Email to Stella      

Themes: Halloween Party Sheet & Recipes

Source of Recipe

Whole Foods
Treat Kids to New Tricks---
If the idea of spending Halloween with a bunch of costumed kids has you spooked, here are some monstrously good ideas for food and entertainment.

Drape old sheets or drop cloths over large helium balloons-instant ghosts! Kids can draw on the faces with black marker.

Let younger kids make mini jack o' lanterns with oranges and black markers.

Let kids make mini cauldrons with paper cups, black paper and pipe cleaners. Supply bowls of (or have kids bring) dried fruits, nuts, mini pretzels, natural chocolate chips, etc. Kids can create their own trail mixes.

Bob for apples using new crop Macoun apples, which are small, round, and deliciously tart.

If you make jack o' lanterns, toast the pumpkin seeds for kids to eat. Wash away the pulp, spread on a cookie sheet, salt and bake at 350° for about 20 minutes.

Bat Fingers
Serves 6 kids
1 TB canola oil
4 boneless chicken breasts
1 cup unbleached or whole wheat flour
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
Grease cookie sheet with oil. Slice chicken breasts into long, irregular shoestrings. Dust in flour, dip in beaten egg and then in bread crumbs. Broil 5 minutes on each side till golden brown and cooked through. Serve with chili sauce or a peanut dipping sauce.

Swampwater Punch:

Fill rubber gloves with R. W. Knudsen Black Cherry Juice and tie shut. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until hard. Or freeze plastic eyeballs in ice cube trays filled with cherry juice. Make a punch by mixing apple cider with 365 Organic Ginger Ale. Add a few drops of green food coloring for swampwater effect. Float bloody hands and eyeballs in punch.

All Hallow's Eve Grows Up:

An ancient Halloween tradition is to celebrate the bounty of the harvest by decorating with pine cones, squash, hay, corn, and so on. Simmer cinnamon potpourri on the stove to create a welcoming atmosphere for your guests. Turn the lights way down and burn lots of candles. (Check out our Whole Body department for safe, natural alternatives.)

Ask friends to come dressed as the person they'd like to become in the coming year (a tradition from back when the new year began in the fall). Each guest gets a chance to express their hopes and dreams.

Kick off the indoor entertaining season with charades or a trivia game. For a real ice-breaker, cover the driveway with hay and toss quarters into it. Divide guests into teams; the winner is the team that finds the most money! Provide old clothes, rags, scissors, ribbons, hats, neckties, funny glasses and other costume material. Give teams five minutes to see who can create the best costume (as a bonus, guests have to guess the character).

For a change from the usual dinner, have a buffet of warm soups, stews and chilies. (Serve with salads, chunks of hearth bread and a variety of cheeses. Offer hollowed out small boule breads as edible bowls.

Hot Mulled Cider:

Serves 8
8 cups Whole Foods Apple Cider
1 whole nutmeg, ground
6 inches cinnamon stick
1 tsp whole allspice
1 tsp plus 8 whole cloves
1 orange, with peel, sliced into wedges

In a large saucepan, combine apple cider and nutmeg. Place cinnamon, allspice, and 1 tsp cloves in cheesecloth, tie and add to cider mixture. Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer 10 min. Remove spice bag and discard. Serve cider in mugs with a clove-studded orange wedge in each. For an alcoholic brew, add a splash of brandy to each mug.