Happy Sinister Saturday! Baking is my second most hated chore, right after cooking itself. It’s just evil when you don’t know how to cook or bake and why can’t we make ai robots cook and clean for us instead of stealing our ideas??
I don’t do from scratch. Three ingredient boxed cake is hard enough as it is for non-baker. There’s just so much stirring!
Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines, baking’s favorite couple
Anyways, perfectly moist lemon supreme is a lie and the word moist should never adorn a box of any kind.
In the oven.
I used my Wilton’s pumpkin-shaped pan, which you can pick up online or a Michaels store near you, and for the rest of the batter, my Nordic skull cakelet pan came in handy. Although, their faces didn’t quite make it out of the pan. Note to self, grease the pan!
A few drops of yellow and red food coloring turned yellow lemon frosting orange and my latest creation was now a full-fledged pumpkin-shaped Halloween lemon cake.
Happy Friday! It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps! Not gonna lie, I’ve spent two weeks chasing purple, a perfectly purple cocktail that is.
Unfortunately, my experiments have rendered every color but purple. In any event, I present to you the Tropical Void. It’s not purple. It’s not black. It’s something inbetween.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Grapefruit soda 1.5 oz. Dark Rum .5 oz. Blue Curacao .5 oz. Grenadine 1 oz. Pineapple juice 1.5 oz. Cranberry juice Splash of lime juice
Mix ingredients well. Garnish with Maraschino cherries or fresh fruit. Serve chilled.
Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcap is a deep blue concoction called the Boo-Scary Margarita. It’s only got 4 ingredients and it’s highly customizable to taste.
Ingredients: 2 oz.  Tequila Blanco (white) 2 oz.  Cranberry juice 1 oz.  Blue Curacao 1 oz.  Sour Apple
Garnish: Rim salt or sugar or fresh lime
Pour chilled ingredients into a mixer and shake well. Then, pour into a glass with a salted rim.
Amateur bartender and it shows!
I tried to make my own black rim salt and it turned blue-green. It could’ve been cool but my glass was too wet or the salt was too cheap, who knows, it didn’t stick right.😄
Happy Friday! It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps! Tonight, we’re choosing another refreshing concoction with a twist, the Bloody Paloma!
It’s a basic Paloma with some grenadine, a bit of cranberry juice, and splash of lime juice to cut back the sweetness. It also gives it a darker red hue. Best when served chilled.
The real stars of a good Paloma is grapefruit soda and tequila blanco
Ingredients: 4 oz. Grapefruit soda 2 oz. Tequila Blanco (white) .05 oz. Grenadine 1 oz. Cranberry juice Splash of lime juice
Opt Garnish: Red syrup or Black rim salt
Bloody Paloma easy ingredients
Pour chilled ingredients into a glass and mix well.
Bloody Paloma, best when served chilled.
Even though I chilled my ingredients, it’s been so hot out west that I threw in some extra ice cubes.
Garnish would really make this picture pop better but unfortunately I ran out of black rim salt.
Sinister Saturdays in October is the horror part of my web blog, with my failed baking attempts that are simply terrifying!😄
Today I tried Jell-O brand’s No Bake Cherry Cheesecake. Perfect choice for me, not only is it 103 degrees in SoCal.🥵 No baking means less chance to screw up the recipe.
Ah, but I didn’t say zero!
This looks easy.
First thing you need is a box of Jell-O brand’s No Bake Cherry Cheesecake. Super easy, only 3 other ingredients needed, milk, butter and sugar.
Next, you follow the instructions on box, mixing butter and sugar together to make the crust first; and then, add milk to create cheesecake mix.
Unfortunately, my attempt to make a crust with just two ingredients, just two, derailed my plan to successfully make a no bake cherry cheesecake.
Does this look thick to you?
The crust results were so awful and I got so frustrated, I forgot to take a picture before tossing. Basically it was too clumpy and wouldn’t lie flat in the pan. It was just a big mess. No idea what I did wrong. Too much butter?
But folks, this ain’t my first rodeo. You can look back previous years to see I’m no Rachel Ray (Haunted cake pan fail). I suspected I’d mess up and so I bought a back-up. Keebler elves to the rescue!
Poured the mix into my store bought ready made graham crust and popped it in the fridge for a few hours.
Finally, time to decorate by adding the cherry topping.
This is not my pie crust!
