Fall/Halloween party ideas

[tejon]

Vanilla panna cotta with pomegranite sauce:

This got devoured - nothing was left at the end of the party I took it to last night. Once you got over the appearance, the vanilla against tart pomegranite was really, really good. Lots of shudders, though

Edited October 30, 2005 by tejon (log)

[ludja]

That is excellent, tejon! The flavors sound delicoius as well. I may try it in ranekins for a non-Halloween effect also...

[Mooshmouse]

Vanilla panna cotta with pomegranite sauce:

This got devoured - nothing was left at the end of the party I took it to last night. Once you got over the appearance, the vanilla against tart pomegranite was really, really good. Lots of shudders, though 

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Wow, Kathy... that's revoltingly appealing.

[kthull]

Kathy, that's magnificent! I've seen brain-shaped jello molds online...is that what you used? Absolutely stunning!

[tejon]

I used one of the brain shaped molds (like this one). They look remarkably realistic, especially with the sauce accenting all the folds and crevices.

I just love Halloween

Edited to add: the finger cookies won the contest

Edited November 1, 2005 by tejon (log)

[Randi]

I had an idea for an October office party - make your own caramel apples.

If I made a crockpot full of caramel for dipping - I was thinking employees could choose an apple, put in a stick, and dunk it in the caramel.

Then have nuts, chocolate chips, coconut, etc. to roll it in afterwards.

Anyone ever try anything like this? Would a crock pot work? Anyone have a recipe for the caramel dip? How long does it take for caramel apples to dry?

Any tips or warnings would be much appreciated.

[Kim Shook]

I think it sounds delicious and fun, but I have had mixed results with caramel apples over the years. Most problematical was having the caramel slide off the apple and end up in a giant goop on the bottom of the apple. Also, small apples are important when doing them at home - large ones tend to fall right off the sticks.

Anyone else with actual advice instead of just dire warnings??

[Randi]

Kim, no, that's great - good to know. I will make sure the apples aren't too big. And I will google the problem you mentioned to see if there are tips to prevent it.

I did google the whole crock pot idea and apparently I am not so clever. It's being done a lot! And all the recipes are identical (28 oz of caramels and 1/4 cup water for 8 apples).

I might get "real" caramel from my local candy making store, instead of the bags of caramels at the grocery store.

But I think I'd better practice before bringing in 100 apples to my office and having a big disaster on my hands.

Anyone with advice or additional warnings?

[Sunny Simmons Steincamp]

I always had the problem of slipping, sliding caramel coating, too, until I started using a stiff vegetable brush to buff off some of the shine from the apples' skins before dipping, thereby roughing up the surface a little and making it easier for the caramel to stick.

Great idea to do it assembly line style, though... we're having a Halloween festival at our place, and while I thought caramel or candied apples would be fun, I wasn't sure I was going to have the time and/or energy to make fifty of them! This is a great compromise, and I think I'll give it a shot. Put some of the kids in charge or something. Thanks!

[Kerry Beal]

Suitable apples for dipping with warm caramel are matsu (crispin), gala, fugi, granny smith. With hot caramel, apples such as macs will turn to mush.

If you want to make your own caramel - make the caramel here in the caramel class, let it cool to about 90 C before dipping your apples. It does have a tendency to slump down with time, as caramel remains liquid, albeit thick liquid at room temp.

Disposable bamboo chop sticks make good sticks for apples, much more secure than skinny skewers.

[jgm]

If you do any experimenting, you might see if the caramel will come off that sorta-new nonstick aluminum foil. You need somewhere to set the apple after it's been dipped in caramel, and preferably that would be a place where the apple could be lifted off without creating too much mess.

Consider the possibility, too, of having a few people do the dipping, while the person waits and watches. It might go a little faster and easier that way. Sounds like you're dealing with a good-sized crowd.

Do have a large variety of stuff to roll the apples in. You may want to consider having some melted milk, dark, and/or white chocolate to drizzle over the apples after they've been rolled in other things. I'm thinking of a local store that has done apples like that. Here are some ideas:

chopped up Reese's cups (refrigerate first for easier chopping)

chopped up chocolate

chopped up other kinds of candy bars

interesting nuts, depending on your budget; I'd think macadamias would be great

granola

chopped dried fruit

chopped up molasses cookies

Have fun!

[YWalker]

Add miniature m&m's to your list of toppings. I just had a caramel apple topped with these at the NC State fair this week, and it's a wonderful combination. It looks festive and saves you a lot of chopping as well.

They also offered one topped with crushed heath bar that looked very tempting.

Edited October 20, 2006 by YWalker (log)

[andiesenji]

Supermarket apples have all been treated with wax. This will keep the caramel from sticking.

