# Dates for the HF's Cooking Group



## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

Hey guys! Here are some dates in January to chose from.


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## Halloween Princess (Sep 23, 2008)

What is the cooking group?


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## Halloween Princess (Sep 23, 2008)

Nevermind, just read the thread about it. Any weekend except the weekend of the 10th works for me (that's my birthday =)).


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## natascha (Jul 21, 2004)

I haven't voted because so far all the weekends are o.k. for me.


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## Spookilicious mama (Feb 27, 2008)

*Just voted third weekend works for me best but I could probably do any weekend. So do we know what our first recipe is going to be?*


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

I didn't vote either, I'll go with majority rules, January is looking pretty open for me. Glad you got the survey together Mistress


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

I would love to try out some recipes but I won't be able to on weekends with the rest of you. For me, weekends are my weekdays.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

Hmmm....here's an idea. What if we did it over a week period? Like between January 24-January 31, make the recipe that is chosen at some point that week and then after January 31 discuss it? That way it gives a little freedom for people to make it.

Mistress what do you think I don't want to change your original amazing idea, unless this is what you had in mind then I'm just slow and got it


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

Right now I am ok with any date chosen


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## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

I think anytime during that week sounds perfect. My weekends are thu-fri-sat so I'll be cooking during that time period.

So......................who wants to step up with the first recipe??


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## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

Anyone?? Or do I need to step up to the chopping block (no pun intended ) ?


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

I have been wanting to do these eyeballs for quite some time. Halloween Recipes


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## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

Wow, that looks goooood! I'm for it! Anyone else?


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Looks good to me!


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

Can we do the recipe, but maybe not make them into the eye balls? I don't have truffle molds or a melon baller, but I have Halloween ice cube trays I could use.


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

I don't have those either, but still would try it, to see how they taste and how I could get the eyeballs to turn out. This way we would have enough time to perfect it, before the big day..


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

I tried those one year and they were a disaster. They ended up in the trash. I would love to here if someone is successful with them.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Btw, thanks for the suggestion MM. That would work much better for me


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

firedancer41 said:


> I tried those one year and they were a disaster. They ended up in the trash. I would love to here if someone is successful with them.


I would really love to hear what went wrong. Taste, color, shape, etc....


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Taste, shape, and texture. I must have done something terribly wrong because they wouldn't hold there shape and tasted awful. They were a pain to make too. I was very disappointed. I would love to know what I did wrong though.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

firedancer41 said:


> Btw, thanks for the suggestion MM. That would work much better for me


The ice cube trays? If so, you're welcome 

I'm also wondering about the pineapple juice, I'm not a fan of it, but may use it too stick to this, but was thinking you could probably use other juices. If this turns out great it's always fun to experiment with a recipe.


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

What do you think about me making a batch of them and report back my thoughts, and recipe.


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## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

We can do that as well. Whichever is best for everyone!


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## frenchy (Dec 16, 2007)

been a long time i came here but as i read those eyeballs are the first recipe of the year or i missed something ? correct me if i am wrong i would love to try those too


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

I'd be up for trying the eyeballs. Now, to figure out how to make considerably less than 9 dozen of them! I'm thinking the recipe needs to be quartered for a test batch.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

I am going out to see if I can find some inexpensive round ice cube trays tomorrow, I will keep you posted if I locate some for those of you who don't want to use the melon baller.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Round ice cube trays seem surprisingly hard to come by. Here are a couple of links for you all though.

Ice Cube Tray, Round Shape

Harold Import 160014 Lekue Ice cube Tray Round

So, far I haven't seen any in stores around here. 

The only thing that I am concerned about with using the ice cube trays is whether or not the eyeballs will come out of them unharmed. I am afraid it might be a little difficult to get them out? What do you all think?


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

firedancer41 said:


> Round ice cube trays seem surprisingly hard to come by. Here are a couple of links for you all though.
> 
> Ice Cube Tray, Round Shape
> 
> ...


Spray with non-stick spray first. Or could line with cling wrap, but unless you get it in the ice cube tray I doubt the eyes would be smooth.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

I think the spray would be the way to go. The cling wrap would probably give the eyes a wrinkly (sp?) look. I might try half the batch with the melon baller and the other half in the trays if I get any trays, that is.

Maybe this time around they won't be such a disaster for me. I am looking forward to seeing everyone elses results!


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

firedancer - did you paint the iris and pupil on the last time you did these?


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Well, I tried but they looked so terrible from the beginning so I just painted a few and then trashed them. They wouldn't even really hold their shape. I must have done something wrong.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

I am wondering if you added a little extra gelatin like when you make Knox Blocks if they would be a little firmer? In fact now that I am thinking about it why couldn't you just use that recipe? It would give the eyeballs more of a realistic texture.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Dark Star I was also thinking of maybe trying a different recipe for the eyeballs. What about Alton Brown's Panna Cotta recipe but mold them in the round ice cube trays or using the melon baller? Any thoughts?


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

Hmmm, I'm scared to try this recipe now.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Oh, come on now MM, someone needs to try the original recipe. I vote you do it . Seriously though, if done correctly it must work. Otherwise there wouldn't be photos of the finished product.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Yeah, at least one person was successful....lol

Checked the dollar stores, but no luck with the round trays. I guess I will have to break down and order them or use the melon baller.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

firedancer41 said:


> Oh, come on now MM, someone needs to try the original recipe. I vote you do it . Seriously though, if done correctly it must work. Otherwise there wouldn't be photos of the finished product.


LOL.....I'll see if I can cut down the recipe, it says it makes 9 dozen! I would like at the most half a dozen LOL

I don't have the ice cube trays or melon baller. I have little skull and pumpkin ice trays though. The skulls could be cool. I could use black food coloring to paint them.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

MM are you going to try the dollar tree trays?


