A Halloween Party In Mexico City...

As you may know, Halloween is not celebrated much here in Mexico City - the country is much more interested in the following two days, the 1st and 2nd of November, during which they celebrate Day of the Dead (Día de Muertos).  

During Día de Muertos, Mexicans hold a huge party as they believe that their dead relatives can come back during these two days to visit the places they once lived.  In honor of this occasion, each family puts up an offering of food and drinks that their deceased loved-ones enjoyed during their life.  Traditionally, tamales, Día de Muertos bread, and sugar skulls are the most popular offerings.  The belief is that during the night, when everyone is sleeping, the ghosts can come visit the offerings, only taking up the offerings' scent.

It was a fascinating experience to see everywhere you went - schools, markets, on the streets, or in people's houses - these offerings.  Many places have Mega-offerings, where groups of people work together to create huge offerings of food, and even art, for the ghosts to enjoy.

Of course, as this culture is new to me, what I really wanted was a good old-fashioned Halloween party... one that of course included pumpkin carving.  Thankfully my friends at my Spanish language school where happy to oblige.  I think for all of them it was their first time to carve pumpkins - and they created some masterpieces.

I, naturally, was super excited that this party gave me the perfect excuse to search online for some crazy, weird food to make for the party: a Pumpkin-shaped Veggie Tray, Witches' Mouths, Mummy Dogs, Meatloaf Cupcakes, Peanut Butter Ghosts, Slimy-Orange Punch, and lots of sugar cookies - to be decorated at the party.

Jack-o-Lantern Veggies consist of a carrot-body, cucumber mouth, a broccoli stem, and your favorite veggie-dip for the eyes and nose.  I used an easy Cucumber-Curry Dip I found in one of my favorite cookbooks -The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Cucumber-Curry Dip Makes about 1 1/2 cups
3/4 cup mayonnaise
3/4 cup sour cream
1 Tb fresh lemon (or lime) juice
1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped fine
1 Tb curry powder
1 Tb minced fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper

Stir all of the ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate the dip for at least 1 hour to allow the flavors to blend. The prepared dip will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 2 days.  Season with additional lemon juice, salt, and pepper before serving.

Witches' Mouths is a fun and delicious concoction consists of red apple slices, creamy peanut butter, and mini-marshmallows.

Now, Mummy Dogs are really something to get excited about.  For the first one, a modified pretzel dough is wrapped around half a hotdog with mustard for the eyes.  

The second one was my husband's idea: you tear some Oaxaca Cheese into long strips which are wrapped around the mummy, using a hot knife (be careful!) or a flame to sear the end of the cheese strip to the rest of the cheese.  What made these so fun was the shreds of cheese made an excellent imitation of the mummy's cloth-bands.

Peanut Butter Ghosts (Modified from Spooky Eyeballs)  When I saw the Ghost version of this treat, I had to make it - so cute!  I did add 2 cups of Rice Krispies and took the suggestion to freeze the shapes before dipping them.  Just like another version of Buckeyes (Go Ohio State!)
Note: If you make the linked Buckeyes recipe, I highly recommend adding in a Tb of vanilla extract - it makes them extra addictive.

Slimy-Orange Punch (seen in the bottom left-hand corner) is a sweet, additive concoction of pineapple juice, orange gelatin, orange juice, ginger ale, and orange sherbet (though I used lime sherbet, as that was all I could find.)

In this picture, you can also see my Halloween-Shaped Sugar Cookies.  As I now live at a very high altitude, I recommend this recipe.

Sadly, my Meatloaf Cupcakes were so in demand, that I did not get a picture of them.  But feel free to take a look at the blogger that inspired that creation (I did use her recipe for the mashed potatoes, but the meatloaf recipe follows - and if you want a good meatloaf recipe, look no further.)

All-American Meatloaf from America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Serves 6 to 8
1 Tb vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tsp cider vinegar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk, plus extra as needed
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp perpper
1/4 tsp Tabasco
2 lbs meatloaf mix (equal parts ground beef, pork, and veal or 1 lb 90% lean ground beef and 1 lb ground pork)
2/3 crushed saltine crackers or 1 1/3 cups fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 cup minces fresh parsley

1. Adjust an oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat the oil in an 8-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until simmering.  Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook until fragrant, about 15 seconds.  Set aside to cool for 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix together the ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar and set aside.  In a separate bowl, mix the eggs, milk, mustard, Worcestershire, salt, pepper, and Tabasco together.

3. Mix the meatloaf mix, crackers, parsley, sauteed onion mixture, diced pear and egg mixture until evenly blended and the mixture doesn't stick to the bowl (if the mixture sticks, add additional milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until it no longer sticks).

4. Turn the meat mixture onto a foil-lined baking sheet and shape into a 9X5-inch loaf.  Brush with ketchup mixture.  Bake the loaf for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  (Alternatively, form tennis ball-sized rounds of meatloaf and put them into a greased muffin tin and flatten slightly.  Spread about 1 tsp of sauce over each ball and cook for about 30 minutes.)

5. Brush the loaf with the remaining ketchup mixture and continue to bake until the center of the loaf is 160 degrees, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

The nine pumpkins made during the party.

This carved pumpkin was the talk of the night - winning the "Most Mexican" Award.  If you cannot tell, it's creator stuck a 200 peso note in its mouth, about a $16 USD bribe for the judges.

I loved making these crazy recipes and can't wait until I get to do it again next year.  If you have any suggestions for what I should try next, please let me know!

~ Kim