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Halloween Book Club

October 29th, 2018
Spooky, Halloween, Halloween punch, Halloween cocktails, Halloween eye, Punch, cocktails

Spooky Bloodied Eye Punch

Recently, I attended a SPOOKY book club which was beautifully organized by a mom from our school.  “How did you do all this, Mini”, everyone asked. Mini wasn’t secretive about how she was able to create such a fabulous buffet while being a working mom…. she outsourced everything!

As a hostess who loves to outsource myself, I always keep an eye out for great places to contact when I am throwing my own shindig.  Mini contacted Straub’s, which is a local supermarket that specializes in gourmet food.  The book we discussed was Educated by Tara Westover, which is a wonderful book… I highly recommend it! But I have to admit, the highlight to my evening was the beautiful way Mini entertained her room full of guests and the delicious accompaniments to the wonderful book discussion.

I loved the stuffed mushrooms and the melted cheese with chutney. The chicken skewers were also easy to eat and delicious.  However, my favorite part of the appetizer buffet was the Bloody Eye Punch.  It was a mixture of juices topped of with a little champagne.

SPOOKTACULAR Halloween Party Video!

October 28th, 2018


My friend Sandra is an incredible hostess!  She is a professional floral designer but in reality, she is an artist.  Here is link to a video where we showcase her beautiful home decorated for Halloween… yes, that is a Halloween tree in the photo and she has FOUR of them! Each year, I can’t wait to see what she creates for Halloween.  It is truly spectacular. Click on the above image to go directly to the video and view her home.

Halloween, Pumpkins, spooky, bling, bling, silver,

Blingy Halloween Pumpkin by Sandra Fulton

I also had to post one of her favorite Halloween pumpkins. Sandra calls herself the Queen of Halloween and she LOVES bling!! This pumpkin, encrusted with rhinestones, gold sequins, and a myriad of other stones, is one of her favorites.  She posts it every year on her Facebook feed.

 

Spooctacular Halloween Party Buffet

October 23rd, 2018
Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Party Buffet

My friend Maureen, is a party genius! She throws many beautiful parties for all sorts of occasions, but her Halloween parties are simply SPOOCTACULAR!!! Unfortunately, I arrived a bit late to photograph the buffet before other guests arrived, so you are seeing things which have already been enjoyed.  But I think you can get some fun ideas and inspirations if you are planning your own Halloween party.  One of the things that I loved is she set-up this entire spread on her pool table.  This gave her plenty of room to have a large buffet without having to put two tables together or take up extra room with more set-up.

I think Maureen included almost every Halloween recipe.  The puking pumpkin, hot dog wrapped mummies, witchs’ fingers, pumpkins, skeletons, green dips, white dips, cakes, chips, pizza… I can go on and on!

Kudos to Maureen for all her fun ideas.  It was a real treat for everyone who attended!

Simple and Adorable HALLOWEEN Goodies For Your Next Halloween Party!

October 22nd, 2018
Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Two of the moms who made the party possible!

As some of you may know, Halloween is my FAVORITE time of year.  I love Christmas and Thanksgiving, but Halloween…. OH… it just gives me so many more opportunities to be creative! Plus, I also love seeing how creative other people can be and this is why I spend way more time than I should on Pinterest and Instagram looking for fun and innovative recipes for my Halloween parties.  Each year, I throw a Halloween bash (or what I like to call a Halloween Taste Testing) every Friday for the entire month of October.  I invite my friends, my sons’ friends and their parents, and anyone who wants to come! I ask everyone to bring a Halloween dish they love and we set it out on the buffet. Then, we all try what was created and talk about our favorites.

The below goodies were created by the many parents who attended and were considered the favorites of the taste testing! Enjoy!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Delicious Rice Krispie Treat Monsters.

The above Halloween Rice Krispie Treat Monsters are made just like any Rice Krispie treats.  However, I also dipped the top portion in candy melts and my son decorated them with various sprinkles and candy eyes.  They came out adorable.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Yummy vegetable jack-o-lanterns filled with healthy vegetables.

My friend Rhae brought these healthy jack-o-lantern pepper snacks.  A wonderful and healthy addition to the table!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats. broom sticks

Halloween Cheese and pretzel broom sticks… so CLEVER!

This pretzel and mozzarella stick broomsticks are ADORABLE.  I love the presentation as well.  Just two ingredients and a wonderful salty addition to a sweet buffet!  Way to go, Carrie!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Candy Corn Rice Krispie Treats

One of the moms brought these Halloween Candy Corn Rice Krispie treats.  I love how she packaged them (many kids took one home as a favor), brought them in a basket, and even displayed the recipe for anyone else who wants to try making them.  So thoughtful!!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Skeleton Slow Cooked Weenies (A.K.A. Guts)

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Skeleton Weenies (A.K.A. Guts)

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Helping herself to some Skeleton Guts!

