Clearly you need something milky and chocolatey and warm and delicious to go with those marshmallows that I insisted you make.

Hot chocolate.  Made with all those random/open/half empty/spilling all over the cupboards bags of chocolate chips I have in my kitchen.

It only makes sense, don’t you think?

Not rocket science.

Totally just hot chocolate.

I come to you with these pictures and recipes not knowing whether this combination of treats is awesome or terrifying.  Blood and Bones.

Before we get down to the treats, can I share something with you?  I’m not a big fan of Halloween.  Honestly,  it scares me a bit.  The whole night seems unpredictable and slightly unstable to me, even as an adult.  It’s the costumes.  See, there are two categories of Halloween costumes that just chill me to the bone.

One one hand, there are the girls that use Halloween as an excuse to wear as little clothes as possible.  Are you one of these girls?  Are you dressing up as a ‘sexy boy scout’ this Halloween?  What on earth is a sexy boy scout??  I’m scared.  I also don’t like the medical and other uniformed professions you make sexy for Halloween.  I don’t agree, and frankly, I’m frightened.

There’s also the teenage boys that dress up as murderers with bloody plastic knives and masks.  Teenage boys dressed as murders in the darkness of a Halloween night?  Is it just me being old, or do these kids seem totally out of control?  They seem waaaay too old to be dressing up and run the neighborhood with a pillow case scooping up candy from everyone they can.  Not ok.  Just not ok.

Wow!   Halloween makes me sound like a grumpy old lady.

To celebrate my inner old lady and to embrace any hidden desires to be a hussy for Halloween, I’m going to be Blanche from the Golden Girls.  It’s going to be a perfectly ridiculous Halloween getup.

What are you going to be for Halloween?

With all that costume talk out of the way, we need to talk Halloween treats.  For the holiday I made Martha Stewart inspired bone shaped meringues and deep red hot chocolate.  Blood and bones!

The meringues are perfectly light-  like eating lightly crisped clouds.  The hot chocolate, while mildly disturbing, if beautifully warm and smooth drinkable chocolate.  Nothing beats it.

Sweet Bones

Martha Stewart

Print this Recipe!

• 6 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 cups sugar

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture feels warm to the touch, about 5 minutes.
2. Return bowl to mixer, and fit mixer with the whisk attachment.Beat on high speed until very stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes.
3. Transfer meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, such as a Wilton #1A. Pipe bone shapes, each 5 to 6 inches long, onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper.  Pipe by making one long (not as curvy) S shape, followed by another mirrored S shape atop the first.  The pictures below should help. Bake until crisp throughout, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Blood Red Hot Chocolate

Martha Stewart

• 5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons red gel-paste food coloring

Bring milk and sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 7 minutes. Pour over chocolate, and let stand. When chocolate begins to melt, stir until combined. Whisk in food coloring. Serve immediately with marshmallow bones.