Venus Figgy Fly Traps…

            Growing up I was always fascinated by meat eating plants.  I secretly judged other kids who only knew about the ‘super star venus fly trap” (what no knowledge of pitcher plants? total pleb.) I think that is how dinosaur kids feel about people who only know triceratops or t. rexes.  I clearly remember brining a tiny venus fly trap home from the nursery one year and daring myself to put my pinkie inside to see if it would hurt.  I remember my dad feeding it dog food as an experiment.  It didn’t go so well.  But it was a big deal at the time, and when my son Jim showed a bit of interest in carnivorous plants I was all over it.  We picked one up at the hardware store and I’m happy to say, that thing is still going, it is very droopy and anemic looking, but it has not died a sudden dog food related death yet! So in honor of these crazy plants that don’t stay in their lane, here is how to make venus fly traps for all sorts of Halloween decorating!  Pitcher plants will have to wait until next year, but I have some ideas brewing.

Step one: pull out the candied figs you made following this blog post:

https://waywardgirlbakes.com/2020/09/candied-figs-2/ or make a batch. They are seriously SO good.

update: If you do not have candied figs, feel free to use dried figs.  You might need to cut a few up to find one that has a good “mouth” shape, but they should work totally fine, especially using the edge pieces.  Just slice them along the width and fold the two pieces so that the inner seed part sticks out.  The candied figs will already have been sliced, but will need to be folded back.  Then just follow the steps below.

1. Microwave green candy melts using 15 second increments and stir until all melty.

Dip the back of the fig “mouth” in the candy melt and thoroughly coat.  Lay on parchment paper until hardened and dry.

2. Using more melty green candy melts, glue this fig head to either a gingerbread cookie that is coated with green candy melt or a popsicle stick that has been coated green.

3. Go over this stalk with more green piped frosting and pipe out leaves.

That’s it! These stalks can be used on cupcakes for a creepy botanical vibe, or used for a chilling gingerbread house.  They also taste great, so eat them before they eat you!

No other movie could ever live in this post besides Little Shop of Horrors.  It is literally the most fun but most cruel movie ever.  The songs are so great, but the lyrics are literally deadly.  I loved it and was shocked and horrified by it from the first time I saw it as a kid, and needless to say, it has grown on me even more since! Get it? like Audrey 2…grew?  Any one?  Leave your favorite musical in the comments, I’de love to hear about them!