Crafts

Crafty Zombie Cookies 2014!

Posted by kiwidust on April 19, 2014
Posted in: BEBE 2014, Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters, Cooking, Crafts. 2 comments

Cookies!More Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters 2014 preparation with our traditional crafty zombie cookies!

You can see the 2013 versions for instructions, but they’re not that complicated: Bake some cookies, frost them green then let the kids go wild with the decorating.

To last year’s collection of frosting, cake pens and candy we added some additional candy and white sugar beads. We thought they might work for exposed bone. They ended up looking more like overactive acne, but hey, experimentation is the spice of life!

As always, eat them before they eat you!

Crafty Zombie Eyeballs!

Posted by kiwidust on April 17, 2014
Posted in: BEBE 2014, Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters, Cooking, Crafts. 2 comments

Crafty Zombie EyeballsAs we approach Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters 2014 we’ll be presenting some fun (and delicious) ways to celebrate.  First we have something that, admittedily, the kids might turn their noses up at, but growed-up zombiphiles should love: Deviled Egg Zombie Eyeballs!

You’ll need:

  • Hard-boiled eggs.
  • Olives.
  • Pimentos (these might have come in the olives).
  • Green food coloring.
  • Mayonnaise,
  • White Vinegar.
  • Brown mustard.

If you want an exact recipe for deviled eggs, this isn’t it. Slice your eggs in half, lengthwise. Put the yolks in a mixing bowl and set the whites aside. Smoosh up the egg yolks, mayonnaise, a little brown mustard and a splash of white vinegar into a paste to suit your taste. Add green coloring to… make it green.

Spoon the mixture into the egg whites. Top with a sliced olive pupil and a pimento highlight. We used a food pen for the bloodshotting, but you can also use some slightly thinned Tobasco sauce depending on your audience.

Chill in the fridge and then slurp them down!

Crafty Zombie Snot!

Posted by kiwidust on June 16, 2013
Posted in: Crafts. 1 comment

Zombie Snot!My daughter wanted a “Science Party” for her eleventh birthday.  For one of the activities we let them each create a cup of fake snot.  This is an easy activity that would complement any horror/zombie themed party.

Materials for this include:

  • Water
  • Elmer’s (or other white) Glue
  • Borax (a laundry detergent booster, found in the laundry aisle)
  • Food coloring (optional, but white snot isn’t much fun)

Mix 1/8 cup of borax into 1/2 liter warm water.  Mix or shake until (most of) the borax dissolves. Let this cool.  In another container, stir 2 spoonful’s of glue and 3 spoonful’s of water together (note that we actually doubled this for the results in the pictures).  Add food coloring to decorate.

Finally add a spoonful of borax solution you made earlier and slowly mix.  You should now have some very fine snot!
(Borax is mildly toxic, so don’t eat this stuff unless you’re already dead.)

Here’s a quick video to give you an idea of what you’re getting yourself into:

While the little girls in our example chose bright, primary colors we would suggest going heavy on the green, yellow and red for more authentic zombie experience. Have fun!

Zombie Chow: Bloody Gelatin Brains

Posted by kiwidust on March 30, 2013
Posted in: Cooking, Crafts. 2 comments

Bloody Gelatin BrainsBrains, wonderful brains!  Fresh from the skull, warm, bloody and wobbly; is there anything sweeter?  But getting them can be such a hassle!  Apart from getting scarcer every day survivors are just so damn hard to catch.  They move ridiculously fast and have a tendency to get all stabby-choppy-chainsawey for no reason at all.  Luckily you can now make great tasting bloody brains at home!  (This recipe – or least the best version of it we’ve found – is from KraftRecipes.com.  The Oozing Brain Recipe article even has a nice little video tutorial.)

Stuff to Get

You’ll need the following:

  • 1.75 cups of boiling water.
  • 12 oz. (normally four small or two large boxes) of “Brain” gelatin.  JELL-O Peach gives the best color but we like the taste of Cherry more.
  • 5 oz. (usually one can) evaporated milk.
  • 1.75 cups cold water (you’ll use it in two halfs).
  • 3 oz. (one small box) “Blood” gelatin.  Strawberry or Cherry works best.
  • 2 Tbsp. cornstarch.
  • A brain mold.  We used the Accoutrements one we reviewed but there are many others available.
  • Cooking spray.

