News and Events Articles A Safer Halloween Contents - Recipes Eyeball Pasta Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Pot Toffee Apple Cookies Haunted Graveyard Cake When you think Halloween what is the first thing that comes to mind? Trick or Treating with friends, plenty of sweets and scary costumes! This year however will be very different, due to the rise of the coronavirus (and seemingly more cases by the day), It means you have to be socially distanced along with Halloween traditions... but do not despair! We have a selection of fun ideas in which you can use to celebrate a spooktacular night. Scary Movie Night One way you can celebrate the night is gathering in the living toom and have a scary film marathon. Grab yourself some Halloween snacks (see bottom of page for recipes) and get spooked out. This can be fun for all ages, the children can watch Scooby Doo, Adams Family and Beetle Juice etc. Then once they got to bed the braver, older folk can get watching the seriously scary stuff that can make your skin crawl, anything from The Ring to The Wailing. A Family Halloween Feast Why not stay in and have a massive Halloween feast with a scary theme. Decorate the house with scary ornaments and other spooks bits and bobs. Use the recipes at the end of the article to create your Halloween feast. This is a good way for families to spend some time together (or single adult households all in the same bubble) and remain as safe as possible through the risk of Covid, whilst adhering to the government guidelines. Virtual Escape Rooms Over the last few years, escape rooms have become the next big thing, as it is fun in groups to take part in. Of course, this is now considered a high-risk activity now, but there is an alternative and that comes in the form of digital escape rooms. There is a huge variety of Halloween themed escape rooms' online (look to see if your local area has any virtual escape rooms) that are perfect for the whole family to take part in. These escape rooms can be tailored to the people taking part, could ask for a child friendly option with less scares or have one for the older audiences that prefer a more intense scare. Party Games If escape rooms are not your thing, the alternate option is to play plenty of Halloween themed party games. One such game you can play, especially if you have hoarded toilet paper and have too much is the toilet paper mummy race. The aim of the game is to have 3 people on each team, 2 will be the wrappers and one the mummy - the goal is to wrap the mummy up faster than the other team, using the toilet paper. Another great game idea is the donut-eating race. Hang a few donuts from strings and the first one to eat their donut wins. There is a catch though... you cannot use your hands, so keep them behind your backs! A great way to close the night (especially for the older members of the family) it have some playing horror video games. There are many terrifying ones out there... especially if you own a VR (virtual-reality) headset. Recipes There recipes are great for having a Halloween feast or for making a quick snack. It will be fun for the family to get involved making some of these recipes. So let's begin: Eyeball Pasta Ingredients; 100g Cherry Tomatoes 150g Pack of mini mozzarella balls, drained Handful of Basil 400g Green tagliatelle 250g Jar of Tomato Sauce 4 Tbsp fresh pesto Method; 1. Halve the cherry tomatoes and use a small, sharp knife or a teaspoon to remove the seeds. Cut the mozzarella balls in half. Place one-half inside each tomato, trimming the edges if necessary to fit it in. Either cut the smallest circles you can from a basil leaf or finely chop the leaves and scrunch into small circles. Place on at the centre of each mozzarella ball. 2. Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, heat through the tomato sauce. When the tagliatelle is cooked, drain and stir through the pest and any remaining basil, chopped finely. Divide between 4-6 serving bowls. Spoon over some tomato sauce, then arrange the stuffed tomato eyeballs on top. (Recipe by Emma Lewis) Back to Top Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Pot Ingredients; 2 Leeks, thickly sliced and washed to remove any grit 8 Rashers of smoked bacon, chopped 350g Pumpkin flesh, cut into chunks (or use butternut squash) 50g Butter 1 Chicken stock cube 250g Long Grain Rice Method; 1. Toss the leeks, bacon and pumpkin together in a large microwaveable bowl. Dot the butter on top and cover the bowl with cling film (or a plate). Pierce the cling film a couple of times if using and microwave on high for 5 minutes until everything is hot and starting to cook. 2. While the vegetables are cooking, bring a kettleful of water to boil and make 700ml stock using the cube. Carefully remove the bowl from the microwave and uncover, watching out for steam. Tip in the rice and season with salt and pepper, then pour in the stock and stir to mix. 3. Cover the bowl with a fresh piece of cling film or the same plate and microwave on High for 10 minutes. Uncover and give it a stir, then microwave for 5-10 minutes until the rice is cooked. