Witches and broomsticks and pesto...oh my!

Cute witch (and pattern) found here

I probably should have started October with a warning:  Our family REALLY likes Halloween.  No, not just a little, REALLY, REALLY likes Halloween.  So much so that our house has become a neighborhood destination for Halloween weekend, and we have been in the local paper the last 5 years running. 

Don’t believe me?  Check out our website: http://millcreekhauntedhallow.com

After you see the lengths we go to when decorating our yard, it may make more sense why at least half of our meals in October are Halloween themed!

On that note, here is what we had for dinner last night:

Pesto Flatbread Witches

1 package (8 to 9 oz) naan bread, or what I used...which is what the good people at QFC happened to mark down that day:

2 tablespoons of prepared pesto sauce OR...if like me, you start cooking without checking for ingredients first, you can use the buttery-pesto spread from the Cheesy Bat Biscuits:

     2 tbsp butter

     ¼ cup Parmesan

     1 tsp dried parsley

     1 tsp dried basil

About ¾ cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Using Halloween cookie cutters (I got mine in a big bin of seasonal cookie cutters from Michael’s) cut out shapes.  (I was running with a witch theme, so I used the witch head and cat shapes.)

Place on baking sheet.

Spread pesto in a thin layer over bread.

Top evenly with cheese.

(If you are more ambitious than I, you can cut decorative shapes and faces or whatever out of red peppers.)

Bake 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Pretzel Carrot Broomsticks

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

½ cup shredded cheese

¼ cup salsa (the recipe called for ½ cup, but I chose to only use ¼ cup, because little kids do tend to have more sensitive palates.)

2/3 cup julienned carrots (I cut up baby carrots, but you could also buy “matchstick carrots” at the grocery store, and save yourself some time)

9 pretzel rods, broken in half

Mix the cream cheese, shredded cheese, and salsa.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour, or until chilled.

Place one heaping tsp of cheese mixture on the end of each pretzel half, round into a ball.  Roll the dip on the shredded carrots…or just place them on one at a time, whatever works!

The verdict:

5 thumbs (mostly) up!

The dip for the broomsticks was especially popular.  #3 and #4 both pulled all of the carrots off their brooms, and ate the dip, then asked for more! 

I think next time I would use a slightly different dip recipe, one that included some pureed veg, especially since the carrots were the least popular part.


Oh, and I probably should have mentioned this 3 recipes ago, but here is the book that I got the recipes for Cheesy Bat Biscuits, Toasted Cheese Jack O' Lanterns, Pesto Witches and Carrot Broomsticks: