'The Walking Dead' Screening Party

My TWD Party Invite

In addition to "Orange is the New Black" as being among my favorite of television series, "The Walking Dead" has ranked high up on the list for several years now.  So, this year, I had to have a screening party for the Season 6 release on Netflix.  Although it may be too late to inspire your screening party, these recipe ideas and decorations will be great for a Halloween celebration and/ or the Season 7 Premier coming in October for those who have direct access to AMC.  

Like many zombie parties, we decided on having the dead dude on the table to be our food.  But given that many of my party guests were a mix of the boring 'pizza and beer' variety as well as several healthy eating folks looking for gluten-free and vegetarian options (yea, vegetarian options at a Zombie Party!!!) the menu did require some imagination to satisfy both sets of palates as well as stay in theme with the afternoon's happenings.  Our break from the TV was a fun TWD themed relay race and I have provided those details below too...Enjoy!

On the Menu

Pasta Brains (can be made GF & Vegetarian)

Meatloaf Zombie Face (can be made GF)

Roasted 'Beeting' Heart (GF & Vegetarian)

Rib Bone Rolls (GF and Vegetarian)

Intestines Stromboli 

Shredded Thighs: 1 (Chicken Strips) Shredded Thigh 2 (Potato Skins - bacon & cheese & GF & vegetarian options)

Daryl's String of "Ears" (GF)

Signature Libation: The Zombie-tini

Pasta Brains - I do recommend to purchase a brain gelatin mold to make this take the intended shape.  They are very common in party stores or Amazon and inexpensive.  If one is not at all available, an oval-shaped bowl may do the trick with the same instructions.

Ingredients:

1/2 box of cavatappi, shell or elbow macaroni pasta (GF options available at most markets)

2 stalks of celery sliced

1/2 cup yellow onion, minced

1/2 cup olive oil mayonnaise

2 tsp garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

dashes of hot sauce to taste

1-2 beets, peeled and diced

1 box of gelatin

1. Cook pasta as per package instructions (boil in water and drain)
2. Mix pasta celery, onion, mayonnaise, salt & pepper and dashes of hot sauce in a mixing bowl until all ingredients are well blended.
3. Gently fold in beets. (You want some 'bleed' over coloring but not to turn the whole pasta pink)
4. Transfer pasta to brain mold or bowl
5. Prepare gelatin per box instructions
6. Pour gelatin into mold (or bowl) over pasta and allow to set in refrigerator as per gelatin instructions.
7. Carefully release pasta from mold or bowl onto serving platter. 

Meatloaf Zombie Face - although there are several versions of meatloaf recipes as well as even meatloaf zombie face recipes out there, this one is especially gruesome because of its final decorating touches as well as the additional tomatoes and cheese in the mix make the face look like its "oozing" bloody chunks and puss when you cut a piece...yum!  Gross, but yum! 

Ingredients:

2 lbs of lean ground beef

2 eggs

1 cup panko bread crumbs (GF options available at most markets or make your own with GF Chex cereal)

1/2 cup ketchup  

1/2 cup yellow onion, minced

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt & pepper to taste

8 oz of Monterrey jack cheese, cut in 1" square chunks

1 can stewed tomatoes

5-6 vertical chunks of yellow onion (for teeth) 

5-6 strips of bacon

2 whole Bella mushrooms, stems removed

1 pimento stuffed green olive

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix the first 11 ingredients (minus 3 tbsp. of ketchup) together in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a medium-large size round baking dish or deep pie dish, transfer meatloaf mixture and form two indentations for eyes and a wide bar for the open mouth.
4. Place bacon strips over "non-indented parts" of the face, to represent mangled flesh (cheeks, forehead and chin)
5. Bake in oven for about 45 - 60 minutes or the meat reaches an internal temperature of  175 degrees F and bacon is cooked through and meatloaf has browned around the edges.
6. Carefully remove baking dish from oven with mitts, place a pan or pot top/ cover over the baking and drain any excess grease and drippings.
7. Take the 5-6 vertical cut chunks of yellow onion and place them in the indentation bar/ mouth of the face to make teeth.
8. Place each Bella mushroom,  in eye indentations, tops down, caps up.
9. Cut olive in half and place them into the mushroom caps.
10.  Drizzle reserved ketchup strategically around face to look like blood streaks.

