happy halloween . . . party ideas

So this year M and I threw our only little Halloween soiree.  I hope to do this in years to come, and have it grow year by year.

The menu (blood splattered) for the night:

Dark & stormy cocktail:

I am not the world's best mixologist. In fact, I know very little about mixing drinks.  I have been featuring one cocktail at each party I throw so I can, little by little, build my repertoire.  The dark & stormy is one of my favorite drinks.  It has four parts ginger beer to 1 part dark rum, with a spritz of lime, and garnish of mint.

I used Martha Stewart's Halloween labels on the drinks.

I decorated the bar area with little mice silhouettes, courtesy of Martha Stewart, really the woman thinks of everything, and these little guys are so cute put in the right place.

And of course I served an assortment of wine.  I am finding that four bottles of wine usually do the trick: a witch's brew (shiraz), arsenic (cabernet sauvignon), frog's syrup (chardonnay), and a cyanide (rose). I especially like the spiderweb on the picture in the upper left of this picture.

For dinner the menu included, blood & guts (spaghetti & meatballs), an infested picnic (an assortment of cheeses - blue, triple whipped Brie, feta, and English cheddar), and swampy goodness (baked spinach & artichoke dip)

A Halloween party, just isn't a party without a skeleton and a skull  . . .

ants . . .

eyeballs (gum balls) . . .

and cockroach cake (homemade chocolate cake with chocolate ganache with chocolate whoppers).  Again the idea came from Martha Stewart - the name of her case is creepy-crawley cake.  The best thing about this dessert is that it has about 1 lb of chocolate in it, and the inner filling has crushed chocolate malt balls which really gives you the feeling that your biting into something nasty.  Honestly, this case tastes so yummy, and it photographs great.