Halloween is such a fun food holiday-it’s all about figuring out how you make a meal, snack or dessert look creepy and disgusting.  Besides all of the crazy food, I love Halloween costumes.  My daughter spent her first Halloween, only a month old, dressed as an ear of corn.  Last year, I liked the vegetable theme so I made her a beet costume. People mistook her for an eggplant but she was a cute little purple puffball.  This year I decided she was going to be a carrot.  I was really enjoying this vegetable theme and figured I should enjoy the time before she picked her own costumes, which would inevitably be some Disney princess character that was until Grandma (Bubbie) had her own plan.

Bubbie thought it was fine time for Stella to pick her own costume, so one day while all of us were driving in the car, Bubbie asked Stella what SHE wanted to be for Halloween.  Without batting an eye, Stella promptly replied, “A bagel! A cinnamon raisin bagel!”  So in my spare time I sewed her a bagel costume (complete with mini bagels for her hair), because as you might expect a bagel is not a common costume request by toddlers these days. Stella showed off her bagel costume on Twin Cities Live, click the link below to watch the video and check out my little bagel.  We took her to Kowalski’s Halloween party on Tuesday night and everyone asked if she was a doughnut.  Sigh.  Although one shopper, asked if she was a doughnut and then quickly corrected herself and said hey you’re from Twin Cities Live.  Ahh the power of the little bagel!

I hope you have a wonderful time with your family on Halloween!  Enjoy the creepy food and of course the costumes!  Below are several great food and decoration ideas for your Halloween party!

Ingredients:

2 lbs. 85/15 Ground Beef

1 ounce package Hidden Valley Ranch Dry Dip

3 eggs

1 cup Cracker Crumbs

27 Spanish Olives (Queen Size)

Mini Rolls

1 can (28 ounce) Crushed Tomatoes

1 package Mozzarella cheese (sliced into 27 pieces)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.

Combine beef, ranch dip and eggs.  Add cracker crumbs and then form into 27 meatballs.  Place meatballs on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.  Press olives into meatballs to form “eyes.”  Bake for 20 minutes.  Once cooked, serve eyeball sliders on rolls and top with a spoonful of crushed tomatoes and top with a slice of cheese.

Ingredients:

3 TB Butter

1 bag (10 ounce) Marshmallows

6 cups Chocolate Rice Krispies

3 cups mixed candy corn and gummy worms

1 box Fruit-Flavored Rolls

Directions:

In a medium pan, melt butter and add marshmallows.  Allow marshmallows to melt and add cereal.  Mix until combined.  On a greased piece of parchment paper spread out mixture to form a large square.  Cut into three equal pieces.  In the middle of each piece spread candy and roll up piece to seal.  Allow to cool.  Slice into small circles and wrap with pieces of fruit flavored roll.

Ingredients:

3 Non-latex, non-powdered plastic gloves

Gummy candies

2 liter bottle of Ginger Ale

2 liter bottle of Grape Soda

1 bottle (46 ounces) V-8 Fusion pomegranate blueberry

Directions:

The night before serving, fill gloves with water and add several gummy candies. Freeze ice hands over night.

In a large punch bowl, add all ingredients.  Remove ice hands from freezer and remove plastic and add hands to the punch.

If using dry ice, do not add it directly to punch, the pieces may burn guests.  Instead, use two bowls and place punch bowl inside another bowl.  With tongs, place dry ice pieces in the outer bowl and add hot water.  Simply add more pieces and hot water throughout the party.

·      Carmel Apples with real sticks and parchment paper-use as favors or table placeholders

·      Snack Mix Hands-use as a favor or for decoration.  Fill non-latex, non-powdered plastic gloves with snack mix (autumn candy corn mix, pretzels, peanuts, and cheese popcorn).

·      Martini Graveyards-fill martini glasses with a brownie, pudding and crushed Halloween filled cookies.  Top with creepy candies.

·      Fingers-Top pieces of string cheese with almonds, drizzle red food gel on tips.

·      Menu Pumpkin-Get a black painted pumpkin and write with a white paint marker the menu items for your party.  Or use at your drink table with recipe directions on how to make a special drink.

·      Hamburger pumpkin-split a pumpkin and clean out, hot glue seeds to top and fill with chocolate rice krispie burger.

·      Evil gourds-cut out small section out of gourd and place gummy Dracula teeth inside.

·      Specimen Jars-canning jars filled with water and plastic eye balls and spiders.