Welcome to my Halloween graveyard!
Happy Hallowe’en my pretties! It’s the Wicked Witch of the East(ern Suburbs) here! Hop onto the end of my broomstick for a personal tour of my very own Hallowe’en party! I promise to lure you into my cottage with all sorts of gruesome, ghastly and frighteningly freaky goods.
I still don’t know what on earth possessed me to make 13 items for this Halloween party. Did I mention that I grossly overcater for these types of events? It seemed like a good idea at the time and I just kept adding things as I discovered them or thought of them. This over eagerness to feed does have its downsides and I found myself on the evening before the night of the party exhausted. Mr NQN had gone out for work drinks and didn’t come home until 10pm where he found me an incoherent mess. All I could wail was “I want my television” (i.e. the laptop) while lying prone on the bed kicking my feet in the air like an upended hedgehog.
Tombstone cookies-one for each guest!
Brain Shots!
Ghost open sandwiches and pumpkin open sandwiches
The next morning I awoke refreshed and glanced at my schedule. You can never keep a good ghoul down and inside me is also a strange mutation of Bree Van Der Kamp and Martha Stewart crossed with Morticia Addams. That day I had to pick up some cupcakes from Sparkle Cupcakery who were giving me some Halloween themed cupcakes for my party in a pumpkin spice flavour. My father had made the little menu cards (so please excuse some of the typos). I was visiting the Party People who were generously loaning me a whole bunch of gorgeously gruesome props and we also had to pick up some last minute items and Mr NQN’s costume. He of course wanted to go as Dexter Morgan.
Dragon’s Eye Devilled Eggs
“Can I go as Dexter?” he asked.
“In the white outfit with the blood spatter?” I asked him.
“No…not really”
“What do you mean then?
“I’ll wear a polo shirt and shorts”
“Nice try”.
Wobbly brain pate anyone?
Baked Brie spiderweb
As for me? I went as Little Red Riding Hood. I’m not quite sure why except that I’ve always wanted a red cape. I was going to wear fangs as I was supposed to be the mutant offspring of Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf but the fangs that I bought made me look like I had a severe overbite. Mr NQN was going to come as the wolf except that all of the wolf masks that he tried on were itchy.
I handed out Vampire Cookie Pops to all of my guests-recipe to come!
Medusa’s head. Sing along with me “Isn’t she lovely…”
I know, I know, Hallowe’en in on the 31st of October but this year, my friend The Second Wife and her fiancee Gravy Beard are getting married that weekend so we decided to have Hallowe’en a bit earlier this year. This meant that you could also use the recipes if you were so ghoulishly inclined. And many of the thirteen recipes here are very easy to do. Of course I don’t include the sanity straining gingerbread house above in that list 
Floating Teeth Juice
“Worms in dirt anyone?” I ask as I hand out some delicious proteiny goodness
Or how about some bat wings?
There was food a plenty and all of my nearest and dearest were invited along. Everyone came dressed in costume-I am a costume nazi and if you don’t come in costume, you are banished to the gallows to live in eternity. We spent the evening eating, drinking, talking and playing games including the very fun horror movie version of charades. That’s right, if you come to my Halloween party, you will be subjected to games!
Broken glass shards and blood
All of the food worked a treat except for one item. These were supposed to be Dexter Blood Slides but they didn’t work so they became broken glass shards with blood which Queen Viv loved as they reminded her of toffees at school fetes (except for the blood I presume ).
Sparkle Cupcakery Pumpkin and Spice cupcakes $4.50 each
The Sparkle Cupcakes were an undeniable hit. Lou passed them around and they got an unanimous thumbs up from everyone that tried them. There was actual pumpkin in the cake itself which made it very soft and moist and we may have had a riot on our hands with this half dozen eagerly contested cupcakes!
…or eyeballs?
Anyway, without further ado, here are the recipes, should you wish to indulge your inner vampire! Settle in with a cup of tea or coffee though as this story is the most picture filled NQN story ever! And if you want to see my ghoulishly fabulous guests, scroll down!
So tell me Dear Reader, what would you get dressed up as for Halloween?
Bloody Brain Shots
This is such a seriously brilliant and brain like idea. I got this idea from fellow Halloween afficianado Not Martha who originally saw this recipe on Folkinz. I was amazed at how ingenious it was and used the curdling effect of lime on Baileys. I’m sure this is not what the Baileys people had intended for use of their creme liqueur but I have to say that it works beautifully. I also used the vodka and cranberry and vodka and blood orange that Smirnoff sent me in a cask no less. I used a little syringe to add to the effect but according to the people at Folkinz the same effect can be had with a straw.
- 2 parts Smirnoff Vodka and Cranberry or Vodka and Blood Orange
- 1 part lime juice
- 1 small bottle of Baileys
1. Mix vodka and cranberry or vodka and blood orange with the lime juice and pour into shot glasses. Using a pipette, small syringe or straw, slowly drop small amount of Baileys into the shot glass to form a brain. It may gather and collect at the bottom of the glass but for the best effect place the droplets of the Baileys towards the edge of a glass. Using a spoon you can gently dislodge it from the bottom and the “brain” will float to the top! Watch your friends grimace and gag at how accurately brainy it looks.
