Saturday, October 27, 2012

Baker's Dozen Halloween YouTube Links

YouTube playlist for this article, playlist compilation article

So many spooky-creepy songs to pick from! I compiled a list of maybe 30 songs before I even started to poke around Google for ideas. I decided to stop vetting YouTube videos after listing links for 13, a nice number for Halloween. The collection being eclectic, I listed the titles alphabetically.
** Bonus addition! Nature Trail to Hell (In 3D), Weird Al
Speeded-up video of Weird Al being drawn as a startled uniformed scout in the woods, being terrorized by someone thrusting a stick with marshmallows at him. The song itself is incomplete, but the image creation from start to completion is beautiful to behold.

The next two lists include honorable mentions, suggestions for songs or videos that you might consider for your own playlist.

Magic and mystery
  • Magical Mystery Tour, Beatles
  • Magic Carpet Ride, Steppenwolf
  • A Whole New World (on a magic carpet ride), Peabo Bryson/Regina Belle
  • Do You Believe in Magic, Lovin' Spoonful
  • You Can Do Magic, America
  • Oh Oh It's Magic, Electric LIght Orchestra
  • Magic, Olivia Newton John
  • Old Black Magic, Louis Prima/Keely Smith
  • Supernatural, Santana
  • Superstition, Stevie Wonder
  • If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot
  • Can You Read My Mind, Maureen McGovern
  • It's Gonna Take a Miracle, Royalettes
  • It's a Miracle, Barry Manilow
People, people to creep out people
  • Devil Woman, Marty Robbins
  • Devil Woman, Cliff Richard
  • Evil Woman, Electric Light Orchestra
  • Witchy Woman, Eagles
  • Black Magic Woman, Santana
  • Magic Man, Heart
  • Witch Doctor, Alvin & Chipmunks
  • Abracadabra, Stephen Miller
  • I Put a Spell on You, Nina Simone
  • Every Breath You Take, the Police
  • I Always Feel Like (Somebody's Watching Me), Rockwell
Visit the following sites for more Halloween music and video links.
Images in pixstrip obtained from http://apps.corel.com/paint_shop_pro_photo_studio/tubes.html and http://www.freetubes.com/artxyz/halloween/index.html.
For more articles about Halloween, enter "Halloween" in the search box at the upper left of this window. Or find and click "Halloween" link at Partial Index of Keywords section (just below Popular Posts section).
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Saturday, October 13, 2012

4-ingredient Raspberry Chocolate Fudge

This recipe is a variation of the Convenient Fudge recipe that I published nearly a year ago. Caramel, peanuts, and chocolate were in the fudge, although I omitted brand IDs. This time, I'm calling out brand names and products—Duncan Hines' Frosting Creations mix of raspberry powder {"Flavor MIx") and the base frosting ("Frosting Starter"), Kraft marshmallows, and Wilton meltable candies (chocolate this time).

I'd run across various complaints about the Duncan Hines (DH) base frosting. Bakers loved the powder, but complained about frosting sliding off cakes and not having the characteristics of normal frostings. Well, because I had two of the base frosting and two of the flavor packets, I thought making fudge might be a good way to avoid cake disasters. The results were very nice for taste and mouthfeel.

From past experience with chocolate chips and Wilton candies, it seems the Wilton candies have a lower melting temperature or density than chips. The results seem less hard than when using chips. Using both DH AND Wilton resulted in fudge that was quite soft. The Other prefers more fudge firmness, which is doable by refrigerating the fudge instead of keeping it out at room temperature.
My pixstrip shows images for utensils, ingredients, mixing, and post-mixing. (The images inside the dashed section show preliminary preparation before the microwaving.)
Utensils (spray oil being a bridge from utensils to processing)
  • Large mixing bowl
  • Large cooking spoon
  • 2-cup measuring cup or jar
  • Butter knife (for mixing flavor powder into base frosting)
  • 8" x 8" pan, prepared with spray oil
  • Cooky spatula (for cutting fudge into pieces)
Ingredients
  • 16 oz. Duncan Hines Frosting Creations base frosting
  • Duncan Hines Frosting Creations raspberry flavor packet
  • 12 oz. Wilton chocolate meltable candies
  • 1 1/2 cups Kraft marshmallows or 15 large marshmallows (one of my few instances of brand loyalty)
Instructions
  1. Using a butter knife, make a deep hole into the frosting and stir the powder into it.
  2. Melt chips or other meltable candy the large mixing bowl in the microwave oven, using reduced power. Check about a minute or so for about two rounds of heating.
  3. Add the mixed frosting to the bowl. If necessary, microwave another minute or so until you can easily blend the ingredients with the spoon.
  4. Add marshmallows to the bowl. If necessary, microwave another minute or so until you can easily blend the ingredients with the spoon.
  5. Blend the ingredients with the spoon.
  6. Pour ingredients into the spray-oil prepared pan.
  7. Refrigerate for no more than two hours. (If longer, the fudge could be difficult to cut.)
  8. Cut into 64 pieces (8 x 8) or fewer. (FYI, the paper cups are available at craft stores and baking supply outlets.)
Note: Instead of waiting 2 hours and cutting the fudge block with a knife, you can wait 1 1/2 hours for cooling, then use a cooky spatula edge, pressing down. The pic shows the 8 x 8 fudge grid and spatula. If edges of middle fudge pieces look a little warped, lightly shape them.
October 29—Fudge variation: Made a mint fudge, using the mint white chocolate powder instead of respberry, and Wilton green meltables instead of chcolate meltables. Raves all around!
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