Witchy Caramel Apples for National Caramel Apple Day

If you can't tell, Halloween recipes are my favorite recipes, and I'm closing out the month with these adorable caramel apple witches.

I'm going to keep it real witch ya, they were a lot easier to make than I expected. And I didn't have any trouble transporting them. I just placed each apple in a round clear container so they didn't roll around.

Witchy Caramel Apples
Ingredients

• 12 ounces chocolate chips
• 1 Tablespoon shortening
• 6 sugar cones
• Sprinkles
• 6 large granny smith apples
• 8 ounces caramels
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

Directions

1. Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in large microwave-safe bowl. Heat in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until melted.
2. Hold one sugar cone over the bowl and use a spoon to cover the cone with chocolate, letting the excess drip off. Decorate with sprinkles if desired and set aside on wax paper to dry.
3. Wash your apples and remove the stems. Place apples in cupcake liners.
4. Heat the caramels and heavy cream in a medium microwave-safe bowl in 30-second intervals, stirring each time, until melted. Make sure it’s thick because we don’t want it to slide right off the apple.
5. Use a spoon to drizzle caramel over each apple. If you want, you can purchase eye sprinkles and stick them to the apples with extra caramel.
6. Stick a chocolate-covered cone on top of each apple. Place in microwave to let the caramel set before serving.

"Bloody Finger" Hot Dogs for Halloween

I recently did a "finger foods" segment on FOX59. Even though it incorporated foods you can eat with your fingers, it was actually a play on words because all the food looked like fingers. I thought it would be so funny for Halloween! I think my coworkers were a little weirded out at first, but I thought it was hilarious!

I knew hot dogs turned into "bloody fingers" would be the perfect addition to the segment.

I've actually been creating hot dog "art" for years. When I was in high school, I babysat for a family with four young children. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why they trusted me with so many young children—probably because I was cheap. Anyway, they requested hot dogs for dinner every time I was there babysitter. One time, I decided to cut the ends of the hot dogs so it looked like an octopus' tentacles, and they thought it was the funniest thing! Then they started to request more complex animals like giraffes and elephants. I tried my best, and even though they didn't turn out great, the kids still loved them.

I channeled my inner hot dog artist skills for these fingers. They're very easy to make (much simpler than giraffes and elephants)--just cut a square sliver near the top for the nail bed and several arced slits for your finger joints. Make sure you do this before cooking the hot dogs because once you boil them the slits will open up.

Bloody finger hot dogs
Ingredients

• Hot dogs
• Hot dog buns
• Ketchup

Directions

1. Make the finger beds by using a sharp paring knife to slice the two sides straight down and the top and bottom with a slight arc. The carefully cut the tiny piece off.
2. Make the knuckles by cutting arced slits, directly above and below each other, about a third of the way down the hot dog. Do the same thing in the middle of the hot dog and a third of the way from the bottom of the hot dog.
3. Boil the hot dogs for 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Load a hot dog bun up with lots of ketchup and place a hot dog inside the bun. Add more ketchup on top of the bottom of the finger. Repeat with remaining hot dogs.

Amputated hand appetizer is really a tomato basil and prosciutto cheese ball

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

I love the way this cheese ball turned out! It looks so freaky, but also, it’s still really delicious.

I cut up a rubber hand prop to use as a mold (this is the exact one), but if that’s unavailable to you, you can just mold the mixture into a hand shape.

Amputated hand cheese ball

Ingredients

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 teaspoons basil, dried or fresh
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 4 ounces prosciutto

Directions

1. Combine cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.
2. Mix in sundried tomatoes, basil, and garlic powder.
3. Cut a rubber hand Halloween prop in half to use as a mold. Wash the prop and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
4. Carefully spread the cheese ball mixture in the hand mold. When the hand is full, gently pack down the mixture. There should be some mixture leftover. Save it!
5. Place in freezer for 10 to 20 minutes to firm the cheese ball.
6. Gently peel the rubber hand mold away from the cheese ball and place on plate.
7. Use leftover cheese mixture to fix any fingers that may have become detached from the hand.
8. Cover the hand with prosciutto.
9. Serve with crackers and a cheese knife through the middle of the hand for an added freaky effect.

Mummy Apple Cranberry Pie

This mummy pie was a lot of fun to create, and I love how it turned out!

You can make your own pie crust or use store-bought pie crust. Just make sure you have plenty of it! I overlapped the pieces of pie dough quite a bit to ensure the face maintained its shape and the fruit didn't bubble through the cracks.

The trick to making your mummy pie more "realistic" is to use half an apple to create a nose under the pie crust.

