Scare up spooky treats on Halloween

Are you hosting a Halloween party? Or just waiting at the front door to give candy to trick-or-treaters? We’re probably just doing the latter, as indoor parties still seem a bit outside the comfort zone of most folks we know. But, I did do some research on the internet for holiday ideas and found several variations of the fruit snacks in the photo.

These are billed as “healthy” snacks, instead of the sugar-laden treats associated with Halloween. Here we have peeled clementines with just enough of the skin’s interior strings left intact to resemble miniature pumpkins and a small strip of celery to form a stem. “Ghostly” bananas feature chocolate chips for oddly-shaped eyes and gaping mouths. 

Of course, there are any number of horrible-looking Halloween appetizers, including mozzarella stick “severed fingers” with almond slice nails – delicious dipped in warm marinara sauce “blood.” You can decorate deviled eggs with “spiders” made from black olive cuttings to form the roundish body and slender legs - make sure to arrange all eight.

Another version of spiders is made from thin, crunchy chow mien noodles covered in melted chocolate and just a bit of peanut butter.  Red-hot candies become the spiders’ eyes and add a spicy bite. When you substitute white chocolate, you’ll create a group of ghostly spiders with creepy red eyes.

One of my favorites as a kid was the well-named “ants on a log.” These are a great after-school or lunch-box snack first seen in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 1959. The original version stuffs celery sticks with peanut butter and arrays a line of raisins for the ants. Others have used cream cheese or hummus as the filling and substituted dried cranberries or nuts for the ants.

For a delicious dip, consider layering taco-seasoned refried beans with guacamole and drawing a spider web with piped sour cream. Find a plastic spider to place in the center and scatter the edges of the serving bowl with green onion, Rotel tomato and chopped olives to scoop up with crunchy tortilla chips.

We’ve stockpiled several bags of candy (including large quantities of the reported favorite, Reese’s peanut butter cups) so the final preparation I’ll need for Halloween is deciding what to drink while we sit around waiting for the doorbell to ring. Usually, we’ll have a glass of chardonnay, but this year, I’m thinking a holiday-themed cocktail.

Many of the online blogs feature spooky-named drinks like Witch’s Heart or Witch’s Blood or Witching Hour - none of which were very appealing, based on their ingredients. The drink called Jack-O-Lantern is an inviting combination of cognac, orange liqueur, orange juice and ginger ale. Garnishes vary from cinnamon to a floating orange slice.

I’ve included the cocktail recipe, which can be tweaked by changing the amounts of juice and soda to play up the cognac. Be sure to serve this in an old fashioned glass to have enough room between the orange slice and the rim to take a sip. You can make a light dinner by including the spider web dip with crunchy chocolate spiders for dessert. Happy Halloween!

Jack-O-Lantern Cocktail

2 oz cognac

1/2 oz Grand Marnier

1 oz orange juice

2 oz ginger ale

orange slice for garnish

Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously with ice. Strain into an old fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with an orange slice. Yield: 1 cocktail.

Chocolate Spiders

12 oz semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 T peanut butter

 5-oz can chow mein noodles

red hots candy

Melt the chocolate and peanut butter together in the top of a double boiler or in a heatproof bowl over boiling water, stirring frequently.  Remove from heat and add the noodles, mixing thoroughly to completely coat them with chocolate.  Drop by scant tablespoons onto a sheet of waxed paper. Place two red candies in each for eyes. Allow to cool and harden; store in an airtight container.

Spider Web Dip

16-oz can refried beans

2 T taco seasoning

1/4 C taco sauce

1 ripe avocado

1 t lime juice

1/4 t salt

pinch cumin

1/2 C sour cream

1 T milk

1/2 C black olives, sliced

1/2 C Rotel tomatoes; drained

1 sliced green onion

Place the beans in a saucepan; stir in taco seasoning and sauce. Heat over medium low until warmed through. Mash the avocado in a small bowl; stir in lime juice, salt and cumin. Spread the hot beans evenly across the bottom of a pie plate. Spread the avocado mixture over the beans. Whisk milk into sour cream and spoon into a zip top bag. Press out the air and seal; cut off a small corner of the bag. Pipe out the cream int the design of a spider web. Scatter olives, tomatoes and green onions around the perimeter of the pan. Serve warm with tortilla chips.