Worms In Dirt
I got these from the Queen of American DIY Martha Stewart as she always has such great, ghoulish ideas. It is one of the simplest items to make. I couldn’t find any black beans as she had specified so I bought red kidney beans and bought two sachets of squid ink from the deli. I made use of a Braun Cordless stick blender that I was given and I must say the timing could not have been better. So many dishes required pureeing and I hate having to wash the food processor between uses. The Braun cordless stick blender was easy to use, cleaned very easily and I liked the fact that it was cordless. The only negative was that it didn’t last very long and I probably could use it for about 5 minutes of pureeing in total before it needed to be charged for 2 hours.
I followed Martha’s instructions and found that I didn’t need anywhere near the eight hot dogs that she specified, only about three of them. And I also found that leaving the skin on them was better for that worm curling effect. I added some tiny sprigs of curly parsley to resemble grass tufts and placed these in a wooden box and handed them around like some sort of twisted version of an ice cream seller in a theatre.
Think of this as so easy it is about the antithesis of the Halloween Gingerbread House which just about gave me a case of nervous exhaustion.
- 3 hot dogs
- 2 tins black beans (I could only get red kidney beans)
- 2 small sachets of squid ink (optional but perhaps necessary if you can only get red kidney beans like me)
- A little curly parsley
Buyer’s tip: Buy squid ink at good delis
1. Place a large pot of water on to boil. Leaving the skin on (I unskinned them but they curl better with the skin on), slice the hot dog in half lengthways and then slice each half into four horizontally and then slice little “worm like” pieces. Boil for a few minutes until the pieces start curling. Drain.
From beans and squid ink to…
“Dirt”
2. Drain and rinse the beans and blend them up with some black olives and some squid ink (if using) to colour. Gently tuck the worms into the dirt. Dot the edges with bits of curly parsley to look like grass.
Dragon’s Eye Devilled Eggs
This is another very easy recipe and one of the most popular dishes of the night with people asking for “more of those dragon’s eyes please”. I know Devilled eggs are fantastically retro and that may have prevented you from serving them at a chi chi dinner party but they definitely have a place at Halloween. I mean I am serving up sliced up hot dogs so you know, while I’m here in kitschville….
I made two dozen “eyes” but you could certainly make just six but I tend to dreadfully overcater. Plus I had a lot of vegetarians to feed. I’ve never seen a dragon myself but the literature tells me that they have pupils like cats so be it.
- 1 dozen eggs, hard boiled (use older eggs as the shells will come off more easily)
- 6-7 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- Sliced pitted black olives
1. Peel and slice boiled eggs in half horizontally. Gently remove the yolks and mash these up with the mayonnaise and curry powder and stuff them back into the egg whites.
2. Shake over a little smoked paprika using a small sieve and then place a sliver of the black olive in the centre.
Grey Brain Pate
I don’t know what it is about me and brains. I’ve always loved a smart man so why not love his brain too as a singular erogenous object? OK so the sight of a grey, wobbly brain doesn’t exactly get my heart fluttering but I hope you’ll agree that this is a rather good way of serving up “pate”. If you dare, you could use actual brains. But you may end up with no-one at your next Hallowe’en party although this is a pretty good way of sorting out the zombies from the non zombie folk.
Adapted from Britta
Makes a brain mold with a 6 cup capacity
- 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
- 7 sheets titanium strength gelatin sheets softened in water (or the equivalent powder to set 6 cups)
- 1 cup natural non fat yogurt
- 1/4 cup chives
- 600 grams prawn meat or crab meat
- 1 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
- Tabasco or creole seasoning to taste
- a brain mold (this is pretty much essential)
- a loaf of bread or crackers (I used olive bread as the black olives looked a bit like mold)
1. Firstly check the capacity of your brain mold-mine is 6 cups large-if yours is smaller or larger adjust the recipe accordingly. Heat soup, undiluted, take off the heat and stir in softened gelatine. Fold in remaining ingredients and blend everything (again I used the Braun Cordless stick blender and it worked a treat) and then pour into a lightly oiled mold. Chill until firm for several hours of overnight and serve with bread or crackers.
Brie Spiderweb
This is another frightfully simple thing to make for a Halloween party. It’s baked brie in puff pastry. And yes I know where your mind is going and you’re right, the pastry is golden and puffy and the brie is appealing runny inside and somehow it all stays together. I think there might be magic involved… One word of warning Dear Ghouls. You really need to make more than one of these. This item was hungrily eaten by guests at the party and I only wished that I had made more of these. And there’s nothing worse than when zombies get hungry!
