What will you be serving for Halloween?

Will you celebrate or dress up? Will you make special foods? Do you make traditional food such as soul cakes, colcannon or boxty, pumpkin pie or bars, etc. or will you make worms in dirt, and kitty litter cake or other gross "fun" foods? Or maybe none and just eat or give out candy? Do you celebrate the Day of the Dead with special foods?

Since Halloween is on Sunday I am thinking of cooking something but I have not decided yet what it might be. I will not dress up. I'll buy candy at the store to give out. Please share your Halloween (or Samhain) food traditions.

We're going the lazy route this year. We always dress up, but as for food, I'm making devilled eggs with red pepper horns, corn muffins stuffed with pulled pork or chorizo, bacon wrapped dried fruit, caramelized onion tartlets (possibly also with bacon!), potato or pasta salad (possibly with squid ink and corn pastas for that black & orange look), DIY baby sandwiches, maybe 7-layer dip, red velvet vampire bite cupcakes, pumpkin Kiss cookies (Kiss the Hershey chocolates, not Kiss the band), blood orange bars (like lemon bars) and possibly salted caramels. Other than that were having cheese, veggies, chips & dip, and takeout hummus & pita (from Pita Inn) and fried chicken from Chicken Inn (we only order from Inns). We bought the latest Groupon from Schaefer's Wine & Spririts, so once we buy our beer, we'll use the rest for some naughty fattening eats.
We rarely get trick-or-treaters, but we bought a bag of Sixlets just in case. I think I'm going to end up eating those.

Pie Lady wrote:We're going the lazy route this year. We always dress up, but as for food, I'm making devilled eggs with red pepper horns, corn muffins stuffed with pulled pork or chorizo, bacon wrapped dried fruit, caramelized onion tartlets (possibly also with bacon!), potato or pasta salad (possibly with squid ink and corn pastas for that black & orange look), DIY baby sandwiches, maybe 7-layer dip, red velvet vampire bite cupcakes, pumpkin Kiss cookies (Kiss the Hershey chocolates, not Kiss the band), blood orange bars (like lemon bars) and possibly salted caramels. Other than that were having cheese, veggies, chips & dip, and takeout hummus & pita (from Pita Inn) and fried chicken from Chicken Inn (we only order from Inns). We bought the latest Groupon from Schaefer's Wine & Spririts, so once we buy our beer, we'll use the rest for some naughty fattening eats.
We rarely get trick-or-treaters, but we bought a bag of Sixlets just in case. I think I'm going to end up eating those.

And the non-lazy route would be....??? Sounds like an awesome spread

Would LOVE the recipe for the blood orange bars--those sound fantastic!

One of our issues with Halloween is that I'm usually busy with the Neighborhood Watch, hubby and Sparky are out trick-or-treating...I don't have time to cook, not to mention having easy access to all kinds of bad-for-you foods that make you feel kind of awful. We usually do a big bowl of chili with lots of beans for protein, but I've always thought about something lighter.

To that end, Cooking Light - which has really been stepping up the quality of their recipes lately - has a number of salads on their Halloween menu that I think I'll make the day before.

boudreaulicious wrote:And the non-lazy route would be....??? Sounds like an awesome spread

Would LOVE the recipe for the blood orange bars--those sound fantastic!

Generally I would make a few more homemade items like canapes and such, and this is just the plan...if I get pooped I'm skipping stuff, starting with the caramels and dip. Usually make an "entree" instead of buying chicken, like pumpkin mac & cheese, bbq wings in the slow cooker, etc., sometimes I make my own salsa, yadda yadda. Also, a lot of the things on this list can be prepped in advance so I'm not spending the entire day before the party doing stuff.
I figured this year I'd save my energy for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
However, I'm sad that I don't have anything "weird", "gross" or just unusual for non-foodie types to offer. In the past, I had a corpse jello mold (big hit), bacon chocolates, butternut squash cupcakes, rabbit sausages, and I believe something made of moose.

As for the blood orange bars, I believe the recipe came from here: http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2009/04/bl ... -bars.html

I am sorry to report that the corpse mold link appears to have gone 404.

I think blood orange bars sound fabulous. I may have to swipe that.

Pie Lady wrote:

boudreaulicious wrote:And the non-lazy route would be....??? Sounds like an awesome spread

Would LOVE the recipe for the blood orange bars--those sound fantastic!

Generally I would make a few more homemade items like canapes and such, and this is just the plan...if I get pooped I'm skipping stuff, starting with the caramels and dip. Usually make an "entree" instead of buying chicken, like pumpkin mac & cheese, bbq wings in the slow cooker, etc., sometimes I make my own salsa, yadda yadda. Also, a lot of the things on this list can be prepped in advance so I'm not spending the entire day before the party doing stuff.
I figured this year I'd save my energy for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
However, I'm sad that I don't have anything "weird", "gross" or just unusual for non-foodie types to offer. In the past, I had a corpse jello mold (big hit), bacon chocolates, butternut squash cupcakes, rabbit sausages, and I believe something made of moose.

As for the blood orange bars, I believe the recipe came from here: http://www.eatingoutloud.com/2009/04/bl ... -bars.html

I will break my "never bake" rule for these--thanks Pie Lady!!!

mamagotcha wrote:I am sorry to report that the corpse mold link appears to have gone 404.

I fixed the link; it should be okay now.

I was thinking of renaming the bars Dexter Squares. I wonder if I can I order little sugar Kill Shirts to adorn them with? If not, I might get industrious and splash them with liquidy flat icing blood spatter. Everybody post your success/failure with the bars, I never made them before either.

