Squash & Wild Rice Soup with Lemon-Ginger-Rosemary Butter for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs we are rolling out a new Monthly Featured Ingredient theme where a dish or ingredient is selected and we can choose any recipe featuring it from our current or previous IHCC chefs to find the best recipes out there. November's ingredient is squash and I found what just may be my new favorite squah soup recipe from Heidi Swanson's Near and Far cookbook; Squash and Wild Rice Soup with Lemon-Ginger-Rosemary Butter. 
 

With all of the components and flavors, this soup becomes a delicious and satisfying meal in a bowl that is perfect for a fall evening.   

Squash & Wild Rice Soup (with Lemon-Ginger-Rosemary Butter)
From Near & Far by Heidi Swanson
(Serves 4-6)

For the Lemon, Ginger, & Rosemary Butter:

1/2 cup unsalted butter

chopped rosemary leaves from one 4-inch sprig

zest of 1 lemon

1 tsp grated ginger

scant 1/4 tsp of fine-grain sea salt

For the soup:

1/4 cup unsalted butter

2 medium onions, cut into eighths

2 large shallots, halved

1 whole Serrano chili, stemmed

1 Tbsp sea salt

about 2 1/2 lbs of diced pumpkin cut into 3/4-inch pieces (I used kabocha squash)

9 cups water or veggie broth (or less—see Heidi's notes in recipe below)

2 tsp fresh ginger juice (or finely grated ginger)

2 to 4 cups cooked wild rice, to serve

plain yogurt and toasted pepitas, to serve

To make the butter: heat the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat until it browns slightly-- about 3 minutes or so. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rosemary, lemon zest, ginger, and salt. Stir well and let sit for 5 minutes. Strain the butter, while reserving the pulp to serve separately. Set both aside.

To make the soup: melt the butter in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.

Add the onion, shallots, Serrano chili, and salt. Cook about 5 minutes, until softened. Add in the pumpkin and the water or broth (you can use less liquid if you like a thicker soup but Heidi recommends this soup be on the thinner side.) and bring to a simmer and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the squash is tender enough to cut through. (Time will vary based on the type of squash you use.)

Blend, using an immersion blender or in batches in a high-speed blender. Add in the ginger juice (or grated ginger) and continue to blend until smooth. Taste and season with extra salt and black pepper if desired. 

To Serve: Serve soup with a scoop of wild rice and a large dollop of Greek yogurt. Drizzle with the Lemon-Ginger-Rosemary Butter, a bit of the reserved pulp, and some toasted pepitas. Enjoy!

Notes/Results: Although this soup has a few different components to put together--the soup base, the flavored butter, toasting the pepitas and cooking some wild rice if you don't have any on hand, it goes together easily and the taste is worth the extra effort. The soup itself is a nice combination of the sweet squash, some heat from the serrano chili, and the slight bite of the fresh ginger. It is very good on its own, but add the wild rice, tangy yogurt, toasted pumpkin seeds and the wonderful Lemon-Ginger-Rosemary Butter, it becomes amazing. Truly one of my favorite squash soups ever--warming, satisfying and tasty. I would definitely make it again. 

You can see what delicious squash recipes the other IHCC participants made by following the picture links on the post.
 

 
We have some good friends in the Souper Sundays kitchen who shared some delicious dishes last week--let's have a look!

Debra of Eliot's Eats shares this Southwest Quinoa and Kale Salad with NM Red Chile Vinaigrette and said, "Still, it remains to be seen if we make our (usual) yearly trek to Northern New Mexico. So, I am still wistfully thinking about our past trips and posting a few pictures as I revisit our past journeys. This salad is inspired by the leftover NM dried chiles from my pantry.   It is also inspired by a Starbucks salad that I had to pick up for lunch last week. It was pretty tasty, but I thought I could improve on it. I have to say that this salad was much more delicious than the $6 one I bought at Starbucks."

