halloween | The Novice Gardener

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chocolate cobwebs, cobweb cupcakes, halloween, halloween cakepops, halloween cupcakes, halloween tablescape, poem, recipes, spider cakepops

“In the shadow of the moon”
BY THE NOVICE GARDENER

The black cat creeps the concrete
The woods owl hoots a warning
A car serpentines its way, zigzagging
The wasted driver can not see the street

A child leaves the group and decides to stray
To look at the Frankenstein display
Just on the edge of the pavement
Exactly at the point of moment
That the driver blinks and closes his lids
And finds himself unable to stop the skids

In the shadow of the moon
The black cat glints its eyes and arches
The woods owl freezes and changes its tune
Feathers ruffle to follow quiet hisses
To mourn for a child taken too soon
(See Update!)

Oh, I know, I know, it’s morbid and sad. Hey, it’s a Halloween post, and it’s a reminder for everyone out there to be careful and responsible. Let the fun night ends safely and happily for children and adults alike!

Here’s something that will make any child or adult happy,

Cobweb Cupcakes
These are red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and chocolate cobwebs as edible decorations. The cakes came out of a box of mix, unfortunately, but you wouldn’t do that. You would make them from scratch, I know, and then you would share your red velvet cake recipe, wouldn’t you? I’m waiting.

Cream cheese frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp. coconut oil or butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

In a large bowl, mix cream cheese and coconut oil/butter. Beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, and vanilla. Continue beating until smooth.

How to make the chocolate cobwebs:
1. Melt dark chocolate morsels, either in a microwave oven or a double boiler.
2. Put melted chocolate in a piping bag or a ziploc bag, cut a tiny hole from the tip of the bag.
3. On a piece of wax paper, pipe a star/asterisk first, then pipe the webs.
4. Let chocolate cobwebs harden, then peel them off from the paper.

I’m not sure I articulated the directions well, but the photos should help you figure them out.

***

Spooky Spiders
How cute are these spiders? My daughter and I made them together. In fact, she came up with the idea. She made cakepops with the leftover red velvet cake mix, in her trusty Babycakes cakepop maker. Then, we sliced them in half, dipped the tops in melted chocolate, sprinkled with edible glitter (cake sparkles), added pieces of licorice lace for the legs, pieces of white chocolate for the eyes, and pieces of jelly beans for the nose/mouth. Aren’t they adorable?

***

Update: This is the weirdest thing. My husband rarely visits or reads my blog, but he managed to read this post, and immediately requested that I make a change in the poem so that it has a happy ending. Didn’t know my writing affects him that much, and didn’t know he is such a softie! So, here goes:

“In the shadow of the moon” (continued)

Slowly I wipe my tears
My pillow soaked quite wet
It’s still dark, not morning yet
I call out but nobody hears
It’s nothing, only a nightmare
No child was taken or harmed anywhere