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

I am headed to the grocery store, to pick up the ingrediants to make these tonight. I will post later ... success or failure. I will not be doing the eyeballs, more just to see how this recipe tastes.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

Dark Star said:


> MM are you going to try the dollar tree trays?


Yes, they're silicone trays from Dollar Tree.


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

Went last night and got everything.

lemon gelatin 79 cents
mini marshmallows 1.25 bag
1 frozen pineapple concentrate 1.25
1 pkg cream cheese 99 cents

I put the lemon gelatin and 1/2 cup marshmallows on double boil at 6pm
melted the marshmallows then removed from heat, and added cream cheese and 1 cup pineapple juice. Used my electric beaters and mixed until everything blended.

Did a finger taste test and it was really good. Not to pineapple(ie). Had a creamy taste to it.
So by 6:30 the mixture went into a bowl then into the fridge. When I checked on it at 8:15 the mixture still had not firmed up any, so I will have to go home and work on it tonight. 

I was able to purchase a melon ball scooper at the grocery store for 1.79

So that is where I am at the moment on the eerie eyeballs.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

The lemon gelatin......are you buying lemon jello? Or is there something else?


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

I am going to post over in the groups section too. I found these at Michaels for $1.99 I think they would work, but if you didn't make a small batch you would need a ton of them. they are about 1" x 1 1/2 "


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## Rikki (Aug 14, 2006)

Dark Star, the hard thing about using those candy molds is that you have to be able to "pop" the stuff out. I'm not sure that you'd be able to get these eyes out in one piece (I'm hardly able to get chocolate out of those in one piece!).


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

OK, I guess I am going to have to try them today. I figured with it being gelatin I could always release them with a little warm water, but thanks for the heads up. I wish I could find the ice cub trays locally, I am not thinking the melon baller is going to work well. 

Gothic Princess did you give it a try yet?


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

You are right the melonballer did not work.

Ok for some reason the consistency of this recipe is like pudding. When I used the melonballer it squished out the little hole in the melonballer scoop. So I still attempted to make a ball, and it never would work. 

The taste at first is too strong and tangy. But after several bites, becomes addicting to me, I guess because I like pudding. 

I would suggest maybe some orange juice to soften the lemon/pineapple taste. 
I also felt like maybe adding more cream cheese to the mixture, maybe a half of a block, to help with the thickening. Really did not taste the marshmallows, and it did nothing to help thicken it up. 

So that is where I got on it.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Thanks, I am going to give it a go today. I can't see what the marshmellows would do either.


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## Halloween Princess (Sep 23, 2008)

I am a bit confused. Is this officially the recipe we chose. Did we pick a date or are we doing it all month?


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

I think originally it was supposed to be the weekend of the 24th but it kind of just ended up being whenever this month. And yes, this is the recipe chosen for this month. 

Someone correct me if I am wrong.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Yeah, I think it was sort of agreed upon unofficially we would give this recipe a try. A few of us are trying it ahead of time just to see what various methods work, since I think it was Firedancer ( you can confirm this fire...lol ) who tried it before and it didn't work out so well.


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## firedancer41 (Aug 1, 2008)

Yes, you are correct DS. Mine were a disaster. I really hope they turn out for someone.


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## Mistress of the Abyss (Sep 21, 2007)

Sorry I have not been on here in a bit. So it looks like we'll be trying out that recipe on the week of January 19th.

Anyone that wants to try it out go right ahead. Please come back and post pics and your likes/dislikes on this recipe.

I'm gonna hold back on this one. Hopefully I can try out the next recipe.


Good luck everyone! Don't forget there is also the group i created so we can leave tips and ideas there as well!!


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

I have a friend who made them and they turned out wonderfully.
When I did it, they were yellow and sloppy lol
I think a silicon truffle mold would work the best. Can pop them out easily.
Bought one for childofthenight's wife when I was his secret reaper but didn't buy one for myself.
Of course the gelatin is so different here. I think that had somethng to do with it.

Bad eyeballs also known as hepatitis eyes (in the back of the pic)










Good eyeballs


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Oh, I like them. Did she have them suspended in jello, or is it just a red goo?


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

I think it was some type of sauce or syrup. And she had strings of spaghetti throughout the red gooey part. Said the spaghetti were the nerves hanging out of the back of the eyes lol Yep, she's a halloween freak lol Really a pity that she moved back to the states.

MsM


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## TheGothicPrincess (Sep 7, 2007)

With the ones I made, my family actually ate almost all of the custard/pudding mixture. I placed it in a large container to firm up and when I removed it the next day, the very top of the mixture, seemed to be bumpy, kinda like the cream cheese rose to the surface. So beware of that.


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## MrsMyers666 (Oct 19, 2004)

I'm really starting to think I'm going to pass on this one.


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## Dark Star (Sep 24, 2007)

Can we find another, or maybe second recipe?


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## Muffy (Sep 25, 2006)

Ya know its funny how long I been following this recipe & also people who had tried to make it in other places ( not on our forum). I always loved them but I remember I think MS. Meeple trying to make them a year or 2 ago & had no luck.....is that true Ms. Meeple...then GP tried them here & also had no luck....obviously there is a nack to getting these right and for those that get a little ways with them it appears still no ones look like Britta's.

I have a big candy order going out this next week but the week after that I'm gonna give these a shot gals & see how they come out. I really would love to have my tray look like Britta's so I'll let everybody know what happens & I'll be sure to take pictures. Wish me luck kids!!

the Muffster


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## frenchy (Dec 16, 2007)

Good luck Muffy and in fact i will try to do it too next week will see what happen


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