On Princesses and Witches and a Candy Bonanza

Here it is, Halloween morning. I am enjoying a well made cup of coffee and fielding excited questions from the girls. In fact, a witch just walked into my office. Should I be scared?

I know somewhere there is a little princess putting on her holiday face.

Kids and the young at heart have been looking forward to this day for months!

Today we take our little treaters to the local theme park, Carowinds, for a day of trick or treating and roller coasters. Then down to my parents for some door knocking and when all the demons have returned to their beds, mommy and I are going to a big peoples party. Too much fun for one day.

I love Halloween. No two have been the same. The festivity level as a community effort exceeds even Christmas for parties, decorations, activities, etc.

And although it definitely increases the glycemic index to near diabetic coma levels, it is in my opinion, the most exciting holiday of the year.

Here is a good cocktail recipe for adults (remove rum and bourbon for kids):

Demon Possession Caramel Apple Cider:

1 gallon Apple Cider
1/3 gallon blended Dark rum and bourbon and Butterscotch schnapps
cinnamon
nutmeg
1/4 cup Honey
Candy eyeballs, Candy Corns, Candy Bats, etc. 2 cups

Blend Cider spices and honey in a sauce pan, heat till very warm
remove from heat..
Add liquor
Float candy in mixture

Serve hot (can be served cold, just skip heating stage)

Enjoy responsibly!

Happy Haunting! Cheers....

All things brought to you by sponsors

Here is my very limited commercial break. If you happen to see an interesting link on my page, please click it. It helps pay for this blog.

Thanks,
Eric

Misspelling and a retraction...

Hello Friends,

On a whim yesterday I sent a tweet to Rick Bayless of Frontera Restaurant. You can follow him at http://Twitter.com/Rick_Bayless In it I included a link to my recipe for Papatzul from an earlier entry. Rick is probably the number one Mexican Cuisine chef in America today and was the winner of Top Chef Masters Series. I am honored and surprised that he replied to me. Actually I am not that surprised. He seemed like a genuine and warm individual on TCM. I am also not surprised that he corrected me on my recipe. He is after all a master at his craft. His reply indicated that the recipe I posted was for something called Sikil Pak. And Papadzul(notice the spelling change) is actually enchiladas with Hard Boiled egg and a pumpkin seed sauce. This also sounds delicious and I will be cooking it soon. Look for the review.

So I hit the google this morning and this is what I discovered.
First, Papatzul is a restaurant in NYC. http://www.papatzul.com/
Second, please follow this link: http://lisaiscooking.blogspot.com/2009/08/sikil-pak.html
This blog entry was a good explanation of the process and result of the recipe I previously thought of as Papatzul. I stand corrected. My only concern is how I will explain to "Pepe" my Mayan/Mexican Friend in Belize that his famous recipe is actually not Papatzul, but Sikil Pak. I have to ponder that one.

I found a recipe for Papadzul on Epicurean.com(very similar to my original), but it included things like canned chilies so I will be altering the recipe myself to use fresh or dried chilies(probably Habanero, seeded and chopped). I would like to offer Chef Rick a chance to add his input here in the form of a recipe for either Papadzul or Sikil Pak. We would appreciate your advice Chef.

Ultimately I am not sure if Papatzul is with a "T" or"D", probably both. But I appreciated the reply from Chef Rick Bayless and as ever I am searching for the answers to lifes' persistent questions and I have just learned something new.... :)

Cheers,
Eric