Halloween

Technically this was held on the 28th October, but it was still creepy/ delicious. Big moments were the RIP chocolate sour cream cake (Nigellas basic birthday cake recipe with lots of montezuma and that very good french cooking chocolate- parnier? I can't remember). Another highlight was sausage hand- tomato skin for nails and a freshly plummed tomatoe for the fat palm.

In terms of costumes, special mention to Chip Hand- an outfit created by Martha which I sadly don't have a photo of and is too bizarre to describe and give justice to- essentially an over sized Maccy D chip packet attached to her wrist with beautifully formed foam French Fries that fitted onto her fingers and wiggled around, like a fast food poltergeist.

Pumpkin soup with added squash, a couple of carrots and lots of very good dried chilli went down well- though it's a shame the pumpkins we get here are so dowdy compared to what their name suggests them to be- and as they are realised in Italy where a recent Pumpkin soup was just as rowdily fruity as it should be- and a million miles away from my Frankenstein version.

Toasted pumpkin seeds (high oven with lots of salt and a little pepper) vanished in seconds- and also made an appearance pushed into the top of a big white loaf- Graveyard Bread is a lot less effort than it sounds.

The spread itself. SCARY. But not in a salmonella way.
The sociopath who hosted the evening had drawn up a rather terrifying shopping list in her kitchen. Several attendees from the party have still not returned home.