Adapted from Britta
- 1 wheel brie (not too large, it’s easier if one sheet of puff pastry can wrap around it)
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 2 tablespoons milk
Place brie on puff pastry sheet
1. Preheat oven to 220C/440F. Place brie in the centre of the puff pastry. Trim the edges and wrap the pastry around tucking and sealing it well. Use trimmed scraps to make a spider web pattern or you could do others like Munch’s “The scream”.
Tucked in and sealed on the bottom
Floating Ghosts
Makes 12 Floating Ghosts
- 1 packet white chocolate Tim Tams
- 50grams/1.7 ozs light or regular cream cheese (I used light)
- 1-2 tablespoons almond meal
- White fondant
- Black pen
1. In a food processor, process the biscuits, cream cheese and red colouring until it becomes a smooth paste. You may need to stop and scrape 2-3 times to do this. Add almond meal if it becomes too sticky. Scrape the mixture into a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes until it becomes firmer. Shape into a cork shape with a rounded top and then drape the fondant over curling the edges. Draw eyes and a mouth on them.
Tombstone Cookies
When you’re a guest in my haunted house, you are treated as an esteemed visitor. So much so that I will make you your very own tombstone to take home with you. That’s how much I love you really. And let’s not forget the fact that I am buried beside you
Ok these are fiddly but I must say that I loved the feathering effect of the white icing on the black icing which I came up with purely by accident when I was a bit haphazard with the writing. I preferred the effect from using the Wilton white gel pens that I got from Little Betsy Baker as they were more white and ghostly but you do end up using 2-3 of these pens so it’s up to you whether you want to use white royal icing or the pen.
But Dear Guest, you have no choice as you will be buried next to me. Muahahahaahaaaa!
Makes 15 tombstone cookies
- 85 g/3ozs butter, softened
- 140g/5ozs white caster superfine sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 180g/6ozs all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Royal icing mixture (see below)
For Royal Icing
- 1 egg white (30grams/1 oz)
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 150grams sifted icing sugar
- 2-3 Wilton Gel pens in white
1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in the flour and cinnamon. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with a cookie cutter-I traced out a rough tombstone shape onto cardboard and covered it with cling wrap so it wouldn’t stick to the dough). Place cookies 1 inch apart on parchment lined baking trays. I also made some cookies to stick against the back of the tombstone so they would stand up. Bake for 5 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.
3. Make Royal Icing by beating egg white with lemon juice until combined on low speed increasing to medium speed. You want two textures for the Royal Icing, a stiff one to pipe the outline and a runnier one to fill in the outline.
4. Add sifted sugar while beating until desired consistency is reached. You want it a little stiff in order to pipe the outline however, if it is too stiff, add a little warm water. Always cover your Royal Icing with cling wrap as it dries out easily. Make one batch in black (use most of the icing for this) and leave one batch white (to write the words on top) unless you are using the Wilton white pens. Divide the black royal icing into 2 parts: one quarter in a piping bag and leave the remaining three quarters in the bowl covered tightly (it will dry out easily). Draw an outline with the piping bag black royal icing in black. Once set, add a little water to the bowl of the remaining royal icing and “flood” the outline and use the back of a small spoon to spread the icing to the edges. Allow to set for several hours or overnight.
The tombstones as well as the backs to hold them up
5. Make up creepy things to say on the tombstones. I made a tombstone for each of my guests. Then take a toothpick and a clean, wet cloth and drag the edges of letters with a toothpick cleaning it against the cloth as you go along. Allow to set.
6. With the royal icing, sandwich some of the backs to the gravestones to help prop them up. You may need to hold onto each one for a minute or so while they firm up.
Pumpkin Open Sandwiches
I looked at my menu and realised that I had a disproportionate amount of sweet items versus savoury items so I decided to do this to balance the savoury quotient. These can very easily be done with bought dips. Yumi’s makes a really good spicy pumpkin dip and you can buy any pale yogurt based spread for the ghosts. Plus I like the idea of getting an additional use out of cookie cutters that only get used once every 1 or 2 years.
- 600grams pumpkin, roasted (I roast it whole in a 180c/350F oven for an hour and then peel the skin off and scoop out the seeds)
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup chives
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- a few drops of Tabasco sauce
- 1 loaf of grain bread
- Pumpkin cookie cutter
- 2 tablespoons basil pesto
1. Blend all ingredients (except for bread and cookie cutter ) until very, very smooth.
2. Cut out pumpkin shapes with bread (reserve the rest of the bread for breadcrumbs) and spread with pumpkin dip. Spread a tiny bit of basil pesto for the stem of the pumpkin.
Ghostly Pale Sandwiches
I made my own labne (yogurt cheese) as it is incredibly easy to do (mix a teaspoon of salt into a tub of natural yogurt and strain through muslin for two days). The only thing you do need is foresight as it does require a couple of days to drain all of the whey out. I used a Black Swan low fat yogurt which was sent to me. At first I wondered if you could actually use a non fat or low fat yogurt to make a labne and whilst it doesn’t drain quite as much whey as full fat yogurt, it still works. The yogurt itself, pre straining, is really lovely and rich and doesn’t taste low fat at all.
