My Halloween spread...

Although I have only thrown one Halloween party in my life, it has got to be one of my favorite holidays.  I love all of the creative things you can do to celebrate this gory, creepy time of year. 

In 2007, when Joe and I were living in the Isle of Man, we decided to invite everyone over for a real American Halloween celebration; full dress was of course required.  I was shocked at how “in to it” everyone got.   There were some creative costumes that year to say the least – a lot were handmade, as the Isle only has one costume shop.  But, the handmade costumes were some of the funniest.   We went as Bacon & Eggs…me being the Egg and Joe was of course Bacon.

I decorated by changing out all of the pictures around the house to gory images.  I simply printed images off the computer and cut them to fit the size of each frame.  I hung skeletons and cob webs everywhere.  I also printed off “Best Costume” forms for people to vote for their favorites.  The winner took home the coveted plastic “Best Costume” trophy – yep, it was plastic. 

Just some of the Halloween decorations...

The Halloween themed food had to be the best part. Here are a few of the items I created:

The Infamous Kitty Litter Cake ( I love this one)

Those really are just tootsie rolls, I swear...

Bleeding Heart

To make this more "bloody" sit it on top of strawberry jelly.

The Jello Bleeding Heart was made from a heart shaped mold I ordered online.  To get the jello to have an opaque color simply add sweetened condensed milk to the jello. 

Important Note:  Probably wasn’t the best idea to a red jello heart sitting out with a bunch of intoxicated people – it actually ended up inside my friends Fendi bag, then on my living room floor.  Lovely.

Brittle Bones

Crispy, crunchy, brittle bones

These Brittle Bones were made out of meringue.  Once the meringue was just about at “stiff peak”, I placed it in a piping bag and piped it into a bone shape on top of parchment paper.  Not the most flavorful treat, but certainly cute.

Monster Toes

Who wants some toes?

These Halloween inspired Monster Toes are easy to make, and taste pretty good.  They are made out of mini hotdogs or sausages that are wrapped with a thinly sliced tortilla strip. I cut a small notch out of the top of each sausage to form the nail bed, which I then filled with ketchup.  

Cheese Brain Dip

The original brain food...

Another one of the molds I purchased online was this brain shaped mold, perfect for Halloween dips and desserts.  I used a recipe for southwestern cheese dip, the main ingredient of this Cheesy Brain Dip was cream cheese.  The cream cheese helped the brain hold its shape.

Deviled Eyeballs

Deliciously deviled eyeballs...

Deviled eyeballs are really just deviled eggs, but dressed up for Halloween.   I used a sliced green olive for the eyeball, which I filled it with a tiny piece of pimento.  I put ketchup into a small piping bag to make the eyes appear bloodshot.

Road Kill Kabobs, Breaded Eyeballs & Rat Brains Wrapped in Philo Dough

A gross assortment...

My need for something easy took over here.  This gross assortment of Road Kill Kabobs, Breaded Eyeballs & Rat Brains Wrapped in Philo Dough are your typical freezer section appetizers.   I dressed them up with Halloween inspired names.  

Most ideas were found online.  With the internet, you will be amazed at the plethora of Halloween party ideas you can find for your next Halloween party. 

Here are some of my favorite sources for Halloween food ideas:

Britta’s Halloween Recipes - Britta goes the extra mile with her attention to detail.

Disney’s Family Fun – Full of Creepy Cuisine ideas for your next party.

Allrecipes.com – A good selection of Halloween cakes and cupcakes.

Skip to my Lou – She has some cute ideas in her latest post.

More Cool Pictures – These are some realistic edible “body parts”.

Happy Halloween everyone!