Chances are, you’ll probably be invited to some type of Halloween party this week — a coworker’s, a friend’s, a relative’s or as someone’s date. You might even need to throw a Halloween party of your own for the aforementioned coworkers, friends, relatives or dates.
At this party, you’ll need to bring a gift of food or drink to the party-thrower or provide food and drink for your guests. And this nourishment will need to be Halloween-themed.
Some people will go all-out for Halloween-themed snacks and build monsters out of Jell-o or make cupcakes that look like black cats, but that takes a lot of effort and creativity. Here are some fast ideas to whip up some spooky snacks and cocktails that are pretty decent/thematic.
Freaky food
Witches’ Fingernails
INGREDIENTS: Fritos, bowl, marker
INSTRUCTIONS: Dump a bag of Fritos into a bowl. Attach a label that says, “witches’ fingernails.”
Witches’ Brooms
INGREDIENTS: Pretzel rods, bowl, marker
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill a bowl with pretzel rods or pretzel sticks. Attach a label that says, “witches’ brooms.”
Bloody Cotton Balls
INGREDIENTS: Cotton candy, raspberry jam
INSTRUCTIONS: Put raspberry jam in the middle of a cotton candy ball to make it look bloody.
Rat Kidneys
INGREDIENTS: Red jellybeans, bowl, marker
INSTRUCTIONS: Fill a bowl with red jellybeans. Attach a label that says, “rat kidneys.”
Pumpkins
INGREDIENTS: Black marker, oranges
INSTRUCTIONS: Draw some jack-o-lantern faces on oranges.
Ghosts
INGREDIENTS: Marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles
INSTRUCTIONS: Affix chocolate sprinkles to the marshmallows to look like ghost eyes.
Ahhhhh-lcohol
Spider Surprise Cider
INGREDIENTS: Alcoholic cider, gummy spiders
INSTRUCTIONS: Get some gummy spiders and some alcoholic cider. Pour the cider into a cup. Add a gummy spider. SURPRISE!
Black Cat Cocktail
INGREDIENTS: Vodka, Coke, black straw
INSTRUCTIONS: Stick the straw out of the top of a cup of vodka and Coke and bend it to look like a tail. This makes it look like a black cat drowned in the drink.
Monster Eyeball Martini
INGREDIENTS: Vodka, green olives with pimentos
INSTRUCTIONS: Pour some vodka into a martini glass. Add two green olives with pimentos. For a moldy monster eyeball, use a blue cheese-filled green olive.
This article appears in Oct 23-29, 2013.