This year I really wanted to host a Halloween party for my friends. I love Halloween, something about dressing up in costumes, carving pumpkins, decorating and enjoying a nice pumpkin beer really gets me. During the month of October I watch Halloween themed movies all month long, whether it’s the traditional Halloween movie starring Jamie Lee Curtis or the classic Hocus Pocus starring Bette Midler as our glorious Winifred Sanderson! That Michael Myers just never dies!
This year for our Halloween party, I didn’t pick any particular theme, just decorated with traditional Halloween items I had and added some touches to the appetizers and desserts I served. Everyone came dressed up in costumes and we even enjoyed a fire pit in the backyard!
One of the surprises I had for the party was a bubbling cauldron, two actually. I had bought a cauldron on sale last year at Christmas Tree Shops after the season so it was cheap and I pulled it out this year for our party. I also had purchased a Mist Maker on Amazon and placed that inside a cauldron to give an effect of a bubbling cauldron. I’ll link a similar one I bought here.
For my food menu, I served a variety of appetizers and a couple of desserts. I’ve noticed over the years that people generally aren’t that big into desserts, but I feel desserts can really bring a party together. I usually make a signature cocktail as well but I decided not to this year. I told everyone to bring a beverage of their choice and I provided seltzer water and soda.
I served a cheese and meat board. I used a few cheeses, pepperoni, salami, crackers and Triscuits. This is always a big hit. Everyone loves cheese and crackers! Spinach dip served in a hollowed out Italian bread was another appetizer. I couldn’t find pumpernickel bread for the life of me in the grocery stores so I ended up using a round Italian bread instead. Not the same as the traditional pumpernickel bread, but it did its job. I served vegetables and dip as well. These appetizers are easy and everyone loves these!
A few years ago, my friend Dana introduced my friends and I to this Greek-inspired hummus dip and it’s pretty much become a staple at any party that we have. It’s so easy to make as well. Simply spread classic hummus on a platter, cover with chopped red onion, cucumber and black olives and sprinkle feta cheese over top. Serve with pita chips or even tortilla chips taste just as good!
And as you can see in the corners of the dip is my attempt at creating black olive spiders, just trying to add a little Halloween detail to the food.
Pizza has got to be one of my favorite foods, just ask my husband. If I could eat pizza every day without gaining the pounds from it, I would. So I decided to make pumpkin pizzas for the party. I found a recipe on Pinterest that used a skull pan from Nordicware but I had only found a pumpkin one from Wilton so I used that instead. I served these little pizza filled pumpkins with pizza sauce and they were a huge hit! There were no leftovers by the end of the party.
Some were burned a little bit while baking in the oven, but they tasted good just the same.
And finally for dessert, I made cupcakes and chocolate covered Oreos. I had been meaning to make chocolate covered Oreos for the longest time and found this silicone pan on Amazon. Two pans for $13! Can’t beat that! I just melted almond bark which can be found in your baking aisle in the grocery store, filled each silicone cavity with the melted bark, placed an Oreo on top and covered each with more melted bark. I placed the molds in the refrigerator to harden overnight and decorated the next day. I made little Frankenstein monsters and mummies. They came out great and delicious!
One of the cupcakes I made were bloody cupcakes. I baked white cake cupcakes in these bloody cupcake liners I found at Christmas Tree Shops, spread white icing over top and squirted red gel food coloring on top and “stabbed” each cupcake with a knife. They came out great!
The cupcakes I was super excited about were my black witches cauldron cupcakes. I found the black silicone cauldron cups at Michaels last year after Halloween, so they were on sale for super cheap. I baked devil’s food cake in each cup, spread green icing over top and decorated with Halloween-inspired sprinkles. I have to say they not only looked good but tasted good as well!
For our costumes this year, I wanted to pick something that I knew my husband would go along with. A few years ago he suggested Garth and Wayne from Wayne’s World and those costumes were a BIG hit! I think I received over a hundred likes on Facebook. This year, I thought Guns N’ Roses musicians, Slash and Axl Rose, he’d be more inclined to dress up and I was right!
My friends costumes were great too!
We enjoyed a fire pit in our backyard where I served Jell-O shots, a staple at all my parties. I didn’t take any pictures of these, but I made caramel apple Jell-O shots. Here’s the recipe: mix green apple jello mix with 1 cup hot water and 1 cup of caramel vodka until dissolved, pour into little condiment cups and refrigerate until set. Drizzle a little bit of caramel sundae syrup on top before serving. They are delicious and would be the hit of any fall or Halloween theme party!
We had a great time and can’t wait for next year’s party!