- 1 kg natural yogurt made into Labne (I used a low fat Black Swan yogurt)
- 1 loaf white sandwich bread
- 1-2 pitted black olives
1. Using a ghost cookie cutter, cut out bread ghost shapes. spread with yogurt cheese with an angled spatula and then chop up olives finely and place two black olive eyes on each ghostie.
Medusa’s Head
I bought some squid ink spaghetti with one intention only. Medusa’s head. Squid ink black pasta turns slightly grey once cooked although there were the odd strands of black. I used a hard skull mask from last year’s Halloween flayed skin face which was actually supposed to be a pirate. I thought that I would blend up some smoked ham with some cream cheese so that we could pick at bits of her face. Does that sound absolutely charming darlings? The Braun cordless stick blender did struggle with this mix. I don’t think there was enough “liquid” in it so I had to wait two hours in between blending while it charged which was a little frustrating. I think this would best be done in a food processor. I also bought some bocconcini and olives to make as her eyeballs and I also cut up the bocconcini as teeth. I made a little bowl of extra eyeballs and voila, may I present to you the beauty queen of the evening, Medusa!
- 1/2 a 500g/1 pound packet of black squid ink spaghetti
- a few tablespoons of garlic or chilli oil
- 500grams/1 pound smoked ham
- 125grams cream cheese
- 3 balls of bocconcini
- 1 green stuffed olive sliced in half
- a skull mold or hard mask
Le skull template
1. Blend the ham and cream cheese in a food processor. Oil the inside of the skull mold and line with a large sheet of cling wrap (the oil is just to help the cling wrap adhere to the inside of the mask). Stuff the skull with the ham mixture and press down firmly. Ideally you want to do this step this a day or two ahead of time so that it firms up in the fridge and sets. Place in the fridge and weigh it down with a heavy plate. Leave to firm up overnight.
Stuffing the skull with blended smoked ham and cream cheese filling
2. On the day you want to serve it, boil spaghetti according to directions in plenty of salted boiling water. Drain and toss in garlic or chilli oil.
Squid Ink spaghetti hair
Bocconcini eyeballs and teeth. My what big teeth you have Medusa!
3. Unmold the ham face and invert onto a serving platter face up. Take two of your bocconcini balls and with a paring knife, cut out small holes to place the olive halves in. Dig out the ham eye sockets to fit the bocconcini balls in and place. Cut up teeth from remaining bocconcini ball. Drape spaghetti hair around her face.
Bat Wings
I took the opportunity to finally use the Bone Suckin’ Sauce I was given a while back. To give it a darker colour I added a little dark soy sauce and honey to balance it as it dawned on me that they were supposed to be black and I had run out of my precious supply of squid ink (did I really just say that?). Nevertheless, these were a real hit at the party and I only wish that I had made more. You can also do this without the Bone Suckin’ sauce if you find it hard to get a hold of (but I thought that the name was just about perfect). If you do, just add a tablespoon of finely chopped ginger and garlic instead of the sauce.
- 3 kgs/6 pounds chicken wings
- 1 jar of Bone Suckin’ Sauce (if not using this, add 1 tablespoon garlic and 1 tablespoon ginger)
- 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
- 4 tablespoons honey
1. Divide the marinade ingredients into two and mix them together in 2 large ziplock bags. Place 1.5 kilos/3pounds of chicken wings in each ziplock bag and massage the bag so that the marinade coats all of the pieces. Leave to marinate overnight (I left it for 3 nights).
2. Line two baking trays with parchment and preheat oven to 180C/350F. Bake the chicken wings in the sauce for 30 minutes, turning halfway through and glazing the other side. Bake until sticky and cooked through.
My how nicely browned you are Mr Bat!
Vampire Teeth Juice
For the vampire teeth you really need a vampire teeth mold which I was kindly furnished with by my buddy Christie from Fig & Cherry. She would have been at the party but she is literally about to give birth at any minute so she had to beg off and be home with her sore back. Poor thing!
I thought that I would make a non alcoholic drink for the vampires that had to drive home and inside the red martini glasses filled with cranberry juice I added a set of Vampire’s teeth. You simply make these by filling in the teeth area with milk or cream, freezing this until set and then adding cranberry juice and then freezing these. Some of them will break when you remove them but it is worth it for the effect.
Coffin Chips & Entrails
Idea from Britta
Another fabulously easy thing to make and simply requires a modest amount of purchasing power. I bought a coffin (as you do) but you could certainly make one up with a modified shoe box if you are handy with a box cutter (I am not). Inside I placed a skeleton and some spicy bean and tomato salsa (bought) and some glowingly orange corn chips. And voila, instead of corn chips and salsa, we had coffin chips and entrails. And yes my dad can’t spell entrails. But that’s ok
Broken Glass and Blood
Now these were destined to become some blood slides a la Dexter Morgan, my favourite serial killer. I even ordered the blood slide box for them to live in. However when it came to the cutting stage, the toffee refused to be cut into rectangles and instead shattered to smithereens. So it instead became broken glass with blood in it!
