Spooky Recipes

Drinks

Witch's Brew Punch

• 2 liters lime sherbet
• 2 liters ginger ale
• 1 cup pineapple juice
• Green food coloring (a few drops)
• Gummy worms for garnish

Let the sherbet soften for about 10 minutes, then scoop it into a punch bowl. Pour the ginger ale and pineapple juice over it slowly. Add a couple drops of green food coloring until it looks sufficiently swampy. Drape gummy worms over the rim of the bowl and float a few in the punch. The sherbet will foam and bubble as it melts, which is exactly what you want.

Blood Punch

• 2 cups cranberry juice
• 1 cup pomegranate juice
• 1 cup cherry soda
• 1/4 cup grenadine
• Red food coloring (optional)
• Frozen hand ice mold (rubber glove filled with water, frozen overnight)

Mix the cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, cherry soda, and grenadine in a large bowl. If the color isn't dark enough, add a drop or two of red food coloring. Cut the rubber glove off the frozen hand and float it in the punch right before serving. It looks disgusting and keeps the punch cold for a good while.

Snacks

Mummy Hot Dogs

• 1 package hot dogs (8 count)
• 1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
• Mustard for eyes

Preheat oven to 375. Unroll the crescent dough and cut it into thin strips, roughly 1/4 inch wide. Wrap each hot dog with strips of dough, leaving a small gap near the top for the face. Don't worry about making it neat. Messy wrapping looks more like actual bandages. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until the dough is golden. Dab two small dots of mustard for the eyes.

Spider Deviled Eggs

• 12 eggs, hard boiled and peeled
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• Salt and pepper
• Black olives (sliced for legs, whole for bodies)

Cut the eggs in half and scoop the yolks into a bowl. Mash the yolks with mayo, mustard, salt, and pepper until smooth. Pipe or spoon the filling back into the whites. For each spider, place half a black olive on top of the filling as the body. Cut another olive into thin slivers and stick four on each side for legs. They look creepy enough to make people hesitate before eating them, which is the whole point.

Ghost-Shaped Cookies

• 1 batch sugar cookie dough (your usual recipe or store-bought)
• White royal icing
• Mini chocolate chips for eyes

Roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a ghost-shaped cookie cutter, or just freehand it with a knife if you don't have one. Bake at 350 for 8 to 10 minutes. Let them cool completely before icing or it'll slide right off. Flood each cookie with white royal icing and press two mini chocolate chips in for eyes while the icing is still wet. Let them set for at least an hour before stacking.

Main Dishes

Eyeball Pasta

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 1 jar marinara sauce
• 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
• 8 oz mozzarella balls (bocconcini)
• Sliced black olives
• Ketchup or marinara for veins

Cook the spaghetti according to the package. Brown the meat, drain, and mix it into the marinara sauce. Toss the pasta with the sauce and pile it onto a serving dish. For the eyeballs, place a sliced olive on top of each mozzarella ball and press gently so it sticks. Use a toothpick dipped in ketchup to draw red veins on the mozzarella. Scatter the eyeballs across the top of the pasta. Serve it on a dark plate if you have one.

Monster Meatloaf

• 2 lbs ground beef
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 packet onion soup mix
• Green bell pepper strips
• Black olives
• Ketchup for the top

Mix the beef, breadcrumbs, eggs, ketchup, and onion soup mix in a big bowl. Shape it into a rough oval on a baking sheet, something that looks vaguely like a head. Use green pepper strips for Frankenstein-style scars and stitches across the top. Press olive slices in for eyes and cut a jagged mouth shape. Spread ketchup across the top for that freshly-stitched look. Bake at 350 for about an hour. Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing.

Treats

Candy Apples

• 6 medium apples
• 2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup light corn syrup
• 1 cup water
• Red food coloring
• Wooden sticks or chopsticks

Wash and dry the apples thoroughly. Any moisture on them will keep the candy from sticking. Push a wooden stick into the top of each one. Combine sugar, corn syrup, and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and let it boil until it hits 300 degrees on a candy thermometer. Pull it off the heat, stir in the red food coloring, and dip each apple quickly, tilting the pan to coat. Set them on parchment paper to harden. Work fast because the candy sets up in a hurry.

Graveyard Pudding Cups

• 1 package instant chocolate pudding
• Milk (per pudding package directions)
• Oreos, crushed
• Milano cookies
• White icing or gel for writing
• Gummy worms

Make the pudding according to the box and divide it into small cups or jars. Crush the Oreos in a bag with a rolling pin and spoon the crumbs on top of each cup for dirt. Write "RIP" on each Milano cookie with white icing and stick one into each cup as a headstone. Poke a gummy worm halfway into the dirt so it looks like it's crawling out. Kids go wild for these and they take about 10 minutes to put together.