Halloween means many things to different people. When I think back to Halloween when I was growing up on the farm, it was fairly ‘low key’. My mother did all that she could to make it fun for us — carving jack-o-lanterns, bobbing for apples and making a special treat of popcorn balls. My dad had his own point of view of such a holiday that being, ‘if he wanted his kids to have candy he would buy it for them’, as opposed to us asking the neighbors for it. Nevertheless, the world didn’t end because of it. There was always the school parties in grade school to ‘dress up’ for that were fun. Looking back at some photos of my sister Loretta and I in our costumes brings back some treasured memories.
Something Loretta and I always had in common was being adventurous. An almost forgotten memory came back to me as I was thinking about my Halloween blog. Whenever we got the chance to explore something mysterious that was right up our alley. One such occasion arose one day when we decided to investigate an old empty farm house. This house was 2 or 3 miles from our farm. The land itself was being farmed by a neighboring farmer and was posted ‘No Trespassing’. Nevertheless, this intriguing old ‘haunted house’ was like a magnet for us. If I remember correctly, it took a little bit of doing to get in but we managed it. For being such an old house, I recall the inside being quite unique in its design. It had one of those staircases that you see in the movies. We went upstairs and snooped around. Of course, to add to the intrigue, one room was locked. When we listened we could hear a distinct buzzing or humming sound. After figuring out how to get in, to our surprise wasps had made it their home. The floor was covered with a huge pile of dead wasps but there was still lots of live ones buzzing around. At this point we decided we best call it a day and leave. Just when we were about to go the farmer had come and was working in the fields close to the buildings. Not to be caught ‘trespassing’ we hid by a granary, then high-tailed it out of there as soon as the coast was clear. Although our haunted house adventure didn’t happen on Halloween it left lasting memories.
It seems every year we have less and less kids ‘halloweening’ in our neighborhood. Either the weather is too cold or it’s just a safer idea to go to the many malls in the city. We have been very lucky to have great neighbors on either side of us. One couple has two little boys and the other, two little girls. I thought I’d like to do something special for the four of them this Halloween. I seem to always have many recipe ideas stored in my head. They are constantly under mental construction and revision every time my feet touch the kitchen floor. Putting a new spin on an old idea never stops with me. In 1969 / 1975, the Better Homes and Gardens company published a couple of cookbooks that had an oatmeal brownie in them called Tri-Level Brownies. So here we are, a vintage brownie with some spookiness for Halloween! Hope they will like them.
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squares
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- 1 cup oatmeal ( quick)
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 Tbsp ( 85g OR 3 ozs. ) margarine
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup margarine, melted
- 1- 28 gram square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate, melted & cooled
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2/3 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
- 1- 28 gram square (1 oz.) unsweetened chocolate
- 2 Tbsp margarine
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp hot water
- 150 grams white dipping chocolate wafers
Ingredients
BOTTOM Layer of Brownies
MIDDLE Layer of Brownies
Fudge Frosting
White Chocolate Designs
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- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 9-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Combine all bottom layer ingredients until crumbly. Pat into prepared pan; bake for 10 minutes.
- In a double boiler, melt chocolate, remove from heat & add margarine. Stir until combined & slightly cool; add beaten egg & sugar. In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder & salt. Add to chocolate mixture alternately with combined milk & vanilla. Fold in walnuts. Carefully spread batter over baked bottom layer. Bake for 20- 25 minutes; cool & slice into 16 squares.
- In a double boiler, melt chocolate & margarine; stirring constantly. Remove from heat, cool slightly; stir in powdered sugar & vanilla. Blend in hot water & beat until smooth consistency. Spoon icing into a piping bag that has been fitted with a star tip. Top each square with a rosette of icing & decorate with white chocolate Halloween designs.
- In a small double boiler, melt chocolate wafers. Pour melted chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a fine tip. Place a large piece of waxed paper on a flat surface with a printout of Halloween shapes underneath. Free Halloween templates can be found at blog.candiquik.com Trace shapes & fill in after. Allow to set completely, then peel shapes from waxed paper & press lightly on top of icing rosette.