Joyce of Kitchen Flavours made Heidi Swanson's Summer Squash Soup and said, "This curry dish uses Thai red curry paste, adjusting the amount to your taste. I've used about four full tablespoons. Firm tofu are cut into cubes, then pan-fried in a skillet with a little oil until golden brown to make tofu croutons, which is then used as a garnish before serving. I've added some rice vermicelli to make a one bowl meal. Garnish with some chopped red chillies and chopped coriander with a calamansi lime from my garden pot. The lime is squeezed over the noodle soup before digging in!"

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe brings Vegan Avgolemono --Greek Easter Lemon Soup and says, "Gina of The Full Helping, devised this variation to recreate the soup from the Greek Easters of her childhood.  I've never had the traditional version that relies heavily on eggs.  For me, I just love the creaminess of the tahini, the substance of the veggies and rice, and the fresh flavours of the lemon and dill."

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared her Gumbo for a Cool Autumn Evening and said, "...one of the things I do like are the autumn temperatures and a good bowl of gumbo. Nothing like a warming meal when the temps get cooler.  So that's what I am going to talk about now. In the past I was eating sausage but now that I'm not consuming any porcine products, I have substituted a TVP (textured vegetable protein) to accommodate our vegetarian menus. ...We also had a homemade French bread for sopping up the lovely juices."

Mahalo to everyone who joined in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a happy, healthy week!
 

The Book Tour Stops Here: A Review of "Beauty and Attention" by Liz Rosenberg, Served with a Recipe for Sundried Tomato Spread, Served with Baguette

Got the Election Day blues? Well, besides saying that I voted by mail last week and I hope you exercised your right to vote your opinion, we are staying away from politics today and instead are focused on my two favorite things--books and food. On today's TLC Book Tour stop, I am reviewing the historical novel Beauty and Attention by Liz Rosenberg and I am pairing my review with a simple but tempting Sundried Tomato Spread with Baguette. 
 

Publisher's Blurb:

The riveting story of one brave young woman’s struggle to free herself from a web of deceit.
 
For misfit Libby Archer, social expectations for young women in Rochester, New York, in the mid-1950s don’t work. Her father has died, leaving her without parents, and her well-meaning friends are pressuring her to do what any sensible single girl must do: marry a passionate, persistent hometown suitor with a promising future. Yet Libby boldly defies conventional wisdom and plans to delay marriage—to anyone—by departing for her uncle’s Belfast estate. In Ireland, Libby seeks not only the comfort of family but also greater opportunities than seem possible during the stifling McCarthy era at home.
 
Across the Atlantic, Libby finds common ground with her brilliant, invalid cousin, Lazarus, then puts her trust in a sophisticated older woman who seems to be everything she hopes to become. Fraught with betrayal and long-kept secrets, as well as sudden wealth and unexpected love, Libby’s journey toward independence takes turns she never could have predicted—and calls on courage and strength she never knew she had.

Paperback: 224 pages
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (October 25, 2016)

My Review:

This is the second book by Liz Rosenberg that I have read and reviewed. The first was her 2014 The Moonlight Palace. Like The Moonlight Palace, Beauty and Attention is a short and quick historical novel, with a young female main character looking to find her place in the world. In Beauty and Attention, we meet Libby Archer, in her early twenties and a bit adrift since her alcoholic father has died--he never quite recovered from the death of her mother. Libby isn't sure what she wants to do--she just knows she isn't ready for marriage and settling down as most of her peers are doing in the the mid-1950s. Faced with a marriage proposal from inventor and entrepreneur Cap Lockwood, she instead travels to the Belfast estate of her uncle in Ireland, forming a fast friendship with her sickly cousin Lazarus and attracting the attention of an English Lord. As the synopsis says, there is a betrayal (I don't want to go into any detail and spoil the story), and Libby seeks to find herself and her happiness. 

Libby is a likable, if perhaps too mild of character--especially in the beginning of the book. Her logic and reasoning are hard to follow at times and I found myself struggling to get to know her. I far preferred her spunkier and more dimensional best friend Henry (Henrietta) who seemed to know her own mind much more than Libby. I think with the short length of the book, it was tough to form as strong of attachment to the characters as I would have liked. I would have enjoyed a deeper dig into Libby, Henry, Lazarus and Cap Lockwood, as well as some of the other characters that we meet later on. It was hard to determine the motives for behaviors and understand why Libby and others made the decisions they did. For example, there is a big plot point in the book that suddenly just happened and I wanted the back story of how we ended up there. 

