The countdown to HALLOWEEN is upon us and we’ve been thinking of fun treats for all!

Make use of those spare pumpkins

We’ve been drooling over this Pumpkin Fondue

All you need is:
1 whole pumpkin
30g butter
30g plain flour
1 clove garlic
100ml white wine
250g grated Emmental cheese
100g grated Mature Cheddar/Blue Cheese (optional)
1 tbsp black pepper
Bread, croutons, chopped veg, shredded ham – to dip

Pre-heat the oven 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4.
Cut the top off the pumpkin and hollow out the seeds.
Roast in the oven whole for 35 minutes. While it’s roasting, finely chop the garlic and fry in the bottom of a large pan in the butter.
Add the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the white wine and stir until smooth.
Add the double cream and cheeses and season with black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and stir until the cheese has melted and the mix is gooey and stringy.
When the pumpkin is cooked, scrape some flesh from the edges – be careful to leave a good thick wall.
Add the scraped pumpkin to the cheese.
Serve the cheese inside the roasted pumpkin, with your choice of dippers on the side.

And one for the kids…

You will need:
Thin sliced white bread, crusts removed
Soft margarine
Peanut butter
Almonds
Strawberry Jam
Gently flatten the slices of bread with a rolling pin to make them more pliable.
Spread with a little margarine and some peanut butter.
Roll up the sandwiches and make three indentations with a blunt knife to form the finger joints.
Trim the ends of the fingers into a ‘V’ shape and stick an almond on to each tip with a little cream cheese to form the nails.
Now for the gruesome bit—add a dollop of strawberry jam over the end of the finger for the blood!