Roasted "Beeting" Heart

Ingredients:

3-4 beets, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

4-6 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

sea salt & pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Place beets in a bowl and drizzle with 2 tbsp.extra virgin olive oil
4. Cover the bowl with Saran wrap and shake vigorously (keeping beets enclosed in the bowl) to coat each piece with the oil 
5. Lay out beets on a baking sheet and season with sea salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

6. Roast in oven for approximately 30-45 minutes.  
7. Remove from oven, let cool for about 5 minutes, and transfer to a serving bowl...Enjoy!

Rib Bone Rolls - makes 8 rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup olive oil mayonnaise

1 can mild green chilies

1/4 cup marinated jalapenos, minced

1/2 cup cooked spinach

1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, minced

8 egg roll wraps

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix first 7 ingredients all together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Spoon mixture into an egg roll wrapper, vertically along the center angle of the wrapper
4. Wrap both end points inwards and and roll to enclose mixture and place on greased baking sheet.
5. Repeat 8 times or until all of the mixture is used up.
6. Brush each roll with extra virgin olive oil.
7. Bake for approximately 18-20 minutes or until wrappers begin to bubble an brown.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
9. Transfer or arrange on serving dish with two roll to be a center breast bone and the remaining 6 rolls on either side of breast bone in a down - outward angle to represent rib bones. 

Intestines Stromboli  - I mentioned some of my guests are fans of the 'pizza and beer' menu, as well as there are several 'pizza intestines' recipes, so I wanted something a little unique but that would still satisfy those pizza party cravings.  The Intestines Stromboli was born!

Ingredients:

2 cans of refrigerated pizza dough

1 lb. Italian sausage, hot broken up into bite-sized chunks

1 lb. Andouille sausage, sliced into 1/2" chunks

8 oz Canadian bacon, julienne

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 cup mozzarella cheese

3 leaves fresh basil, minced

3/4 cup pizza sauce

4-6 green olives, minced

12 pepperoni slices, julienne

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp sweet basil

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. In a large skillet over medium to high heat, cook both lbs of sausage meat thoroughly.
3. Remove from heat
4. Add in Canadian bacon, both cheeses, basil, pizza sauce (minus 3 tbsp.) and mix with sausages thoroughly.

   

   Pic 1

5. Roll out first can of pizza dough on a floured surface/ cutting board.
6. Spoon sausage mixture into one long end in a row onto the dough and roll the dough over it once, see pic 1.
7. Spoon sausage mixture into a second row along the roll just made, see pic 2.

   

   Pic 2

8. Fold the opposite side of the dough over to form one large roll.
9. Transfer to greased deep baking dish (cake pan) and coil into an intestines curl, see Pic 3.
10. Repeat with second roll of dough.
11. Brush tops of dough with olive oil.
12. Season dough with garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, and sweet basil.

    

    Pic 3

13. Sprinkle with pepperoni pieces.
14. Cut a few slits in the 'intestines' and drizzle reserved pizza sauce near slits to create a 'bleeding' effect.
15. top with a sprinkle with green olives pieces.
16. Bake in the over for approximately 30-35 minutes or until the dough is fully cooked and formed, and browning on top.

Shredded Thighs - Served in the equivalent of meatloaf pans, for the Chicken Tenders, I simply picked some up at my local grocery to save some time.  However, if you want to make some fried chicken strips from scratch, click here for my Southern-Style Sunday Dinner for my fried chicken recipe.  My second 'Shredded Thigh' was composed of Potato Skins (both traditional and vegetarian) and the serving of both options gives both a chopped meat (bacon bits) and a gangrene effect (broccoli covered with cheese) to the dead dude's thigh:

Potato Skins Ingredients (both meat & vegetarian options - GF)
3-4 large Russet potatoes
1 cup steamed/ cooked broccoli (I prefer fresh broccoli but frozen works fine as well) chopped
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
4 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
Sour cream and/ or GF ranch dressing available for guests to spoon onto skins.

1. Preheat 350 degrees F
2. Thoroughly wash potatoes (scrub skins)
3. Poke a few steam holes in potatoes with a fork.
4. Cook potatoes in microwave for about 8 minutes or until softened.
5. Cut potatoes lengthwise and hallow out.
6. Fill half with cheese and topped with bacon crumbles and the other half with broccoli topped with cheese and lay on a baking sheet.
7. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Daryl's String of 'Ears' - Whether you want to use the recipe below, which is pretty simple, or dress it up further, such as with a jerk rub or with coconut, the technique of stringing the ears can be used for any TWD Party theme, no matter your ear-flavor preference.