Makes 2 sheets of broken glass
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1/3 cup glucose syrup or corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- a few drops of red food colouring
1. Melt the sugar with the syrup and the water until all of the crystals have disappeared. Line 2 baking sheets with baking parchment paper and have an angled small metal spatula ready. Use a candy thermometer and heat the sugar without stirring until it reaches the hard crack stage.
2. Quickly and carefully pour the toffee over the baking trays spreading quickly with the spatula. When set after about 30 minutes and it is cool enough to handle break into pieces and drop a little red food colouring onto it.
Haunted portraits
And so onto the guests of the Haunted House! As Little Red Riding Hood I greeted all guests with my basket of Vampire Pops.
Our very first victims were Aiyana and Figaro. Aiyana came as a Colonial Ghost bride and can you guess who Figaro is dressed up as? Now think hard…. note the weapons!
Figaro came as Ivan Milat the notorious serial killer. So un PC but brilliant costume 
.
A few minutes later there is a loud, heavy knock at the door and we open the door a crack. Ivan points his pistol out the door only to be greeted by…two squirts of water!
“It’s the Ghostbusters!” yell Hot Dog and Gina
Next “they tried to make me go to rehab” The Second Wife plays Amy Winehouse and Gravy Beard plays Eric from True Blood!
And then a party isn’t complete without Miss America as Tommy Lee…
While Queen Viv is our second Amy Winehouse! One can never have too many Amys 
Of course there must be a catfight among Amy’s while Tommy Lee screams for some “Amy on Amy action”! Careful of the razor blade curtain Amy!
Lulu comes as a fortune teller who tells fortunes using a Scrabble board-”I see a triple word score in your future…”
Teena comes as Mother Mary with Annabel as a baby pumpkin. “I want that one” says Annabel…
Tuulikki arrives as bat woman slash Lili from the Munsters!
Mr NQN talks back to the talking portrait
Oh dear…. a beaheaded bride. Where is her groom?
A relatively better fate, the colonial ghost bride attached to a body
While Eric and Amy help themselves to some worms in dirt-the verdict is “Surprisingly good!”
Don’t eat that Tommy…
Amy loves it when Tommy eats human arms…
Oh dear…what will the props department think of next?
And a little surprise in our bedroom for my fellow guests if they sneak into there for a nap…what are those two blue dots?
Arrrgggh! They found our rotting corpse!
Or for anyone that dares to open the fridge…
The Second Wife says “I wish every day was Halloween…”. I hear you Amy, I hear you…
Props on loan from The Party People. Ghoulishly wonderful time provided by the guests
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126 Comments | Add your own
That looks like so much fun! I love all of your treats- it’s hard to choose a favorite. What a tasty spread of ghoulish goodies!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. Ye freakish ghouls were NOT on my side with this one
Kids have been having fun with my costume since though.
It all looks FABULOUS!! xxx
My goodness, you are so creative! I always over-cater for parties and I always take a theme and run with it. I guess I go all out? But it’s more fun that way! In the end at least
You are so much fun. Happy early Halloween!
Wow!! You have given me some inspiration – I will have to try those worms in dirt! Can’t wait to show “precious” she will want all this for her party next weekend!
My oh my – you sure know how to throw one KILLER party!!!! It all looks so brilliant! And I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who tends to overcater events
You are the Undead Queen of Halloween!! OMG you are unbelievable!! Everything is amazing, so fantastically disgusting. I would love to be a participant in one of you ghouly creations
OH my GOSH. This looks amazing. You did a seriously amazing job on this! I think I hear a career specialising in Halloween merchandise calling!
This looks like so much fun! And well done on the catering!
Wow you put in lots of effort. I have never celebrated hallow eve’s before!
This is absolutely, positively, 100% INCREDIBLE, Lorraine!! I can’t describe how blown away I am by all your creations. This is the best party I have ever seen! The shards of glass were actually fabulous! As were the brain shots and tombstone cookies. ALL the food looks oh my goodness amazing! I am so so impressed and so so inspired!! You’re so clever and fun!
Heidi xo
Fantastic!
Kudos to you for making all of that. Dedication – you has it.
Hahaha…you don’t do anything by halves, do you? Wonderfully ghoulish read first thing in the morning, thank you!
I am NOT into Halloween at all. Not even the food choices make me want to join in.
OMG Lorraine!!!! Martha, Bree AND Morticia would positively give you an award for that spread! What amazingly ingenious ideas for ALL those dishes! How on earth did you manage to cook all that by yourself??? And is it too embarrassing to admit that I am creeped out even from your photos? Especially those props… the beheaded bride eeewww.. I have goosebumps!
FABULOUS LORRAINE!
NQN your Halloween creations never cease to amaze me. I just love your ghoulishness
The party looks amazing and you look hot as red riding hood!
