Happy Friday: Halloween and Grilled Cheese

Halloween didn't result in too many trick-or-treaters, unfortunately, but we had some great food and fun decorations!

On the door, we had a BOO sign. The idea came from Then She Made. Our's was white letters with deep orange ribbon, both purchased from Michael's.

We also created glowing eyes in the bushes! I got the idea from Thrifty Crafty Girl. Save toilet paper and paper towel cardboard, cut out eyes, and insert a glow stick (got ours at the Target dollar spot, where they had large foam light-saber-looking glow sticks). We hid them in the bushes near the front door!

For dinner we had winter squash soup and "fondue" grilled cheese.
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WINTER SQUASH SOUP
Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 2 acorn squash (about 2 lb each)
• 2 butternut squash (about 2 lb each)
• 8 Tbs unsalted butter
• 8 teas dark brown sugar
• 3 carrots, peeled and halved
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• 10 cups chicken stock
• 3/4 teas ground mace
• 3/4 teas ground ginger
• pinch cayenne pepper
• salt to taste
• Creme fraiche for garnish
• Snipped fresh chives

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Cut the four squash in half lengthwise and scoop out and discard the seeds (or bake them!)
3. Place squash halves, skin side down, in a shallow roasting pan (make sure it isn't too shallow). Place 1 Tbs butter and 1 teas brown sugar in each squash half. Arrange carrots and onion around squash. Pour 2 cups of stock in pan, cover tightly with aluminum foil (do not forget to cover!), and bake for 2 hours.
4. Remove the pan from the oven, and allow vegetables to cool slightly. Scoop the squash pulp out of the skins and place it in a soup pot. Add the carrots, onions and cooking liquid.
5. Add remaining 8 cups of chicken stock an the mace, ginger, cayenne, and salt. Stir well and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
6. Puree the soup in batches in a blender (I use an immersion blender). Return to the pot, adjust the seasoning, and heat through. Serve each portion garnished with crème fraiche and chives.

Notes:

• Mace is like nutmeg (different parts of the same thing) so if you don't have mace, look up the equivalency for nutmeg.
• I don't normally do the crème fraiche or chives.
• I add small able in big chunks to add sweetness, and a bit of maple syrup for a smokey sweetness.
• If the soup doesn't taste quite right, I add in a bit of sage or poultry seasoning.

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"FONDUE" GRILLED CHEESE
Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8 slices of bread
• Gruyere, grated
• Jarlsberg, grated
• Crisp Apple, thinly sliced
• Nutmeg
• Garlic / Garlic Powder
• Butter

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large flat pan over low heat. If you like garlic, put some crushed garlic in the butter.
2. Place 4 slices of bread in the pan.
3. Top each slide with 1 layer of grated Gruyere, then a layer of apple (overlap a bit so you can fit more apple).
4. Sprinkle with garlic powder and a bit of nutmeg, and then the layer of grated Jarlsberg.
5. Top with the last slice of bread.
6. Turn up the heat to medium-low
7. Press the sandwiches, and flip once they start to melt.

Notes:

• You can pre-butter the slices of bread so the outside is fully covered.
• Change the temperature as needed so the sandwich is to your liking in terms of browning / crispiness.