a witches brew soup

a witches brew soup

Of all the food I cooked at Borough Market's demonstration kitchen suitable for a children's Halloween party, the one that got the most visceral reaction was my Witches Brew soup. Unfortunately that reaction was a unanimous "ugh". Where, oh where did it all go wrong? I suspect I was a victim of my own making.

blood dipping sauce (or roasted pepper and tomato sauce)

blood dipping sauce (or roasted pepper and tomato sauce) 

My so-called blood dipping sauce made to go with my Halloween vampire bat wings is merely a variation on my Spanish romesco sauce, but without the nuts and chilli peppers. Because it was aimed at children, I didn't want anything too spicy, but I did want something slightly sweet and tangy. It went down a treat with the vampire bat wings, as well as with the monster bones (roasted parsnips) that I cooked for the Borough Market Halloween cooking demo.

vampire bat wings (with blood dipping sauce)

vampire bat wings with blood dipping sauce

I am sooooo behind with my blogging and have stacks of recipes to post, so forgive me if a load all come at once.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked me to help her cater her small son's birthday party, around the theme of "monsters." I did and the kids seemed to enjoy some truly monstrous creations. By coincidence, Borough Market asked me to fill in for one of the demo chefs who had been forced to pull out of a Halloween-themed cooking demonstration aimed at children. Now I have to admit that I don't have a huge amount of experience of cooking for children. But what I hope I do have is bags of enthusiasm and a tiny bit of creativity.