Ingredients:

1/4 - 1/2 lbs of large shrimp, peeled, tail off and de-veined
1/2 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Island Spice seasoning - comprised of onion, ginger, mustard seed, garlic, paprika, etc.
4 cups water
dashes of hot sauce
no flavor wax dental floss
toothpick or skewer

1. Boil shrimp in water in a pot on the stove, with salt, seasonings and hot sauce.
2. Drain shrimp and allow to cool.
3. Cut necklace lengths of dental floss to accommodate number of guests.
4. Wrap one end of floss a few times around the toothpick or skewer and hold in place with your finger.
5. String the dental floss through 3-4 shrimp and tie ends into a knot and free hang the edible ears. 

Decorations

1. I used an old shirt and pants and ripped them up in order slide my baking dishes inside them to give the illusion that my dead dude had its parts all out.
2. Other basic decorations were zombie-themed plates, napkins and cups and I also made Survive napkins with silver & black utensils.
   
3. I strung up black and red streamers in various places and shredded the ends to make it look like the place was beat up as well as some Zombie Caution Tape.
4. I was lucky that between myself and another guest we had two anima-tronic little Zombie girls, and I placed them on each end of the table.  The one that was an official TWD, the Bunny Slipper Girl even inspired my costume.
   
5. See the Zombie-tini for my drink table pics.

Terminus Relay Race:

1. Governor's Eye Toss - this was a spin of the traditional egg toss, only we made the eggs barely soft boiled in some blue/ black food coloring and slightly cracked the shells before beginning. So they looked like dismembered eyeballs were a lot harder to throw delicately enough to keep from cracking.
2. Bobbing for Brains - I got some sticky mini-brains and put them in a tub with water. And from there it's a pretty standard bobbing contest and we gave our contestants 60 seconds.

   

   Sticky-brains in a bin of water for bobbing

   

   Contestant participating in bobbing for brains!!!

3. Dead Legged Race - This was a race over some distance with a cinder-block tied to one of the participants' legs.  This can be timed or be a true race depending on if you have enough cinder blocks for all participants.

Our precious survivor prize...? A box of Twinkies, of course! And a Gift Certificate. :)

Left Pic: My bro as Daryl Dixon Right Pic: Me with the Governor

The Zombie-tini

This is a fun libation to include at your Halloween celebrations, or in my case, as the signature cocktail at a "The Walking Dead" Screening Party or any other zombie-themed gathering.  It looks gross but trust me, it's so delicious, it's scary..!

Ingredients

2 parts vodka

1/4 part Midori liqueur

1/3 part Grand Marnier liqueur

squeeze of lime wedge

Approximately 1/2 tbsp. of grenadine

ice 

Optional garnish:

Strawberry sundae syrup

gummy worms

1. Drizzle your martini glass with strawberry syrup starting at the lid and allowing it to drip (like blood) down the inside of the glass.
2. Mix all the ingredients, except the grenadine in a martini shaker.
3. Shake vigorously the contents in the martini shaker and pour into glass.
4. Over a spoon, slowly pour grenadine until you have the desired amount of "blood dripping."
5. Strategically hang 1-2 gummy worms off the lid of the glass...Enjoy!

Please drink responsibly...!

See below for decorating ideas for a zombie cocktail table:

'Orange Is the New Black' Series Screening Party

My OITNB Party Invite

Just like many people (dare I say most people) I have certain television shows that I have become hooked on.  The Netflix series "Orange Is The New Black" (referred to herein after as OITNB) is one of those shows. My personal favorite character is a toss up between Red, played by Kate Mulgrew, or the character, Crazy Eyes or a.k.a. Suzanne Warren, played by award-winning Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba.  So like any normal person who loves to throw themed parties and a fan of the show, here is my OITNB Party Spread!  
Now, because this is an after work party and I was coming from work, I had to make sure food was set up fast. Therefore, many of these dishes are not my usual provision of original recipes so use this more as a reference for fun, themed party ideas.  This being said however, the cocktails included are all original except for the Moscow Mule recipe.

