Halloween recipes?

[BevP]

What's your best halloween dish? And do you plan a party for kids or adults?

[AndreaU]

I make this Cool Whip recipe called "Ghosts in the Graveyard" every Halloween. I know it's corny (especially since my husband & I don't have any kids) and hardly gourmet, but it includes 3 of our favorite things: Milano cookies, chocolate pudding & Cool Whip! Who says you have to stop eating like a kid?

[Nova]

Hi...I used to have Halloween parties for the neighborhood kids, when I lived near my parents. I have four younger brothers and sister so all their friends would come over. I miss those alot!! But I have a couple of recipes that we made every year. Simple, but the kids loved them. Are you planning a party?? Martha Stewart just came out with a special Halloween issue of her magazine and there are some really great ones in there too. Like "floating eyeball drinks"...you freeze stuffed olives in the icecubes, so they look like eyeballs floating in your glass. I always made cupcakes and dyed them different colors like black and orange, or green and decorated them. One year I made a spider web cake. Let me know if you want some of those recipes and I will post them for you.

[mightyh]

To add a question to this thread... I've just moved to a new neighborhood which, I'm told, is "very into Halloween." Any cool ideas on what to give as treats--we'll have a million trick or treaters by the looks of this place. I kind of wanted to do something easy, yet creative.

[Missi]

A fun snack is taking plastic gloves (NOT latex, but those see through, almost like plastic wrap kind), putting candy corn in each of the fingers and then filling the glove with popcorn. Tie the end off with some yarn. They look like old withered hands. You could use carmel corn as well.

I have also taken fudge-striped cookies and turned them upside down so the fudge covered side is on top. Take icing or marshmallow cream and "glue" and unwrapped hershey's kiss in the middle of the cookie. They look like witches hats. (not a snack made from scratch, but fun and easy!)

[SusanD]

This isn't a treat, but more of a fun halloween game if you have lots of kids in your neighborhood. Last year (our first year in our house), about a week before halloween, I was making dinner when the doorbell rang. I went to the door and no one was there, but sitting on our step was a decorated bag. I opened it, and inside was a bunch of candy and a note with a big drawing of a ghost on it. The note said that I was to photocopy the ghost three times and put together three treat packages (I made rice krispy bars sprinkled with orange sugar), and leave them for others in the neighborhood. Then I was to put the picture of the ghost in my window to show that my house had been "hit". Even though I don't have kids (yet), it was a lot of fun, and fun to see all the houses with ghosts in their windows!

[lindrusso]

Originally posted by SusanD:
The note said that I was to photocopy the ghost three times and put together three treat packages (I made rice krispy bars sprinkled with orange sugar), and leave them for others in the neighborhood.

Not to be a total party pooper - and maybe I'm being totally paranoid here - but I don't think I'd eat anything if I didn't know where it came from - especially something homemade. In this day and age, you just NEVER know.

So maybe the game could be done with inedibles - little pumpkins or other little doodads?? I remember my neighborhood starting something similar, but I don't remember what was in the treat bag.

It makes me sad that the world out there has made me feel this way!!

[MrsReber]

That was my first thought, lindrusso! I would love to make home made goodies for the neighborhood kids, but I can only give them to the ones who's parents we know real well (and that's not many, although we have plenty of visiting children everyday!). It is very unfortunate, but I buy bags of candy each year. I just know that alot of parents don't trust the candy and I don't know that I would where my child's life was concerned. Sick folks in this world, it's true, but that is such a cute idea for a game with the ghosts!

[SHERRY]

I'll try again to post this, had trouble first time. Anyway, I just make up little halloween bags for the kids, filled with stickers, erasers, pencil, candy, etc. But, a neat thing our neighborhood does that you may want to start is called the Halloween Phantom. Basically, one or two people start the chain, ringing a neighbors doorbell, leaving a note and a plate of goodies, and running. The note is in the shape of a ghosts and requests that you copy the ghost, which has a note written on it, post it in a window, and make a plate of goodies, homeade preferably, and take it to another neighbor that does not have a phantom in their window. The kids love to do this, ring the bell and run. It is started a week or so before Halloween and you never know when or who will be ringing your house. If anyone wants the actual note, I can email it to you.