P.s. you can buy black beans from Norton St Grocers in Bondi Junction Westfield in case you need to make dirt in future
Can’t keep a good ghoul down… hilair Binky Binky Binky Binky!!!!
Lorraine I think you’ve outdone yourself this time! This is AMAZING! I have never thrown a hallowe’en party but am seriously considering if it means I can recreate a few of your ghoulish treats! Love the Braun plug haha x
If all the Red Riding Hoods look that good I’m going to live in the woods
Looks downright devilishly delightful Lorraine (ahem the Wicked Witch of the Eastern suburbs)! Well done! Best of all it seems your Halloween decked out guests received their fair share of treats over tricks(minus the rotting corpse in your bed!):)
madame, i believe you have outdone yourself.
wowzers!
Awesome! So impressed with your talents Lorraine. What a great Halloween Party you throw girl
Oh I LOVE THIS!
Haloween is the best holiday of the year and kudos to you for celebrating it in full force!
I have an obsession with Dexter and I Love the little homages – like the doll’s head and the glass shards! You should have let Mr NQN dress up as him!
Kudos to you and your awesome friends for getting into the spirit!
Sounds like a very great party!
I have a fairly sexy witch costume….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phonakins/4063037629/in/photostream/
You did a fantastic job!!!!!!!
Everything looks fantastic! How do you find the energy? Everything looks so real…I know that’s not really bloody brains but I don’t know if I could eat that!
I’m exhausted just looking at how much work you have done. what an amazing display of revoltingly fantastic food! you’re unreal! cheers kari
You did a great job on everything. I cannot believe that only you did this. You are amazing and have very lucky friends including us that get great recipes. What a fun party. Happy Halloween to you. We will be watching the World Series on Halloween, as our SF Giants will be playing the Texas Rangers.
Wow, that’s pretty amazing, no wonder you felt tired! I wish I had your patience and creativity to make so many wonderful and dishes, congrats!
AWESOME job. This is spooktacular. I’m throwing a Hallowe’en murder mystery dinner party this coming wknd and I’m going all out too- have spent a fortune between props, decor, food, prizes for the murder mystery winners, it’s going to be great…. bwa ha ha
Fabulous post, thanks for continuing to share these great ideas!
WOW you go totally all out for Halloween, I wanna be invited to your next one looks like so much fun. I can imagine how exhausted you were after making all that ghoulish food. Loved the spiderweb brie I think I could eat a whole one myself.
You outdo yourself every year, Lorraine, and lol at you being Bree, Martha and MOrtiTia all rolled into one! All your guests look great, too.
Love your Halloween post, I’ve been looking forward to it as last years was great too! I’ve been planning the sweet things for our get together & I love your little ghosts and headstone cookies – need to get a move on tomorrow with things – thanks again for the inspiration
OMG Lorraine…I have thoroughly enjoyed this party…You are a heroine making all this delightfully ghoulish stuff!!!
I wait every year for your amazing Halloween party post!! This is above and beyond, Lorraine!! I love every bit of it!
What a great party! I am floored by your effort & your success!
Just too many great ideas in one place…wow did you knock me down with this one… my favorite was the bloody glass.. go figure!
Hi!
WOW!how incredible! I just loved this post you´re so incredible creative, loved the food too! well, congratulations for the spirit and the fun you had!!!
Magali
You look so Pretty in a red hood!
Next year I’ll come?
Wow, I want to come to your parties! You did an amazing job!!
I am serious when I say I never much liked Halloween until you came along. This is so over the top fabulous. I love the brie spider web (I can do that) and I especially love the brain shots and “personalized” cookies. I guess the better to scare you with my dear.
That is fabulous effort. Just looking at all the pictures makes me want to hold a party too.
WORMS?….IN DIRT??
That’s disgusting. Clever and creative, but still disgusting.
Loved NQN in the Little Red Riding Hood costume though – may need to try that one at home.
Love how you always put so much effort into Halloween! ^^ The props and food look absolutely amazing! Shame I had an early Halloween party this year (same day as yours – I overcatered as well); will definitely be using your recipes for next year! mmm.. worms in dirt
That is seriously awesome, Lorraine – such Hallowe’en spirit!
Esp love the tombstone cookie effect and Medusa’s ham face
WOW, suitably macabre…you are scarier than I thought…based on all that pretty pretty stuff you do!
You’re nuts! But all the effort paid off, looks fabulously goulish! They seem to get crazier by the year =p
Absolutely fantastic! Love the food, the costumes and your Halloween enthusiasm. It’s my favorite holiday.
Sounds like you guys had a great time!!
The food looks fantastic, Lorraine. You put a lot of thought into the whole party.
I’ve never been to a halloween party before
I’d love to go to one to dress up though…not sure who/what I’d go as, but I’m sure I’d come up with something interesting 
What an awesome Halloween party. You are so creative and also that must have taken so much effort. But for how fun it looks…so worth it!
It’s so wonderful to finally see your friends and their wonderful costumes! Pretty amazingly spot-on Amys, and I love the Medusa head.
