Monday, October 30, 2006

Lunch Box of the DAMNED

Cue the scary music and ghost sounds, because it's time for the Halloween Lunch Box! It's a ghastly Mummy Calzone on a bed of mummy wrappings (torn paper towel), with a bucket of blood (pizza sauce) for dipping.

Two gruesome shrunken heads (a baked apple with clove eyes) rise up from a swamp of blackberry applesauce, and a little paper pumpkin holds dessert.

I saw this clever calzone in a Halloween recipe booklet at the grocery store. I veganized it by using my recipe for Broccoli Calzones in Vegan Lunch Box. I divided the wholegrain pizza dough into five pieces instead of eight, in order to roll out each piece and trim them into triangle shapes. I used a pizza wheel to cut the sides into strips, then filled the center with broccoli and tofu "ricotta". I rounded the top strip of dough into a head and overlapped the dough strips all the way down to form the mummy body. Bits of black olives are the eyes.

For dessert, a little pumpkin filled with candy and confetti is a nice way to make a small amount of candy feel like a very special treat. Just wrap one or two pieces of candy and some Halloween confetti or toys in a circle of orange tissue paper. Twist the top and seal with a bit of green floral tape.

Verdict: "It's very important to decide whether to eat the head or feet first," shmoo informs. "I ate the head!" He was delighted by the shrunken heads. "Weird!" he says. I warned him ahead of time not to try to eat the cloves! 5 howls at the moon.

27 comments:

Monica said...

This goes down as the most adorable lunchbox ever! I'm imagining the time you spent carving those apple heads--wow!

future poet said...

Just when I was used to you making the coolest lunches ever, you go and call it "lunchbox of the damned'! Great food AND brilliant copy! I so wish you were making my lunches!

Melissa said...

Wow, great carvings! I wouldn't want it to be eaten, haha.

Christina Miller said...

Those shrunken heads are out of this world!

Geosomin said...

May I say you are the coolest mom ever.
I would have made squeaky sounds of delight at a lunch like this! Heck...I still would actually...

Jennifershmoo said...

Page 176! :-)

couscouscaboose said...

This is literally the coolest lunch ever. I love the mummy calzone! How lucky Shmoo is!

ByTheBay said...

Amazing! Especially the mummy. I wish you were MY mom!

Beth said...

I second (and third and fourth) all the "cool mom" posts! You're the best lunch-making mom ever!

Tere said...

Wow, Jennifer, this is AMAZING! You'll be getting calls from Martha Stewart now I bet, asking for advice and tips! You're so talented.
Take care,
Tere

Renée said...

You are so very clever! Schmoo has the coolest lunches ever.

Catherine said...

way cool!

bazu said...

Too too cool. What a ghoulish calzone! Am I weird for wanting to eat a mummy? Is that vegan? ;-) Happy Halloween to you and Shmoo.
I'm listening to you on Erik's Diner podcast right now. Congrats.

Shananigans said...

You're so creative, this box is the coolest yet! I'm very excited to order your book.

Ana said...

Oh my God, you are so creative!!
This is for sure the coolest halloween lunch box I have ever seen!!
I really can't wait to get my lunch box-book!
Congrats, you are an awesome mommy!!
Ana

urban vegan said...

Frighteningly delicious. Schmoo is one lucky kid.

mira said...

What an awesome lunch!

meme said...

This is very cute. Well done!

melbo said...

Ooh my friend made those mummies for her halloween party last weekend...sadly they weren't vegan :-(

AWESOME lunch!

JENNA said...

i wish i was eating this for dinner tonight!! what a great halloween lunch box. I agree with schmoo I would eat the head first also.

Alisa said...

Really inventive Halloween lunch idea! I'll be sure to check out your book for when I have little ones to pack lunches for.

Matt and Bobbie said...

Oh my goodness...this is the most adorable lunchbox yet! I love the idea of the mummy calzone especially! awesome.

Bradley said...

What excellent detail on the shrunken heads and the mummy looks fantastic

Mindy T. said...

OMG, I applaud your creativity and your patience. Your kid is the luckiest little devil (hehehe -- a halloween joke, get it? but since I'm explaining it, it must not be a very good joke)

I want you to be my mom!

http://mindycooks.blogspot.com

High Power Rocketry said...

Oh this has to be the coolest one yet.

Maynard S. Clark said...

From the title, "Lunchbox of the Damned", I was expecting some nonvegetarian's lunchbox, the sort of thing I see in the refrigerators at the worksite.

a.J. ("( 'o', ) said...

heehee ;P iM gonna try the mummy thing... iM still not vegetarian, but iM eating lots of veggies!!! it's a start!