I have to start this post with an apology. I would love to be presenting you with a multi-course, spook-tacular Halloween feast right now. It would be complete with candle-lit mood lighting, a classy dark atmosphere that calls to mind a chic occult dining room, and at least five courses and two signature cocktails, one with obligatory dry ice. Regrettably, however, this isn’t that post.
Having only just left a full-time position at the end of September, I’ve only been able to start recipe testing and setting this site up this month, and while I tried to see if I could make it work, a couple weeks just wasn’t enough time to orchestrate such fabulousness – especially on top of a planned move next month. While all of this is a reasonable excuse for not being able to pull together recipes from scratch and a fancy photo shoot, I can still admit I’m a little disappointed. The thing is, I LOVE Halloween. I love the goofy and creatively whimsical foods all over the internet; I love watching horror movie marathons; and I love that everything is covered in cute little ghosts and tiny bats and too much fake spider-webbing. As I’ve gotten older, it’s been hard to justify the expense of a costume for one day of the year, and I haven’t had the kind of home I could host my own grand party with top-notch decorations yet either. I usually put more thought into the food I make for the potlucks I attend than my costume, to no one’s surprise, and the atmosphere is really my favorite part of the holiday. For instance, these BlackMilk tights and a black tunic are pretty much the extent of my costume for this year:
That all being said, I do heartily apologize, both to you and to me, that I don’t have a Halloween series of recipes for you this month. In consolation, I’ve gathered up some links I’ve found particularly inspiring to share – Let me know if you end up using any of them in your own October festivities!
- Do you have the means and reason (who really needs a reason?) to go all out in your decorating? Visit Grandin Road if you haven’t already – I drool over their Halloween pieces every year, some of which can outlive the holiday depending on your personal aesthetic. This year I am especially in love with this.
- I plan to make these amazing Devil’s Food Cupcakes with Pomegranate Sugar Shards from How Sweet It Is as my Halloween potluck contribution this year. I’ve always had a fascination with sugar glass, both in prop making and in cooking, so this might be the time to give it a try.
- Kelli Hall has created some exquisitely creepy cocktails for the Minted.com blog. The latest is this one (which looks pretty fantastic if you are a fan of tapioca), but the bug garnish for the Swamp Swill Martini is adorable, and the flavors in The Black Heart just seem divine. I haven’t tried to make these myself yet since they have some unique ingredients, but they are definitely on my list.
- If you do need some ideas for a classy Halloween dinner party, check out this photo shoot from Style Me Pretty – Gorgeous!!
- And if you need some dark but relatively straightforward recipes to go with it, check out this post on TasteBook – I will likely try some these for a normal meal at some point because they look fantastic.
- Finally, if you are feeling particularly macabre and highbrow, Feeding Hannibal: A Connoisseur’s Cookbook came out this month and its currently on my cookbook wishlist. It’s written by the food stylist for the NBC TV show, Janice Poon, and after seeing the amazing meals on screen I’m looking forward to giving this a try.
So those are my highlights. I hope next year I can present you with my dream Halloween party, but in the meantime, I have some great menus planned for you over the next couple of months. In fact, here is a little preview of things to come, with help from my “assistant” Midna:
Are you making anything fun for the holiday? If so, I’d love to hear about your plans in the comments!
Happy Halloween!