Carrot Hugger: Double Feature

Our 2025 Halloween costumes. I was a candy corn.

I've always loved Halloween. Dressing up, eating candy, visiting neighbors, eating candy, the parties, eating candy. My love of Stephen King and horror movies likely played into my fondness for the holiday. Then I met my now husband at a Halloween party and that sealed the deal. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and this is one of my favorite times of year.

Right around the time Derek and I moved back to New England (2008), we started collecting Yankee Candle's Boney Bunch. These porcelain candle holders are crafted to look like something spooky - a headless horse rider, a guy in an electric chair, you get the idea. When the collection stopped production in 2023, our haul stood at around 70 pieces. We'd run out of places to display them!

We only put out a handful of Boney Bunch each year now, but back in its heyday, you could practically heat our house using votives and tea lights. We'd host candle lighting ceremonies, sometimes small dinner gatherings, sometimes large parties. Whatever the celebration looked like, food always played a big part, which makes it difficult to select just one recipe to share. That's why this blog is a Double Feature, one appetizer and one dessert (jump to recipes). I hope you'll try them if you have a Halloween gathering on your calendar this year.

Our cat Houdini with just a handful of our Boney Bunch collection.

Black Bean Dip

• 14 oz. black beans, drained and rinsed

• 1-2 gloves garlic

• 1/4 c chopped red onion

• 1/2 red chili, finely chopped (If you don't like spice, a red bell pepper can substitute)

• 1/4 c vegetable broth

• 2 T lime juice

• 1 t chili powder

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or small blender until creamy. That's it! Serve with tortilla chips or veggies.

Black bean dip and my attempt at a veggie cat.

Dessert Dirt

This is a popular dessert for Halloween gatherings. I modified the ingredients to be vegan and gluten free.

• 1 package (4 cups) chocolate pudding (For vegan and gluten free, I like Zen.)

• 1 package chocolate cookies (For vegan and gluten free, I like Home Free double chocolate chip.)

• 1 package gummy worms, bats, spiders, people, etc. (For vegan and gluten free, try Yumearth.*)

*If you have an allergy, read labels carefully. Some Yumearth products do contain wheat.

Spread pudding evenly in a square baking dish.

Place cookies in a plastic bag and crush with a meat mallet or rolling pin. (This is fun!). You likely won't need to use the whole box, but the amount is up to you. Sprinkle cookie crumbs over pudding.

Strategically place gummy candies in the pudding/cookie base. If you don't have any dietary restrictions, you can go crazy adding spooky candies, cookies, and sprinkles.

A dessert dirt that I made in 2017 (this is the non-vegan version).