New Music Monday - Halloween Music Week 1

I will admit it's a little early to start thinking Halloween, but I can't help it. The weather is sooooooo halloweenish tonight. Cool breeze, leaves blowing in the wind. Halloween is my favorite. I can remember every single costume I wore growing up! Man, we had some great ones! My mom always came up with something cool for us to dress up as. That woman is pure magic with a pair of scissors, some felt and craft glue. :) Anyways, Halloween. I love everything about it - the dressing up, the creepiness, the getting and eating of the candy and of course the music. Most people don't know there is actually a ton of great Halloween music out there besides the theme to Ghostbusters and Thriller.

So in honor of my favorite holiday I will be posting ten creepy songs every new music monday right up until Halloween!! Yes, there are that many!!!! I hope you're as excited as I am for this!!!

The first song on the list is 'Dead Souls' by Nine Inch Nails. It's a great tune and you just don't get too much creepier than Trent Reznor. Dead Souls was on the soundtrack for 'The Crow' movie that came out wayyyyyyyy back in good old 1994. The song is actually a cover as it was first done by the band Joy Division.


Next we have the song 'Bloodletting' by Concrete Blonde. Love it!!!!


A cover of The Doors classic 'People Are Strange' by Echo and the Bunnymen. A great song from the 'Lost Boys' soundtrack!!


Nothing says creepy like The Smiths' song 'How Soon Is Now.' You'll remember it from the hit tv show 'Charmed.'


'Fresh Blood' by the amazing band The Eels. This track made it on to the True Blood soundtrack for season two! Good stuff!!!


I have been a huge fan of The Cranberries since their first album came out in the early 90s. You can't have a Halloween soundtrack without 'Zombie.'


One of the creepiest songs of all time for me is 'Lullaby' by The Cure. I am scared to death of spiders and that's what this song is all about!!!


'Ghost Town' was a huge hit in 1981 for the british band The Specials. Uber creepy and quirky at the same time.


'Creep' by Radiohead was so freaking huge back in the day. I know it doesn't scream HALLOWEEN!!! like some of the more obvious songs do, but it's such a cool tune I had to include it. It's about being a freaking outcast. Outcasts are creepy.


Last one for this week!!! I have always loved The Bravery and their song 'The Spectator' is uber creepy. It's about being an outsider. Love the line 'His eyes are like two cats scratching in his head, begging him for sleep, starving for a bed.' Ya. Creepy.


Well, that's it for now!! Until next week!!!!

Gram's Apple Crisp

Cooler weather is upon us and that means apple season is here. I love apple season!! I have so many great apple recipes, so I thought I'd share one of my very favorites. It just happens to be my gram's apple crisp. Gram just turned 84 years young last week and she can bake like no one else I have ever known. She is the coolest!! I love you, Gram!!!!!

Now let me start by saying that I know there are thousands upon thousands of recipes for apple crisp out there. What makes this one better than all of those other ones is that a) it's simple b) it does NOT have oatmeal - I do love oatmeal, but not in my crisp c) it has crisco AND butter in it. So there. This recipe is not good for you. Deal with it. Not everything has to be good for you, people!!! I'm not saying you should eat this every day or put crisco in everything, but I think it's okay to have something "bad" once in awhile. I mean, you're going to die anyways so you might as well enjoy yourself. Moving on.... I like to use a couple of different varieties of apples in the crisp - it varies based on what's available and what I feel like! Just make sure you get some that will hold their shape when cooking or it will be more like apple sauce with crumb topping. Cortlands are the best in my opinion. Red delicious and granny smith work as well especially if you like it a little more on the tart side. The possibilities are endless!!



Gram's Apple Crisp

4 cups peeled, sliced apples
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon (I LOVE penzy's Ceylon cinnamon)
1/4 cup Crisco
1/4 cup real butter (if you try and use margarine it will suck and I will personally beat you)
1 cup granulated sugar

Peel and slice the apples. Lay them into a greased 9x9 baking dish. Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles course crumbs. Top apples with crumbs and bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!!! Oh, and caramel sauce is really good on this too! :)