Also, to make sure your mummy looks extra gory, I recommend sticking some extra cranberries in the mouth and eye openings. Poke the cranberries with a fork when you finish cooking the pie.

Mummy Apple Cranberry Pie

Ingredients

• 4 cups apples (about 14 ounces or 4 medium to large apples)
• 2 cups cranberries (about 200 grams)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (about 100 grams)
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch (14 grams)
• Zest from 1 orange (about 1 Tablespoon)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 pie crusts
• 1/2 an apple, peeled and cored
• 2 Tablespoons Challenge butter, cut in cubes
• Egg wash (1 egg beat with 1 Tablespoon milk)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Combine apples, cranberries, sugar, cornstarch, orange zest, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
3. Roll out the pie dough and place in a  9×2-inch pie dish.
4. Add filling on top of crust
5. Cut the half of apple you set aside and cut into a triangle. Place the apple in the center of the pie for the mummy's nose.
6. Sprinkle butter squares on top of filling.
7. Roll out second pie dough and cut into 1/2-inch strips
8. Layer the strips of dough over the top of the pie, making sure to leave space for the eyes and mouth.
9. Brush the pie with egg wash
10. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Real Simple

German comfort food: Bacon and cheese spaetzle

My segment this week is centered around German recipes in honor of GermanFest this weekend at the Athenaeum in Indianapolis. I’ve never been to Germany and I’m not German, but I did have a lot of help with these recipes! My mother-in-law’s family is from Germany, and my husband grew up eating many of her delicious German dishes.

One of his favorites was spaetzle.

Spaetzle is best described as a short, chewy egg noodle. The batter is mainly made of flour, eggs, salt, and milk.

The pasta can be used as a blank canvas for whatever you want to serve with it, but the recipe I’m sharing today showcases one of the more traditional ways to serve it: with bacon, cheese, onion, and sauerkraut. It’s everything great comfort food should be!

You can, of course, make your own spaetzle. However, I’m going to be using store-bought spaetzle. My mother-in-law says it’s almost just as good, and I trust her opinion. I got the spaetzle from a local German store called Heidelberg Haus. If you’re in the Indianapolis-area, I highly recommend visiting it! They have a great cafe and bakery with a lot of tasty cakes, strudels, and pastries.

If you don’t live in Indianapolis, you can find spaetzle in the ethnic section of many local grocery stores or online.

Bacon and cheese spaetzle
Ingredients

• 4 slices bacon
• 1 yellow onion, diced (about 8 ounces)
• 1 (9-ounce) box spatezle, cooked (about 600 grams cooked spatezle)
• 8 ounces sauerkraut, drained
• 4 ounces gruyere cheese, grated
• 4 ounces emmantaler cheese, grated
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Parsley for garnish

Directions

1. Heat a skillet to medium-low heat, and cook the bacon until it is crispy, or about 8 minutes total (4 minutes per side).
2. Remove bacon and place on paper-towel lined plate. Cut into thin strips. 
3. Drain all but 2 Tablespoons of bacon grease from the skillet.
4. Add onion to skillet and saute until translucent and caramelized. Remove from heat.
5. Combine bacon, onion, spatezle, sauerkraut, 2 ounces of gruyere cheese, 2 ounces of emmantaler cheese, pepper, and salt.
6. Pour mixture into prepared 8x8-inch casserole dish.
7. Top with remaining cheese and place under broiler for 3-4 minutes or until bubbly.
8. Serve warm with parsley sprinkled on top.

Cheesy Graveyard Taco Dip

This is a sponsored post by Challenge butter, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee's Kitchen possible!

Cheesy Graveyard Taco Dip
Ingredients

• 8 ounces Challenge cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded Mexican cheese
• 1 (1 ounce) envelope of taco seasoning 
• 1 pound ground beef, cooked and fat drained
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups salsa
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped (optional) 
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
• Tortillas
• Black edible marker (like this one)

Directions

1. Mix together cream cheese, Mexican cheese, and taco seasoning
2. Stir in ground beef, diced tomatoes, and black beans
3. Prepare 8×8-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer mixture to dish and smooth the surface
4. Evenly spread salsa on top. 
5. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes
6. While dip is baking, cut tortillas into tombstones, ghosts, and trees
7. Place shapes onto baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 5 minutes
8. Remove dip from oven and sprinkle with green onions and cilantro.
9. Use black edible marker to write on tortilla tombstones and stick them upright into dip so it looks like a graveyard.
10. Serve with tortilla chips.

Idea for graveyard dip inspired by The Chickabug Blog