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before giving everything a final stir. Serve scooped straight from the bowl. This is a great dish for the children to get involved in making. It is simple to prepared and cook. (Recipe from the Good Food Team) Back to Top Time for a tasty sweet treat. Toffee Apple Cookies Ingredients; 175g Unsalted butter (room temperature) 140g Golden Caster Sugar 2 Egg Yolks 50g Ground Almond 85g Chewy Toffees, roughly chopped 85g Ready-to-eat dried apple chunks, roughly chopped 225g Self-raising flour 2 Tbsp Milk Method; 1. Preheat the oven fan 170C/190C/Gas Mark 5. Using an electric whisk, beat together the butter and sugar until it has a pale, creamy texture. 2. Stir in the eggs yolks, ground almonds, toffees, dried apple and flour. Mix well together then roll into walnut-sized balls. 3. Place well apart on two non-stick or lined baking sheets and flatten slightly with your hand. Brush with milk and bake for 8-12 minutes until golden. Leave to firm up for 5 minutes, and then transfers to a wire rack and leave to cool completely. This will make tasty snack for after meals or if you are watching some spooky films together. (Recipe by Silvana Franco) Back to Top Finally a cake so yummy it's scary! Great to finish off any Halloween Feast. Haunted Graveyard Cake Ingredients; To decorate 1 Egg white 50g Icing sugar 200ml Single cream 200g Dark Chocolate, finely Chopped 125g Rich tea finger biscuits 100g Double chocolate cookies 25g White chocolate cookies Silver balls, to decorate For the Cake 85g Cocoa Powder 200g Self-Raising flour 375g light brown muscovado sugar 4 Eggs 200ml Milk 175ml Vegetable Oil Method; 1. To make the ghosts, heat oven to 110C/90C fan? Gas 1/4. Whip the egg whites into a clean bowl until stiff peaks form. Whisk in the sugar, a tbsp at a time then keep whisking for a couple of minutes until the mixture is thick and resembles shaving foam. Gently spoon the mixture into a large freezer bag, then cut a 1.5cm hole in one of the corners. 2. Cover a baking tray with some baking parchment. Carefully squeeze a small circle of whipped egg whites out of the bag, pulling upwards, as you do make a ghost shape. Repeat until the mixture is used up - you should get about 15 ghosts. Bake for 1 1/2 hours until crisp. Can be stored in an airtight container for up to 2 days. 3. Now to make the cake. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan Gas 4. Tip the cocoa powder, self-raising flour and sugar into a large bowl, breaking up any clumps of sugar. Mix together the eggs, milk and oil in a measured cup or bowl, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir everything together until smooth. Grease and line a deep baking dish (20 x 30 x 5cm) with baking parchment. 4. Pour in the cake mixture and bake for 30 mins. Leave to cool, then turn out onto a serving plate. Alternatively, wrap up well and store for up to 2 days. 5. Place the white chocolate into a small bowl, set over a pan of simmering water. Leave for 5 mins or until melted, then spoon into a small freezer bag. Wait for 10 mins so the mixture is not too runny, then cut a tiny hole in one corner of the bag. Pipe out 2 small blobs onto each ghost, place a silver ball on each to make the eyes, then pipe out suitable words and shapes on the gravestones. 6. Leave for 30 minutes to set then push the biscuit gravestones into the cake and arrange the ghosts around. To get the ghosts to 'fly', push a thin wire into the bottom of the ghost, then place in the cake, hiding the wire behind a gravestone. (Recipe from the Good Food Team) There you have it some fun ideas to celebrate a Covid safe Halloween along with some recipes for you to try out if you make yourself a Halloween Feast. Back to Top All recipes from BBC GoodFood: | Eyeball Pasta | Hubble Bubble Pumpkin Pot | Toffee Apple Cookies | Haunted Graveyard Cake | More Halloween Recipes |