Halloween Project # 3 (Potluck Fun!)

Welcome Bossy People!!! Please stay a while, enjoy the cake, and help us beat Prop 8! I'm sooooo excited to be Bossy's Featured Gay!

Exciting news! This blog has a guest writer today: Pioneer Woman. OK, not really. That would be cool though. Instead, I'm channeling her for the remainder of this post. Here goes.

So I organized a Halloween potluck at work, based on past successes at previous employers. And I threw down the challenge to everyone at work, that NO ONE will top my entry in the Halloween-themed food contest.

So, do you need a good Halloween dish to bring to a potluck? Then read on! And for those who came to our party and are disappointed that you didn't see this dish there, you have the girls to blame; they thought it would be too gross. And for those who came to our party and are relieved that you didn't see this dish there, you have the girls to thank.

So, we're making a cake. Here's the cast of characters.

Prepare cake mixes according to instructions on the box Any kind of cake will do. I used chocolate, because that's what I like. You use what you like. Lemon or vanilla would have been equally good. You'll need 2 pans, 9 x 13 will work best I think.

Put cake in the oven. Let children lick bowl. And fingers. And arms. Do not let children lick each other.


While cake is baking, put 3 "golden" oreos in a ziplock bag, and smush them up. Yes I said smush. We chose to use a glass, but anything heavy will do to crumble them to little bits.


Add a few drops of green food coloring, and mix around. You want them slightly green, not completely saturated.


In my opinion, this was a little too green, but it won't harm anything. Try to achieve a shade lighter than shown here. Set aside for later.


Now, you'll need to pulverize the entire rest of the bag of cookies.

I used a blender, chopping up a few at a time. I wouldn't recommend this method unless you have nothing else available. (I couldn't find my food processor; if I had, I'm sure that would have worked better.)

Whatever you use (rolling pin, meat tenderizer, etc...) just be sure to get rid of all the big pieces, and crumble it pretty small. Here's the finished product, the entire bag, pulverized into little bits.

Now. There are a few secret ingredients I haven't mentioned yet. I didn't want to scare you off. Stick with me here - it will be worth it, I guarantee it.

Secret ingredients #1 and #2: Cat Liter Pan and Cat Litter Scoop FRESHLY PURCHASED. From a reputable establishment. Whatever you do, don't use one you picked up for cheap at a garage sale last weekend.

Wash secret ingredients. I find it's best if you have proof that you washed them, as in these photos.

See? Really. Hot soapy water. Nice and clean. Try not to dislodge the sticker that says "Cat Litter Pan" on it, because that really adds to the effect.

You know where I'm going with this cake now, don't you? No more fooling you! Really, try to stick it out. You won't believe the end result. I must say I'm quite proud of this cake (and I owe it all to a friend - thank you Dennis for the original!)

OK, so after the cake has cooled, transfer it to the cat pan, like so.

Remember how I told you to make 2 cakes? That's because one isn't big enough to fill the cat pan. But I didn't have 2 rectangular pans, so the second cake I made in round pans. Makes no difference really. I sliced the round cake into strips.

Honestly I should have leveled both the cakes off first, by cutting off the rounded tops. But hey, this cake is not really standing on aesthetics if you know what I mean.



Fill in the rest of the cat pan with slices of cake. You can see I wasn't neat about it all, and you'll never notice later.



Frost the cake. Again, I chose chocolate, you could choose any type. Another way to make this is to blend the cake & frosting altogether and fill the pan that way. I suppose that would work, I've never tried it.


After frosting the cake, frost the children. Lick the children. (Not really.)


OK, now this is getting goooood. Take the crumbled oreos and sprinkle them on the cake! Completely cover the top.


Get all the corners, don't leave any frosting showing. See the glob of frosting on the side of the pan. Leave it there, it adds to the effect. Trust me.



There we go, this is coming together nicely now. (I'm starting to get a little worried about what my boss will think about this cake? Oh well, too late to think about that now!)


Now, another secret ingredient. See if I'd told you everything up front you would have guessed, right? And that wouldn't have been any fun, would it? Or you might have gotten disgusted and left. But now I have you - you're hooked aren't you? Horrified, repulsed, but you can't look away, can you? I dare you.

See, you couldn't do it.

Moving on.

Tootsie rolls. Medium sized, maybe the really big ones if you can find them. I couldn't.



Arrange a few on a cookie sheet.



Like so...and pop in the still warm oven. Not too long now, keep an eye on them.


While you're waiting for the tootsie rolls to soften up, sprinkle the green cookie crumbs over the cake. Why? Because cat litter has crystals, silly. Crystals of what, I'm not sure, odor absorbing material? Who knows, just sprinkle.


There, see? That's looking really authentic, isn't it? Disturbingly so, if I do say so myself.

Pull the tootsie rolls out of the oven. These got a bit more melted than I'd hoped; I was worried they wouldn't work since they lost their shape.

However, since they weren't too hot, I could easily roll them in my hand, which worked great. So, roll them out....

And place them in the cat box, just so. There we go. That looks GREAT. Yummy too, right?

Continue with more tootsie rolls until you feel you have enough.

Be SURE to have one or more drape over the edge for more authenticity. I also found pinching the ends smaller was good too. Then, stand back and admire your work! Voila. But wait, you're not quite done yet...

When preparing to serve your guests, place the pan on newspaper, with the litter scoop nearby. Use the litter scoop to serve the cake.

Then, admire your final masterpiece. It is a thing of great.....creativity? madness? art? Don't you think?

What do you think???? Scroll down a little further...see the "Post a Comment" link down there? Why not click it and leave me one? Tell me what you think of this delicious, delectable cake. Are you going to rush right out and make one? Or are you like Laura, and get a little bit of throw up in your mouth just looking at the picture?? Really, I want to know. I can take it. But don't email me. Leave me a comment, below, in the comments section... others want to see what you think too.

Most importantly, tell me if you think I'll win for "grossest dish" in today's potluck contest!!

Happy Halloween!!