You really do know how to go above and beyond in the name of fun, Lorraine! Super impressive!!
I think this post will give me nightmares – but I wouldn’t miss it for the world! I love the teeth in ice – thought they were just lolly teeth but they are even more impressive. Looks like so much fun – so much crazy food but tasty too
I love, love, love your halloween posts! This year you have outdone yourself! Genius. I am planning an epic Halloween party for my husbands’s 40th in a few years time, his birthday is on the 31st and our children will be old enough to really enjoy it!
Arrgh this is so cool, but little Annabel takes the cake as the cutest baby pumpkin! And I can see a wealth of possibilities for that delicious baked brie spiderweb.
For anyone wanting to make the Worms in Dirt for their halloween parties, I get black beans at Pyrmont IGA in the organic section – so presumably other IGAs might stock them.
I’m so sorry I missed this fanta-bulous event! So many amazing things to eat! Fingers crossed next year I won’t be heavily pregnant and can attend fear-free that I won’t ruin it with some real blood
I was impressed with the spread and wondered how you made it and then I scrolled down to see your recipes. Briliant, impressive, awesome…
Love the tombstone cookie and brain shots! So glad you had your party early. I can now make these recipes for the kids halloween do on Saturday. Thanks NQN!
I think you’ve done your job, Lorraine. I don’t know whether to puke or to gobble them up! They repel and attract me at the same time! So creative!
I always overcater too. I once ordered a whole container (as in the kind of container they take scoops out of in an ice-cream parlour) of green tea ice-cream for a children’s birthday party and we barely made a dent in it. But overcatering comes from a warm and hospitable place.
You have so much fun! What a perfect Halloween party. Very clever ideas! xoxo Mum
That is one cool Halloween party!! Everything looked positively ghoulish!
You have outdone yourself! Were you up for a week straight making all of this? OMG! I have to say I love the cocktail with the “brains” floating in it. Who knew you could do that with Bailey’s? Genius!
Happy Halloween to you!
Good god! Just how long did it take you to muster all of that up? We’re not just talking execution but the IDEAS as well! You’ve done it again, Lorraine, but it’s not as though I expected any less! Gracious me…
Yay, so glad you did it early this year! Another round of ghouly food and costumes, great stuff as usual!
I wanna be at that party!
What an amazing party Lorraine! Such a shame Dexter’s blood slides didn’t work out – maybe next time…
*bows to your awesomeness*
Best collection of Halloween goodies i’ve seen. That medusa has me seriously freaked out. So ghoulish!!
Wow Lorraine you really went to town on this – so impressive and such creative ideas. Don’t worry I always over cater as well – nothing worse than running out of food!
Oh Lorraine what a fabulously ghoulish and fantastic party! I enjoyed reading every minute of it, and loved the photos of your guests. Just fabulous!
Lorraine your Halloween party is a smash!how i wish i could be there it would be so fun the last time i took part in a Halloween party was 5yrs back in Vancouver and its was so wonderful how i wish i could go back again. And a million praises for your food decoration Lorraine.
That looked like a particularly ghoulish but yum-worthy Halloween feast. (And your Red Riding Hood garb? Fetching!)
That rotting corpse would have scared the crap out of me. What a fantastic party Lorraine. So creative and all the new thing you have come up with to serve. You are truly the queen of Goooooolish parties. Well done..
Wow, that is SO gross but brilliant! Haha what an awesome party, and what an imagination you have!
Wow, you totally went all out, everything looks amazing. What a fun party, and u look way cute in your Halloween costume. If I went to a Halloween party, I’d want to get dressed up as a piggy
. Pink nose, cute little ears and a curly piggy tail. And to make it really realistic, id eat tons of food at the party 
(you see where this is going?).
*kisses* HH
Oh my god wow!
I really hope none of my friends see this. I’m hosting a Halloween party for my BF’s bday on Sat. You’ve put what I thought were brilliant ideas so shame! I’m so impressed!!!
The Queen of Halloween strikes again! WELL DONE!!! Such an inspiration
Wow! what a massive effort. So where does one get a brain mould? haha
What an amazing feast! I love that you love Halloween. It’s such a fun holiday. I personally love Thanksgiving – all those wonderful flavours – corn, pumpkin, turkey…
And I think your outfit is great!
Wow! I wish I could have been a guest at your party, Lorraine! What fun. You definitely take the prize for best Halloween event of the year. So creative and sooooo scary! My favorite is Medusa’s head. That one really grossed me out!
That looks like a really fun party and I loved every prop, dish etc. And the oven baked brie is actually a brilliant idea for any party. You looked fabulous!
I take my hat off for you!!! Ur a legend…absolutely love Halloween and I love all your creations=)
Well Lorraine…. you have completely outdone yourself! and WHAT an epic post!
What a wonderful party! I love dress-ups… good food of course. I must say I was surprised to see that Mr NQN is not Indian lol!!! I have been adding up the clues…
1) Your sister in-laws loaned you a sari
2) His mother was worried about him not eating enough tofu
hahaha, lucky I’m not a detective!!
