This is adapted from Baked Explorations, a lovely cookbook full of comfort food-type desserts. I’ll be honest: I tried making standard doughnuts, but when the recipe says the dough is sticky it means the dough is Really Fricking Sticky. I eventually gave up trying to cut doughnuts out of the gluey mass and just rolled tablespoonsful of the dough into doughnut holes intead. However, they tasted great, so the recipe is worth the annoyance. To cut actual doughnuts, flour the hell out of your work surface before patting out the dough, work with well-floured hands, and use a doughnut cutter instead of trying to fake it with a round glass or cookie cutter.

The other fun thing about these doughnuts is that you can color the glaze however you want. Divide the glaze into small bowls and add food coloring as desired (for a dark color, use paste-type food coloring instead of liquid so you don’t thin the glaze too much). Autumnal orange, red, and yellow would be attractive right now (and a pile of mixed orange- and black-glazed doughnuts looks spectacular on a Halloween party table, so tuck that idea away for next year).

Farm Stand Buttermilk Doughnuts
Makes 10-12 doughnuts, plus holes

3 1/2 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs
3/4 C buttermilk
1/4 C sour cream
1/4 C (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly browned and cooled
Vegetable oil for frying

For the Vanilla Glaze:

2 C confectioner’s sugar
1/4 C whole milk
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1 tsp vanilla paste

For the Cinnamon Sugar:

1 1/4 C sugar
3 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Line one baking sheet with parchment paper and another baking sheet with two layers of paper towels.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and cinnamon.

In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, and sour cream until combined. Add the melted, cooled butter and whisk again.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the liquid ingredients into the well. With a rubber spatula, slowly fold the flour into the liquid until the mixture forms a sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface thoroughly dusted with flour. Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour and with floured hands pat out until it’s about 1/2″ thick. Dip a doughnut cutter in flour and cut out as many doughnuts as possible, transferring them (and their doughnut-hole middles) to the parchment-lined baking sheet. Pat leftover scraps together, flatten back out, and cut more doughnuts until all of the dough is used up. Place the baking sheet with the doughnuts in the refrigerator until the oil is heated and you’re ready to fry.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a deep skillet to a depth of 1 1/2″. Heat over medium high heat until the temperature reaches 370F. Whilst waiting for it to heat, make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar.

For glaze: Whisk together the sugar, milk, and vanilla extract. Add food coloring as desired and whisk to blend.

For cinnamon sugar: Whisk together sugar and cinnamon. (Easy!)

Once the oil has reached the correct temperature, gently lift the large doughnuts off the baking sheet and place in the hot oil. Work in batches, frying no more than three at a time. Once the bottom side has browned (2-3 minutes) flip over and continue frying the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the doughnuts to the paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain. Once you’re done with the large doughnuts, fry the doughnut holes in two or three batches; they’ll cook a little faster so keep an eye on them The doughnut holes will cook faster and can be made in two or three batches after the doughnuts are done.

Once fried, dip the doughnuts in the glaze or sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar (or both, if you’re feeling particularly decadent). Serve immediately or cool completely and store airtight for 2-3 days.

Blood Drips Parasols – Little paper parasols for decorating fancy cocktails, only black with blood spatters.

Iza’s Art Shop – Gorgeous leather steampunky handbags. A few are for sale in her Etsy shop.

Indexed – This Venn diagram speaks truth.

Bat Chandelier – Tutorial for a cute hanging bat decoration.

The Scariest Animal That Will Never Hurt You – Yay, whipscorpions! I especially like the photo of the mother carrying around its young.

shhark – Etsy shop that specializes in 3-D printed filigree skulls.

Black Velvet Layer Cake – Delicious-looking cake that would be fantastic for a spooky party.

The Making of Limbo – Interesting article on the inception of the game.

DIY Skeleton Tights – Super-easy tutorial for making “leg bone” tights.

