Sunday, October 30, 2011

Happy Halloween, Everybody!


We had our Halloween party last night.  The kids had So Much Fun!  Sorry some of the pictures are pretty shoddy.  When it got dark, it was flash time...

Take one, beautiful Fall day.  Insert 2 months of planning, 3 extremely talented and creative friends (who buy a lot of Martha Stewart magazines), and 15 kids.  Stir it all up, and Voila!

 Our carnival area.  We had fishing, a bean bag toss game, and apple bobbing.




Our guests wore some great costumes!


Then we ate:

I didn't get a great picture of the food, but here's the menu:
Mummy fingers (pigs in blankets), chocolate brains (chocolate shortbread cookies), i-balls (meat balls), hot cider, fungus tart, broccoli salad, halloween pumpkin seeds, potato salad, homemade Cracker Jacks, gluten-free witch cupcakes, chocolate frogs, pumpkin mousse, olives, and an assortment of wines and hard ciders.

 
Fungus tart by Martha Stewart with my little alterations.

 
 These are my little toadie-frogs.  I was inspired by Fork and Beans to put a bunch of different fillings inside.  Some had marshmallow brains, others had caramel innards, or rice crispy bones, or all-natural  maraschino cherry blood!

 
  Aren't these the sweetest?!

 A scarecrow craft.
 On our walk in the woods, I'm afraid I didn't get many good pictures.  

 We had a talking pumpkin who told the kids that the fairies had woken her up and left them a treat!  They walked past a family of mice,


  up a sparkly trail (mica flakes work great for this!) to a... 

Donut Tree!!!
 The path was marked by fairies in orbs (aka body lights in helium-filled white balloons tied to fishing line.)

We ended up with story time and a pumpkin contest!  I was so pleased that all the kids dictated their own pumpkins!  We had some super cute ones!

Speaking of super cute punkins...

 Peek-a-boo!



 Your hosts!  (I'm the witch in the purple...)

Throw-it-Together Apple Cider
Start after your guests have begun to arrive.
1 Gallon of good, unfiltered apple juice.  I used Cedardale Orchards (Jonamac blend).  Martinellis makes a great one, too but I couldn't find it in gallon size this year.
5 or 6 pods of cardamom
1 or 2 Tbs whole cloves
Look all around for whole cinnmon sticks, give up and use a generous shake of ground cinnamon

Put it all in a crock-pot and set it on low.  It only gets better as the night goes on!

12 comments:

  1. You're killing my Larry! I have goosepimples (I swear to the G) from looking at all of these pics. I am in love with the location of the party--is that *your* house??? I wish I was there!!! And your chocolate frogs? Holy S, batman/Brooke--where did you buy those molds? They are incredible. I so see why they were such a big hit. Eeeeeeeeeee, I'm squirming with Halloween love right now....Tipping my witch hat off to you!

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  2. So cute!! Love all the photos... I was a little freaked out even by the thought of eating those frogs! lol! but I am sure they tasted great! Happy Halloween Brooke :)

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  3. Cara! Hah! I was just thinking about those ads a few days ago! The mattress commercials up here just aren't the same... This is my house and I wish you were here, too! =) The molds came from here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aag/main?ie=UTF8&sshmPath=at-a-glance&isAmazonFulfilled=1&marketplaceID=ATVPDKIKX0DER&isCBA=&orderID=104-5680528-7617821&asin=&seller=A10DTKM71BK1BU&isPopup= I'm glad you enjoyed the post! Can't wait to see what you cook up tomorrow!

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  4. Chinmayie, Those chocolate frogs were pretty realistic, but the main word in that statement is "chocolate." Oh man. Bittersweet, organic, fair trade, 62% cacao, filled up with vegan marshmallow, fleur de sel caramel, gluten free rice crispies, or naturally died maraschino cherries? I don't really care what shape it's in. I'll eat the heck out of that! =) (My favorite were the cherry ones...) And the main word in that statement is "were" because they're allllll gone! =)

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  5. You *do* live in the dark corner of Washington! I live on a hill also, but it is only a 1 minute drive up hill and still these damn kids are too lazy to hike up here for some spooky treats. So lame. It's kinda sad when you get no frick-or-freakers huh? Single, lonely tear. But those frog molds make me happy so I will just stare at your pictures to get me out of this Halloween-less funk...

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  6. My drive isn't literally 10 miles. It's about 400 feet, but it is straight uphill and wet and cold and dark. I call it the "driveway of doom."

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  7. Bahahaha. That sounds so depressing! Yet thrilling. :)

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  8. Wow this is an AWESOME party! I think it's every kid's Halloween dream...

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  9. What an amazing, creative party!! I love your menu and all your treats. What a perfect Halloween setting, too. Looks everyone had lots of fun!

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  10. Thanks, Hannah! I have to admit, most of the really ultra-creative ideas weren't mine. I am so lucky to have some serious party divas in my life! And we all did have a lot of fun! =)

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  11. Those frogs are awesome! And I want a frog mold now. Also, the party looked amazing - I'm jealous I didn't get to attend.

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  12. Ashlae, I got the frog mold off Amazon. In two days you can have your very own! =)

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