On the Menu

"Taco Night" Cupcakes

"The Chickening" Boneless Wings

OITNB Caviar Hors d'oeuvres

OITNB Fruit Skewers & Veggie Plate

Crazy Eyes Threw Her (Pizza) Pie & Other Themed Fillers

"Blood Donut" Holes

Moscow Mule

Tit Punch

Toilet Hooch

OITNB Signature Martini

"Taco Night" Cupcakes - makes 12 servings

Ingredients:

12 sheets of egg roll wrappers

4 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

1 lbs. lean, ground beef

1 packet of taco seasoning

1/4 cup minced onion
1 cup fresh diced tomatoes

1 cup shredded lettuce

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups guacamole/ sour cream (optional)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Form egg roll wrappers in a large, greased muffin tin.  This is usually a six-cup tin as opposed to the smaller 12-cup muffin tins.  These will resemble mini-taco shells formed for taco salads (see picture)
3. Drizzle the egg roll wrappers with extra virgin olive oil and use a a kitchen brush to coat the sides of and overlapping tops.
4. Place in oven and cook for about 7-10 minutes, or until the wrappers bubble and "fry" up to a crisp.
   
5. Remove from heat and allow to cool until no longer hot.  
6. Repeat with the other six egg roll wrappers if using a six-cup muffin tin.
7. In the meantime, brown ground beef in a skillet over medium to high heat until no longer pink.
8. Add in onion and add taco seasoning as per packet instructions.  
9. Cook for about 10 minutes or until flavors are well blended and onions begin to soften.  Remove from heat.
10. Fill the taco shell cups with ground beef mixture, sprinkle with cheese, then shredded lettuce and fresh tomato.  Add a dollop of guacamole and/ sour cream as desired...Serve immediately and Enjoy!

The rest of the menu doesn't really require recipes, but these are quick and easy ideas, as well as perfectly themed to make your OITNB Party the most talked about screening party of the year:

A.) "The Chickening" Boneless Wings - Again for time purposes, I simply used frozen boneless buffalo wings, in a sweet n' sour flavoring which gives the wings an orangy color.  I

then used orange confetti toothpicks to top them off.  BUT if you are anti-frozen foods, which normally I am, I have a great recipe for spicy stuffed boneless chicken wings. These will still have an orange-ish color to them because of the BBQ sauce recipe.

B.)  OITNB Caviar & Smoked Salmon Hors d'oeuvres - It's not prison food by any means, but this adds great decadence to your party: Take your favorite cracker, (I used flavored Ritz crackers with an orange tint to them), spread with Neufchatel cream cheese, top with a slice of smoked salmon and a 1/2-1 tsp of black caviar.

C.) OITNB Fruit Skewers & Veggie Plate - For fruit and veggies I simply chose naturally black and orange produce.  For the fruit skewers, I used alternating cantaloupe pieces, black berries, mandarin orange slices and purple grapes (which look almost black).  For the veggies, I simply used baby carrots and black olives (veggies are never very popular at my parties :-p)  Other ideas can include mango, roasted purple sweet potatoes and beets (these are almost black once roasted).

D.) Crazy Eyes Threw Her (Pizza) Pie & Other Themed Fillers - A major time saver here, I simply ordered a pizza to fulfill a Crazy Eyes reference.  Other items we used were sweet potato chips (very orange in color, you can also use BBQ flavored chips), Reeses Pieces Candies and Pepperidge Farm Orange Milano cookies are great table spread fillers. 

E.) 'Blood Donut' Holes - as a dessert, I bought some 'plain or dusted' donut holes and drizzled them with Strawberry flavored sundae syrup.

Decoration Ideas:

I used an orange back drop with toilet paper and black crepe paper to
make my spread background.

It's absolutely gross even "clean" but receives lots of laughs and ewwwws at the party.
I got an unused tampon and slid it into an English muffin.  If you want to take it a step
further you can drizzle some ketchup on there but I just couldn't go there myself!
I also just happened to have had an orange and black striped screw driver.

A few of my party guests who dressed for the occassion.  Pictured here we have 'Porn-Stache' and a
female inmate in orange, complete with a D.O.C. name tag.  For decoration,
note that I actually used black crepe paper on all the windows (in the background -
back sliding glass door) to make my house look like a guest was inside a jail cell.

Although this is an extra expense, I decided to purchase actual prison trays
for my guests to select their food buffet style. 

Check out 'OITNB' celebration cosmetic artistry by Lisa's Creations.