While Halloween decor sets the tone of your party, Halloween themed food adds that extra panache and really adds the final touch.  Finger foods and snacks are the best choices for a party of this type as people will be mingling and not sitting down.  Below are a few of my favorite recipes that are quick and easy to make.If you are throwing a Halloween party, one of the things you have to prepare is the food. Since people won’t be sitting but rather taking a few dips of what is available, here are some great treats you should have.

The Brown Spider

For this, you will need a few Ritz crackers, pretzel sticks, a pack of Hershey kisses, a tube or red and white cake frosting. Now take one cracker and spread it with some peanut butter. Then you put 4 pretzels and place this on each side to act as the spider’s legs. Put another cracker on top to cover it up then spray it with cake frosting.

Fungi Salad

Great for your vegetarian guests. For this, you will need creamed spinach, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes and red onions. Put the spinach in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to cool while you wash the other vegetables in cold water. Dry the lettuce using a paper towel and then cut the other vegetables into small pieces. Put this into bowl and then pour in cooled spinach cream.

Meatloaf Mice:

• 1/2 cup Catsup
• 2 Egg whites; beaten
• 6 ounces Ground turkey
• 6 ounces Ground beef
• 1 Onion; chopped fine
• 2/3 cup Oatmeal; uncooked
• Salt and pepper to taste

For this, you will need some catsup, ground beef, turkey, onions, carrots, uncooked spaghetti noodles, spaghetti sauce, raisins, oatmeal, salt and paper.     Mix the ingredients listed about to make the meat loaf.

After the meat loaf is ready., start by cutting the carrot horizontally to make some mouse ears and vertically to make the mouse tail then steam until it becomes crisp tender.

Put the meat loaf on a baking sheet after you mix the rest of the ingredients and shaping it into a mice shaped loaf before throwing this into the oven. Bake for 45 minutes at 360 degrees and when it is finished, cut little slits so you can put in the carrot ears and tail. Break the uncooked spaghetti noodles into small pieces so this will be the nose of the mouse. Pour the cooked spaghetti sauce and serve.

Pumpkin Cake

If you carved a pumpkin, then this recipe will make the most of the contents you removed since you are going to use it to make a pumpkin cake.

• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups canned pumpkin
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup chopped walnuts

Put the eggs and sugar into the food processor until it is smooth. Add the other ingredients and stir until it is well blended. When it’s done, turn the batter into two round cake molds that are greased and lightly floured. Put this in the oven at 350F for about 40 minutes. Unmold these and then stack it together. Put orange tinted frosting on top and then put it on the dinner table.

Sewage Slurpers

You will need chocolate chip ice cream, chocolate syrup and club soda.

When the ice cream is slightly softened and easy to scoop, fill your glasses halfway. Now, pour in 3 tablespoons of chocolate syrup. Finally, fill it to the top with club soda and stir well with a spoon. You can top it off with an unwrapped tootsie roll and a straw.

By Joyce Calcano
www.mypartyplanningsecrets.com

Planning a Halloween party for your children can be fun and an opportunity to exercise your creativity.  However, there are several things that should be planned ahead of time for the party to run smoothly.  Also remember that you will be holding a party for kids that are already extremely excited about the holiday and their attention span will most likely be shorter than normal

Rather than taking the militant approach and watching for infraction, a better way to maintain control is to provide plenty of distractions and to direct their attention to fun activities.   Party games are an excellent way of guiding the activies of your guests.

One tried and true Halloween party game is called Mummy Wrap.  Not only is it fun and easy, but it is also inexpensive.  Separate your guests into small groups with several rolls of toilet paper.  Have them designate one person in each group to be the “mummy.”  When you say, “Go,” the teams frantically begin to wrap their “mummy.”  The first group to completely wrap the mummy is the winner.

Even the most familiar party games, such as  musical chairs, can be given a spooky feel by turning of the lights and using candlelight and playing scary Halloween music.  The chairs can add to the theme by draping them with black cloth or spraying them with cobwebs.

And don’t forget the music. You can easily find Halloween music in the nearest record store or download mp3′s from the internet.   For more fun, you can ask the kids to dance in a “monstery” or ghoulish kind of way. You can even give a prize to the kid that will give the best monster dance.

Don’t forget to give prizes to your game winners. This will encourage them to participate in the next games.

Another popular game which is suitable for either a Halloween party or a Fall Festival theme is “Building a Scarecrow.”  Teams of children use pillow cases, rope, old clothes, newspaper, cardboard and markers to create their own scarecrow.  If you have enough teams, you can give several prizes such as “Most Traditional,”  “Scariest,” and “Most Likely to Have a Brain” (think the Wizard of Oz.)

You can borrow an activity from Easter and turn it into your own haunted Halloween hunt by hiding candy around the house and letting the children search for it.  Hide special prizes as well.  Some can be “good” prizes, and others can be “bad,” such as candy eggs filled with play slime or other gag gifts.

A Halloween party wouldn’t be complete without a scary storytime.  If children are younger, it would probably be best to stick to a book that won’t give them nightmares.  If they are older, sit in a circle and let each of them have a turn at telling their own favorite scary story.

There are other ghoulish Halloween party games that can still do. Just remember that this is the children’s day and your objective is to have them enjoy the day.

By Joyce Calcano
www.mypartyplanningsecrets.com