The process takes about 20 minutes to get started, then an hour of set-time followed by another 20 minutes of work then two or three hours final set time and a bit more work.  Plan accordingly!

Stuff to Do

Get everything ready and wrangle any assistants that you’ve acquired.  You’re going to need a largish mixing bowl and smaller microwavable bowl.  Pour your brain gelatin into a bowl and add the boiling water.  Stir it for a couple of minutes until everything is dissolved.  Stir in half of the cold water and the milk.

Bloody Brains Step 1Bloody Brains Step 2Bloody Brains Step 1

Pour your brain gelatin into your mold but give the mold a good shot of cooking spray first to make removing it later much easier.  Put it in the refrigerator for an hour or so.  You want the gelatin to set (non-liquid) but not completely firm.  Now for the blood.  Mix your blood gelatin and cornstarch in a microwaveable bowl and stir in the rest of the cold water until everything is dissolved.  Microwave the concoction on high for three minutes and stir while hot.  Using a soft spatula gently pull the brain from the edges of the mold and drizzle in the blood.  Use about half of the here.  Put the brain and the remaining blood in the refrigerator for two to three hours or until firm.

Bloody Brains Step 4 Bloody Brains Step 5 Bloody Brains Step 6

Unmold your brain onto your serving plate.  You might want to sprinkle some water on the plate first as it makes it much easier to reposition the mold.  Microwave the rest of your blood on high for a minute.  Drizzle this over the brain decoratively.

Bloody Brains Step 7 Bloody Brains Step 8 Bloody Brains Step 9

You can serve with warm blood or chill again as you like.  We like to slice top to bottom as each slice is sure to get both some cortex and cerebellum (the lizard brain is especially tasty) but there is an argument to slice with the long axis and separate out the higher brain from the lower.  This stuff does pack quite a punch to the sweet-tooth tho’: a little bit goes a long way.

Gallery

Here’s the final result.  Click any of the pictures to engorge.

This basic recipe can be altered in any number of ways.  Different flavors of gelatin produce different colors (anything from “fresh plucked” to “long dead” to “mutant alien”) and the list of potential mix-ins is endless.   Please share your creations!

Crafty Zombie Cookies!

Posted by kiwidust on March 25, 2013
Posted in: BEBE 2013, Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters, Cooking, Crafts. 4 comments

Crafty Zombie CookiesAs we approach Boiled Eggs and Brain Eaters 2013 we’ll be presenting some fun (and delicious) ways to celebrate.  First up is a simple, cheap activity that’s fun for any kids you might have lying around.  In our case we dug up a couple of 10-year old girls to assist.

Materials for this include:

  • Some cookies to bake.  Any kind will do.  We just used pre-made, store bought sugar cookie dough.
  • Some green icing.  Get quite a bit as this will be your backdrop.
  • A bunch of cake decorating gel.  The kind you use to write “Happy Birthday” on cakes.  Only in this case you’ll be drawing blood, brains, bile and rotten teeth.
  • Assorted candies for decoration.  We used Spree here; but M&M’s are good too.  Wonka Nerds give a nice texture and crumbled Reese’s Cups make a fine faux grave dirt.  Buy extra: there will likely be some consumption during the build process.
  • Some space and some patience – this will get messy!

First bake your cookies.  If you like (we didn’t) you can mix some green food coloring into the dough for that extra bit of ghoulie.  Let them cool.  Ice them with the green icing and let that dry.  Lay the cookies and materials out on sheets of wax paper.

Now let the shorties loose!  Encourage them to be creative but remember the theme: no bunnies or smiley faces.  These are shambling, brain-hungry animated corpses!  Candy can make for a nice exposed eye-socket.  Blood should be drippy and plentiful (and tasty).  The odd premature bite can also be useful to expose brain-filled cranium.  Give them as long as they like – there’s no rush.  Once they get done (or bored) set the cookies aside to dry for a bit; they should be nice and ready by the time you’re done cleaning up.

Then eat them.  Before they eat you.