[SHERRY]

Forgot to add something, I have made the witches hats too. they are fun. Another idea is to dip the nutter butter cookies in almond bark. it takes a couple dips. then put eyes and mouth, with black icing, on them for ghosts. Another one is dipping oreos in orange colored almond bark and making black icing triangle eyes, nose and mouth for pumpkins. have fun!!

[lindrusso]

Not to keep pushing Martha Stewart on this board or anything, but she has a Halloween issue out that looks FABULOUS - I'm going hunting for it today. It has stuff like Pina Ghouladas with "blood" dripping down the glass (just some corn syrup and food coloring), graveyard cupcakes and popcorn balls that you can wrap to look like little pumpkins. Many of them look uncharacteristically easy - imagine that!

There is also stuff for doing great makeup and no-sew costumes (now THAT'S definitely up my alley!). I am hosting a Halloween party for the moms in my MOMS Club and thanks to Martha I am totally getting into it now - I never used to be into Halloween much I guess.

You can get many ideas from her website without having to buy the magazine - www.marthastewart.com (http://www.marthastewart.com) - and on her Halloween bulletin board there's a cool/gross idea for a Hallowe'en Post Mortem - check it out.

[This message has been edited by lindrusso (edited 09-15-2000).]

[JennyLiz]

Parent's Magazine had the cutest pretzel stick monsters last year. They were the long pretzel sticks, tops dipped in chocolate, then dipped in solid colored sprinkles. They used tiny edible candy eyes too.

I went on a quest for the edible eyes last year, but never found a source. Frosting would work as well, but a it's little extra trouble. Let me know if you need more specifics, I'd be happy to post the recipe. JennyLiz

[lindrusso]

Here's a recipe that I just found. A friend served these at a Halloween party last year and they were fun, easy and tasty.

Eyeballs

1/2 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp. butter, softened
1 cup sifted powdered sugar
4 oz. vanilla flavored candy coating
20 m & m's
red and black decorater gel

Mix together peanut butter and butter. Gradually add powdered sugar,
stirring until combined. Shape into 1-inch balls; place on waxed paper.
Let stand about 20 minutes or until dry. In a small saucepan (or microwave)
melt candy coating. Dip balls, one at a time, into coating. Place on waxed
paper. Immediately press an M&M into center of each peanut ball. Let stand
until coating is firm. Add a dot of black gell to the center of the M&M for
pupils. Drizzle red gel for bloodshot eyes. Makes about 20 eyeballs.

[Jen]

I saw an idea once that I thought was great - but haven't had time to try it yet. They made up cakes (just mixes I think) in two identical bundt pans, then put them tops together to make a circle and iced it with orange icing to make a pumpkin. With the ridges down the sides from the pans like a pumpkin (they lined up the ridges) it looked amazing! For the stalk, they just used a stack of dixie cups down the hole in the centre, and iced the top ones (that showed) with green icing. Then they just added licorice etc. to make a jack o'lantern face. It looked really amazing - almost too good to eat!

[BevP]

Thanks everyone, they all sound great. I'm not sure yet if I'm doing a halloween party. We're due to give a bash to friends and I thought that would be an easy theme to use.

[food girl]

My 10 year old neice gave me a book called "Play with Your Food". It has the best pumpkin carvings you have seen. I copied several of them last year. My favorite ones use the pumpkin stem as the nose. This means that you have to make a hole in a different part to hollow out the inside.
The book has some hilarious faces made with green onions (the roots are the hair standing on end). Once I made a whole drama with some green onions being menaced by some leeks with capers for eyes. very funny for me and my hubby...I have thought about using some of the ideas for centerpieces when good-humored friends come to dinner.

[andreajackson]

All of your ideas are so creative! I love to give goodies around holiday time, so if anyone has any other give-away ideas will you please post!

[jmkenad]

I think that I saw the pumpkin-bundt cake idea in a magazine last October. When I dig out my Halloween box I'll see if I can find it (I save alot of the good magazines from past years in my holiday decorations boxes - for future reference).

One idea that I've used (which doesn't include anything home-made) is ghost suckers. This is also a good activity that younger children can assist with. All you need is a box of white tissues, a black fine or medium tip marker, some orange or black colored yarn or ribbon and round suckers (tootsie roll suckers or dum-dums work well). You just wrap a tissue around the outside of the sucker, tie ribbon under the sucker part and then use your marker to make eyes and a mouth for your ghost. Very easy!

I'll post with more when I find my box!