Halloween Dinner 2014

Woohoo! Halloween party time has arrived.

Sue and I had a dinner for family and friends this year and, once again, went a little crazy with the food!

It is just so much fun coming up with fun, spooky, and just plain gross Halloween food. 

Sue really outdid herself this year. 

She took on most of the projects herself with me just being her assistant. 

I am posting photos of the dishes and - where available - I am posting links to the individual posts that include the instructions and/or recipes.

Starting with the above Guacamole Witch. She looks super cool and is surprisingly easy to put together. (Click HERE for that recipe and how-to!)

We took our popular Brain Dip from a previous post (Click HERE for the recipe) and made it in a skull mold this time. A little black pasta hair, some mozzarella and olives for eyes and *voila* Spooky Skull Dip!

These little guys take about 5 minutes to cut out. Just like carving a pumpkin!

They sure make a veggie tray look Halloween-y.

Speaking of veggie trays....

How cool is this cauliflower skull? Our guest, Kari, brought this to the party. 

Love how creepy it looks.

I made some deviled eggs a little more Halloween-y by boiling them, gently cracking the shells and then soaking the cracked eggs in water dyed red with food coloring. 

These little guys were definitely a big hit for the night.

Jalapeno Popper Mummies! (Click HERE for the how to and recipe!)

So cute and so easy too!

We found this guy in a Woman's World Magazine and decided to put our own spin on the recipe. 

He is a Mummy Pizza Dip with Crispy Ravioli Dippers.

Something a little different than the usual chips and dip!

Sue made these Cheesy Macaroni Pumpkins and they were to die for! (Click HERE for the recipe and how-to!!)

We were going to make them jack o' lanterns by painting them with some of the black ketchup in the background but ran out of time. They were every bit as tasty without their faces though. 

Sue said she might make this her new go-to macaroni recipe!

Here's a Jack O'Lantern Cheese Ball that definitely is better with a face. Our sister, Orra, brought this to share. Very cheesy, very Halloween-y.

Moving into the realm of grossness...

Can we offer you a finger on a bun? That is - a hot dog carved to look like a finger...

Very quick and easy and certainly made an impact on our guests!

Speaking of gross....

This Meatloaf Mummy was a huge hit. We simply mixed up our meatloaf with our usual spices and chopped onion and a little red pepper, then pressed it into a face mask mold to shape it, then used onion for the eyes and teeth, and then wrapped it bacon before cooking it. 

So much eeeewww.... (but delicious!)

The Meatloaf Mummy was the topper for our Gruesome Meat Man.

Disgusting, right?

But so tasty. 

He consists of the meatloaf face, BBQ ribs (for the ribs, obviously) and then some cooked sausages brushed with a little BBQ Sauce (for the intestines). 

Another idea for deviled eggs, in case you don't want to make eyeballs...

I made these for Thanksgiving but they work equally well for Halloween!

Another pumpkin treat I made at Thanksgiving but works for Halloween too - Cheesy Pumpkin Biscuits. 

All you need is some Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, paprika, cheese, a little dill, and a pumpkin cookie cutter.

You could even make a jack o' lantern face with some chopped black olives if you wanted to!

Pretty fancy schmancy looking spread!

But, of course, it wouldn't be a party without dessert!!

And tons of desserts there were.....

My Chocolate & Caramel Covered Popcorn Balls were pretty addicting. 

(Click HERE for recipe and how-to)

Plus they looked pretty.

Our guest, Steph, brought some Witches hats to share. They are made with a chocolate cookie, Hershey's kiss and some orange frosting. Simple yet very cute!

These guys just crack me up.

Killer Bees.... 

Too funny. Sue gets credit for putting together these murderous beasts but, in my defense, I came up with the idea. Just sayin'...

They body is a raspberry filled marshmallow cookie (such as Viva Puffs) with some yellow frosting for the strips and a marshmallow for wings. We used edible candy eyes for the eyes, and plastic food pics for the machetes. 

Sue made some traditional Caramel Apples that were amazing.

Ooey gooey, sticky, and a few peanuts for crunch! 

Perfection!

And it just wouldn't be a party without some homemade chocolate cake. 

Topped with some adorable marshmallow fondant ghosties of course.

But, if pie is more your thing then you might want to try some Pumpkin Hand Pies! (Click HERE for recipe)

You could even make them jack o' lanterns by cutting out little triangle eyes and a mouth before baking them to make them more Halloween-y.

Thanks to Oriental Trading we had some spooky glasses to drink out of...

This one is filled with my attempt at a Shirley Temple.

Looks pretty nasty but this was our Apple Juice and Fireball Whiskey "Specimen" Shooters.

They taste just like apple pie!! So good.

Sue and I wish everyone a happy Halloween!!

(That's me on the white, covered in blood - and Sue is the Coke can!)

We hope you enjoyed our dinner ideas for this year and would love to hear and comments, questions, or suggestions you have.

 

Be sure to check out these fun linky parties for tons of great links - Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons, My Turn (for us),