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HALLOWEEN ON HALSTED Chicago
Chicago’s Northalsted neighborhood is celebrating its 19th year of Halloween on Halsted festivities. All are welcome to participate in the annual parade that floods the streets, though all must register to walk. A costume competition divides participants into five categories: pet costume, drag, scariest, most original, and best group. Fire twirlers, stilt walkers, marching bands, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz are staples of the homegrown parade. The .7-mile stretch of city blocks covers a predominantly LGBT-friendly area of restaurants, bars, and clubs that all pick up when the parade ends with door-busting specials.
Faux "mercury glass" candles using corrugated cardboard and silver/mirror spraypaint how to.
See my blog for more details and the tutorial.
blog.anglianhome.co.uk/anglian-products/home-improvements...
HSBC has conducted a new survey which has revealed that the potential increase in property value, as a result of home improvements, has dipped in the past year, even though it has been predicted that more than half of UK householders will be planning various DIY projects over the forthcoming Bank Holidays this year.
Orange pumpkin face cookies
Preheat the oven to fan 160C/ conventional 180C/gas 4. Put the butter in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until smooth. Add the flour, icing sugar and orange zest and beat together to make a softish dough. Knead into a ball and wrap in cling film. Chill for 1 hour.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of about 3mm. Cut 24 circles with a 7.5 cm round plain cutter. Put them on a couple of baking sheets.
Using a small sharp knife, cut out Hallowe’en faces on 12 of the circles. Gather up the spare biscuit dough and press into pumpkin stem shapes, trimming with a sharp knife. Press to the top of each biscuit with a knife to join. Make lines on the face biscuits with the back of a roundbladed knife, to look like the markings on a pumpkin. Bake all the biscuits for about 15 minutes until pale golden. Leave to set for a while, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Mix the glaze ingredients to make a smooth, runny icing, adding a bit more juice if needed, then set aside. For the filling, beat the mascarpone with the icing sugar, then stir in the cooled melted chocolate.
Spread the filling over the cooled plain biscuits, then press the ‘face’ ones on top – do this just before you want to eat them, otherwise they go soft. Brush with the glaze, using a clean paint brush or pastry brush. Eat the same day.
I gather glass bottles from the beaches and thoroughly clean them. Then I decorate them with colored jute string and glue shells from the beaches here in Utila to the front. I sell them in the local art gallery on the island. Great fun and creative outlet!
Spooky spider cakes
Heat oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and line a muffin tin with 12 cases, preferably brown ones. Put the butter, sugar and flour in a mixing bowl. Break the eggs into a smaller bowl, taking care not to get any shell into it, then tip on top of the butter mixture.
Add the baking powder and vanilla to the larger bowl, then beat with an electric hand whisk until smooth and creamy. Stir in the chocolate drops or chocolate. Spoon the cake mixture evenly into the cases and bake for 20-25 mins until golden – a cocktail stick pushed into the middle of one of the cakes should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack.
To decorate the cakes, unravel the liquorice wheels and cut into lengths with scissors to make dangly legs. Stick 8 into the top of each cake, making small cuts with the tip of a sharp knife so they push in really securely.
Spoon the chocolate spread on top and spread lightly within the liquorice legs to make a round spider’s body. Now cut the Allsorts to make eyes and the red bootlaces to make mouths, then stick them onto the cakes and dot on the icing to make eyeballs. Will keep for up to 2 days in a cool place.
[Checking partly to see if Bill is actually paying attention.]
It's not perfect, but once the painter's "Smurf" tape and the newspaper was removed, I think it looks pretty good.