Sundays with Sparky - Special Effects Food and a Healthy Fun Snack

Last year, Sparky was delighted to receive a vintage 70s cookbook from his grandmother, entitled "Special Effects Cookbook"  Now, most of the recipes from the era of Jell-O salads are a little over the top - though the recipe for Glow In The Dark Gelatin is certainly tempting.  After allowing Sparky to experiment with spray cheese and a pita bread, I decided we should get some mileage out of special effects, and make some food that's both good to eat and to play with.

One very simple recipe in the book, See-Through Sandwiches, uses an old Bento trick:  one simply makes a template, uses it to cut a face in a piece of bread;

 

spread the cut piece with peanut butter and place it on an uncut slice of bread with jelly.  the jelly shows through the face.

  
Sparky enjoyed having a grisly and frightening monster friend for lunch.

For Sparky's snack day at school, I wanted something that fit the special-effects bill but was still a healthy treat.  We'd gone apple-picking a few days before, and remembering the fun we'd had in first grade making Apple Monster Mouths, we decided to do them again.  

First, you quarter apples and remove the cores (or remove the cores first, if you've got an apple corer.)

 

Then, slice a wedge out of the peel side of the apple to make the mouth.  Dump the sliced apples in a bowl of water with about a cup of orange juice and a tablespoon or so of lemon juice or vinegar added (water should taste sour.)  This will keep them from browning later.  Then, using a skewer, make four upper "pilot holes" for your teeth - this step isn't neccesary, but it's helpful.

   

Put two slivered almond slices in the outer pilot hole for fangs, and two pepitas (we found these were easier) or sunflower seeds in between for front teeth.  

Dump your finished product back into the acidulated water.  Drain, refrigerate, and serve within a day (we did these the night before and they were fine for an afternoon snack; I packed them in an insulated cooler bag with some ice.)