87 October 2016 www.womanthismonth.com Hair-raising Mini Pizzas Use ready-made puff pastry, cut into finger-food sized circles. Top with tomato paste, cheese and anything else you fancy. Bake in the oven and then add halved black olives or slices of pastrami. Slice thin slivers of olive or sausage and position as legs to form spooky spiders. To save even more time you can do this with a cooked, fairly plain, shop-bought pizza, just add spiders on top. Cute little witch: 1. To make a tutu, take a piece of 2cm wide elastic long enough to go round the waist and cover with wide black ribbon. Buy black tulle or netting and cut into strips around 50-60cm wide, varying the lengths to give a jagged edge. Roll the tulle and cut into 6-7cm sections, cutting a diagonal at each end to emphasise the jaggedness. 2. Hold two or three strips together and fold in half, wrap the loop around the elastic waistband and pull the ends through to attach the strips. Repeat all the way round until the band is completely covered. Remember to vary the lengths. 3. To make the witch’s hat take two pieces of black foam or stiff card. Roll one piece to form a cone. Try it on the child’s head for size and, once you have a fit, mark the edges to cut off excess. Glue or staple the edges together. To make the brim, on the second piece of card, trace a circle round a dinner plate then trace a second ring around the hat hole, make the circle slightly smaller than the hole and cut. Slide the brim over the top of the cone so that it sits at the edge. Add a strip of tulle at the join for decoration. 4. Dress your little one (or yourself) in a black longsleeved T-shirt and leggings with some scruffy long, stripy socks for added effect. Add the tutu, hat, face paint, wand, broomstick and anything else you can think of. Serve Up Scary Snacks Spooky bananas: You can either stand these on a place or use lolly sticks. If using sticks cut the bananas in half and push a lolly stick into the middle of each banana. For a healthy option, simply add faces with chocolate chips. If you’re going for a more grown-up option, melt white chocolate in a bowl, around 200g for four whole bananas. Coat the bananas in chocolate. Layer desiccated coconut in a shallow dish, roll the bananas in it to roughly coat. Lay on a sheet of baking paper and use chocolate chips to form eyes nose and mouth. Freeze for around five hours. Witches’ Fingers Cookies Take a tube of shop-bought cookie dough to save time. Split the dough in half. Put one piece into a bowl and knead in a little flour. Take small balls and roll into sausage shapes about as long as your finger. Pinch above and below the middle of the roll to form a knuckle and make three shallow scores across this area. Do the same with the second half of the dough but add a little green food colouring for a little extra atmosphere. Add sliced almonds as fingernails and bake for 10 minutes at around 180 degrees. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. You can use jam or bright red coloured icing to give a bloody touch around the nails and at the stump. (For a savoury option, use pizza dough and sprinkle with cheese and tomato ketchup.)
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