Halloween was back this year! The kids spent the entire month booing their friends in the neighborhood, which involved leaving a bag of candies, ringing the doorbell, and running the hell out of there. For the big day, our kids dressed up as a witch, petit Nicholas, and a princess. They each collected at least 2 pounds of candies to make up for last year. Wish us luck!

Chocolate pudding

(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

For a 9″ baking pan, or 8 individual cups

40 g cornstarch (sifted)
100 g sugar
1/8 tsp salt
700 ml whole milk (or a mix of skimmed milk and heavy cream – whatever you have in the fridge)
170 g semi-sweet chocolate (coarsely chopped)
1 tsp vanilla extract (or grand marnier, rum, etc.)
1 package of Oreos (optional)
1 small package of gummy worms (optional)

1. In a medium saucepan, whisk cornstarch + sugar + salt.
2. While whisking, slowly add milk (or a mixture of milk and heavy cream)
3. Heat the milk mixture over medium heat until thicken while stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
   • Note: the milk must be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
4. Stir in the chopped cholate.
5. Add vanilla extract, or grand marnier, or rum if desired.
6. Pour in a 9″ baking pan or individual cups.
   • Note: optional, you can cover with a plastic wrap to avoid pudding skin.
7. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
8. To decorate (optional):
   • Use a food processor to process the cookie parts of the Oreos (discard the cream).
   • Spoon plenty of cookie crumbs on top of the chocolate pudding.
   • Add gummy worms.