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Make It Spooky: Decorating for Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner and we have to talk about a very important part of it. Decorating. Every year, thousands of people go all out and create masterpieces out of their homes to celebrate the holiday. Lights, blowups, animatronics… the possibilities are endless thanks to stores like Spirit Halloween.

Growing up we always had some sort of decoration, although it was generally a purple light up spider web complete with spider, an old animatronic ghost that vibrated and made noise when you passed its infrared sensor, and gauzy spider webs all over the bushes. Oh, and my mom would answer the door in a witch’s hat. This was all before blow-ups and talking skulls and crazy light shows set to music became a thing. But then we moved, and everything changed in the décor department.

In order to really get into the mind of someone who enjoys celebrating and decorating for Halloween, I spoke to someone I know very well who takes great pride in making our house stand out for Halloween and in turn, receives 1200-1500 kids and parents as trick or treaters every year; my brother Noah.

OMB: Where are the best places to buy Halloween decorations… in your opinion?

Noah: Spirit Halloween is the best place, they have the best shit. Unless you shop online, you can’t find stuff like Spirit Halloween has. Unless you’re looking specifically for lights, then I definitely suggest target.

OMB: So, what’s the most important thing to consider when decorating for Halloween?

Noah: Lights. You really have to consider the placement, the colors you choose, and whether it looks good or natural. Lights create the ambiance and reduce the need for brighter lights, such as flashlights which negate the point of having scary decorations.

OMB: What is your favorite Halloween decoration?

Noah: A fog machine. If you put it in the right place, you don’t need anything else. You can scare people and create the right environment just by turning it on.

OMB: What advice would you give to those who want to know how to decorate their home?

Noah: Be smart about what you buy. A little goes a long way, and it’s more about trying to scare people than anything else for me at least.

October 11, 2018
Bob’s Burgers Burger Book Review #2

The Sweet Home Avocado Burger is an all-beef patty coated in a sweet lime sauce, topped with fresh avocado slices, sweet onions, tomatoes, peppers and stevia leaves (if you can find them).

Think… fresh crunchy veggies meets tangy sweet limeade.

Zoe’s Take:
7.5/10

The sweet and sour of the lime and honey marinade was interesting and totally different than what I normally look for in a burger. The vegetables on top were basically a simple fresh salsa. I love avocado, so that was perfect no matter what. It definitely needed a little more salt added on top of the avocado. I chose not to use a whole wheat bun, but that’s my personal preference. I would have liked something not so sweet on the burger, so I would have changed out the regular peppers for jalapenos or serrano peppers.

Eric’s Take:
6/10

This burger has a great concept. Bring in a lot of sweetness and combine it with buttery avocado and a slight bitterness from the stevia leave. Unfortunately…stevia plants are NOT easy to find, especially in the fall. I actually went to a few nurseries and spice shops and had no luck. I did find out that Lowe’s Home Improvement carries stevia plants in the spring, so I might try this burger again. The other issue I had was that the ingredient proportions were off. I ended up with a lot more veggies then I needed. Overall the flavors were really good. Marinading the beef in a lime juice made it slightly more tender. The instructions were a little confusing, so I didn’t add the honey to the lime juice when marinading the meat. Still added a nice flavor. This burger also had great textures. The four points for me were lost on difficulty of sourcing the ingredients, ease of instructions, appropriateness of ingredient amounts, and a missing component to cut the sweetness.

October 10, 2018
Lemon Shortbread with Passion Fruit Sabayon Parfait

A sabayon is a great French take on a classic Italian dessert. It’s a thin custard which typically contains champaign or a liquor. Adding in a fresh and fruity component like passion fruit will take your sabayon to the next level. But why stop there? We added some buttery and crisp shortbread cookies. These cookies have an added brightness from some lemon zest which pairs wonderfully with the smooth and silky sabayon. Top off with whipped cream and watch these opposites attract to make a fun and delicious dessert!

Try this recipe out for yourself here!

October 9, 2018
Caramel Pecan Cinnamon Rolls

We all have a memory of cinnamon rolls. Most of the time, the memory starts with popping a can of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, baking them and then squeezing that glorious white sugary glaze and watching it melt into those gooey delicious rolls.

My cinnamon rolls are not that. They combine pecans and salted caramel and the rolls bake with the topping already on it and upside down. Sounds… different, doesn’t it. Different is good. These cinnamon rolls are gooey, butter, sweet and tender. When you pull them apart, the aroma of cinnamon drenched in caramel hits you, and it’s the most intoxicating scent.

Paired with a cup of coffee on a rainy Saturday morning… you’ll feel warm and full, like something has been missing from your routine. The worries will fade away as you melt into the warm embrace of cinnamon and butter.

If you want these cinnamon rolls in you life, find the recipe here.

October 8, 2018
Pumpkin Spice Dessert Nachos

Since before the first day of Fall (September 22 this year in case you were curious), fans of pumpkin spice were gearing up to consume pumpkin spice everything for the next few months. From lattes to cereal to doughnuts, the moment Fall hits, the United States is dunked into a vat of all things pumpkin spice.

I have to tell you something, and don’t get mad.

(I actually don’t like pumpkin spice) Shhhh.

But since a lot of you like it, I will bring you all the pumpkin spice you could possibly want. And think about it this way, MORE FOR YOU!!!!

Since today is also National Nachos Day, I have brought you some dessert nachos in Fall’s favorite flavor. I topped mine with caramel and whipped cream, but you can top yours with whatever you want, I promise, I’m not judging.

Click here for the pumpkin spice nachos recipe!

