Halloween and Baked Ziti

That sounds like a good combination to me! I found more Halloween books when I was looking through my cookbooks. So in case you didn't see enough yesterday, here are some more today! Martha Stewart brought Halloween back and made it the second most popular holiday in the USA. She has collaborated with the Grandinroad catalog and if you have not seen it yet, google it and go have a look. They have the best Halloween stuff out there!

Ahhhh...the enchantment of Mabon. As soon as it cools off here, one of the first things I will be making is a Mabon cake. I got the recipe from a Norwegian witch about 15 years ago. It is magical and instantly became a family favorite. I will post it step by step when I make it.

Now I just need a pumpkin!

Two would be better.

I just returned from the grocery store and bought the first of the Fall/Halloween magazines. I will show you them tomorrow.

This is a sweet little book filled with Halloween poems.

I'm sure I have others which I have not unearthed yet.

I got a baked ziti request from the Blog Tech. So while he sat at a baseball game yesterday, I whipped some up for him. I usually use a ragu to make this but this time I made a marinara from things in my garden. I sauteed Vidalia onions and my own garlic, lots of fresh herbs and finally tomatoes. After simmering until it began to thicken, I used my immersion blender to make it nice and smooth.

Then I boiled some penne until it still had a bit of a bite to it because it will continue to cook in the oven.

I mixed it with a bit of the sauce.

And then added diced cheese. I use up whatever I have around. This was Fontina and provolone.

I put a layer of it in each casserole.

Then topped it with additional sauce.

I mixed ricotta cheese with some Parmesan and spread it over the pasta.

Then I topped it with the remaining pasta.

Added more sauce.

Then sprinkled a bit more Parmesan on top.

I baked them at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Mmmmmm....these are very good!

***Remember to enter the giveaway for the new spellbook by clicking on the button on my sidebar.