It is that time again for me. The annual AVMC Halloween Party is this Saturday in Okmulgee at the VFW. It’s been 20 years! I am super busy this week preparing but I didn’t go easy on myself, a fact I am regretting today. I went with breads this year because I guess why not make it difficult.

I know Halloween is cause for concern for some, but Halloween is not about devil worship and celebrating evil. Halloween’s origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. The Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year often associated with human death. Celts believed the night before the new year (Oct 31) the boundary between worlds of the living and the dead became blurred and the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. In addition to causing trouble and damaging crops, Celts thought the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Druids, or Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future. To celebrate, Druids built huge sacred bonfires, where people gathered wearing costumes and masks to hide themselves from the earth roaming ghosts. When the celebration was over, they re-lit their hearth fires, which were extinguished earlier in the evening, from the sacred bonfire to help protect them during the coming winter.

For me, Halloween is a time of creativity and family. We make decorations for months and spend time together as a family. It’s a time of friends and fellowship and a time to celebrate another year. For one night, we come together like we never parted. We party and eat and enjoy. It’s a time to get together and just BE for a night, be whatever you want, whatever you can imagine, no matter how fanciful. It’s a party full of good food and laughter. It’s about our individuality as much as it is our cohesiveness. We come together as an eclectic group of individual people and form a strong bond as a group through our love and acceptance of each other. That is what I love about Halloween.

I wanted some Halloween foods, but then went and made sure I spent all day in the kitchen Sunday making everything. I often talk about how easy it is to add coloring and make something fun for any holiday. I did that this week. These are all common bread recipes I made into fun Halloween food with gel coloring. Make your grocery list and let’s get ready for Halloween fun! Maybe put on a movie to enjoy while waiting! Meet me in the kitchen for these easy Halloween breads!

--- Mummy Bread

1 loaf French baguette 2 Tbsps. unsalted butter Garlic powder or salt to taste Cheese slices, cut into strips or string cheese, peeled apart Food as desired for eyes (I used a bit of tomato for the red and taco meat for the brown. Olives are also a good choice.)

Preheat oven to 425°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice baguette into thirds and then slice in half lengthwise. Spread butter on each half. Sprinkle with seasoning to taste. Bake 15 minutes to toast. Remove from oven and lay cheese strips across bread with no real pattern. Leave space at one end for ‘eyes’. Add eyes in empty spot. Return to oven for 5 minutes to melt cheese. So fun! --- Snake Breadsticks

1 tsp. dry active yeast ⅔ cup warm water 1 Tbsp. sugar 4 Tbsps. avocado oil 2⅔ cup all-purpose flour ¼ tsp. salt 2-4 drops green food gel, more or less as needed for desired color Toppings for eyes and tongue, if desired Place yeast in medium bowl and add water and sugar. Whisk together and let sit 5 minutes to activate. Add oil, food color and salt and whisk to combine. Add 2 cups flour and mix until combined. Then, gently knead bread in bowl, adding more flour as needed until no longer sticky. Cover bowl with cling wrap and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place dough on flat floured surface and knead about 8 times. Working with one handful of dough at a time, roll out dough into snake shape with tail being thinner and head being thicker. Flatten head slightly into snake shape. The original recipe called for dough to be wrapped around wooden skewers, but I didn’t like the way they looked. I suggest you laying them on baking sheet in a snakelike pattern. Repeat until all dough is used. Allow to sit 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 425°F. Bake snakes 15 minutes or until cooked through. If desired, add eyes and tongue while bread is still warm. Serve with dip.

Note: If you don’t want to dye dough, you can also mix gel coloring with water and brush it over top.

Recipe adapted from flawlessfood. co.uk.

--- Brimstone Bread Dough

2¼ tsps. active dry yeast 2 tsps. sugar 1¼ cups warm water Red food dye ¼ tsp. salt 3 cups all-purpose flour Brimstone Topping ½ cup warm water 1 Tbsp. active dry yeast 1 Tbsp. sugar ¾ cup rice flour 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil ¼ tsp. salt Black food dye In medium bowl, add warm water, dry yeast and sugar. Whisk together and let sit 5 minutes, so yeast can activate. Add red food dye and mix. Add salt and flour. Fold everything together until combined and dye is spread evenly throughout dough. Dough may be slightly sticky. Place tea towel over bowl and let rise for 1 hour. After hour, create brimstone topping. In small bowl, add yeast, sugar and water and mix. Let sit 5 minutes for yeast to bloom. Add black dye and mix again. Add oil, flour and salt. Whisk together until thick paste slowly falls from whisk. Cover with tea towel and let sit for 15 minutes. Fold edges of red dough inwards toward center after topping has proofed. Transfer red dough to clean, floured surface. Cut into 7 even pieces. Take each dough piece and create smooth ball, tucking edges of dough towards bottom until small round loaf is formed. Place on parchment-covered baking sheet. Repeat with rest of dough. Place large spoonful of black topping on each red dough ball. Use clean, dry hands to spread each ball of dough with thick coating of black paste. Once all are coated, let paste adhere to dough well by sitting for 30 more minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 460°F. Bake bread 25 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes. This is so cool for Halloween!

Recipe adapted from easyeverydayrecipes. com.

--- Halloween Sandwich Bread

4 cups all-purpose flour 8 tsps. aluminum free baking powder 4 tsps. sugar ¼ tsp salt 2¼ cups milk, warmed ¼ cup oil Purple and orange food dye Preheat oven to 430°F. Line 9x5” loaf pan with parchment paper. Place flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a bowl, mix to combine. Make well in center and pour in oil and milk. Mix until flour is fully incorporated - batter will be thick but stirrable. Separate half of dough into separate bowl. Mix orange dye into one bowl and purple dye into other bowl until fully combined. Drop alternating spoonfuls into pan. I did small spoonfuls and then stacked another layer on top still alternating colors until all dough was used, making sure to scrape bowls empty. Smooth surface. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cover with foil. Reduce oven temp to 390°F and bake another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool in pan 5 minutes. Remove from pan to cooling rack to cool completely. Thinly slice and enjoy as a sandwich!

Recipe adapted from recipetineats. com.