OOOOHHHH… SOOOO GROSS!!! But it’s Halloween… RIGHT??!! My friend Gina (not the one pictured above), is super creative and brought the ULTIMATE snack to the party!  She needed some extra space and set-up time, but this incredible treat was a SHOW STOPPER!!! The kids loved it.  She dressed up a skeleton and inserted a slow-cooker inside his chest filled with BBQ mini hotdogs or cocktail smoked sausages.  She also brought Hawaiian buns to pair with the mini hotdogs. The kids  (and adults) had a treat scooping the “guts” or hot dogs on to their plate.  I know… I know… not for the faint of heart, but it’s HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Yummy cookie pizza

You can’t go wrong with a cookie pizza and this dessert was a fun treat for our guests.  Loved this creative idea from one of our moms!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Brownie Monsters

These adorable brownie monsters made everyone smile!  They are simple brownies with candied eyes and a gummy worm as a tongue! Another dessert winner on the buffet!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Mini Chocolate Bar Robots for Halloween

This dessert was such a fun idea  Simply take any mini chocolate bar, insert pieces of pretzels for the legs and arms, and decorate with candy sprinkles on the body.  You can make them look like anything, monster, spiders, and in this case, robots!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Candy ghosts

Hate trying to make your cake pops look perfect? Here’s the answer! These wonderful cake pops did not have to be perfectly round to be  winners.  Once they were dipped in candy melts, they simply were allowed to free form.   After the candy melts set a bit, the mom carved in some faces, which also did not need to be perfect.  Two thumbs up for this fun and creative dessert!

I love how these adorable desserts looked together!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

My Halloween flowers. I love how some stores dye their flowers black during Halloween. It gives me so many ideas for arrangements.  I also love the background of the skeleton.  Sort of reminds me of a grave!  Okay, now I’m getting a bit gory!

Adorable Halloween guests.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Orange Jack-O-Lanterns filled with fruit salad.

I always give two thumbs up to anyone who brings healthy desserts.  This mom went all out and created these fun Halloween orange Jack-O-Lanterns.  She filled them with fruit salad and voila!

Easy Halloween Party Food!

October 16th, 2018
Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Pumpkin cake I ordered at Sam’s

As you may or may not know, I love to throw my two sons Halloween parties.  I invite tons of kids and their parents and it becomes a fun potluck.  I ask the parents to bring one Halloween dish they would love to showcase and they NEVER disappoint.  Here are some of the fun and easy Halloween dishes the parents brought to the party.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Healthy monster jaws.

I love these delicious apple, peanut butter, and marshmallow treats made to look like monster jaws.  The mom also added a fruit roll-up as the tongue. This was a fun treat for the kids.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Monster, ghost, and pumpkin cookies from Sam’s

If you know me, you know that I outsource as much as I can, especially baked goods.  When it comes to my annual Halloween parties, my favorite place to outsource from is Sam’s.  I order my Halloween cakes from there as well as any thematic cookies. I would imagine Costco has the same fun desserts, but either way, buying in bulk is always a great thing for parties, so I highly recommend it!  Best of all, these cookies were a fraction of what I would pay for custom designed cookies.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Dirt n’ Worms

You cannot help but fall in love with this adorable dessert created by my friend Zalina.  Dirt n’ Worms! I love how she used fun black kettle containers.  Needless to say, I don’t think we had any left over!! They are filled with chocolate mousse (or you can use pudding), crumbled Oreo cookes, and gummy bears.

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Monster Eye Cake Pops

My friend Tara did NOT disappoint with these fun and funny Monster Eye Cake Pops! We all know how hard it is to make cake pops look perfect… well, with this theme, the more imperfect the eye is, the better!  She made a regular cake pop mixture, rolled it, and dipped it in candy melts. Last but not least, she popped a candy eye on top and VOILA!!!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Fruit ghosts and pumpkins

Seriously… can these be any cuter? My friend Jenna created these adorable tangerine pumpkins and banana ghosts. Adorable and healthy!!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Spider Web Dip

I’ve made spider web dips before, but mine NEVER came out so cute! This was a delicious seven layer dip created by my friend who is an incredible entertainer.  This Halloween dip was a HIT and was the perfect savory accompaniment to all the sweet items on the buffet. DELICIOUS!!

 

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Some of the kids enjoying the Halloween buffet.

The calm before the storm.  This was early on in the party when just a few kids arrived. I typically have fifteen or more people hanging out in my kitchen which include adults and children.  When the party starts, everything is so well organized and displayed.  By the end of the party…. it’s not a pretty site!

Halloween, Halloween party, cake, Halloween cake, pumpkin, pumpkin cake, sweets, Halloween sweets, spooky party, spooky treats, scary treats.