The author notes in the afterward that the book is her homage to the Henry James classic, Portrait of a Lady, brought forward from the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Since I must confess to not ever reading Portrait of a Lady (although I just might now...), I can't judge how well she accomplished that goal. The settings--particularly Ireland and Rome, and Rosenberg's descriptive writing were beautiful and drew me into the story, I just wanted to stay there longer. I did like some of the twists--although I saw one of the main ones coming, and I liked seeing Libby's eventual growth and the ways things resolved, so ultimately I did enjoy the book and will definitely read more from Rosenberg. If you like a shorter book and enjoy historical fiction set in 1950s Europe, and/or have a fondness for Henry James and Portrait of a Lady, Beauty and Attention is an easy read and a pleasant diversion, just maybe a bit too quick to the finish. 

-----

Author Notes: The author of more than thirty books for adults and young readers, Liz Rosenberg has published three bestselling novels, including The Laws of Gravityand The Moonlight Palace. She has also written five books of poems, among them 2008’s Demon Love, which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and After Great Grief, forthcoming from the Provincetown Arts Press. Her poems have been heard on NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion. Rosenberg’s books for young readers have won numerous awards and honors and have been featured on the PBS television show Reading Rainbow. A former Fulbright Fellowship recipient, Rosenberg teaches English at the State University of New York at Binghamton, where she earned the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She lives in Binghamton with her daughter, Lily, and a shih tzu named Sophie. Although she has homes in New York and North Chatham, Massachusetts, her heart is still in Ireland.

----- 

Food Inspiration:

There is not a huge food presence in Beauty and Attention, the fashion and scenery of Ireland and Rome take up the majority of the descriptions, but there were a few mentions. There was plenty of tea and scones and clotted cream, and a "persimmon-colored teacup, oranges in a bowl, a mention of both an Irish breakfast and "a real French breakfast," lemonade, the smells of diesel and fried potatoes, wood smoke and cake, and "the sharp odor of juniper berries" (which put in mind of gin), a bag of pastries and a baguette, tea and biscuits, canapés, an éclair, olive trees, soup and porridge, crackers, and a bunch of purple grapes, sweets and rolls, puddings, cakes and urns of coffee and tea, and a sandwich and a bottle of mineral water. 

Since there wasn't one thing that really stood out, for my book-inspired dish, I decided to make something using a baguette and then added in the canapés idea to make an appetizer, and wanted to use sundried tomatoes and Italian herbs for the nod to Rome. 

I found a recipe for Sundried Tomato Spread on Thug Kitchen and thought it sounded delicious and I love that it is vegan,while getting some good protein and fiber from the white beans blended in. I kept the ingredients the same, but made a couple of small changes to the preparation--namely sautéing the garlic and dried herbs in with the onion to maximize the flavor (and taking out the profanity that one gets at Thug Kitchen--which I don't mind, but I tend to run a mostly PG blog!). ;-) I put my prep steps below, as well as the link to the recipe on the Thug Kitchen site.

Sundried Tomato Spread
Slightly Adapted from Thug Kitchen.com
(Makes about 1 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup of sundried tomatoes (not in oil)
1 cup warm water
olive oil
1/4 cup chopped white or yellow onion
1 clove of garlic, sliced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 (15-oz) can of cannellini or other creamy white beans
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp tamari or soy sauce
salt and black pepper to taste

Place the sundried tomatoes in a small bowl and cover them with the hot water. Allow to re-hydrate for 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, add a little olive oil to a small pan and cook onion over medium heat until they begin to caramelize (about 10 minutes). When close, add the garlic slices, dried basil and dried oregano and cook another minute or two until fragrant.

Remove re-hydrated tomatoes from the soaking water (reserving the liquid) and chop. Place the beans, chopped sundried tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the tomato soaking liquid, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and tamari into the bowl of a food processor. Add the onion-garlic-herb mixture and process until smooth, adding additional soaking liquid through the tube until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Taste and season with salt, pepper and extra seasoning if needed.