OMG. YOu have outdone yourself! I was waiting for this post to see what creepy and creative goodies you will come out with. I love every bit! Love the biscuit pops!
I AM SPEECHLESS. I have to admit, I’ve been looking forward to your Halloween post since your LAST halloween post (which was about when I discovered the awesomeness that is YOU) and the fact that this post popped up a week early has made my day
You are so insanely talented, Lorraine.. I really am speechless. Unbelievable creations! oh and you are a gorgeous red riding hood 
oh lorraine, i just knew i would find ideas to make for a halloween party i am going to on saturday…. but now, which one should i make??? too many choices!
Don’t you just love it when all that hard work pays off? Looks like the best Halloween party and great to see your friends get into the ‘spirit’ of things.Hahahahaha
This is an ultimate Halloween party! Fabulous spooky edible creations!!!
I love the look of your party! I’m sure even Nigella would have been in awe of your creativity and I’m nicking the idea for the
Bloody Brain shots for my own halloween bash.
The spider-web brie looks gorgeous! I haven’t seen any dragons lately either, but I love the idea of the edible eyes. And devilled eggs are sure to become cool in a retro way before long.
Aaaahhhh, I love it! You are so the queeen of Halloween, Lorraine! Everything is stunning and as always, perfected by your attention to detail. I love the barbie head lying near the brain shots, lol! The glass shards are brilliant, if you hadn’t told us I would have had no idea they were originally meant to be something else. Love that spooky corpse too!
Wow, awesome spread! I’m happy to try everything except for that…floating teeth juice.
oh wow! you are so creative! i love it:) im sure all your hard work paid off and your party looks scary good. i love your costume btw. thank you for sharing this.
How exciting and goulish!My favourite food was the brie, not because it was the least scary, but because it has the most ‘normal’ applications. I hope you removed the corpse before you went to bed, It would have been very uncomfortable to cuddle up too!
you are SO clever, lorraine. i’d have a blast at a party like this. the food is amazing and the decor is appropriately creepy (particularly the doll’s head…).
I bow to your awesomeness.
I am totally stealing that idea with the brain shots for Moo’s party on Saturday night.
Wow. Love. All of it.
Especially the brains!!!
You’ve done it again……… one of your best post Lorraine
Congrats
you are without a shadow of an evil doubt an absolute halloween GENIUS. i so wanted to be at your party! it looked amazing and the recipes and food…absolutely spine chillingly perfect! well done!
Seriously! Jaw droppingly good stuff- looks like so much fun
My sister just sent me your site- Fantastic!! I love all your Halloween treats, especially the brain shooters and drinks with floating teeth- fab!
Seriously, how do you manage all that?! Every year you get better and scarier LOL! Great job….AGAIN!
I look forward to reading your Halloween posts nearly as much as I do Christmas! Honestly, I am alway wonder how on earth you are ever going to top last year’s… and you never fail! Love it, love it, love it!! xxx
Wow,last year was great but you’ve really out done yourself this year.Looks like a wonderful party.
I have been so busy and haven’t been able to visit your blog as much as I would like…but I KNEW I would have to look out for your halloween post because you always think of such amazing things and as always this party looks fabulous
Absolutely wonderful!! You are fantastic at Halloween! I always look forward to your Halloween party blog! Love your work NQN
You are so creative Lorraine! What a smashing time you all must have had!
Ooh Lorraine, this is squeel-with-delight-good!! I love Halloween, and your posts on this each year are always one of my favourites that you do (your dishes always look so disgusting, in the best possible way of course) and your parties must be fantastic!!
You make a lovely red riding hood/wolf hybrid, and also love the line: “a strange mutation of Bree Van Der Kamp and Martha Stewart crossed with Morticia Addams” – that’s exactly how I feel some of these days too
Briony xx
That looks amazing Lorraine! Wish I had to do a halloween special for my blog haha!
Nigella, you have the best parties. Kids and I have decided to have a Halloween party this year. Well they decided and I’ve reluctantly agreed. I wish you could cater for ours, but I guess we’ll have fun trying to emulate your awesomeness!
You totally out did yourself, what an amazing spread.
That’s a lot of effort put in ^^
Waw!! What an alternative great Halloween party!! I think you made it way better then the real americans,..so scary & terrific too! I love every aspect of your tasty foods & the costums,..hahahahahahahaha!
You rock, girl!!
You are absolutely amazing, great job!! Great ideas, thank you for sharing! (from mexico)Besos!!
Oh my god, you are so creative! Can I please be invited to your next party!! That looks so awesome.
Oh my. I absolutely love you and your obsession for Halloween! I would *kill* to be invited to one of your Halloween parties, if not just to gawk at the amazingly creative spread of food! Looking forward to your Halloween 2011 post already.
Oh…wow. I hope you posted this in some sort of a blog competition, because you would have won hands down for the Halloween theme! Did you just make this up as you went along?! WOW!!! Awesome.
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