This is a simple recipe, and is excellent for using up any fresh pumkin you might have left over from making jack o lanterns.

Ingredients
115 g softened cream cheese,
55 g butter or margarine
250 g white sugar
2 eggs
245 g pumpkin fresh or tinned
220 g plain flour
5 g bicarbonate of soda
1 g baking powder
3 g salt
1 g ground cinnamon

Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
Put softened cheese, butter or margarine, and sugar in mixing bowl. Cream together well. Beat in eggs one at a time until blended. Mix in pumpkin.
In another bowl combine flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour all at once over batter. Stir just enough to moisten. Turn into greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 60-70 minutes until the top is golden brown and springy to touch, and the tip of a knife when pushed through the middle comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan beore removing to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Serve while still warm with butter, or cut when cold and serve with hot soup or a selection of cheese.

Another good left over pumkin recipe.

PUMPKIN SOUP

Ingredients
1420 ml chicken stock
9 g salt
980 g pumpkin puree
1 g chopped fresh parsley
160 g chopped onion
0.4 g chopped fresh thyme
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional)
120 ml double or whipping cream

Method

Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, and garlic. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
Puree the soup in a food processor or a blender. If there is a lot, do it in small batches so that it is really smooth.
Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in the cream. Pour into warmed bowls and serve immediately with fresh crusty bread.

I hope you don't mind if I add a few of my favourites to these Darkness?

First for those who have kids.

Witches Hats.
ingredients
1 box jaffa cakes
1 bag marshmallows
1 bar plain chocolate

method
Melt the chocolate in a bowl over boiling water, or in the microwave. Set aside to cool a little bit.
Shape the marshmallows into cones.
Spread some of the melted chocolate over the biscuit side of each jaffa cake.
Take the marshmallow cones and put them on top of the melted chocolate.
Spoon melted, cooled chocolate over the top, and leave to set.
Serve by placing on a plate, placing plate on a table in a room full of children and running for cover.

Spider Fairy Cakes.
ingredients
A quantity of chocolate bun mixture. (see below for basic bun mix details)
Some black liquorice laces.
Dark chocolate for icing

Prepare the buns and allow to cool completely.
Cut 3 inch lengths of liquorice laces, and place four in each side for legs.
cover the top of the bun with melted chocolate, and allow to set.
If you want to put eyes on you could use smarties/chocolate beans. Add them before the chocolate coating sets.

Serve as before. Ducking is good too. lol


~~
Basic bun mix.
ingredients
4oz butter/margarine
4oz sugar
4oz SR flour
2eggs.

method
mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add beaten eggs a little at a time. Fold in flour carefully with a metal spoon.
Spoon into bun cases and bake at 350 degree F (175 degrees C) until golden brown and firm and springy to the touch.

If more buns are needed, and they often are, then double the recipe.
If chocolate buns are your thing, then remove a quarter of the flour and replace with the same amount of cocoa powder.


~~~

Candy Corn Bark

ingredients
16 chocolate sandwich cookies, chopped
125 g small marshmallows or big ones chopped into small pieces.
55 g raisins
680 g white chocolate, broken into squares
360 g candy corn sweets
sprinkles

method
Spread the cookies, marshmallows and raisins evenly onto a lightly greased small baking sheet.
Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, or in the microwave, stirring frequently until melted. Remove from the heat while there are still a few chunks, and stir until smooth. Be careful because white chocolate burns easily.
Drizzle the chocoate carefully over the cookie mix with a spoon, trying not to disturb the mixture too much, spread the top flat to coat evenly.
Top with candy corn and sprinkles, and press down gently.
Let cool until firm.
Cut/break into pieces and store in an airtight container.
This is very popular with kids and all those who have the swee-*test*-('") sweet tooth.

Happy Trick or Treating.

Now for more grown up tastes. lol
Normally I would begin with a recipe for oat cakes which are a typical and popular food for Samhain, but Lady C posted an excellent one in her Samhain thread, here.
http://otherkin.30.forumer.com/index.php?s...st=0&#entry8662

So I'll start with

Potato pancakes.

6 medium potatoes
125g self-rising flour
2 eggs
Approx 8fl oz milk (or more if needed)

Grate half of each potato and squeeze as much water out of it as possible, I wrap the grated pieces in a clean teat towle and wring them out that way. It works very well. Set aside in a small bowl.
Take the other half of the potatoes and cut them into small pieces. Boil in salted water until soft. Drain and mash.
Combine the milk and eggs. Beat until well blended.
Add to the mashed potatoes along with the flour and grated potatoes until it loks like a thick batter. Mix well.
If necessary, add more milk.
Lightly grease a frying pan with butter. Drop a large spoonful of batter on the pan and spread gently to form a round. Place several of these rounds in the pan. Turn the heat to low and cook well on each side. Remove from pan and keep warm. Do this until all of the batter is used.
Serve with lots of butter and jam of the season, Blackberry would be perfect.

Hot Apple Cider.

In a large pan mix Cider, 2 whole cinnamon sticks, 5 cloves, 1 large orange sliced thinly with peel left on, 1/2 lemon, sliced thinly with peel left on, 200g sugar.
Warm over a medium heat, but do not boil, serve hot.

Hot Spiced Punch.

1 large carton of unsweetened pineapple juice
1 small carton of cranberry juice
220g brown sugar
3 two inch sticks of cinnamon
1 Tablespoon of whole cloves

Put the cloves in a clean handkerchief tied into a pouch. Bring to the boil in a pan containing 8 fl oz of water. Leave to cool. Pour the clove water and juices into large container. Mix well. Pour into large pan and bring to a boil. Serve hot in heatproof cups or mugs.
Red wine can be added to this punch for the final heating if desired.

Apple Muffins

50g (2 oz) bran flakes cereal
160g (5.5 oz) plain flour
55g (2 oz) soft dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon baking powder
285ml (10 fl oz) apple juice
55g (2 oz) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

Preheat oven to 190 C / Gas mark 5. Grease muffin tin, or line with paper cups.
In a mixing bowl, combine bran flakes, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir in apple juice, butter, vanilla, and apple.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tin or cases. Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes.
Cool on wire racks.

These are my favourite recipes for Samhain, though there are lots of other foods associated with this time.
Roasted Meats, aswell as roasted vegetables, anything made with Apples or Pumpkin, Corn on the cob, mixed nuts, gingerbread, Turnips, Rice cakes, Pomegranates, Herbal Teas and mulled Wine. I hope you enjoy the recipes.
Have a lovely, yummy Samhain everyone.

I have no recipes for contribution. But I would just like to say that just reading those recipes posted above and in the post that has been linked by Camille, my mouth is watering. I would love to go to any meal cooked by one of you.

So yeah, just thought I would say that.

Sounds delicious. Keep posting, I may have to try cooking some of these.

~Farshief