30Oct / 2014

Vintage Halloween Bash

All Hallowe’en

When the world is wrapped in slumber

And the moon is sailing high,

If you peep between the curtains

You’ll see witches riding by

It was this poem, printed on a sweet vintage style Halloween card from my mother that inspired my Vintage Halloween Bash. I grabbed my witches hat and broom to fly back in time bringing some old school charm and whimsy to the evening. I wanted this party to feel classic so Matthew bought me a fantastic book on vintage Halloween traditions and games and we wove them into the evening, creating a magical night. You set the tone with the invitation of course, so I mailed out vintage inspired cards with a hand written invitation inside. We played vintage fortune telling games, had food with the flare of days gone by, and partied into the evening.

We kept it classic in an orange and black palate. I spent the month of October crafting away, draping dip-dyed tulle around and placing crows and owls on the fence to keep a vigilant watch. I crafted hand-painted paper bags into a Cemetery Luminary and modge-podged tissue paper into floating ghosts with led lights tied inside to glow into the evening. We must have cut out a million bats; hanging them in flocks around the house and from the chandeliers casting eerie shadows on the walls. Pumpkins with holes drilled through them were stuffed with lights and glowed away on the porch. You can’t have a vintage Halloween without a Scarecrow so we propped up an old one that was gifted to me from my Grandma to make sure the crows stayed on the fence.

Here is the full breakdown of everything good.

Games:

Donuts on a String

Bobbing For Apples

Costume Contest

Guess how many Candy Corn

Chestnut Tree Fortune Telling

Décor:

Paper Bats

Bouquets of Flowers Infested with Bugs

A Paper Bag Luminary Cemetery

Tissue Paper Glowing Ghosts

Cobwebs and Tulle

Pumpkin Lanterns

DIY Halloween Candles

Pumpkin Diorama

Savory:

Black (olive tapenade) & orange (roasted pepper) Crostini

Deviled eggs with chili peppers and poppy seeds

Blue cheese plate with rosemary and olive “bugs”

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus

Trick or Treat Stew – with elk, yams and parsnips

Brussel Spout Salad with pistachios and bacon

Sweet:

Two-tiered marshmallow cobweb cake

Maple Glazed Bars

Carmel Apples

Popcorn balls

When black cats prowl

& Pumpkins gleam

May luck be with you on Halloween!

Marcella Rose

29Oct / 2014

Spider Covered Tablecloth {DIY}

Spider Covered Table Cloth

A BIG black spider lived in a hole;
A terrible spider was he:
As big as your hand, and with hairy legs,
And a mouth as red as could be.

The beetles and flies at the sight of him fled,
And even the birds were afraid.
He had two great nippers, and eight wicked eyes;
How he ran ! and what leaps he made
I and all who lived in the garden knew
That terrible spider’s lair,
And told their little ones, under their breath:
‘ 0 never, 0 never go there! ‘

Those who were naughty and disobeyed,
By their mothers would not have been known,
For the spider had sucked their juicy parts—
Sucked them as dry as a bone.

By A. Vine Hall

Spider Covered Table Cloth

I have spiders on the brain, spinning webs throughout my thoughts. Ideas buzz and stick in the gossamer threads as eight legs turn them over and over coating them with white filaments until they have become a reality then the spider sits and waits until the next idea comes flying by. Spiders; they are the embodiment of Halloween, dark, dangerous, frightening and simply perfect for our annual Halloween party theme. I have been toiling away; craft after craft, recipe after recipe. I perfect and make lists, checking-off each spectacularly arachnid-ish “to-do” with joy and delight for the upcoming soirée. I lack expendable income to simply go out and buy much of anything for parties so mostly things are crafted as imaginatively as possible with reused house-hold items and elevated paper crafts. This Spider Tablecloth craft is one of my favorites; it was really cheap and has a fantastic impact. I was even able to repurpose a stained, totally ready to trash, tablecloth, so I did it on a dime!

You will need:

Tablecloth

Iron – no steam

Scissors

Template – I used one from the queen of everything Martha Stewart

Iron-on transfer paper

To do

Print out templates onto iron on paper

Cut around edges of images leaving 1/8 of an inch of transfer paper

Using the no steam setting on the iron place over images for 10-20 seconds

Once image is cool enough to touch gently remove the paper to reveal the image

Arach– tastic!

Marcella

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23Oct / 2014

Mad Scientist Halloween Bash!

It’s pretty obvious that I adore Halloween. This year I want to give you readers a few of the parties I have thrown or catered in the past. I hope you enjoy and that it inspires some party throwing of your own.

I have some pretty amazing friends in this quaint town of Ashland, none better or more fabulous than Paul and Amara. They are the type of people who are always down for a few cocktails and a game of Cards Against Humanity or a fancy night out. They have been my guinea pigs on many an occasion for blog posts and I simply adore them both. Paul, an amazing audio book narrator, has superb taste in glassware. There is not higher compliment from Paul than getting something poured (usually aged for at least 10 years) into one of his fantastic glasses; absolute heaven. Amara, a copywriter for Harry and David, seems to always be on trend; rocking the coolest jewelry or a fantastic blouse or (my favorite) her neon Christmas décor, complete with blazing white Christmas tree, I mean what could be more awesome? I love everything she styles and everything she does. I find her haute-ness to be particularly amazing since this quaint little town is frozen in either the year 1901 or 1971; it’s weird but true. Now that you have the back story, you will understand how perfectly ecstatic I was when asked to co-host a Halloween Party with them. They thought of the most fantastic theme (no surprise), Mad Scientist!

