Halloween has come and gone and I think, even with how disastrous 2020 has been, this was the best Halloween we have had so far. To avoid the potential spread of COVID-19, we stayed home – no trick or treating this year. Because we were staying home, we knew we wanted to do something different and fun for both kids and us. A quick Pinterest or Google search will reveal hundreds of Halloween recipes to the point that it is overwhelming. Hence, my goal here is to give you advice on what worked us, dos and donts and quick recipe references.
First things first,
have a plan
Pick 2-3 ideas that you’d like to go with. The one thing I knew I had to make were dirt cups – my son loves them. I then saw some recipes that used brownies and Milano cookies to make coffins and I wanted to go with those. For drinks, my kids love Shirley Temples and given that they’re red, they’ll make the perfect Halloween mocktail. As far as adult drinks, we wanted a something soft, not too sweet and still within the Halloween theme; hence, we went with Sangria. Finally, we wanted a savory component and of course, we immediately thought of ribs! Spooky!
focus on flavors rather than decoration
Trust me when I say, simple is best. Pinterest will bombard you with all this crazy Halloween food decorations and if I am being honest, if you look at the recipes, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to taste good – it’s just for show and we don’t want that. That’s why things like Shirley Temples, puddings, brownies, etc. are such a good option.
decide what to make from scratch
Personally, I prefer homemade brownies. I feel like I can make them fudgier, add white chocolate chips, etc. My Neanderthal husband prefers box brownies. I chose to make them from scratch. The Milano cookies and the pudding were store bought. There is no point to make it all from scratch.
recipes
Dirt Cups
ingredients
- Small, pretty plastic cups (We got ours from Target)
- Preferred flavor of pudding (We chose oreo cream and chocolate)
- One box of Oreos
- Gummi worms
steps
- Prepare the puddings according to the package instructions.
- Separate the cream filling from the Oreo cookies (do not throw away as we will use for recipe later)
- Using a food processor, grind the Oreo cookies until fine, resembling dirt.
- Assemble cups by first adding a pudding layer, then a dirt layer, then repeat one more time.
- Top with Gummi worms.
- Refrigerate until ready to plate.
Brownie Graveyards
ingredients
- Homemade or boxed brownies (your choice). I recommend making them more cake-y so it holds the cookie better.
- Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies
- Green and yellow food coloring
- Leftover Oreo dirt
- Oreo cream filling
- Black decorating gel
- Small, fine cake decorating tip
- 8 x 8 baking dish
steps
- Prepare the brownie mix according to the package instructions.
- While the brownies are baking, attack the decorating tip to the black decorating gel tube, and write “RIP” on top of the Milano cookies. Set aside.
- Mix the Oreo cream with green and some yellow food coloring. Put in the fridge.
- Once the brownies are done, let them cool completely on a cooling rack.
- Once the brownies are cooled, cut into grave-like equal pieces.
- Put a Milano cookie near the top of each “grave.”
- Using a fork, add some of the green Oreo cream mixture in front of the Milano cookie to make it look like grass.
- Sprinkle with left over Oreo dirt.
Beef Ribs
ingredients
- Beef ribs
- Rub of your choice (we used ginger, garlic, salt, pepper)
- Korean BBQ sauce
- Slow cooker
steps
- Follow steps here: https://cafedelites.com/slow-cooker-barbecue-ribs/
construction
You will need,
- 2 small bowls for candy
- Wax paper
- Leftover Gummi worms
- Leftover Oreo cookies
- Brownies
- Cooked Meat
- Pudding
- Big serving dish/platter
- Cutting board
- Red bell pepper
ribs
Our initial idea was to using the ribs and arrange them as human ribs and use the red bell pepper as a heart. The meat was so tender that it fell off the bones so we can to reconstruct it. We put all the meat and bones and made it look like rib-cage and added the red bell pepper in the middle. We placed it all on top of a wood cutting board.
the sweets platter
- Fill the two small bowls with candy and place them in the middle of the big serving dish/platter.
- Scrunch up the wax paper and place of either side of the candy bowls. This will be the graveyard and the wax paper will give that white-esque graveyard look.
- Place the brownies on the wax paper and sprinkle the remaining Oreo dirt around the graves. Add a few full Oreos if you have any left.
- On the side that’s still empty, arrange your dirt cups.
- Fill empty spaces with candy.
- Place drinks beside platter.
Happy Halloween!
Things Grow 