There are a couple of liquid fruit-wash products that will remove the wax, you can find it in health food stores.

You can also scrub them with dry baking soda but that will take a while for 100 apples.

It would be better if you can find a local grower who sells to the public, or a farmer's market or fruit stand.

[SuzySushi]

We've been invited to a potluck Halloween party this weekend. I'll be bringing a pumpkin pie or pumpkin cake, but also want to bring an appropriately themed main dish, preferably one that looks ghoulish but not like worms or barf! Ideas, anyone?

[BekkiM]

How about ribs? I found this idea when I was researching my own Halloween dinner party. It's ghoulish, but not wormy.

[SuzySushi]

I like it! Thanks, Bekki

[Gifted Gourmet]

brains and fingers make nice hors d'oeuvres ... recipes below this post ... scroll down ...

Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pulled Pork

Spicy Pumpkin Soup with Savory Warlock Seeds

Severed Chicken Wings with Al Capone's Secret Sauce

Field of Lost Souls Organic Greens with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Entrées:

Mummified Salmon with Bloody Mary Sauce

Electrified Chicken Breast with Wild Lunatic Mushrooms

Smoked Slab of Ribs with Jack's Insane Sauce

Wicked Witches Fire Roasted Garlic and Asparagus Risotto with Blue Cheese

Pork Tenderloin with Skeleton's Special Sweet Potatoes and Apricot Chutney

or some other ideas:

Flayed and Roasted Butternut Squash Crepe with purple ameretti, scorched Parma ham and fried and tortured sage.

Half dead, still kicking, roasted New York State Duckling with scarred and gingered sweet potato puree and eerie orchard fruit sauce 

Pan Seared and Whipped Beyond Consciousness 8 oz. Filet Mignon with whipped and sternly questioned Yukon gold potato, roasted anemic asparagus bleeding with balsamic demi glaze and crumbled Gorgonzola

Jumbo Lumpy Crab Cake with thrice squeezed cheese polenta and suffering saffron aioli

source

Edited October 24, 2006 by Gifted Gourmet (log)

[gfron1]

Since this may become more than main courses...here's my favorite.

Eyeball soup

Take canned lychee fruit. Shove a slightly mushed blueberry or blackberry into the hole. Allow the blue color to seep into the veins of the lychee, set in the champagne jello...yummmm

[sparrowgrass]

When my brother was a teenager with delusions of gourmet-ishness, he once cooked a beef tongue and put it on the table whole.

Colored my nightmares for a while.

[Carrot Top]

Taking a surrealist approach, with the inspiration of Rene Magritte, you can serve a "regular" sort of meal but with odd cut-outs of body parts stuck here and there.

Heh. I say "body parts" but of course he was famous for a singular eye, as in the painting displayed in this link: The Portrait.

I did this once and it was great fun. Took a color copy of the printed artwork itself, had enough copies made for each plate of food, cut and stuck.

Not edible, of course, but so many things just *aren't* edible on this fearsome eve, no?

Next time I do it I am going to find some noses somewhere and stick them on.

Some strange noses, of all sorts.

[barolo]

Martha Stewart has lots of good ideas on her website.

[SuzySushi]

Martha Stewart has lots of good ideas on her website.

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Anne... I can't open your link. When I searched Martha Stewart's homepage, all I came up with for Halloween was snacks and desserts.

[SuzySushi]

brains and fingers make nice hors d'oeuvres ...  

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Tejon's "finger cookies" look good -- I'd seen Martha Stewart's recipe a few years ago -- but I'm not sure I'll have enough time to make them. And there isn't enough time before the party for me to order a brain or anatomical heart mold!

[SuzySushi]

When my brother was a teenager with delusions of gourmet-ishness, he once cooked a beef tongue and put it on the table whole.

Colored my nightmares for a while.

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Hey, I have to make sure it's something that the other guests are going to want to eat! (I'll eat tongue, but not many other people I know will touch it -- except those on eGullet!)

[emilyr]

Martha Stewart has lots of good ideas on her website.

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Anne... I can't open your link. When I searched Martha Stewart's homepage, all I came up with for Halloween was snacks and desserts.

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On marthastewart.com, go to "ALL HALLOWEEN IDEAS" and down in the orange boxes labeled "devilish decorating" or "bad things" choose either "more Halloween ideas" or "more bad things." The recipes are mixed in with all the other ideas; a few are "Eye popping soup," "Petrified cheese log," and there's a good menu under "RECIPES FOR A WELL-CRAFTED GATHERING" that aren't particularly Halloween-y, but very seasonal and yummy-looking.

Personally, I like a soup baked in or presented in a pumpkin. My mom makes a fruity, sausage, pumpkin, sage stew baked in pumpkins, and La Martha has a white bean and sausage stew served in pumpkin bowls.