I was thinking a pomegranate+tonic based cocktail would be fun. Blood-red in normal light, and tonic water fluoresces under UV light. Haven't actually tried it to see how well it would work, though.

Very cool! Would that show up in photos? I'd love to see it.

well, the fluorescing will.. here's a regular gin and tonic:


gin&tonic&uv by mvagustaago, on Flickr

Wow -- the fluorescing tonic is beautiful. I have to try to think of someplace I can use that.

As for what we're serving, a bunch of us are getting together and roasting a whole pig. Yum.

I think I will have some ribs on the smoker while the neighborhood is trick or treating.
I will sit and mind the smoker while passing out candy.

These braaaains look good...

Toria, I love the fact that you mentioned traditional foods in your original post - colcannon and boxty and such make my Irish heart sing, but I have to sneak them past my husband, a picky eater. Somewhere around here I have a great book called something like "collected Irish ghost stories" which makes a great Halloween read.

I must confess I lost my enthusiasm for giving candy out to trick-or-treaters when my own nieces and nephews outgrew it. I suppose I should have some candy on hand for the wee little ones that come by in the late afternoon / early evening. I feel no obligation to open the door all night to teenagers who are too old for trick or treating and don't bother to come up with a costume and don't even live in the neighborhood.

Which is to say that after about 8 pm, I turn the house lights off and Halloween is something we celebrate in the TV room, with popcorn and pizza and "Arsenic and Old Lace" and maybe something that's scarier but still classic, such as "Dressed to Kill."

Yes! Halloween is very commercialized...fun for the kids and the young at heart but it stems from a more traditional holiday or time of season.....Usually signals to me that fall is coming to an end and winter will soon be upon us. The days seem to get colder after Halloween and gloomier.

I do like to watch a scary movie though at this time and I usually eat too much left over trick or treat candy. My favorite is the old fashioned Haunting of Hill House. I'm not much for all the effects on the new movies....they seem fakey to me.

I still have not decided what to make. Maybe something on the rotisserie.

toria wrote:...My favorite is the old fashioned Haunting of Hill House. I'm not much for all the effects on the new movies....they seem fakey to me.

You mean House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price?

Here is one for you. I live so far out on the back roads I've never had a trick or treater! My one goal is to avoid the NIU area during the Halloween weekend!

I don't know the movie House on Haunted Hill, but if it involves Vincent Price, I'm in. I like mysteries and classic thrillers, not blood-spurting slasher movies. Watching that kind of thing gives me nightmares, seriously. There's a Vincent Price movie I'm trying to remember (no, not Song of Bernadette) ... AH! Got it! The Fall of the House of Usher, now there's a Halloween movie!

It saddens me a little that kids these days (yes, another of those old-timey "kids these days" mini-rants), don't know anything about the religious significance or old-country pagan traditions of All Hallows' Eve. One preteenish relative "went" one year as a hooker. There's a limit to how far I can let my eyes roll back in my head without fearing that they won't come back.

But there is hope for the next generation. One year my namesake niece was an Irish banshee for Halloween. She spent all day and all night explaining to her friends what a banshee was. She had a great time nonetheless.

For a potluck at work I am indeed bringing out the oldies--kitty litter cake and ants on a log. I was surprised that most of my staff had never heard of ants on a log--what did they eat in summer camp?

Perfect foodie's Halloween Meal From Hell.

I'm so pissed. Apparently blood oranges are not available for at least another month. Who didn't think to coordinate Halloween with the blood orange season? Now my blood orange bar idea is kaput. Does freshly squeeze OJ freeze well? I may have to stock up for next year.

Other than that, I'm making us some Lamb & Pumpkin soup.

Pie Lady wrote:I'm so pissed. Apparently blood oranges are not available for at least another month. Who didn't think to coordinate Halloween with the blood orange season? Now my blood orange bar idea is kaput. Does freshly squeeze OJ freeze well? I may have to stock up for next year.

Other than that, I'm making us some Lamb & Pumpkin soup.

What about mixing orange juice with tart cherry juice--I think that would taste amazing AND provide you with the visual effect you're looking for...in FACT...I think I may make a batch and see what happens!!!

Pie Lady, I couldn't swear by it, but I think there is sometimes blood orange juice in the box-juice aisle at Marketplace on Oakton.

My kitty litter cake didn't look as authentic as last time (should have used whiter cookies and more green food coloring) but it actually tasted pretty good.
Kitty litter cake by yooperann/

I'm taking my litter box and spare tootsie rolls to Cleveland to make another with the grandkids for a neighborhood party. I think they'll have great fun with the project!

I didn't try this yet, but I made Mr. Pie a Ginger Streusel Pumpkin Pie for his work party and it came out beautifully. I made myself a wee one with some leftover batter and streusel, so I can report back soon.

I am bringing pigs in a blanket that look like little mummies.....homemade mini meatballs...... and a drink, either a "dark and spooky" or Mexican pumpkin punch. I am roasting some pumpkin seeds from last nights carving too, but those are my personal stash!

I'll probably be passing out halloween candies like worm like candies and other scary one's.

Blood and Guts dishes. (Also note the post on the food desert thread)

I baked a pumpkin cake with butterscotch filling and a brown sugar icing. The filling and icing were a little rice, but delicious. The pumpkin cake reminded me very much of carrot cake, very moist. I would've loved to have added nuts to the filling, but unfortunately, my niece is allergic.