Halloween Party Food Ideas

I know, I know, Halloween almost a month away, but if the grocery stores can justify stocking Halloween candy since late August, we can start thinking about the Halloween shindig you'll be hosting.  In the next couple of weeks, we're going to reveal a few new recipes, which include an edible zombie arm, special rice Krispie creations, and jack o'lantern cake pops.

But in the meantime, here are a few oldies but goodies that will help set the creepy mood.  These can be done ahead of time, and even frozen and thawed when the time is right...

Halloween Party Food Ideas

Bloody Wine Glasses and the Zombifier

This is both decoration and drink concoction.  The bloodiness is just a mixture of food coloring, sugar, and a little bit of corn syrup, just so it'll eerily drip down the sides of the glass.  They can be prepared days ahead of time, if you can spare the glassware.

As for the Zombifier, it's a colored fruity drink with enough kick that a few of them will cause you shamble around aimlessly without the annoying face-eating side effects.

Jack O'Lantern Bread Bowls

This is just as easy as making regular bread bowls.

We use a basic bread recipe, added a little bit of food coloring and form it into the pumpkins.  The creases are created by sliding a very sharp knife across the ball's outer membrane.  It's not a deep cut, but the expansion of the bread in the oven will stretch the gaps out

And as for the stems, there are two options.  You can take a little dough out of the bowl before adding the green food coloring and mix in the green color by hand.  Or just make a batch of our next item and use one stick's worth of dough for the stems

Witch Fingers

Bread sticks have been mutated in the witch's digits.  Just like the other recipes above, they are simple and can be made a few days ahead of time if needed.

The essential steps to make them look good involve some almonds and a small sharp knife. You'll use the tiny blade to split the almonds in half along the natural separation.  This will create the perfect corroded fingernail for the tip.  To add some texture, you can use a sharp knife to score on some knuckle creases one-third and two-thirds of the way down the stick.  This will give them a little authenticity.

And if you have the time, make a double batch of the dough to do some sculpting...

The Pepper Spider!!!

A completely free-form creation from some leftover dough.  I made one big bread ball, eight tiny legs and used some peppercorns for the group of eyes.  Brush on a little oil, sprinkle some pepper over it for some filth and cook in the oven

It'll come out green with splotches of brown crustiness.    Use it as a display piece or...

Create a whole plate of the creations.  Fill some of the hollowed out jack o'lanterns with some chili, chunky marinara and a good queso dip and you're ready to serve an entire horde of monsters.

Try a few of these out and watch for a few more Halloween party items in the next few weeks.