October 6, 2018
Venom: Movie Premier

It’s October 5th, and if you’re into Marvel or Superheros, you know what came out today. Venom is a highly anticipated movie starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom. As a nerd myself, I am so excited to see this movie and watch one of my favorite villains come to life on screen.

So for the premier, we decided to make a Venom cake based on the movie poster. I (Zoe) am not a master baker, nor have I ever made a mirror glaze or worked with fondant. While I am really good at making tasty cakes, the rest of it was all new, and it was all worth it to complete this cake to celebrate Tom Hardy and Venom (I really like Tom Hardy as an actor).

Well, we’re off to go see the movie now, and when we come back, we have some tasty cake to eat!

October 5, 2018
Halloween Shots

As Halloween approaches, plans are set in motion. Kids find their costumes and find their bags for holding candy. Their parents discuss who will take them trick or treating and who will stay home and hand out candy. On the other end, young adults and adults without children are planning their own festivities. Parties, clubbing, massive costumed events, they’re all out there waiting to be attended by the masses.

On the 31st, while the kiddies are out collecting all the candy they can eat, the party people out there need something different and new and themed to drink. That’s where we come in.

Whether you need a pre-game drink or a signature shot for your own party or event, we have it all covered for you. For your guests who don’t drink, we made these shots so that they can be made virgin and still taste delicious. You’ll find 4 Halloween and Horror themed shots below.

A spooky Bleeding Margarita that will tingle your taste buds.

The Classic Candy Corn Jello Shot that will have you loving the candy’s alcoholic cousin.

Take a sip of the Fairy Godmother, a very sweet drink that will have you wishing for more.

And the Black Magic Shot which will bring out your inner witch or sorcerer.

I just want to state that these drinks are for those 21 and over in the United States and whatever the drinking age is in your country for everywhere else.

October 4, 2018
Bob’s Burgers Burger Book Review #1

This month, we at One More Bite with Zoe & Eric decided that we just had to review the very interesting, very intriguing Bob’s Burgers Burger Book. The “cookbook”, edited by the series creator was released in 2016, and features 75 recipes based on the Specials of the Day chalkboard seen in the popular animated sitcom. It was very hard to choose just 5 of the featured recipes to test and showcase for you all, but being October, we just had to give you some of the Halloween and horror themed burgers. Find a new review from this cookbook for the first four Wednesdays of October and tune in on Tuesday the 30th to hear our final thoughts!

Zoe’s Take:

7.5/10

I really liked the burger itself because I have this wonderful love affair with feta cheese. I used less salt in the patty because of how salty feta cheese is. Of course the chive spread was great, but I would have definitely liked less Dijon mustard, I didn’t find that it worked too well, because dijon mustard is just really strong.. What was definitely missing was fresh vegetables, I love frickles as much as the next person, but that doesn’t make up for some lovely lettuce and some red onion and tomato. Also, more chives, always more chives. And I definitely thought it helped to put the frickles on the burger, not just as “wheels”.

Eric’s Take:

8/10

This was a great burger to start with. I loved the creamy dijon chive mixture and fired pickles with the slaty feta burger. I paired this burger with a brioche bun, which worked well. I also used a 85% lean ground beef because I was stuffing the patties. The recipe was easy to follow and the ingredients are easy to find. This recipe lost two points for the following reason. Like Zoe, I felt the burger lacked a freshness component. With the fired pickles and feta it was a bit salty and desperately needed something like fresh tomato. All the flavors were there though, and in general I felt hit earned a good score.

October 3, 2018
Maple Cayenne Butter

When I think about the fall, I think about sweaters, leggings, boots, crunchy leaves, and warm fulfilling food that makes me feel like the cooling weather is happening just for me. One of my biggest fall things is not something you’d expect.

Pancakes. I think pancakes are great all year round, but with the addition of fresh maple syrup, I just immediately associate pancakes with the fall. But now, I have one upped my own pancakes with the addition of this amazing compound butter. I softened butter and added maple syrup and cayenne pepper. The ingredients were mashed together and then formed into a log with a piece of saran wrap and then cooled in the refrigerator. It’s so easy to make and you don’t even need any special tools!

I won’t lie, I wanted to eat the butter plain. It’s that good.

But other than pancakes, there are so many fun applications for this butter! Pancakes are just one. French toast, waffles, baked potatoes, corn on the cob, popcorn… the possibilities are basically endless.

I used this butter to make more than a few things after I made it, but my favorite was poutine. Poutine is traditionally a Canadian dish, originating in Quebec. Typically, it consists of fries and cheese curds, covered in delicious brown gravy. It’s actually the best hangover food I’ve ever come across, as well as an amazing anytime I feel like food. So where did I use the maple cayenne butter? The brown gravy is based in a roux (butter and flour cooked together to create a base for a thick sauce), and the compound butter gave the whole sauce this sweetness backed by the sharpness of cayenne.

While I haven’t linked the recipe for my poutine to this article, with enough interest, I will post it at a later time. In the meanwhile, please please please enjoy the hell out of this butter and use it for everything.

Find the recipe here!

October 2, 2018
Welcome to One More Bite!!!

Today is the official launch of One More Bite with Zoe & Eric!!! We’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time, and are thrilled to be sharing this moment with you! The mission of One More Bite is simple: We believe that food is an art, and should be a creative outlet for anyone. We want to show you our passion and hope you develop a new one along the way. We know we have a long way to go, but it’s all about the journey and we can’t wait to see where it leads.

To celebrate the launch on One More Bite with Zoe & Eric we did the logical thing and threw ourselves a “Birthday Party!” Even though we’re only 0 years old we have a lot of passion and creativity to share.

Come join us, one bite at a time!

October 1, 2018