Serve with grilled baguette slices, crackers, or veggies, or use as a sandwich spread. Spread will keep about 1 week, tightly covered in the fridge.

Notes/Results: This dip/spread has such great herby tomato flavor and a rich and creamy texture. The lemon juice and red wine vinegar give it a slightly tangy taste that goes well with the sweetness of the tomatoes. It was perfect on the crispy baguette rounds and I have a feeling that it will make a delicious veggie sandwich spread tomorrow. Easy and it will please vegans, meat-eaters and everyone in between, I will definitely make it again. 

 
I'm linking this post up to the Weekend Cooking event at Beth Fish Reads, a weekly event that is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share. For more information, see the welcome post.

 
Note: A review copy of "Beauty and Attention" was provided to me by the publisher and TLC Book Tours. I was not compensated for this review and as always my thoughts and opinions are my own.

You can see the stops for the rest of this TLC Book Tour and what other reviewers thought about the book here.

 

Creamy and Delicious Tomato Bisque for Souper (Soup, Salad, & Sammie) Sundays

I was craving creamy tomato soup and when my visiting brother and niece said that tomato soup was a favorite, I whipped up one of my favorites along with grilled cheese sandwiches for an easy Saturday night dinner.

This soup is my take on the tomato bisque served at Nordstrom Cafe. It's ultra rich and creamy and when it is just me, I tend to make it vegan--using coconut milk or unsweetened creamer (here's a link to that recipe and vegan Parmesan crisps), but since neither is a vegan and I had some cream to use up, I made the version below based on what I had on hand.

Tomato Basil Bisque

adapted from Nordstrom Cafe

(Makes about 6 Servings)

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large carrots, chopped
1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 Tbsp dried basil
3 (14.5 oz) cans or boxes whole tomatoes with liquid
3 cups low sodium vegetable stock
3/4 pint cream
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat olive oil over in a large stock pot over medium-high heat and add carrots, onion, garlic and dried basil. Cook 10 to 15 minutes or until carrots and onions are somewhat soft. Add the tomatoes and veggie stock, bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer about 35-40 minutes, until flavors have blended and vegetables are completely soft.

Remove from heat and puree soup with immersion blender (or in batches in upright blender), until smooth. Return to saucepan and stir in non-dairy creamer. Warm through over low and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Notes/Results: I could probably eat this soup every day and never get tired of it with its silky texture and delicious tomato flavor and it proved its mettle with my house guests. My brother said it is some of the best tomato soup he has eaten and they both ate every  drop of the large bowls along with every bite of the avocado and tomato grilled cheese sandwiches I made to go along the soup. An easy favorite, I will definitely make it again.

We have some good friends in the Souper Sundays kitchen who shared some delicious dishes last week--let's have a look!

Melynda from Our Sunday Cafe shared Broccoli Salad Dressed with Curry and said, "We are new to experimenting with curry. And honestly, the dishes I have tried have been mild for curry lovers. I guess it would be safe to say, we like mild as an adjective to describe food, especially new to us, foods........Curry really hits the spot in this salad. There are plenty of flavors to pop on your tongue, but the curry dressing brings them all together. You will want to make this salad in the morning (or the night before) for the evening meal."

Judee of Gluten Free A-Z Blog made Low Calorie Cauliflower, Cabbage, and Cumin Soup and said, "Do you want to eat more cruciferous vegetables and add low calorie soups to your diet? So do I- This low calorie and delicious easy to make soup will fill you up while helping you lose weight! I'm estimating that a bowl of this creamy vegan and naturally gluten free soup is about 100 calories , very low in fat,  provides a good amount of fiber, some protein, and a significant amount of nutrients and antioxidants.  It's perfect for my weight loss and my health concerns!"

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen made this Burmese Yellow Spit Pea Samosa Soup and said, "The Samosa drowning in the Yellow Split Pea Dal Soup acts like a crusty bread roll or croutons.  This combination may sound a bit unusual, but it makes sense to me as my family do eat samosa this way but its with salad and a raita and then crushed into those components into a spoonful of messy deliciousness."