Mad Scientist Party

This party was AMAZING. Sadly my pictures are not, this was before I had the fantastic camera I now use and the lighting was low and spooky. I hope you my avid readers will forgive the spotty shots, but the ideas and execution can still be seen, I hope. Paul and Amara outfitted their home with sheets of plastic covering almost every space and converted a spare room into a photo booth “kill room” where you could be wrapped up a la Dexter and have portraits taken of killing or being killed. They even had a friend dress as Dexter himself to stand in the shots! Let me just say, there are some pretty epic shots of me as Mary Poppins going on a killing spree. They completed the look with beakers and jars filled with colored water and dry ice. They even stuffed sweet looking stuffed animals into mason jars with glow sticks and yellow water to give the whole place a formaldehyde feel. One word: GENIUS.

This party theme is killer for a Halloween Bash but could be just as fun without the spook for a kid’s party or cocktail party!

I took care of the food, getting extremely creative with the theme. The menu included:

Savory

Sterile Crudité – all white veggies served in a shiny metal pan
Surplus monkey legs – my mom’s famous rosemary marsala drummettes with the bones exposed
Penicillium roqueforti (blue cheese) with Salami and Crackers served in petri dishes
Lobotomized Brain – made with shrimp and a spicy lemon horseradish gelatin

Sweet

Coagulated Candy Corn – made with red food coloring
Blood Slide Lollypops
Periodic Cookie Table of Elements – Each element hand piped onto a square cookie frosted white and arranged in order

Libations

Ta-KILL-Ya – Served with lime and salt
Redrum Punch – Spiced rum with blood orange juice
Nuclear Reactor Cocktail – Midori, homemade sweet and sour, vodka
Glass Cleaner with Ammonium D – Crème de Violet, bitters, and sparkling wine

Mad Scientist Party

It’s a mad mad world!

Marcella Rose

Mary Poppins Killing Dexter – photo credit to Paul Garcia

Mary and Bert – photo credit to Amara Waterman

21Oct / 2014

Perfect Crab Cakes

We are in the thick of it. The months that end in “R” I mean. September started us off with a bang and now, in the throws of early October, it’s time to get down to it. Of course I speak of crab season. Living in the land of plenty that we locals like to call “Oregon,” we have it all. Organic produce coming out of our ears, pear trees that have borne fruit for more than a 100 years, vineyards that are giving Napa a run for their money, and I haven’t even mentioned the coast. We are 90 minutes from the tides, pines, cliffs, and grandeur that is the Pacific Northwest coast, so we wait for the months that end in “R” with great anticipation.

Now, there isn’t much that you can do with crab that is bad. I mean, we are talking about crab here. But if you are going to make a crab cake, you have got to make it right. Don’t waste that succulent flavor of stunning crustacean filler and spices and herbs. The simpler the better, I mean you have to treat it right; let the crab shine through. Lucky for you this one time I dated a guy who grew up in Maryland. Anytime we would visit his home-state I would wake in the morning to the question, “what would you like to eat?” I would always respond the same way; no matter what meal it referred too, I would like crab cakes please!” I give you, my loyal readers, my stunningly simple, crab cake recipe.

You Will Need

1 pound jumbo lump crab meat, if you want cakes to die for make it fresh!
20 saltine crackers, crushed into crumbs
1/4 cup (55 grams or 2 ounces) mayonnaise
1 large egg
1/4 cup high heat oil
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 tablespoon butter
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions

Toss the cracker crumbs and crabmeat together gently
Whisk the mayonnaise, egg, and add to crab mixture
Toss gently keeping crab pieces as large as possible
Refrigerate for 30 minutes
Heat the broiler
Gently press crab into patties
Place the crab cakes gently onto a lightly buttered rimmed baking sheet
Broil for 5 minutes or until golden brown
Serve with your favorite sauce or just with lemon

To Crustaceans,

Marcella Rose

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20Oct / 2014

Hey all! I had the chance to cook Boardwalk Food Company’s delicious bread last week for a post coming soon to you! Stay tuned for a quick twist on how to turn their easy bread mixes into Pumpkin Spice Bread just in time for Halloween! All of the guest writers at My Cooking Spot partnered with Boardwalk Food Company to bring you the chance to win 8 boxes of delicious bread mix! The four flavors (winner receives two of each) are original, cornbread, lemon poppy seed, and rosemary sea salt!

A huge thanks to our fabulous contributors for making this happen!

