondant to release easily, but the inside was a giant cake pop just like the Bride. Both flavors of fondant kept all the facial features so were a pleasure to paint, but this third time was not yet the charm, since they weren’t crunchy like the candy coatings that crumbled, but the balance of soft chewy fondant to moist cake inside got mixed reviews...so I’m still searching for the right recipe with perfect procedure!

We served three creative cocktails for our Young Frankenstein movie menu: Igor’s Eye Gore, FrankenFloats, and Sedagive Syringes…if you know, you know!
At the bar was Igor’s Eye Gore: Drip gory red syrup inside the rim of your glass, add a skewer of eyeballs, then fill with your choice of concoction… “Suit yourself. I’m easy.” Yes, I used that exact quote screen shot for the menu card. 😁
I think my favorite menu card this time was Gene Wilder’s perfect pose for FrankenFloats: Combine as many ingredients as you like to test toppings together with vanilla ice cream…but if your experiment comes alive and rages out of control, you might need to apply a Sedagive Syringe!
Yes, I ordered food-grade syringes online, the same ones nurses often use for their own theme parties according to reviews, mixed strawberry lemonade with one drop of blue food coloring, and filled a bowl full of Sedagive Syringes. You could sq**rt your syringe into a glass, add spirits if you wish, or apply it to your FrankenFloat like I did!

For our Young Frankenstein movie menu, several were wordplay with fun signs, but my husband’s family cheese ball recipe became our Abby Normal Brain!
I’ve been making edible art brains for 26 years now(!), ever since a dear friend got me a food-grade brain mold for my birthday, but what I’ve put in the molds has changed over the years. I still think my original brain recipe of Cajun-style shrimp mushroom cream cheese dip, featured in my cookbook Eerie Elegance Eats as the Bizarre Brain Paté, has squishy texture & pale pink color more like actual human brains, but I’ll admit the Simon Family Cheese Ball gets more bites removed during our parties. You do need to line the mold with plastic wrap or it won’t release, let it freeze solid before unmolding, and make sure to leave several hours for thawing before serving. I thaw mine earlier in the day so I have the chance to smooth surface detail and accent the folds with food coloring and a soft brush reserved for edible art.
I had a lot of fun choosing the still shots for my menu signs, with the villager mob torch flames “grilling” the Burgermeister Burgers giving me a giggle. For Franks-in-Steins we used our wooden mugs & tall glass beer mugs as “steins” to serve sausages and frankfurters, perfect for a summer barbecue. Our favorite egg roll restaurant delivered, so arranged over purchased veggie straw snacks, we had a vegetarian platter for Rolls in Ze Hay, and of course, Puttin’ on the Ritz was an obvious choice of Ritz crackers….but that was only some of my maniacal menu!

For our July movie night, a record number of 42 of us gathered to watch Young Frankenstein at Magnolia Marquee, definitely needing both our outside and inside screens for everyone to have a comfy seat! We enjoyed my maniacal menu of fun food & clever cocktails, including Igor’s Eye Gore, Sedagive Syringes, FrankenFloats, Abby Normal Cheese Ball Brain, several cheeses for Puttin’ on the Ritz crackers, vegetarian egg rolls over veggie straw chips as Rolls in Ze Hay, Grillmaster Glen roasted us plenty of Burgermeister Burgers & Franks-in-Steins, and I tried a third variation of my handpainted Monster Mask Munchies including brand-new Bride Bonbons. Thanks to everyone who joined us for a true classic comedy!

Hooray for mobile Halloween shopping! I got the new Toastmaster crockpot cauldron that kept selling out as soon as the links went live! I bought mine from my phone on our recent road trip when I saw an announcement online. Three cute shaped non-slip feet and two curved handles on the matte plastic exterior with vents on the bottom, same as my larger normal crockpot since the metal heating sleeve inside the ceramic crock is what matters for cooking. At least they were smart with the cord control so a k**b wouldn’t spoil the cauldron look. Now what should I brew first?

My largest HomeGoods was already well-stocked with Halloween this week, and there are a few items that might come home with me on a future visit…like the cute garlic oven cauldron with lid or maybe the elegant Bride of Frankenstein figure…but after well over three decades of Halloween hosting and collecting accordingly, I must now be selective in what I buy!

My closest Marshalls didn’t have any Halloween I wanted yet, but this is an easy location for me to haunt more frequently, so I will be checking back every week or two just in case they have anything I cannot resist. 👻

I finally had the chance for some Halloween Hunting locally, restraining myself from any large Halloween Haul yet except for Cost Plus World Market. I found the official WolfMan wine to round out our Universal Monsters wine collection, I couldn’t resist the black cat gel eye masks, and I spotted the new Scare-Cuterie creepy cookbook for sale in the wild! Congrats to Lori Castellon on the gorgeous hardback, and good luck with your booth at Midsummer Scream!

Code Orange in Kennewick WA! Both At Home stores within reasonable access to me closed last year, so I was lucky to see an online Code Orange when we were visiting friends in eastern Washington. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a At Home store with so much Halloween! I resisted the cute haunted houses, and would have bought new pumpkin designs except they were only half deep. My spiderweb blankets are getting old so another is always wise, and I couldn’t pass by the beaded black pillows. I also found some oversized plastic & metal vases we will turn ancient Egyptian for our mummy’s tomb. Good thing we drove since I restrained myself but still filled all our spare space with Halloween Haul! 🎃