Favorite Costume

Although I've been taking Halloween photos on State Stree for a few years now, this costume might be my favorite. It was pretty touching for a college kid ensemble. Do you know what it is? (The file name doesn't tell the whole tale. Pun.)

Favorite Halloween Gross Out Candy

One of my favorite gross out candies this year was a tray of Sushi Eyeballs with green apple dipping sauce.
I was surprised how popular they were in a crowd that turned noses up at a severed foot wrapped up like a steak (A Butcher's Choice Tender Cuts Chuck's Foot to be exact).
The green eyeball sauce was a little sour and a little bland adding nothing to the taste, but I loved the presentation.

The eyeballs were palatable enough for larger gummi candy, and I remember thinking I could watch a movie quite happily with a few Sushi Eyeballs and a bowl of popcorn.
Good for you product sold at Walgreens and made in China.

And thanks to Dish taste testers Karen and Bug for trying them. No complaints from either who munched away during a college football game, despite what you might gather from this photo. Check out the lady and the kid in the background.
The sauce was very sticky, so have some wipes handy and a place to toss the whole mess when you're finished.

Ritter Halloween e-Card and Candy Raffle

Although the Off Color Things My Italian Family Said Contest on the Dish Facebook page is over, there's still plenty of Halloween fun left.
Because the ad agency rep sent me this link on a Monday morning when I'm procrastinating and the sun is trying to peek back out after a weekend of rain (and I'm still verklempt from great Packer and Steelers games and a Farvrah beat down), I will play their little game and share this Halloween e-card thingy you can use with your webcam or digital photo with you.
Good timing, Vincenzo The Viral Factory Seeding Manager. Seeding Manager, love it.




Have fun and look for some of my favorite photos from Freakfests Past this week.
If you want to see the contests results and be there for the next one, sign up for the Candy Dish Curtain Facebook page, "We Friend Everyone."

Brilliant! Blood Slide Candy

When I followed the link from Sweet Obsessed to Waylou to forkable I found the brilliant mind and steady hand behind these Dexter inspired candy blood slides. Naturally I asked to do a shout out. Funny story, these were originally inspired by Martha Stewart lollipops.

Shout—you are the goddess of creepy candy Andrea Newberry—Out. You know, I find the edible serial killer trophies more elegant than creepy. Andrea made them last year and is a bloody treasure trove of macabre treats. She told me today that she's working on a "rotten and bloody lasagna" recipe for this Halloween.

In a Nutshell (or slide box):
This recipe calls for sugar, corn syrup, red food dye, parchment paper or a baking mat, and a toothpick or skewer to paint on the "blood." You're making candy, spreading it thin, and cutting it with a hot knife. Then you cool it and decorate with red dye.
Andrea had trouble finding a fancy wooden slide box like Dexter Morgan's, but I think this slide kit container works well. She suggests serving with tweezers or latex gloves.
Oh man.
For the step by step on this sweet bio hazard click here.

Andrea also has a Halloween Bootcamp at the Forkable Kitchen in Chicago on October 16 from noon - 3 pm. The Halloween Treats Baking Class includes Crunchy Eyeball Bars, Witches Finger Cookies, Ghosts on a Stick, and the inimitable Blood Slides. The class might be full by the time you read this, but why not check it out here anyway.

More Temptations From forkable
⚉ Bloody Cracked Brain Cake
⚈ Eye Deal Cannibal Cookies
⚉ Marshmallow Ghosts
⚈ Mexican Aniseed Shortbread Finger Cookies
⚉ Frightening flickr set

The photos, idea, and Blood Slide Sucker recipe belong to and are courtesy of Andrea Newberry and forkable.

James J. Moves to Midvale

One of my favorite candy stores, James J. Chocolate Shop, moved to their new location at 1310 S. Midlvale Blvd. last week (Monday was Day 5). They were putting up Halloween garland and other  finishing touches when I stopped by to see if they and their peerless gourmet caramel apples were there and accounted for. They were.
You could be standing in front of the new shop and miss it. Or at least I could, but then again I've stood directly in front of a place while asking passersby for directions.
Where Is It?
It's around the corner from Dorn Hardware and  Le Tigre, down from the Chinese restaurant.
Look for Yen Ching restaurant at the end of Midvale Blvd at the top of Nakoma Rd., it's before you turn the corner toward the hardware store. There's also a small sign on Midvale, also hard to miss in all the traffic on that corner by the Beltline.

Be Still My (Gummy) Heart

So you thought I wouldn't eat it, did you? I tried to pass off this Monster Lab Gummy Heart With Candy Fluid on more than one occasion. I think it was a little too Temple of Doom for some of the Dish taste testers—wusses. I bet the Duck Creek Kids would have eaten it.
Bob here was pretty interested.

The first bite was the hardest. It tasted like sour cherry, evil syrup, and plastic. The heart juice, blood sauce, whatever it was, dripped heartily (hardee har har) inside the bag and and stuck to my fingers like an all day sucker. It didn't help the taste that I'd just brushed my teeth.
I was surprised that this was a big ol' solid gummy, thick and daunting, especially after the promise of candy fluid. There was enough detail to give this Halloween treat an A for disgusting believability.

I'll tell you one thing, I have virtually no information about Monster Lab candy except that I can't imagine even the most munched out among us finishing this particular item. I don't believe it's affiliated with Palmer Monster Lab Body Parts. Anyone?
Guess I'll have to forge ahead and try everything in the Monster Lab line being carried by Walgreen's for Halloween. I will literally keep you posted.
A weird note, Gummy Body Parts have gotten difficult to find unless you want to place a 5 ton order with mainland China. When I reviewed them, I got one of the funniest comments. ever. I'll guess this sort of complaint along with its rubbery air freshener taste and the lead and melamine scare is why they're not readily available.
Thanks to Jackie (who downright refused to take a single bite out of the gummy heart) for the use of her camera [top photo] and taking the last photo of me holding the nasty thing.

Bitten Heart photo on bottom by Jackie Clementi

Beer Truffles and Chocoloate Beef Sticks and Such

Fall is football food and chocolate making weather. Who would have thought you could combine them. Maybe I should have expected this after my first chocolate covered potato chip.
When I heard Ralph was making beer truffles I turned it into an assignment for a class I'm taking in digital video. I was thrilled beyond all that's reasonable when I discovered he'd not only made tantalizing batches of beer and wine truffles, but had enrobed succulent beef sticks in amazing chocolate.
No, I haven't forgotten the thick and almost juicy slabs of bacon dipped in milk chocolate.
As you can see I have a lot to learn about video and even more about what can, has been, or should be slathered in chocolate.
All I can say of the thick and meaty beef sticks is at least I tried it and Jodi from Will Work For Noodles may have an early Christmas present as the cooler weather allows for mailing chocolate.
This is also on The Candy Dish Curtain's Facebook page if the video is misbehaving on Blogger.