Spooky Food

So the vampire cupcakes have gone over well. Good reviews all around. I think next time I will dip the tops in a chocolate ganache and pour red sugar on them before adding the frosting and vampire bites. It needs a little glamming up. I used a generic red velvet cake recipe and jazzed up a store bought fluffy white frosting (with some powdered sugar so it would have some heft to it). After piping the frosting on top with a ziplock bag (cupcake tip #1), I took a cocktail straw and poked deep holes in them. Then I took some red gel icing mixed with red food coloring and poured a few drops in each hole. Voila! Some people use chocolate cake mix and inject the cupcakes with a strawberry or cherry filling so that they "bleed" when you bite them, but I have never been a fan of stuffed pastries. Too drippy.

I look forward to this week being over. I know, it's not even Monday, but I have to have all of my midterms graded by Wednesday, so I wish that would be over already. And Friday is Halloween, so I am excited to put together the costume. I have the makeup, the fangs, the outfit, but I haven't done a dry run or anything. The fangs seem like a one-time only deal, since they stick on your teeth with a putty of some sort. I have YouTubed some makeup tricks. My favorite is this one:



I have a pair of leftover brand new contacts. I am debating whether to put them on for the one evening. If I put them on and then throw them away, I shouldn't have any eye problems. But I am a bit leery. Glasses will throw off my whole costume! Vampires have super sight. Or at least 20/20 vision. Hmph.

I just finished revising my lectures for the week, so now I'm back to grading. You are probably thinking, "Shouldn't you be done by now?" No, I am not done. I have procrastinated and put off the last remaining exams for tonight, and Tuesday. It's not like I hung around doing nothing, but every semester I say "this semester is going to be different! I am going to get home and start grading immediately, doing just a few exams a day." Much more easily said than done.

So what are you doing for Halloween? Any fun costumes out there???