Octopus Surprise Mug – Just in case you want to see an octopus looming up at you from the depths of your coffee. There’s a shark attack version too. (And also a squirrel attack version, if you’d rather be menaced by seagoing squirrels.)

Wow, does this bring back memories. Long ago, back in the Vinyl Age, records with accompanying storybooks (with audio cues to turn the pages) were hugely popular. Disney released “The Story and Song from the Haunted Mansion” in 1969, and when I was a kid I played this record until the grooves wore down.

This video is just a static image of the album cover instead of displaying the individual pages, but the whole soundtrack is here (bonus: The voice of the male teenager is a young Ron Howard).

Disney has also re-released the album on CD. According to the description, “It is packaged in a Digipak with the original booklet of Collin Campbell’s illustrations and text. When you place the CD in your computer a flash program runs which houses a gallery of the booklet and cover paintings without any text and which are printable.”

This should appeal to Elder Goths who remember the original album as well as to anyone else who appreciates a touch of the retro in their spookiness.

(via BoingBoing)

I am on record as stating that I refuse to collect things (on the grounds that I don’t want to dust them), but if I were to ever make an exception to that rule it would probably be over netsuke. They’re small, amazingly varied, and some are marvelously creepy.

Netsuke started out as utilitarian objects: Little toggles to attach 17th-century Japanese men’s purses* to their belts. Like a lot of mundane objects, they eventually became an outlet for artistic expression until they were essentially intricate, miniature sculptures. And since Japan has a rich mythology, much of which is, from a Western viewpoint, frankly insane, many of these teensy sculptures are very gothy indeed.

You’ve got your demons and funky-looking lion deities and big piles of rats. Grotesque faces and ghosts by tombstones and spider monsters.

There are foxes in dresses and skeletons and bats and snakes and some guy who is just entirely too happy to be carrying an octopus.

There are evocative antique ones like this ghost with “a pull-out spine” (what?) frightening two children and splendid modern examples like this skull and raven.

Depending upon your pocketbook, there are antique ivory carvings running into the thousands of dollars and modern wooden ones for under ten bucks. There are collectors’ organizations which can help you explore your options and plenty of dealers in both rare antiques and cheap reproductions. You can even find them on Amazon.

It’s easy to get started with inexpensive modern specimens and then work your way into more esoteric types if you find the hobby suits you (and if it doesn’t, turn the ones you have into jewelry or other accessories). Best of all, unlike with stamps or coins or many similar collectibles, there’s no critical mass you have to reach before it becomes a “collection.” One netsuke is interesting all by itself.

If you’ve never investigated the enormous variety of netsuke before, take a look. You might find a brand-new hobby.

*Okay, they were technically called inro and were used because traditional garments didn’t have pockets, but still. Purse.

Just because Halloween is over doesn’t mean we have to stop celebrating it. Lovely Indeed has a great idea for packaging up a miniature party and mailing it off to someone in need of a bit of gothic cheer.

She notes that her package contents were mainly gathered from whatever supplies she had laying around the house, and if you’ve got leftovers from other projects (or if, like me, you tend to buy likely-looking items even if you aren’t sure what to do with them) this is a fun way to use them up. Right now, however, there are still post-Halloween clearance sales at craft and party stores, and you should be able to stock up on interesting tidbits for a song.*

Just about any small, non-breakable item can be added to your “party,” so look around for DIY party favor ideas (HGTV has some attractive options) and interesting novelties. Throw in some candy, confetti, and a few plastic spiders and send some miniature spookiness to someone special.

*If you’re into gloomy crafting you should get in the habit of doing this anyway because skulls, bats, and other useful decorative items are pretty thin on the ground in February. Wait until after Halloween, buy everything at half-off, and you can craft happily all year for cheap.

The fabulous Sisifo sent this my way, noting that it’s a fun, family-friendly movie. It’s a French movie which has been dubbed into English (and was posted by somebody in Vietnam, so nobody can say we’re not geographically diverse). The animation style is rather reminiscent of Pixar.

