Halloween parties have become quite popular as parents have grown more concerned for their children's safety out on the streets going door to door trick-or-treating. Adults love Halloween costume parties as well. No matter whether you are hosting a party for children or adults, the food served and the setting in which the festivities is held are essential to a successful party.
A children's Halloween party usually begins early in the evening and the host or hostess needs to plan on feeding the children more than desserts. Your child will think you are the coolest Mom or Dad ever if the party room has been decorated in a creepy fashion, eerie music is playing, and the food elicits responses like "Wow!" and "Cool!" from the guests.
Most children arrive at Halloween parties hungry, expecting to be served great food and desserts. Almost all children love hotdogs and it is very simple to make coffins, complete with the body. Place the hot dogs on a platter, buns open, with a face carefully drawn on the weiner using a mustard squeeze bottle. Serve the coffins with chips and provide a mustard squeeze bottle for guests to add additional mustard if they desire.
The drink for the evening should be red fruit punch served in a punch bowl in which a floating hand of ice resides. Prepare the hand by using a clean, powder free, rubber glove. Pour water into the glove and tie it off. Carefully place the glove in the freezer so that it is not resting against the wire shelving or frozen foods that would distort the shape. Placing it flat on a boxed item works best. Leave the hand in the freezer until time for guests to arrive. Cut the glove away with a pair of kitchen shears or sharp knife and place in the punch bowl. If the party is for adults, alcohol may be added to the punch.
Rice Krispies Treats are enjoyed by children and adults and make great tombstones, and the recipe is quick to prepare. After the treats have cooled, carefully cut into rectangles with a rounded top. Decorate by piping R.I.P. onto the tombstone in orange icing.
Pumpkins can be created by making a smaller version of a popcorn ball by tinting the ingredients orange with food coloring. The pumpkin's stem is made by inserting a 1 1/2 inch piece of green licorice into the top of the popcorn ball as your form the balls, leaving about one inch of the licorice showing.
For children, create spiders by spreading peanut butter on round snack crackers. Top the cracker with another cracker. The spiders legs are made by adding four thin pretzel sticks inserted into the peanut butter middle. Dab a bit of peanut butter on the top cracker to "glue" raisins on for the spider's eyes. If having an adult party, substitute cream cheese for the peanut butter.
Eyeballs certainly pass the creepy test. Use green grapes to create the eyeballs. Wash and dry room temperature grapes. Leave sitting until you know that no moisture is present on the grapes. Place a dab of cream cheese on the end of each grape where it had attached to the vine. Cut a very thin slice of black licorice using a sharp paring knife and place it in the center of the cream cheese. Create the eyeball's veins by tinting red a very thin powdered sugar and warm water glaze. Place the glaze in a sandwich bag and poke a pin hole in the bag to squeeze squiggly lines of the glaze onto the grape eyeballs. Carefully place the eyeballs in an upright position on a small serving tray.
Severed fingers can be made by using bought or homemade sugar cookie dough. Squeeze the dough out in finger length round strips on a baking sheet. Use your clean fingers to gently squeeze the dough to form knuckles. Take a table knife and create the bend lines of a finger using the back side of the knife. Use a clean fake finger nail or an almond to make an indention in the end of the cookie for the fingernail. Remove the almond or fake finger nail and bake the cookies. After they have cooled, use red gel frosting to paint the finger nails and make the blood on the end where the fingers are supposed to have been servered. To make the finger's bone at the severed end, dab a tiny bit of white cake frosting in the center of the red gel frosting. Allow the frosting to dry and serve on a platter. You can serve upright in a serving bowl if you did not decoarate the severed end.
If having a Halloween party for your child dressing as a witch or other Halloween figure to serve the guests adds to the delight of the children. One year I dressed as a witch and used green face makeup. I used Halloween makeup putty to apply witches warts on my face, making sure to cover them with the green face makeup.
Whether an adult or a children's party, be creative and a good time will be had by all in attendance.