The Speckled Palate | Butchers Niche | Marcella Roses

Meme Inge | An Alli Event | The Wetherills Say I Do

My Cooking Spot | Boardwalk Food Company

Enter to win below! Giveaway runs from 10/18-10/31. No purchase necessary! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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17Oct / 2014

Halloween Candles DIY

I have been singing it all week, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” … Halloween of course! I love that the days get shorter, the air cooler and I get to pull out my thicker sheets. You’re layering those summer cotton sweaters with gusto in anticipation of the cashmere; yes it’s fall and time for things to get spooky. My husband and I have been brimming with excitement for our annual Halloween Soiree! This year, much to our excitement, we will be throwing it on the day itself. We have been spreading cobwebs, cutting out crafts, DIY-ing while watching our favorite films of the season.

I want to give you some simple and fun DIY crafts to do this holiday. I hope you will stay tuned to Marcellaroses.com for features on some epic Halloween parties, easy but impressive costumes, and some fun crafts and tasty appetizers to get your party started.

This is a fantastic craft: DIY candles. Take this craft and run with it. I have made stunning birthday gifts, Christmas favors, and decor for my home. The possibilities are endless. There is something about making them for Halloween that sends me over the edge though. The silhouettes, the candle-lit nature of the early evening, it’s just too much fun. So knock this craft out and bring a little spook into your home this holiday.

You will need

Pillar Candles

Tissue paper

Copy Paper

Wax Paper

Tape

Images

Hair Dryer

Tape

How to:

Tape the tissue paper to copy paper to make printing out the images easier

Print out the images onto the tissue paper

Cut out the images and lay them out on the wax paper

Wrap the wax paper around the candle and tape to hold into place

Heat image with the hair dryer for 5 minutes

Slowly peal off the wax paper applying more heat if needed

Light it up,

Marcella

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16Oct / 2014

Zucchini Cakes with Lime Cream {Gluten Free}

I love the fall for many reasons. There is Halloween (of course), the rainbow showcase of changing leaves, the crisp air which calls for “sweater weather”, thicker sheets on the bed, and cups of warm cider on the porch, wrapped in a cable knit throw, watching the early setting sun. One of my favorite parts of fall though, has to be harvest time. The garden giving its last little bit of life as it completes work on the autumn harvest. Oregon celebrates in style. There are pumpkins, acorn squash, tomatoes, “Oh My!” There are harvest festivals, pick-your-own pumpkin patches, parades and celebrations galore!

In this season of plenty there is one stand-out, over achieving, vegetable, the king of overabundance: the zucchini. If you have a garden, or a friend with one, you are probably being inundated with this super veggie right now. You may feel tired though and perhaps you may get the urge to let a few slip into the trash…stop right there! There is so much you can do with this humble squash! It bakes into breads and savory pies, makes omelets and quiches explode with flavor, adds crunch to soups and after all that, it can even stand on its own, fitting in perfectly with the best of them in a crudité.

Today I want to share one of my favorite recipes for zucchini that’s also gluten free! These Zucchini cakes make a great addition to the dinner table as a side but could even stand-in as a main course on a vegetarian plate. Or put them on a bun and make a veggie burger to die for. So go on, get green!

You will need

2 zucchinis

¼ cup almond flour

1 egg beaten

2 cloves minced garlic

4 green onions greens and all

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

For the lime cream

1 clove of garlic minces

The juice and zest of 1 lime

½ cup of plain yogurt

How to

Use a large-holed cheese-grater to grate zucchinis

Place shredded zucchinis in a colander over a bowl

Place 1 Tablespoon salt over and toss

Let zucchinis “sweat” out water for 10 minutes

Rinse off zucchini to remove excess salt

Place the rinsed zucchini in a cheese cloth or tea towel & wring out excess water

Mix all ingredients together and press into small cakes

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat

Gently place in cakes and cook until brown, flipping once

While Cakes are cooking combine lime, zest, garlic and sour cream together

Serve warm with a dollop of lime cream on top!

To the King of Green, The Zucchini!

Marcella

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09Oct / 2014

Autumn Cocktail Party

The days are getting cooler. The leaves are turning and starting to fall. The Harvest is here and it calls out to me. It calls me out, it calls me out of my silly working life, it calls me out of my mundane tasks and it calls again and again. It calls me out…outside, “stop being silly”, it says in its cadence, “close that computer and come play in the fallen leaves, in the pumpkin patches, in the cool autumn evenings.”

The trees let the sun’s light dance in their leaves. Spinning, twirling, whirling around before the tree slowly lets them go, dropping to the ground. They blaze in so many shades of red, yellow, orange you can hardly count them all.

The fruit is bursting with ripeness, the buds and blooms of spring and summer seem a distant memory, replaced by heavy, ripe, plump fruit emerging, and the garden grows, it grows and grows. Tomatoes start to shine bright in banners of red and yellow hues, the peaches drop from their stems, heavy-swollen with juicy goodness.

The earth is in full fall swing and calls us out to a cocktail party. I shouldn’t say no to a mother, especially this mother, Earth. So I plan a little soirée. A few friends to help me celebrate the sun and the fading of summer and the bounty it has brought to us. To praise the mother’s glory we make things fresh and bright, rich with her bounty.