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Miamisburg author adds a dash of spooky delight to Halloween dishes

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Submitted photo Mummy lasagna

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Photos: "Hungry Halloween" recipes

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By Mark Fisher, Staff Writer Updated 10:41 PM Thursday, October 7, 2010

Halloween has played a pivotal role in Beth Jackson Klosterboer's life.

She loved the spooky autumn holiday as a child (what's not to love?) and continued to enjoy it long after her trick-or-treating days in Trotwood and later in Centerville were over.

Then, 10 years ago, she met her future husband, Jim Klosterboer, at a Halloween party. She was dressed as a chocolate chip cookie. He was a pirate. Together, they've thrown several Halloween parties at their meticulously and frightfully decorated Miamisburg home.

Now, Klosterboer is taking her passion for Halloween to a whole new level: She has written a Halloween cookbook, "Hungry Halloween, featuring Movie Monster Munchies, Bewitched Buffet, and Dead Man's Diner," that blends her enthusiasm for cooking and her experience as a chocolatier with her passion for Halloween.

Recipes comes with names such as "Black Widow Bites," "Bloody Finger Fries," "Werewolf Won Tons" and "Dead Man's Float."

The book is self-published – Klosterboer said she wanted to include photos of every recipe and wanted to control other aspects of publication – but it has already earned praise in some high-profile quarters.

Sara Moulton – cookbook author, Food Network chef and executive chef of Gourmet Magazine for 23 years – heaped praise upon Klosterboer and her book in a Sept. 30 post on Moulton's blog (saramoulton.com), saying, " I must recommend it to anyone who loves to have fun on this very unique holiday. ... Everything in this book seems new and unusual to me, and the recipes have the added bonus that most of them are made from scratch."

For her part, Klosterboer credits Moulton as inspiration, but the budding author didn't start from scratch: The 1983 Centerville High School graduate ran a chocolate shop in Louisville from 1989 to 1995, and owned the Candy Garden shop in Centerville from 1997 to 2001. She still fills special candy orders for area businesses.

She developed the Halloween-themed recipes over several years of throwing parties at her home, some for adults, others for her nieces and nephews and their friends.

"When we did our first party seven years ago, I wanted to serve something that would really get people talking. I wanted it to be exciting," Klosterboer said. "I want to serve food that tastes great, but looks ... intriguing."

She has found her dishes to be very effective icebreakers at the adult parties, and the kids respond gleefully to some of the more visual dishes.

"I have the most fun at the kids' parties," Klosterboer said.

Her friends started cajoling her last year to assemble the recipes and share them. She decided to publish her own cookbook, which she said has been a time-consuming, but rewarding, process.

"Hungry Halloween" was released on Amazon.com in June and "has been selling well," Klosterboer said. The book is available at all three Dorothy Lane Market stores, Culinary Company in Centerville, Cooks' Wares in Springboro, Cake Craft in Beavercreek and Hidden Valley Fruit Farm in Warren County. The list price is $19.99.

Klosterboer will sign copies of her book from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 8, at Barleycorn's Restaurant, 6204 Wilmington Pike in Centerville. She is scheduled to lead a cooking class for kids Saturday at Cooks' Wares in Springboro, and a class for adults on Tuesday at the same location. She'll lead a cooking class for adults Thursday at Culinary Company in Centerville. Next weekend, on Oct. 15 and 16, Klosterboer will sign books at Foy's Halloween Store in Fairborn.

For more information about Klosterboer's appearances or about the cookbook, go online to HungryHalloween.com.

Recipes from “Hungry  Halloween”

Mummy Lasagna

Ingredients:  2 cups marinara or spaghetti sauce  9 no-boil lasagna noodles  1 cup ricotta cheese  2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese  ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese  1 egg  Pinch of salt  1 slice mozzarella cheese  Blue, red, and yellow food coloring

Equipment Needed:  9-inch round baking dish or pie plate  1 ½-inch round cookie cutter  ¾-inch round cookie cutter  Small pastry brush

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spread 2/3 cup marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9-inch round baking dish. Top sauce with 3 sheets of lasagna noodles, broken into pieces to fit.

In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg, and salt. Stir until mixture is creamy. Spread half of cheese mixture over layer of lasagna noodles. Top with 2/3 cup sauce, 3 more noodles then the remaining cheese mixture. Top with remaining sauce. Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Meanwhile, create noodle bandages. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place remaining three lasagna noodles into boiling water and heat for 5-7 minutes until noodles are soft and pliable. Remove noodles from boiling water and set on a cutting board. Cut each noodle into 5 long strips. Set aside.  Cut two 1 ½-inch circles and two ¾-inch circles from the slice of mozzarella cheese. Squeeze one drop blue food coloring into a small bowl. Brush coloring over the 3/4” cheese circles. Add a drop of red coloring and a drop of yellow coloring to the blue coloring in the bowl. Stir to create black. Paint a black circle into the center of the blue colored cheese. Place one colored cheese circle on top of a 1 ½-inch cheese circle, creating eyes.  Remove lasagna from oven. Place cheese eyes on lasagna and place strips of cooked noodles in a criss-crossing pattern over lasagna to create the look of mummy bandages. Cover and return to oven for 15 minutes. Serve hot.  Makes 1 (4-6 servings)

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Halloween party planning tips

Get organized. Keep a notebook filled with ideas, recipes, timetables, guest lists and an RSVP checklist.
If you are planning a kids party, host it on a weekend afternoon. If you plan the party in between lunch and dinner, you will only need to serve snacks and drinks.
For adult parties, if you are short on time or help, or your budget is tight, ask your guests to bring a dish and offer a prize for the guest who brings the best themed food item.

Source: "Hungry Halloween, featuring Movie Monster Munchies, Bewitched Buffet, and Dead Man's Diner," by Beth Jackson Klosterboer

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