Halloween Beets!

Orange beets?  I've never seen the like!  Aren't they gorgeous?  Actually, they are called Golden Beets.  I spotted them at Whole Foods on Sunday morning while browsing in the produce aisles.  Every time I do that I get in trouble.  There's always a new veggie that wants to jump into my cart!  I showed them to my husband who immediately proclaimed:  Halloween Beets!  We had to bring some home, of course!

Slice up a red onion, for even more Halloween color!  And, why do they call it a red onion when anybody with a decent set of eyes can see that it's really purple?

I layered the salad on a beet leave.  It's so pretty - and completely edible, too!

We love this salad!  I shared the recipe here,  but this time I used Montrachet Goat Cheese with Garlic and Herbs for a change of pace.  It was so light and creamy!  I'm going to have to use that cheese again soon!  Isn't it fun to change up a recipe now and then?  It's such an adventure!

Doesn't it look good?  Lately, I find that I prefer dotting salads with a Balsamic vinegar reduction, instead of dousing them with salad dressing.  A little restraint really allows for the flavors to come through.

I toss it with my hands, so as not to break the slices.  Sure, broken pieces would be just as tasty, but where is the art?  The tossed beets, with onions, olive oil, salt and pepper are stored in the refrigerator in a covered dish, then the remaining ingredients are added when I'm ready to serve.

With some chicken roasting in the oven, and the salad ready to serve, we turned our attention to the main event for the night - answering the doorbell!

A Shakespearean Halloween

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.

                Enter the three Witches.

  1 WITCH.  Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd.
  2 WITCH.  Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin'd.
  3 WITCH.  Harpier cries:—'tis time! 'tis time!

 

   

 1 WITCH.  Round about the caldron go;

  In the poison'd entrails throw.—

    Toad, that under cold stone,
    Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot!

       ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble; 
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

      
2 WITCH.  Fillet of a fenny snake,
    In the caldron boil and bake; 

    Eye of newt,

 

and toe of frog,

 

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

 

    Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
    Lizard's leg, and owlet's wing,—

    For a charm of powerful trouble,
    Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. 

       ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

    3 WITCH.  Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf;
    Witches' mummy; maw and gulf 

 

  Of the ravin'd salt-sea shark;
    Root of hemlock digg'd i the dark;



    Liver of blaspheming Jew;
    Gall of goat, and slips of yew
    Sliver'd in the moon's eclipse;

   Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips;

 
Finger of birth-strangled babe
    Ditch-deliver'd by a drab,—
Make the gruel thick and slab: 

Add thereto a tiger's chaudron,
For the ingrediants of our caldron.      

ALL.  Double, double toil and trouble;
    Fire burn, and caldron bubble.

       2 WITCH.  Cool it with a baboon's blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.

—Act IV, Scene 1, Macbeth, by William Shakespeare

The cast:

Witches Brew Linens and Salad Plates:  Pottery Barn Online
Black dinner plates:  The Dollar Tree
Water and wine glasses:  The Dollar Tree
Short candlesticks:  The Dollar Tree
Tall candlesticks:  Wedding gift from Marshall Field's, 30 years ago
Flatware:  Treble Clef by Gourmet Settings
Dessert glassware, candles:  Bed, Bath and Beyond
Black tablecloths:  Bed, Bath and Beyond
Mercury glass pumpkin and crow:  Pottery Barn
Mini salt and pepper shakers:  Crate and Barrel
Slate servers:  Crate and Barrel

I'm linking to the following parties:

Tablescape Thursday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Let's Dish at Cuisine Kathleen