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor shared a favorite restaurant salad: A Lush Salad from Northside Pies and said, "It's great getting salads when we dine out because I try and examine the ingredients and ballpark the measurements if I want to recreate a recipe. They use the freshest ingredients and load it up. Don't you hate it when you get a side salad and the tomatoes are bland and tasteless, the lettuce wilted and the other ingredients are limited?  Makes you sorry you ordered it but I can tell you, this place makes it fresh and they don't skimp on the ingredients. You get quality and quantity."

Finally, it's great to have Janet of The Taste Space back at Souper Sundays. Janet made this season-perfect Autumn Chickpea and Lentil Soup and said, "I spotted a soup on Angela’s blog and it used our last backyard produce perfectly – tomatoes, kale, sage, oregano and basil along with two kinds of beans, chickpeas and lentils. The flavours melded into a glorious soup of deliciousness. A great way to keep warm now that the temperatures are dipping down."

Mahalo to everyone who joined in this week! 

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you.

On your entry post (on your blog):

• please mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post.
• you are welcome to add the wonderful Souper Sundays logo (created by Ivy at Kopiaste) to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up


Have a happy, healthy week!
 

A Scarily Delicious Beetlejuice Inspired Feast! Food 'n Flix's October Round-Up! {#foodnflixclub}

I am always inspired by the creativity and mad cooking skills of my Food 'n Flix friends but I think everyone outdid themselves with their Beetlejuice-inspired creations this month. (You can see my announcement post here if you missed out and somehow don't know this fun Halloweenish film.)  

Instead of the lack of much food presence being a stumbling block, it seem to spur even more fantastic dishes. Adding to the Food 'n Flix fun was the concurrent Tim Burton movie event from Fandom Foodies hosted at Witchy Kitchen, #Burtoween and many of our participants shared their posts with both events. 

I had a blast rounding up all of the fabulous entries and there were a lot of them! So pull up some leftover trick-or-treat booty and a napkin or two for your drool and let's take a look!

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla was our first entry and she was inspired by the scene where Beetlejuice tries to attract a fly with a Zagnut candybar. She made a Zagnut flavor-inspired Spooky Juice cocktail, saying "So, with all those flavors in mind, I whipped up this tasty libation. My husband liked it so much he asked for a second one; I told him I'd make him another if he came up with a name for it. He tried different variations that included coconut, Caribbean, Kraken, and more before settling in 'Spooky Juice.' Okay."

Katharina of Pretty Cake Machine made two different movie-inspired (and creepily gorgeous!) dishes. First was her nod to Beetlejuice and Lydia's marriage ceremony with her Bride of Betelgeuse Severed Finger Cookies. She said, "When asked to present a ring, he whips out one from an unnamed ex… with a finger still attached. ... I decided to bake up a small arsenal of replacement fingers for this unfortunate mystery gal, with a bonus manicure to make her feel extra sassy. Any dead ex-wife of Betelgeuse is bound to need a pick-me-up."

 
Katharina's second recipe channeled her affection for Lydia Deetz into Lydia's Blood Orange Bubble Tea, which she calls perfect for enjoying with her severed finger cookies.  Katharina said, "I already mentioned in my last Beetlejuice entry that I adore Lydia. I know I keep sneaking in photos from the Beetlejuice cartoon, but that’s because I love it!"

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen also had two dishes inspired by the movie. First was her Winter Beetroot Potato Horseradish Gratin. She says, "... I took inspiration from the Beet colour that runs throughout the movie: from the welcoming door of the couples home Adam and Barbara played by Gina Davis and Alec Baldwin.  The barn where the couple crash under, to the designer Ortho outfits, from his ties to his socks even his house gown was Beet coloured.  The beet colour is splashed loud in our face when we are shown  Lydia's wedding dress and even Betlguise (pronounced Beetlejuice) own groom suited outfit is Beet and white, which brings me to my Beetroot Gratin as it perfectly matches with Betleguise outfit!"

