Brewing up a spooktacular Halloween
Inside and out, Missy and Tom Gallegos have their home at 916 Meeker Street, Delta, decked out for Halloween. A graveyard out front, a butcher shop in the bathroom, and a bat motel in the kitchen — it’s all part of the fun for Missy and Tom and their four kids, ages 16, 12, 10 and 5.
Missy certainly knows how to put the “haunted” into haunted house.
“My brother tells me I’m sick and demented,” Missy says. Actually, she’s not even ghoulish — she just loves Halloween. She also decorates for Christmas and Easter, but the kid in her really embraces the holiday known for mischief and mayhem. When the neighborhood kids come trick-or-treating, she dons a costume and sits on the front porch so she can hear their comments. It’s no surprise that some are too scared to leave the sidewalk and instead send their parents to the door for candy.
Frightening Fingers
1 cup butter (no substitutes, softened)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sliced almonds
In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and extracts. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Divide dough into fourths. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until easy to handle. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into 1-inch balls. Shape balls into 3-inch x 1/2-inch fingers. Using the flat tip of a table knife, make an indentation on one end of each for fingernail. With a knife, make three slashes in the middle of each finger for the knuckle. Place 2 inches apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 3 minutes. Squeeze a small amount of red gel on nail bed; press a sliced almond over gel for nail, allowing gel to ooze around nail. Remove to wire racks to cool.
Yield: About 5 dozen cookies.
