(ARA) - The days are getting
shorter, the moon looms larger in the night sky, there's a chill floating
in the wind and ghosts and goblins prowl around every corner.
It's Halloween, that wonderful holiday when kids of all ages dress up and
have fun. For the younger monsters, this means roaming the streets,
looking to return home with as much sugar-saturated "goodness" as they can
carry. For those older apparitions, it means costumed get-togethers wild
enough to wake the dead or movie marathons starring the creepiest
creatures and scariest psychopaths ever imagined.
Whether you're hosting one of these events or just wanting to spice-up the
evening, make your Halloween a complete scream with these deliciously
devilish ideas.
A costumed Halloween get-together is a tradition that allows us to
recapture some childhood memories and have a thrill in the process. But,
what's a party without punch? For those of you who haven't scared-up your
own formula, try this recipe for a frighteningly flavorful Witches Brew
that will definitely take your guests' breath away. Make an effervescent
green beverage by mixing something yellow (Mountain Dew or citrus cooler)
with something blue (raspberry punch or Pepsi Blue). Add a bit of "spirit"
with 12.5 ounces of Kutskova vodka, possibly the best vodka on the market.
Complete the effect by filling clean latex gloves with water and placing
them in the freezer. After 30 minutes, peel or cut the glove off the ice
and float the "disembodied hands" in the punch. Drop a few activated
glow-sticks in the punch bowl to produce a supernatural glow.
Another idea that's guaranteed to turn your
costumed celebration into a scream is to serve creepy cocktails. Here
are two Halloween themed libations that will definitely turn your party
into a howling experience and can be garnished with Gummi worms,
spiders, flies or other "bugs."
Black Magic
2 ounces Kutskova vodka
2 ounces espresso
mix with ice
add dash of lemon juice
serve with a lime twist
Vampire's Delight
1.5 ounces Kutskova vodka
5 ounces Chambord
.5 ounce raspberry puree
1 ounce cranberry juice
mix in double martini glass
Alternately, what could be more fun and frightening for Halloween night
than gathering a few of the "guys and ghouls" to watch some of the
greatest horror films ever made? If screenings of "Dracula,"
"Frankenstein," "Psycho" or "American Werewolf In London" are in your
plans, find an equally festive wine to match. Luna di Luna's
goblin-green bottled Pinot Bianco/Sauvignon has an "intriguing nose" and
tropical fruit flavors that are ideal for this occasion. Also dressed-up
perfectly for Halloween is Luna di Luna's phantasm-purple bottled
Sangiovese/Merlot: A truly exceptional 70/30 combination of chic
Sangiovese and smooth Merlot, it has achieved honors for its exquisite
taste and rich velvety aroma. After the wines are finished, the bottles
will make for decorative candleholders that add to the eerie ambiance.
A nonalcoholic drink idea that should send a chill up your guests'
spines is a frosty beverage called Goblin Goop. For this drink, simply
empty a can of orange juice concentrate, 12 ounces of white grape juice,
a 2-liter bottle of Sprite and one pint of lemon or lime sherbet into a
large punch bowl. After mixing up the ingredients, drizzle in green food
coloring and stir to give your concoction a slimy green appearance. This
recipe serves six to eight people.
What would a party or movie marathon be without finger foods? Try a
creepy little treat called Troll Fingers. For this ghoulish delight you
will need two or three chicken breasts cut into jagged strips. Dip the
slices in a wash of beaten eggs and whole milk, then batter them in a
mixture of flour, breadcrumbs and cayenne pepper. Fry the fingers in
olive oil until golden brown. Add "fingernails" made from pitted black
olives sliced in half. Serve with Caesar or ranch dressing as a dipping
sauce.
In keeping with the things-that-go-bump-in-the-night theme, try serving
up Spider Bites. First take two rolls of pre-made dough and make two
sets of bread balls, one roughly half the size of your palm and the
other set the size of your thumb nail. With a third roll, make a thin
snake out of the dough and break it up into little leg sections.
Assemble the dough balls and legs into spider shapes with the large ball
as the body, small ball as the head and eight leg sections coming out of
the center. Before placing the spiders into the oven, glaze the dough
with egg yolk and make a half-dollar sized crater in the center of the
spider's body with your thumb. Bake the spiders at 350 degrees for 15 to
18 minutes. While the spiders are cooking, make your choice of ham
salad, tuna salad, egg salad, crab dip or spinach-artichoke dip. After
removing the spiders from the oven, let them cool for 10 minutes and
then fill the creation with the salad or dip. This recipe makes enough
to serve three to five people.
The spirit of Halloween always brings out the kid in all of us. So,
however you decide to celebrate Halloween, remember to serve the most
paranormal provisions to your guests and fully capture the essence of
this haunted holiday. Just remember to stock up on candy for the wee
monsters prowling about.
Courtesy of ARA Content
Sidebar:
Uncanny Halloween Trivia
Think you know everything about Halloween? Here is some chilling trivia
you may not have known:
Halloween comes from the pagan festival of Samhain. It was believed that
on this night the spirits of all those who had died the preceding year
would come back to haunt the living. To scare away or appease these
spirits, the people began dressing up in fiendish costumes and leaving
offerings of food at their door. During the 8th century, the Christian
church replaced the pagan holiday by naming Nov. 1 "All Saints' Day" and
the night before as "All Hallows Eve". Eventually, this name became
Halloween.
The carving of Jack-O-Lanterns comes from an 18th century Irish folk
tale about a miserly drunkard named Jack who is said to have trapped the
Devil in the branches of an apple tree. After Jack's death, he was not
allowed into Heaven, but the Devil wouldn't accept him either. So Jack
was left to wander the night endlessly, lighting his path with a lit
piece of coal inside a hollowed out turnip (later turned into a
pumpkin).
Superstitions about vampires have existed from the earliest times and
appeared in all cultures. The "Vampir" (vampire) comes from Romanian
legends about spirits or demons that left their graves at night to seek
and enslave human victims. The vampire could be warded off with a
variety of charms, amulets, and herbs and could only be killed by
driving a stake through its heart or by cremation. It is from this
legend that Bram Stoker wrote his classic "Dracula."
In 16th Century France it was believed that several noble families had
become Lycanthropes, or Werewolves. After several wolf attacks had
occurred on their land, a servant went to the local Bishop and confessed
that he'd seen his employers turn into wild dogs. After being captured
and tried, the accused "werewolves" were executed with silver rosary
beads fired from a musket. This is where the modern myth of the werewolf
comes from.
Unlike other monsters, Frankenstein was not based on any actual person
or event. In 1814 Mary Shelley, the author of "Frankenstein," was
traveling through Darmstadt, Germany. While there, she noticed the ruins
of an ancient castle owned by a knight named Arbogast Von Frankenstein.
She was apparently so taken with the castle that she used its name for
the title of her novel about a student who creates an artificial man
while exploring the secrets of life in his laboratory.
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