  
Shaheen's second Beetlejuice dish is color coordinated to her gratin. She says, "One of my favourite movies but it comes second to Edward Scissorhands. I took inspiration from the Beet colour that runs throughout the movie. This Beetroot Barley Goats Cheese Salad is an autumnal salad because of the hearty barley and the colours that remind me of the drying leaves on the trees. It's perfect for taking into lunch as it won't leak liked those tossed in heavy salad dressing."  

Catherine of The Gluttonous Geek, took inspiration from the dinner party scene and that crazy shrimp cocktail and made creepy Shrimp Pâté Wellington Hands with Cranberry-Ginger Cocktail Sauce. Catherine said, "I will admit, I’ve not been all too big a fan of shrimp cocktail growing up. However, I hold the staunch belief that if you don’t like a dish, you can always reinvent it into something that you do. With this in mind, I wanted to take a card from Delia’s book on how I can make this more fitting to the character, and also more appealing to my own palate since I don’t have a house ghost to serve my cooking when it’s not to my liking."

Ali of Fix Me a Little Lunch used her love for Tim Burton in her dish saying, "Beetlejuice is one of my favorite Halloween movies. First, it’s a Tim Burton film and I love the Burton universe with its over-the-top weird. Second, it’s not a scary, slasher film – I’m not a fan of those. ... So in honor of all things beautiful and strange and Burton-esque, I made Spooky Halloween Onigiri for my Beetlejuice inspired post. ... I can completely see dancing sushi rice in the Burton universe, as well as onigiri decorated as spooks, bats, and Jack-O-Lanterns."

Carrie of Witchy Kitchen, host of the #Burtoween linkup, made Jamaican Banana Curry with Shrimp and Coconut Rice saying "The scene where Recently Deceased Adam and Barbara possess the Deetz’s garish dinner party with the Banana Boat song – culminating in attack of the shrimp cocktail – is pretty delightful. It inspired this Jamaican-style banana curry, with shrimp of course. I’ve never met a curry I didn’t love. I consulted this Jamaican Curry Powder recipe for an authentic mix of spices. The result was a haunting balance of sweet, salty and spicy; with some simple coconut rice, it was to die for!"

Even though Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures didn't find Beetlejuice to be quite her cup of tea, she was still inspired to make these fun Eyeball Cookies, saying, "After the scene when the Maitlands pull out their eyes to scare the Deetz family, I remembered some eyeball cookies I was eyeing (hehehe) when searching for a recipe for last week’s Taste of Home Tuesday inspiration. I ended up passing on the cookies that time, but they were perfect for Beetlejuice! I love when things work out!"

Heather of All Roads Lead to the Kitchen made these cute Easy Beetlejuice Truffles and said, "While there isn't a ton of food, it is very memorable. There is also piles of inspiration to be found in the dark, Halloweeny atmosphere. I had several ideas, but as the month flew by, I realized that I was almost out of time and chose something that was incredibly simple. Probably too simple. But hey, sometimes simple is just what we need.I used storebought Lindt white chocolate truffles and decorated them with colored decorating gel (you could also use frosting) to mimic some Betelgeuse traits...the black and white suit, the purple around the eyes."

Evelyne of CulturEatz made this fun and colorful Beetlejuice Swiss Roll Cake and said, "I am always super excited to present my big main Halloween post each year! And this year, with my goolish Halloween recipe, I got to knock down two skeletons with one big candy (ha ha). This post combines both the October 2016 challenges for Food ‘n Flix and the Daring Kitchen. The movie for Food ‘n Flix was Beetlejuice. The Daring Kitchen challenge was a decorated swiss roll cake. Hence, my evil mind gave birth to the scary themed Beetlejuice Swiss Roll Cake! Do you dare to take a bite?"

For Debbie of The Friday Friends, it was the dinner party scene, her son and daughter-in-law's urging and some misheard lyrics that inspired her Banana Slush Punch (you have to read her post for the fun story!). She said, "A frozen, slushy, banana flavored punch.

