Did you know that there is a large faction of people that celebrate Halloween in the summer? Move over Christmas in July, the new trend is spooky summers!
I had no idea that Summerween was even a thing until recently when MeTv contacted The Chopping Block to have me do a segment on this very subject. I could not be more excited to learn this because if anyone were to ask me what my favorite holiday was, I would most definitely say Halloween!
Apparently, this reimagined fall-turned-summer holiday started in 2012 after a popular Disney show Gravity Falls aired an episode called Summerween. In the show, the residents of Gravity Falls love Halloween so much that they celebrate it twice a year. I am totally on board for that! On the show, instead of Jack-O-Lanterns, they make Jack-O-Melons or even bell peppers carve up well! They still go trick or treating and celebrate much of the same way as in the fall. In the real world, many fans of the show as well as the holiday have made this cartoon fantasy a reality. The celebration of Summerween takes place on June 22 or the second to last Friday of the month. This isn’t official though and after research, I have found that many people have these festivities any time during the summer.
So, if you love Halloween as much as I do, then maybe you should start thinking about celebrating it twice a year. I must say this has a lot more pro vs cons, including the weather, at least in Chicago. I can’t tell you the numbers of time I have frozen in my costume during the fall or can’t grill or have a fire. The second pro is the food, of course. Who doesn’t like the sound of a summer Halloween-themed BBQ? There are so many options for a spooky Summer theme.
I am super excited to showcase a few summery Halloween recipes for the MeTv “Toon in with Me” segment airing on June 5 to commemorate this holiday fad.
One of my favorite recipes I am featuring on the show are Witches Finger cookies. They are a basic shortbread cookie that are flavored with almond and vanilla and decorated with bloody almond fingernails. They are perfect on their own but also great for dipping into dirt pudding cups or caramel sauce.
Witches Finger Cookies
Yields: about 24 fingers
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Inactive time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup whole almonds
Seedless strawberry jam or red decorating gel, as needed
1. Place softened butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl; beat together with an electric mixer until smooth.
2. Gradually add flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating until combined; refrigerate dough for 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets. I prefer to use a Silpat.
4. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time and roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie with your hands.
5. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail.
6. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
7. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, about 20 minutes.
8. Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of jam or red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the jam to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.
Note: Even if you are not celebrating Halloween this cookie dough can be shaped or scooped into a regular cookie as well.
Another fun Halloween cookie for the summer would be peanut butter spider cookies.
I have thrown a lot of Halloween parties in my time! I love coming up with fun ideas to put a twist on my favorite foods - jalloweeno poppers, monster meatballs, or deviled egg eyeballs - all of which are perfect year round. Maybe we will put a Summerween cooking class on our calendar. Would you celebrate in June or July with us?
Tune in to the show on June 5th, and watch me explain all the fun treats you can make for your own Summerween cookout.
If you have kids, they'll want to watch this segment too, and now is the time to sign them up for our kids and teen summer cooking camps. They are the perfect blend of fun and education for young cooks!
