Trick-or-treating isn't the only way to score your Halloween treats this year. In this fun, hands-on workshop for kids and the grown-ups who bring them, Rahaf Alakbani leads spooky, kid-sized Halloween menu — with a little Middle Eastern flair worked in along the way. Rahaf's own children, Nai and Jad, will be joining in as her kitchen assistants for the day, keeping things fun (and only a little bit messy).
Costumes are welcome — feel free to come dressed for the occasion!
Part of Rahaf's work in Children and Youth Studies at York focuses on strengthening relationships and connection between children and their parents/caregivers through shared creative experiences like cooking, music, and art. More than just cooking together, this workshop is designed to connect, collaborate, and strengthen relationships through a fun, collaborative activity in the kitchen.
Best suited to kids ages 5–12, accompanied by a participating parent or guardian. Additional kids can join for 1/2 price.
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Hot Dog Mummies
Little chefs kick things off by wrapping hot dogs (halal or veggie) in strips of dough, swaddling them up mummy-style before they go in the oven to bake up golden. A pair of candy eyes finishes the fright.
Witch Finger Cookies
While the mummies bake, kids roll and shape their own batch of cookie dough into gnarled "witch fingers," each one finished with an almond fingernail attached with homemade berry jam.
Spooky Mini Cakes
A batch of chocolate mini cakes, baked in Halloween-shaped molds — pumpkins, ghosts, bats and skulls — gives kids a canvas for the best part: piling on icing and decorations however their imagination takes them.
Hummus Halloween Faces
While the cookies and cakes bake and cool, the kids will learn how to make fresh hummus, and then get to use it to build fun faces on crackers, using olives and colourful vegetables, which everyone will get to eat along with their 'mummies'.
After snack time comes the fun of finishing the cookies, decorating the mini cakes, and getting to eat some fresh baked treats! Extra cookies and cakes get boxed up to take home, show off and share.
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Rahaf Alakbani hails from Sweida in southwestern Syria. She arrived in Canada in 2016 with her husband Esmaeel Aboufakher, and together they helped launch Newcomer Kitchen, Nai Syrian Children's Choir and Haneen Women's Choir as part of their ongoing work to support their community. Rahaf continues to nurture her twin loves of Syrian cooking and culture in workshops, choirs and concerts across the GTA, sharing songs and recipes passed down from her mother and grandmother. Rahaf and Esmaeel have recently completed their Masters in Arts and Humanities at York while raising their two young children. @the_rahaf_kitchen | @haneen_choir_ca
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The Depanneur is where Interesting Food Things happen. For more than a decade The Dep has been showcasing Toronto's remarkable culinary diversity by hosting unique food events. @thedepanneur
