'Tis the season to be gory! Where has the year gone? I swear it was only a few months since last year's Halloween party. This year's Halloween party was going to be a fun collaboration between my friend Valentina and I! Take a peek into our fun, gory and deeelicious Halloween party!
It all started out as a conversation between Valentina and I about our mutual love of the 80's inspired show Stranger Things. We had planned to hold a Stranger Things party together in November but we decided to pool our efforts to do Halloween together with an 80's Stranger Things theme.
Valentina was a dream to collaborate with. She is a very visual and artistic person (she's an artist) so she did things I had no idea how to. Plus she is super easy going too because when I start planning things, I get a bit crazy.
Owl Chocolate Apples (recipe to come)
I really am my own worst enemy. I think at this stage in my life I have to examine my need to excel and be "extra". Even three weeks before the Hallowe'en party I was so utterly exhausted from travelling. Quite honestly I've been less than delightful to be around. I get stressed and try and take on a bit too much.
Mandarin and Celery Pumpkins
It all started with my big cake. Every year I try and make something big. This year I decided that I would try my hand at doing two new things: a rice krispies cake and using modelling chocolate, both entirely new concepts to me. Those more sensible or risk averse would already hear the scary music but not I. With a confidence that exceeded my skills I set out to make a 3D Demogorgon head!
Let's never discuss this cake again...
I was this old when I realised it's just too warm and humid in Sydney to do rice krispies cakes so this drooped like a demon (appropriate). It's all a matter of temperature: rice krispies and modelling chocolate set nice and hard in the fridge but once you cover them with fondant then it becomes a problem as you can't put fondant in the fridge. But you need fondant to colour and decorate it so let's just chalk this up to a horribly stressful experience that I don't care to repeat and won't give you instructions for because then you'll just kill me if you ever make it.
Cute? HOW DARE YOU!
My nerves were already on tenterhooks after finishing the Demogorgon cake so when I showed Mr NQN my rotting ogre's teeth made of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate and toasted mini marshmallow teeth and Mr NQN called it "cute", I responded with an outraged, "Cute? CUTE?? HOW DARE YOU!!".
Day of the Dead Black Velvet Cupcakes (recipe to come)
My madness also extended to my family. "Do you have a basket like one where you would find a cobra?" I asked my parents. I'm pretty sure they still have no idea what I do for a living and if anyone had asked them they'd say, "She makes cobras."
Witch's Finger Pie
Mercifully I did have a couple of good days in the kitchen and I made a super easy "Witch's finger pie" after asking the woman at the butcher's to give me "The prettiest, most witch like chicken's feet". I order strange things all the time from them so she didn't bat an eyelid and searched through the pile for the ones with the best nails.
Rotten Raspberry Pie with Edible Flies (recipe to come)
A few days before the party Valentina and her lovely daughter Katie (an event planner!) joined Mr NQN and I at The Party People in Drummoyne where we always get our props because they have the absolute best range of Halloween decor (and Melbourne peeps, they've got a new pop up this year at Westfield Knox!). I literally had 15 minutes before they closed to buy my costume so I quickly changed in and out.
Valentina, her husband Peter and Katie helped out my stress levels by decorating their house and on the day we were ready early! The bathroom is always one of my favourite rooms because there is so much scope for creepiness!
We felt like we were 10 year old kids waiting for our friends to show up for our birthday party. There was so much excitement in the air that we could have harnessed electricity.
This was the only costume that I liked (I was hoping that there would be a Robyn Scoops Troop outfit) so I did my make up Day of the Dead style and that was it! The scary thing is that my makeup is only about 30% different from what it normally looks like LOL.
Val and Peter as Eleven and the Demogorgon
In terms of the cast of Hawkins, Indiana we had three Elevens: Valentina, Julie and Ivy who each came as Eleven during a different season. Valentina came as Eleven in Season 1 and Peter was one of the demogorgons.
We counted three demogorgons including one junior demogorgon. We had three members of the Scoops Troop, one Sheriff Hopper, one Joyce as well as one Max and one Dustin.
Joe as Sheriff Hopper, Katie as Joyce Byers and Harris as Garth from Wayne's World
Celine as Max
Daniela and Lutz came as Steve and Robyn with hand made costumes! I actually thought his black eye was real but it's make up.
Miss America came as Donald Trump (and he was not the only one)!
Queen Viv was the Queen of the South! I thought she was Melania at first but then she pointed out the fake gun in her bra.
Junior demogorgon
Did you know that Mrs Wheeler and Sheriff Hopper have a thing going on?
Julie came as Eleven from Season 2 (and brought along a pineapple hedgehog).
Monica came as Villanelle from Killing Eve while Marco was Walter White from Breaking Bad. Dream TV crossover anyone?