The cherry filling packet was actually a little sparse. I suggest buying a can of cherry pie filling to supplement. It’s probably how other people’s pictures of their cherry cheesecake looks so good. Mine, not so much.😄
Now, anyone about to chastise me about using store bought ingredients or lazy baking, let me tell you to fuck right off as plainly as I can. I have no time for that. I have no time for you. Go hit up the Food Network. The rest of us got a Halloween to celebrate! This is Sinister Saturday, bitches!🎃
Happy Friday! It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps! It’s October and 100 degrees out west, not very Fall nor Halloween weather but what can we do.
I recently gave up soda and took up sparkling water as a go-to beverage. Of course it was only a matter time before I started experimenting like mad scientist mixing concoctions. Haunted Blue Vodka is this week’s freakish refreshment.
Ingredients: 2 oz. Blue Curacao 1.5 oz. Chilled vodka 4 oz. sparkling water (I choose coconut La Croix) Splash of lime juice
Pour chilled ingredients into a glass and stir well.
Tastes like alcoholic soda water, which may not be everyone’s cup of tea, I’m gonna warn ya up front. But, you can play around with the recipe and add more sparkling water if it’s too strong or vice versa. Honestly, it’s probably a better summer drink than fall but it’s kinda perfect for a SoCal Halloween.
Have fun. Please don’t drink and drive. Be safe out there this season!
We celebrate all 31 days in October and before I share the Halloween schedule this year, I just wanted to say a few words.
Sharing our cultural traditions helps preserve them and embracing our communities makes us stronger and breaks down barriers between human beings. This is the time of year when people do the most for each other, and the Halloween season is all about community.
Spirit Halloween’s charitable org Spirit of the Children celebrates 20 years!
So, I want to encourage people to go out and get involved in community events. Go to an art show, holiday fair or school carnival, visit a haunted maze, go to the theater to watch a spooky play or movie, invite some neighbors over on Halloween night and pass out candy together. Start a new tradition.
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, CA just opened a new horror movie exhibition.
I’m also going to repeat something I said last year because I believe in it so much:
Don’t let anyone tell you how to do Halloween. Decorate or not. Wear a costume or not. We can be scary and sweet. We can be spooky and cute. Let the teenagers trick or treat. Kids collecting candy are too occupied to do anything else. I truly believe Halloween makes people happy. It’s about community. We need our communities more than ever. It’s the only thing that can save America now.
Be sure to check back every day this October for cool, fun, and inspirational Halloween, horror, and haiku.
HALLOWEEN SCHEDULE 2026
Monday Macabre
Every Monday, I’ll be posting a brand new Halloween Haiku.
Trick or Treat Tuesdays
Check in on Tuesdays for some trivia fun. I’ve got treats and I’ve got tricks!
Wicked Art Wednesdays
Every Wednesday, I’ll showcase the amazing and unique talents of Halloween artists from around the globe. Real art, not ai made.
TimelessThursdays
Every Thursday, let’s travel back in time and revisit the spookiest toys and games.
Friday Fright Nightcaps
Bubble bubble, drink away trouble. It’s the return of Friday Fright Nightcaps!
Sinister Saturdays
Decadent desserts from the darkside. I’m not much of a cook, so this could get truly evil.
Spooky Sundays
Spooky Sundays are for reading, relaxing, and recharging our brooms.
The Halloween Haiku Challenge returns for one day only this October. The contest starts midnight on October 30th through Halloween day and a winner will be chosen on November 1st.
More details to come, but for now, sharpen those pencils or pull up a blank page; I can’t wait to see those Halloween haiku!
Don’t forget to follow Halloweenhorrorhaiku on Pinterest and Blue Sky.
Have a Happy Halloween season, everyone! Be safe out there!🎃
Happy Friday! Tonight’s Friday Fright Nightcap is The Bride’s Nightcap, a Midori and pear vodka cocktail in celebration of Frankenstein Friday.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Midori 2 oz. pear vodka .5 oz. Malibu (or white rum) .5 oz. Key West lime juice (or lime juice) 4 oz. lemonade
Mix ingredients well. Garnish with Maraschino cherries or fresh fruit. Serve chilled.
I got a little exotic using Malibu and Key West lime juice. Honestly, regular white rum and lime juice will work too. It’s a little sweet if you don’t add the lime juice and Isuppose regular vodka is fine too. F*** it, use what you got. Midori is the star of the show no matter how you dice it.
This is my last post in October. Such a bittersweet moment. I thank everyone who stopped by all 31 days this Halloween season!
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