Ann & Jason invite you to join them for a Suck-ulent Feast!  Bring your best vampire-inspired dish and...

Eternal Kiss:  Heather & Eric

As the sun finished setting, the vampires made their way to Ann & Jason's to gather for their suck-u-lent feast. Heather & Eric arrived, blood thirsty, and ready to make their Eternal Kiss cocktail.

As stated on the recipe website - Wrap your lips around this juicy drink, and enjoy the devil's dark embrace!  This ginger liqueur in this drink was amazing and these were sucked down quickly!!!

After several of these, it was time for some blood - so we drank our share of bloody beers - Silver Bullet (aka Coors Light) mixed with Clamato and/or Blood Mary Mix!

Recipe:
http://www.rebelsmarket.com/blog/posts/cocktail-hour-8-vampire-inspired-cocktails

1.5 oz cherry juice
1.5 oz Cachaca
3/4 oz ginger liqueur
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
3/4 oz soda water

Combine Cachaca, ginger liqueur, cherry and lime juice in cocktail shaker.  Shake with ice and strain into glass.  Float soda water on top and garnish with lime zest!

Heather also took agave nectar and died it red with food coloring to line the inside edges of the glass.

Wooden Cross Skewers & Roasted Garlic:  Aimee & John

We were lucky enough to meet two new vampires who joined us for Culinary Couples this evening!  Aimee and John arrived dressed to impress - but beware - they arrived with wooden cross skewers and roasted garlic!  Lucky for us, a little known fact is that when these items are made by vampires for vampires they don't harm you ;)

The wooden cross skewers were loaded with mozzarella, salami, and tomatoes, and covered in a drizzle of balsamic.  The roasted garlic was to die for, especially when spread on toasted baguette slices!


If this wasn't the true definition of Love at First Bite, I'm not sure what is!













Recipes:

Ingredients

Packet of Salami Slices

Mozzarella Cheese Loaf

Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

Balsamic Vinegar

Packet of 12” Shish Kebab Skewers

Wire Cutters

Hot Glue Gun

Directions

Skewers

Making your cross shaped skewers…

1. With your wire cutters, cut your skewers four inches in from the dull end. You’ll now have one 4” piece and one 8” piece with a point on it.

2. To make your cross, take your 8” piece and dab it with hot glue about 2” down from the dull end. Lay the 4” piece down on the glue at its center. Hold until dry.

3. Repeat steps 1 & 2 until you have 2 to 3 skewers per person.

Food prep...

1. Take your loaf of mozzarella and cut it into quarter inch slices.

2. Cut each slide into quarters.

4. Fold one of your salami slices into quarters. Slide onto a skewer.

5. Then slide a piece of mozzarella onto the skewer.

6. Then slide a tomato onto the skewer.

7. Display assembled skewers on a platter.

8. Drizzle skewers with balsamic vinegar.

Roasted Garlic

Ingredients

Heads of Garlic (1 head per every 2 guests)

Olive Oil

Aluminum Foil

Cookie Sheet with edges.

A Baguette

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2.  Remove as much papery layers from the outside of the garlic head as you can.

3. Cut the top of the garlic head off (about an inch).

4. Place garlic head in piece of foil.

5. Drizzle with two tablespoons of olive oil. Make sure oil soaks into crevices of the garlic a bit.

6. Close foil around garlic head.

7. Place cookie sheet on the bottom rack of your oven.

8. Place garlic heads wrapped in foil on the middle rack of your oven.

9. Cook for 40 to 60 minutes. The longer the garlic cooks for the more tender and caramelized it will be.

10. Slice baguette into 1 inch slices.

11. When the garlic is done, remove it from the foil, simply spread it on bread and enjoy! 

Wooden Stakes through the Heart Kebabs, Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes, Blood Orange Salad with Sunflower Seeds, & Hot Cross Buns:  Ann & Jason

After enjoying our Eternal Kisses and Love at First Bite Appetizers, we gathered in the dining room, where the table was set with vampire fang napkin rings and silver platters.

We sat down to our suck-u-lent feast served by candle light where we found wooden stakes pierced through top sirloin and artichoke hearts, hot cross buns served in mini cast iron skillets, and bowls of blood orange salad and garlic red mashed potatoes.  The blood orange sauce was delicious poured not only over the steak kebabs but also a great addition to the garlic mashed potatoes!

Recipes:

Steak Kebabs:
http://www.chefjanetk.com/grilled-beef-kebabs-with-blood-orange-and-vanilla-sauce/

We made the marinade/sauce without the vanilla

Artichoke Kebabs:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/artichoke-eggplant-skewers/print

To stick with the "heart" theme, we skipped the eggplant and tomatoes listed in the recipe

Garlic Red Mashed Potatoes:
http://www.food.com/recipe/mashed-red-potatoes-with-garlic-and-parmesan-34382

Hot Cross Buns:
http://noshon.it/recipes/hot-cross-buns/

We cooked these in small cast iron skillets, 4 buns per skillet

Blood Orange Salad:

Blood Orange Vinaigrette
1/2 cup blood orange juice
1 tbsp chopped shallots
1 tsp Dijon mustard
Olive oil, salt & pepper to taste

Mix the vinaigrette at least a few hours before making the salad to let the flavors marry.

Salad
Arugula
Spinach
Red onion, thinly sliced
Blood orange segments, cut into thirds, if available.  If not, substitute Grapefruit and regular Oranges
Pomegranate seeds
Sunflower seeds
Goat cheese

Vampire Milkshake Shots:  Ryan & MJ

Ryan and MJ delighted us with individual Vampire Milkshake Shots - a milkshake with fresh strawberry puree and chocolate syrup.  We dipped our fangs in and devoured these with a decadent lust!

Recipe:

http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/745225032/bloody-good-vampire-non-alcoholic-milkshake-shots/?locale=en_US