Hallowe'en Pics

Perhaps it was appropriate that I spent my first ever night as a blonde with such an intimate gathering of close friends--there were just seven of us (a magic number)?

The "witch's brew" in my left hand is dandelion wine I made two or three years ago, which was rough when I first poured it off, but has matured into something rather delicious.
Once again, as on so many holidays, David and Olga hosted us in their beautiful house--this time in their guise of "Pimp-daddy and Mini."

What? I'm riding my broomstick, and that's Ozzy Osbourne, aka "Oddly," aka Royce.

 Amy (Phil's daughter) and Leslie (her mom) are such a wonderful team.

And Amy as Audrey Hepburn was really just as stunning as she always is anyway.

 Meanwhile, "Joanne does Costa Rica," complete with lipstick on the teeth--Leslie has such a talent for taking an idea and taking it beyond.

 Phil was somewhat costume-shy: he whipped out some scarily gothic dentist tools and brandished them a bit (thankfully, I was getting my make-up done at that point), and he wore the flag for maybe 90 seconds: otherwise, he was innocuously white-shirted and black-trousered, but of course, he was the life and soul nonetheless.

 To use up the tomato slime from those eyeballs I shared yesterday, I made a slimy salad with "lice" converging to suck on the blood pool.

 Gosh, that sounds so gross! But it was really delicious, in fact. It's kelp noodles and shredded romaine lettuce and some avocado, with a pumpkin seed-spirulina-pesto dressing with lots of lemon zest and black pepper. Without the ghoulish decoration, it would be great any day.

I didn't manage to think up a ghoulish explanation for the hazelnut pear frangipane...

 ...although I'm sure I could make the pears out to be something gross if I used my imagination. This was adapted from the almond-pear frangipane in Everyday Raw Desserts by Matthew Kenney. I used hazelnuts Phil brought back from Oregon instead of almonds, and made a cashew-coconut crust instead of just cashews. I was really impressed with how pastry-like the crust turned out, and the overall effect was elegant and delicious.

Unfortunately, I had an upset stomach all yesterday and still do today. Perhaps that's what prevented me from being able to confirm that "blondes have more fun:" for me, the jury's still out.

Do blondes have more fun?
I hope you had a wonderful, fun Hallowe'en--Happy All Saints Day!