(Thanks, Sisifo!)

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

— WB Yeats

This is a great way to use up partial packages of dried fruit that you may have sitting around from other baking projects.

Fruitcake Cookies
(Adapted from Bon Appetit)

6 C mixed dried fruit (currants, chopped dates, raisins, diced figs, halved cherries, cranberries, citron, candied orange peel, etc. etc.)
6 T bourbon, divided
6 T sherry, divided
1 C coarsely chopped walnuts
2 C all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 C sugar
1/2 C (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs

Toss dried fruit in large bowl. Mix in 4 T each bourbon and sherry. Cover; soak at least 2 and up to 24 hours.

Position rack in center of oven; preheat to 325°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (cookies are moist and will stick).

Stir walnuts, then 1 C flour into fruit mixture, coating evenly. Whisk remaining 1 C flour, baking powder, salt, and spices in medium bowl.

Beat sugar and butter in another large bowl until smooth. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in dry ingredients, then remaining 2 T each bourbon and sherry. Fold in fruit mixture. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons onto baking sheets.

Bake cookies until light brown, turning halfway through baking, about 23 minutes. Cool.

These are great as-is, but for extra decadence they can be glazed:

1 cup (packed) powdered sugar
4 tsp (approx) bourbon
4 tsp (approx) sherry

Stir together sugar and 4 tsp each bourbon and sherry until the mixture is free of lumps. If necessary, thin the glaze further by adding additional liquor in 1/2-tsp increments. Spoon glaze over cookies. Let sit at least 2 hours until glaze is set.

Cookies keep airtight for 1 week.

Póstumo – Kickstarter for zombie-inspired “deck of the dead” playing cards, dice, and other goodies. Fantastic artwork.

Monster Monster – Knitting instructions for a creepy devil (technically “Bok” from Doctor Who) balaclava.

The Five Creepiest Towns in America – I don’t know about “creepiest,” but these would all be picturesque tour destinations if you’re planning a vacation.

Starrlight Jewelry – Pretty goth jewelry. I particularly like the bat armlet.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal – I will never, ever look at Pac-Man the same way again.

Carved Mushroom Skulls – Cute way to add a macabre touch to a meal.

Conga Bats – Neatly-organized line of bats for the OCD amongst us.

Monster Matryoshka – Cutely monstrous nesting dolls. There’s a zombie version too.

How to Make a Dolce & Gabbana Blazer – Video on adding trim to a purchased blazer. This would be useful for adding lace and other dark bits to a mundane article of clothing.

Forever and Always T-shirt – Shirt which looks like the wearer is being glommed by ghostly hands. (Hat tip to Sisifo)

The Hairpin has instructions for making “albino spiders” out of deviled eggs that I think I’m going to put in the category of Trying Too Hard. I’m actually much more on board with the “usual” olive spider-decorated eggs that they dismiss as too pedestrian, since they’re easier to make and are more eye-catching. I think it’d be difficult to make enough of the larger eggs for a party. (I especially wonder about the “make 36 or so and leave them around the house in unexpected places.” Wut?)

If I were to tackle the “albino” version I’d make a few changes:

• Cut and fill the eggs before any other assembly.
• Consider quail eggs instead of cocktail onions for the heads. Alternately, forget the separate head altogether and add the eyes to the front of the larger egg.
• Definitely use something besides bits of raw button mushroom for the legs, since nobody really wants to nibble on those; something like thin strips of ham or cheese might work better.
• Instead of a plain boiled egg, possibly use tea eggs instead, since the marbled pattern would add interest.
• Add the paprika hourglass last, after all other assembly is complete.
• Since these things really aren’t at all portable, don’t attempt to make them part of a buffet. Instead, arrange one on each guest’s plate as part of an appetizer.

The time for Halloween parties may be past, but there are plenty of other holiday dinner opportunities coming up. These spiders might be just the thing for a bit of elegant spookiness.