Tina came as a witch complete with cat! Tina was at first a bit reluctant to dress up but Valentina told her that she needed to because honestly the people that feel the most awkward are the ones that don't dress up!
Ivy came as Eleven in Season 3 and she brought all the fixin's for S'mores. Ryan was travelling but she borrowed his lederhosen so he was represented.
Garth's first costume
Garth's second costume-the dancing gingerbread man
Garth (who came without Nina as she was in Tasmania with her mother) even did a quick costume change during the night!
Mr NQN came as Steve "The Hair" Harrington from the Scoops Troop. I told him that he couldn't cut his hair because it was a serious role!
Valentina's son Will and his girlfriend Caitlin were there. Valentina tried to get him to dress up as Billy from Stranger Things but that was a firm no. She did however convince him to put up Wanted pics for her around their street!
Has anyone seen Barb?
JY came as Kim Jong Un and Sash came as Donald Trump-the most bizarre bromance of the year!
Annette arrived as the Eggo's girl with Eggos stuck to her dress!
Chris came as Hopper in season 3
Johanne came as Dustin
Mr NQN's mother, sister and kids arrived 2 hours late-they have a very casual relationship with time! They came, ate fruit, put out hummus and Finn Crisp and then left. Very Elliott.
Everyone brought their favourite 80's food-there were three French onion dips and they were DELICIOUS! Can we revive French onion dip? There was also an untold amount of cob loaves and food on skewers and pineapples.
So many toothpicks!
Valentina's meatballs with flag toothpicks she made
Annette's antipasti skeleton
Valentina also handed out lucky door prizes of Stranger Things mugs and t-shirts!! Every year I think that we can't possibly have more fun and yet we manage to. I've included the recipes for the food below so please let me know if you make any of the dishes and tag me on your Halloween creations on social media!
So tell me Dear Reader, will you be celebrating Halloween this year? Do you have a problem being extra all the time?
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? Share your creations by tagging @notquitenigella on Instagram with the hashtag #notquitenigella
Easiest Halloween Pumpkins
All Original Recipes by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
- 12 mandarins
- 12 small thin pieces of celery
Step 1 - Peel mandarins and place celery stick in the top centre.
Cobra Sausage
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
- 1 Boerwors sausage coil
- 1 stuffed olive
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 180C/350F and place the sausage coil on a parchment lined tray and bake for 30 minutes. Or cook on the grill. Take out the centre sausage and extend it out.
Step 2 - Cut the olive in half and secure on each side with half a toothpick. I placed it in a wicker basket.
Valentina's Demogorgon Dip
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
- 12 hard boiled eggs
- 6 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1.5 cups minced onion
- 500g/1.1lbs cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/3 cup sour cream
- 200g lumpfish caviar
- 200g salmon roe
- Black olives to garnish
Step 1 - Blend the cream cheese, sour cream and onion together. Chop the eggs and mayonnaise and add to the cheese mixture. Press into a serving dish and top with the two caviars and black olives cut to resemble demogorgons.
Witch's Finger Pie
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 55 minutes
- 6 chickens feet
- 50g/1.7ozs butter (or use chicken fat from chicken feet)
- 2 onions, peeled and diced
- 500g/1.1lbs sliced mushrooms
- 2 cups peas
- 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons cold water
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 sheet butter puff pastry
- 1 egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
Step 1 - Preheat oven to 220C/440F and line a baking tray with parchment. Drizzle some oil over the chicken's feet and roast for 20 minutes. I saved the fat and used it for the pie filling.
Step 2 - Add the chicken fat to a large pot on medium heat and fry the onions until softened. Add the mushrooms, peas and chicken and cook until the mushrooms are soft. Add the milk and cream and then cook for 5 minutes until slightly reduced. Add the cornstarch slurry and parmesan cheese and stir until thickened. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Step 3 - Place the filling in a serving dish. Top with the puff pastry and brush with egg wash. Cut out holes for the chicken's feet. Bake for 25 minutes until golden. Insert chicken's feet at the end.
Rotting Ogre's Teeth
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes 12 ogre's teeth
- 12 chocolate chip cookies (large ones)
- Mini marshmallows
- 200g/7ozs. pink melts
Step 1 - Cut cookies in half. Melt the pink melts until smooth. Spread the chocolate on the bottom side of each cookie half.
Step 2 - Stand mini marshmallows on one half while the chocolate is not set and then sandwich with the other half. Using a small blowtorch or matches, lightly torch the "teeth" at the front.
Blood Clot Ice Cream
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 0 minutes
- 1 litre frozen yogurt or vanilla ice cream
- 2/3 cup strawberry jam or cranberry jelly (try to get one with chunks of fruit)
The Scoops Troop serving ice cream cups!
Step 1 - Thaw frozen yogurt or ice cream out slightly and mix with the jam. Scoop into ice cream cups and freeze and when ready to serve take out the cups.
