On Tuesday I had an intimate group of friends over to carve pumpkins... which turned me into a Halloween-theming machine! I started off with a CD and then went crazy with themed food.
First things first: The Spook-tacular CD
The following is the playlist from my party. I feel works for any Halloween-ish occasion:
1. Bobby Pickett - Monster Mash
2. The Eagles - Witchy Woman
3. The Ghostbusters Theme
4. Harry Potter Soundtrack - Something Wicked This Way Comes
5. Herman's Hermits - Love Potion No. 9
6. Hocus Pocus Soundtrack - Come Little Children
7. The Munsters Theme Song
8. Ray Stevens - Flying Purple People Eater
9. Ray Stevens - Witch Doctor
10. Rob Zombie - Dragula
11. Rockwell ft. Michael Jackson - Somebody's Watching Me
12. Michael Jackson - Thriller
13. Rocky Horror Picture Show - Time Warp
14. Thomas Dolby - Blinded Me with Science
15. Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper
16. Hocus Pocus Soundtrack - I Put a Spell on You
17. Beetlejuice Soundtrack - Shake Senora
18. Beetlejuice Soundtrack - Day Oh
19. The Adams Family Theme Song
20. Rihanna - Disturbia
I must say this just added to the fun of carving a pumpkin. My parents even borrowed it when they had friends over for dinner. Adds a little somethin' somethin' thats a little unexpected I think.
On to the food:
Mini Mummy Pizzas
These bad boys are so worth it. They were a HUGE hit and delicious as well. I took english muffins, spread some pizza sauce on them, place olives for eyes and strip a string cheese stick across to make the bandage effect. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and voila! a spooky tastey treat!!Next is one of my personal favorites, brie with brown sugar eaten with apple slices: 
The Halloween twist was shaping the brown sugar into a jack-o-lantern. Wow just looking at the picture is making my whole mouth fill with saliva... OK moving on...
The Halloween twist was shaping the brown sugar into a jack-o-lantern. Wow just looking at the picture is making my whole mouth fill with saliva... OK moving on...Mini Caramel Apples
Super easy. I just used a melon baller to get a bitesize apple, dipped them in caramel and rolled them in nuts. Used half of a bamboo skewer for the stick and put them in cupcake cups! They were the perfect size and very good!!Beverage of choice: Monster Brain Punch (seen here with a pleased party guest)
1 ounce berry blast sherbert, 1 liter ginger ale, 1 bottle of champagne and BAM... weird looking but mighty tasty!!!
I also made mummy turkey hotdogs which entailed stripping Pilsbury dough and wrapping them around hot dogs (which were turket to appease our non red meat eating guests). After baking them I cut them in thirds and drew faces with mustard :)
I also made puppy chow (aka muddy buddy mix) directions on the back of a Chex cereal box and added candy corn to keep it within the theme.
We of course baked the pumpkin seeds after gutting our pumpkins. I like to put salt and a little cumin on it and bake at 350 for 25 mins. However sugar and ground cinnamon make for a sweet twist on an old favorite.
After indulging in some Halloween inspired dishes we got down to business:
My sister (on the right) and I getting the seeds out of our pumpkins. She was really serious about it... me, not so much.
Look at that concentration... if I only put half that amount of effort into finishing college...
As for the pumpkin carving itself we produce some fine looking jack-o-laterns worthy of anyones front porch! (Sorry for the blurry pics!)
My brother-in-law went for a the scarier sides of things:
He free-handed it! Now thats talent!
Kate went for a pirate ship (she thought her son would appreciate it the most):
It took a very long time because of all the intricate detailing but I think it came out brilliantly!!My pumpkin was also child friendly. Its Mickey Mouse holding a pumpkin!
Not my usual choice in pumpking I admit, but I just could not resist the adorable designs Disney put out for Halloweens this year!
Alyssa also dabbled in the Disney category. This Finding Nemo pumpkin was a lot of work!
The technique is called etching and Martha Stewart swears by it. It is where you don't actually carve all the way through the pumpkin. Instead you scrape away until only a light layer of pumpkin is left - thin enough to be translucent. It produces beautiful pumpkins but I warn anyone feeling ambitious enough to attempt it - it is TIME CONSUMING!!
Last but not least, my sister's pumpkin:
I give her credit here for two reasons 1. she free-handed her design and 2. she was bold enough to try something different. It may not be the most intricate but geometric shapes are still a fun time. Bless her little heart.
I give her credit here for two reasons 1. she free-handed her design and 2. she was bold enough to try something different. It may not be the most intricate but geometric shapes are still a fun time. Bless her little heart. So there you have it! The perfect pumpkin carving party complete with theme music and food that is fun for all ages!! Some may scoff that Halloween and dress-up are for kids but I don't were ever to old to carve pumpkins. Hoping your holiday is filled with ghoulish amounts of fun :)
Stay Spooky - Christine
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1 comment:
WOW! IT'S REALLY SOMETHING THIS HALLOWEEN OF YOURS!
ARRIVED HERE SEARCHING CHAMPAGNE IMAGES (CHOSE YOURS I'LL USE IT WITH A LINK, HOPE YOU WON'T MIND :)
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