I have a confession to make. Halloween is my favorite holiday! As long as I can remember, I have always loved dressing up, decorating, carving pumpkins and cooking for Halloween! I’m a huge kid and I find it to be a Boo-tiful thing. I begin by decorating my house, with scary sights and sounds, on the 1st day of October. I have collected so many Halloween decorations; I have begun to share them with neighbors and friends. When I say share, I mean I decorate their yards and houses as well as mine. There is a method to my madness!
Scary movies begin from the get go. There are so many that are my “favorites”, it literally takes the entire month to go through all of them. From Frankenstein to Jason, I love them all!
Carving pumpkins is a huge ordeal, and all of my friends and family gather for the annual carving contest. (Spook-tacular Tip: I like to dry out the pumpkin seeds and coat them in Sirachi Sauce mixed with a tablespoon of brown sugar. Nothing better than sweet spicy pumpkin seeds to snack on after the contest! Also, after we carve the pumpkins, we wipe them down with petroleum jelly to help them keep their shape and not break down too quickly.)
We have a large hairy spider named “Dave” that always appears in the most precarious spots of the house. Closets, laundry bags, shower, washing machine….The game is to catch people off guard and let Dave have the last laugh!
“Dave” the spider
Everyone here dresses up. I have portrayed myself from pirates, to nerds, to scary monsters. Even my little dog Minnie gets into the act! Last year she was a little devil, this year a Princess! She hates it!
Princess Minnie!
This creamy, fun dip will be the hit of every Halloween party! I’ve done several variations of this cheese ball. My daughters really love it! —Nila Grahl, Gurnee, Illinois
And then, there’s the Halloween Party. Taste of Home makes it so easy! Everything from “finger foods” to decorations, pumpkin carving stencils and hand crafted costumes for the little ghouls & boys are all featured on our website. I can’t wait to make one of my favorite Halloween recipe, the Cheesenstein! My Halloween party guests don’t even realize its a cheeseball until I take a big bite from it! With all of the CRAFTY IDEAS, I may just get carried away. But don’t let that scare you! Remember, this IS my favorite time of the year, and I “witch” you all the fun this Halloween.
Dana
Hi Dana.
loved your cooking show in petoskey this month. Are you also doing the one in Alpena on the 5th. and if so, are you doing the same dishes.
Thanks for the compliment. I’m glad you got to be a part of the show! Yes I’m doing Alpena and yes, they will be the same dishes. Thanks for stopping by.
Dana, just popped in to say I had the best time in Muskegon at the show. After 5 months of constant hospitalizations between my father and my sister(she passed away after a massive heart attack brought on with the stress of our father and her own medical problems), it was a beautiful show, with all the little quirks. I laughed so hard with the apple pie I had tears running down my face. It was a day away from the stress and so enjoyable. We traveled across the state from the Saginaw Bay area to attend and returned home after midnight with my vegetable lasagna in tow for hubby and dad. I look forward to future shows and hope to meet you again in many of them. Thank you for a beautiful evening and some much needed laughs. I have told everybody I know about you and have a group wanting to go the next time. Thank you so much. Valerie Wise. ps: I am also a lover of halloween as evidenced by my e-mail address.