Perfect for kids. Unless you top it with a splash of rum--which is what I did. I always like a little splash of rum in my punch. This rum/banana punch fit the theme, even if it was a little predictable. It was a fun afternoon laughing at our lyrical mistakes.The movie was just as cute and fun as it was years ago. And that song? You can't get it out of your head!"

Debra of Eliot's Eats said, "As for the food inspiration, there wasn’t a lot. But, hey,  it’s the month of Halloween—scary cupcakes and gross dismembered finger appetizers abound. I felt sure that the Food ‘n Flix members would let their creative juices flow." Debra found inspiration for her Beetlejuice Cocktail in two things she spotted, "Betelgeuse conjures a carton of Minute Maid orange juice in his charade game with Lydia. (Hmmm….)" and "There’s what appears to be a decanter of brandy and a tray of lemon wedges by Ortho at the blood red bar. (Hmmm…) ... I was definitely inspired by the last two items mentioned above, the orange juice and brandy. I tried to think of something that would be appropriate for a Halloween cocktail party or something one could sip while watching this fun film."

Elizabeth of The Lawyer's Cookbook made darkly delicious homemade pasta for her Squid Ink Pasta and Shrimp and said, "I was inspired for this month’s recipe from Beetlejuice’s black and white striped suit. The squid ink pasta noodles, which are absolutely delicious, but look quite freaky being dark black, are representative of Beetlejuice’s signature outfit. I made the squid ink noodles from scratch, though I actually had a box of premade squid ink noodles in my cabinet. But I hadn’t made noodles from scratch in awhile and decided to go crazy this month."

Caroline from Caroline Makes made a fun Rocky Road Halloween Graveyard Cake and said, "If you haven't got much time for Halloween baking but want to make something as a treat, then look no further than this recipe. It would make a great centrepiece for a children's party - and goes down pretty well with adults too! The recipe comes from the Konditor & Cook recipe book 'Deservedly Legendary Baking'. It's basically a rocky road, arranged to look like a grave site, with some bones and skeleton hands coming out of the grave!"

   
Kimberly of Coffee and Casseroles made Stuffed Red Peppers saying, "One of my favourite scenes actually has nothing to do with the main cast, but with the sidekick Otho during the ending of the seance; where he's stripped of his dark cool looking suit and ends up in the powder blue nightmare 70's one. And I desperately was trying to come up with something for it. Sadly, my creative food writers block got bigger. But, as I was staring at the screen giving myself an ego attack, I thought about the blood red wedding dress Lydia gets "stuffed" into against her will. And I had it! So simple it hurts, but I made a really easy Stuffed Red Pepper."

Although not a fan of the movie, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm still found inspiration in the Zagnut bar scene and says, "I have never eaten a zagnut bar. I am not even sure they make them anymore. I did a google search and found that it is a candy bar made by the Hershey company that contains peanut butter and coconut. I like peanut butter and coconut. I have peanut butter and coconut in the house. I decided to make Zagnut Cookies. These are peanut butter cookies with toasted coconut added to the batter. I don't know if they taste anything at all like a zagnut bar but I do know that they are absolutely scrumptious. YUM!!!"

Finally here at Kahakai Kitchen, I joined those finding inspiration with the dinner party and the shrimp cocktail that comes alive. I decided to create Ghoulish Green Curry Chowder with Grilled "Scary Shrimp"--both because it sounded delicious and also because I wanted to capture the eerie green light of the afterlife and the ends of Beetlejuice's hair and a chowder full of veggie pieces conjured up the strange, almost junkyard feeling of the Maitland's model cemetery where Beetlejuice hangs out. The shrimp are scary because I left the heads, tails, and shells on--very delicious for the brave--but I did include some hard-boiled egg eyeballs if you'd rather get your protein that way!

What an amazing and scarily delicious virtual Beetlejuice party we had! Thank you to everyone who joined in this month. I only wish I could have sampled all of your ghoulish creations! 

If you missed October's Food 'N Flix event but you like food, films, and foodie films, consider joining us in November, when Caroline of Caroline Makes will be hosting with Burnt. (We can all give thanks for some Bradley Cooper!) ;-)