Halloween Bat Wings

My friend created these fun Halloween Bat Wings from Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, Oreo Cookies, and candy eyes. They are ADORABLE!

HALLOWEEN MONSTER VEGGIE PLATTER

October 31st, 2015
HALLOWEEN VEGGIE PLATE

I am ending 31 Days of Halloween off with a BANG!!  This healthy veggie platter was a hit at a recent party I attended.  It was fun and funny!  And best of all… HEALTHY!!!  Happy Halloween Everyone!

The Ghoulish Green Haze

October 29th, 2015

greenhaze

A great blast from the past!  We featured this drink in St. Louis Entertains Magazine a few years back and it has always been a Halloween favorite! This drink is delicious and a perfect addition to any Halloween bar menu or even as a signature drink!

Ingredients

  • 1 shot Gin
  • 1 shot Creme de Menthe
  • Splash Pineapple Juice
  • Splash Ginger Ale

Preparation

Pour the two shots into a martini shaker with ice and shake well. Pour into martini glass and top with pineapple juice and Ginger Ale

SUPER EASY SUGAR COOKIES

October 26th, 2015

cookies

The month of October was a busy one for me!  While doing research for my upcoming book, I decided to try-out some fun Halloween recipes I found on Pinterest, magazines, books, and various other sources.  The goal was for me to see if some of the most popular recipes were as good as their inventors claimed they were.  So, over the past four weeks, I’ve had four taste test kitchens and invited children who’s ages range from 8 to 13.

The main goal was to have these kids try some fun recipes and tell me what they REALLY thought.  And that is exactly what I got!

I had various kinds of feedback… too sweet, too salty, not enough sugar, too dry… but predominantly they were all thumbs up.  The sugared cookies, pictured above were by far, the most popular items.  Super easy and a few ingredients, who could ask for anything more?

INGREDIENTS

1 package of Pillsbury Sugar Cookie Dough
1/4 cup of flour
1 Package Betty Crocker Cookie Icing – Black
Candied Googly Eyes available at most craft stores in the baking section

PREPARATION

Remove the Pillsbury dough from package and put in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of flour and knead with your hands until the dough forms. Flour your cutting board and place the dough on top. Flour your rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch. Remember to keep flouring your rolling pin a little bit with every roll. This dough tends to be sticky.

Get your bat cookie cutters and cut out your cookies. Repeat the step to roll out the dough with any leftovers.

Place the bat cookies in the oven and cook according to dough package direction.  Keep an eye on them, the thinner the dough, the faster they tend to burn.

Once cookies are done, let them cool and harden.

Once the cookies are cooled, begin decorating them. Just snip off the tip above the second ring, massage the bag a little bit and make your outline. Then, flood the bat and add the googly eyes. Let dry 5-10 minutes and enjoy!

PUMPKIN PATCH HUMMUS DIP

October 24th, 2015

pumpkinpatchhummusdip

Seriously, how can you not fall in love with this great idea for an appetizer? It’s easy to put together and fun for guests to nibble on. All you need are carrots, parsley, green onion, toothpicks, and hummus.

A few years ago I posted this recipe (on the bottom left) but then realized that you can use pre-cut and bagged carrots (main image) instead of cutting them yourself.  Best part? The pre-cut and bagged carrots have ridges and are different shapes, a lot like pumpkins. Still yummy but now you can save a step and not have cut the carrots!!!!

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg Hummus
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 green onion
  • 1 bunch fresh parsley
  • toothpicks

Preparation

Just slice the carrots, take some parsley leaves and attach them to the carrot with a toothpick. Slide a piece of green onion over the toothpick to have a look of a stem and arrange on a bed of hummus. Told ya it was simple! Thanks to the folks at Disney magazine for inspiring me with this recipe.

HALLOWEEN BLOODSHOT EYES!

October 22nd, 2015

bloodshoteyes

Here’s a fun Halloween recipe which will take you five to ten minutes to prepare!  This was fun to make and fun to eat!  My kids loved it and the kids at my Halloween Taste Test Kitchen gobbled these little cuties up within minutes.  What do I like most about it.  Portion size!  Since you are working with snack-sized chocolates, you immediately have your portion sizes figured out for you!  Trust me, you’ll love that!!

INGREDIENTS

1 bag of Snack sized Three Musketeers chocolates
1 bag of marshmallows
1 package of candy googly eyes
1 bottle or bag of ready-made red icing

PREPARATION

Arrange the Three Musketeers chocolates on a plate or platter.  Take a marshmallow and start slicing it to create the large portion of the eye.  Take the slices of marshmallows and adhere them to the candy.  Adhere the googly eye to the marshmallow.  Finally, pipe the red icing on to the marshmallow to make it look like a bloodshot eye. The first and the lasts slices of the Marshmallow will not be sticky on one side. If you will be using these pieces, adhere them with the red icing.