Festive Deviled Eyeballs Recipe

Festive Deviled Eyeballs Recipe

Cook Time:  10 minutes

Difficulty:  Easy

I love Halloween!  Halloween is all about the fun, and playing with your food!  Of course my kiddos would say it's all about the candy!  

We love to have friends over before and after Halloween for a party, and this is one recipe my kids ask for every year.

Just for Halloween, I “spookified” our Festive Deviled Egg Recipe to look like eyeballs!  I used our Hot Banana Pepper Mustard this time in lieu of our Champagne Mustard.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs at room temperature

• 2 Tbsp. Cherchies® Champagne Mustard or Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard

• l/4 jar Cherchies® Pretty Peppers, drained (optional for this recipe)

• 1 Tbsp. cream cheese

• 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• Blue food coloring

• Sriracha Hot Sauce (or ketchup)

• Sliced Black Olives

Preparation:

Hard boil eggs (See how to cook perfect hard-boiled eggs). Cool and shell.

Cut in half, remove yolks, and place in a bowl with the mustard, cream cheese, mayo, Pretty Peppers (optional), and salt. Mix until smooth. 

Add a couple of drops of blue food coloring to the egg mixture to the desired color of green.  Spoon or pipe into egg whites.

Add black olive slices in the center of the egg, and decorate with hot sauce. (I dotted a few of the eyeballs with Cherchies® Pretty Peppers

Happy Halloween!

Cooking Tip: How To Remove Pomegranate Seeds

Cooking Tip:  How to Remove Pomegranate Seeds

Pomegranates are usually abundant this time of year, a true sign the holidays are around the corner.  They're perfect in smoothies, salads, jams, desserts, and many more foods, plus they are an antioxidant powerhouse!

Have you ever wondered if there was an easy way to remove the seeds?

Have no fear!  I can help you!  There are a lot of great methods for de-seeding pomegranates on the internet, but I decided to share my two favorites (one is very therapeutic).  

The Aggression Reliever (therapeutic version...it's not really called that, I coined it)- This method involves "whacking" the back of the pomegranate half.  I'm not talking about crazily pounding the pomegranate, but gently hitting the back of the pomegranate with the back of a large spoon.  

The Soaker- This method involves submerging the pomegranate halves in a bowl of water.  As you gently loosen the seeds, the white cartilage floats to the top.

Here's How It's Done.  In both methods, with a knife, carefully "score" the skin.  I usually just make one cut around the perimeter of the pomegranate.  (I've seen some individuals make several score marks the length of the pomegranate...totally up to you).

Next, Gently pull apart the pomegranate and carefully loosen up the skin and seeds while rotating the pomegranate.

Now here is where the two different methods differ.  For the Aggression Reliever Method, hold the pomegranate half upside down over a bowl and gently "whack" the back of the pomegranate with a spoon (I used a wooden spoon), rotating to remove the seeds.

For The Soaker Method, simply remove the seeds while the pomegranate half is under water.   The white cartilage will then float to the top for easy removal.  Remove any last stubborn seeds by hand.

There you have it friends...beautiful, sweet, pomegranate seeds!  What's your favorite de-seeding method?

Spooky English Muffin Pizza Recipe

Spooky English Muffin Pizza Recipe

English muffin pizzas are not revolutionary, but I realized recently that I hadn't made them for my kiddos in years.  

I made these pizzas recently as an after school snack and the kiddos loved them!  Our children, like in most families, come home from school ravenous and often stare at an open refrigerator or pantry and roar, "Mom, there's nothing to eat"! My response, "guys, we have plenty of snacks".

...Crickets chirped.

I love it, my golden opportunity...to teach my kiddos something new!  My children (21, 14, and 12) have always loved to help in the kitchen, and today I decided it was time for them to cook their own snacks.

In honor of Halloween, I decided that today we would make goulish pizza snacks.  I had the English muffins split apart, the sauce, the cheese, and the condiments armed and ready for the hungry monsters to walk through the door.  Check!  They had fun, and I enjoyed the bonding.  Healthy snack created, and the roaring stopped.  Check!  Here's what they created...

Ingredients (for each muffin)

• English Muffins, split apart into halves (I used multi-grain...my kiddos didn't notice)
• Tomato or Pizza Sauce (1 Tablespoon (Tbsp)
• 1 teaspoon of Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning
• A dash of pepper
• Shredded Mozarella or Mexican Cheese Blend
• Cooked sausage (optional)
• Olives, sliced for eyes (optional)
• Jarred Banana Peppers (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Split apart English muffins with a fork.  Assemble the pizzas, starting with the sauce, the cheese, and then the toppings.  Sprinkle with Cherchies® Garlic Seasoning.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until the mini pizzas are melty;)

Here's what they look like without the crazy faces!  Enjoy!

What To Do with Hot Banana Peppers

Hot Banana Peppers

I was a picky eater as a kid, and never would have touched banana peppers. Silly me!  It's funny how tastes change, now I snack on them;) So what are they and how the heck are they used? Find out more below.

What is a Banana Pepper? The Banana pepper, (also known as a yellow wax pepper) is a member of the chili family, is usually anywhere from 2-4 inches in size, is mostly yellow-green but can be orange or red when fully ripened (where it is sweetest), and has a mild to medium tangy taste.  

The Banana Pepper gets it's name from the fruit it resembles, the banana.  

How do you use it?  Banana peppers can be pickled or fresh, where they are often used in sandwiches, salsas, salads, pizzas, and antipasta appetizers, or cooked in soups, stuffed with a variety of fillings, and yes...wait for it...added to mustards!! Whaaat?

That's right folks, we have combined our sweet mustard with banana hot peppers.  Our Banana Hot Pepper Mustard was the Gold Medal Winner of the World Wide Mustard Competition held at the Napa Valley Wine Festival.

This zesty mustard is made with Yellow Hot Banana Peppers (there are no "bananas"  in this mustard as we often get asked...just peppers and mustard). It's perfect as a spread on sandwiches, hot dogs, grilled sausages, and sushi,  in potato salads, as a dipping sauce,  and in most recipes where mustard is required. Once you try it you'll see why judges named it tops in its class. It has a little heat, but it's not overwhelming.  

Cherchies® Hot Banana Pepper Mustard

Check us out to see more mustard recipes, including those with our Hot Banana Pepper Mustard.

Thanks for visiting!