Every Halloween bash needs a welcoming committee. Photo by Greg Jordan.
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Halloween Entertaining Guide
Don’t Spook Your Guests With Boring Food!
We all are familiar with Halloween fare: sugary drinks, sugary food (honey glazed ham with sweet potato and marshmallow casserole, anyone?), even more sugary desserts. We thought we would present a more balanced approach to entertaining this Halloween.
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Prices and item availability are subject to change. In most cases, shipping costs are additional.
Check out additional treats in our Halloween Gift-Finder.
And check out our Bloody Eyeball Martini recipe—for adults only of course.
1. What To Drink: Teas and Ciders |
Soothing and warm or chilled and
fizzy, these beverages sing Fall’s
praises. |
Republic of Tea
Harvest Moon Tea lets you brew up a cup of Autumn goodness. The comforting flavors of apple, cinnamon, citrus peel and chicory blend in convenient, natural, unbleached (pretty!) tea bags. Serve this tea with Dancing Deer’s spicy cake (see below) for maximum October festiveness.
- Harvest Moon Tea
36 bags
$10.50
RepublicofTea.com |
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As the Autumn chill descends, keep your guests
warm and toasty with a cup of tea. |
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Doc’s Draft
Doc’s Draft Hard Apple Ciders are as crisp and refreshing as an autumn breeze. After the kids are safely home from trick-or-treating, gather the adults and “treat” them to a glass of Doc’s Draft classic apple, delicate pear or fragrant framboise (raspberry) cider. The low alcohol content (less than most beers) reduces the risk that your guests will end the night costumed as Great Uncle Louie with lampshades on their heads.
- Hard Apple Cider
22-Ounce Bottle
$4.99
- Hard Pear Cider, Framboise
(Raspberry) Hard Cider
22-Ounce Bottle
$5.99
WVWinery.com |
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We hope an apple a day won’t keep Doc’s Draft
ciders away. |
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2. What To Eat:
Warm Pasta Sauces, Fun Seasonal Pastas & Seasonal Veggies
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Add fun to your table—as well as
deliciousness. |
Dave’s Gourmet
We like serving pasta because it’s simple, quick and looks impressive when we bring all the right ingredients together. Pair Dave’s Gourmet Golden Heirloom Pasta Sauce (made from ancient varieties of tomatoes) with The Pasta Shoppe’s colorful Fall pastas and you have a great main course that is even suitable for vegetarians.
- Golden Heirloom Pasta Sauce
26 ounces
$8.99
DavesGourmet.com
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| Bright pasta sauces from Dave’s Gourmet. |
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The Pasta Shoppe
We love serving colorful pastas, but colorful pastas in cute shapes like pumpkins, maple leaves, spider webs and tiny ghosts? We are in love. Kids will love the shapes and colors, while adults can enjoy the high-quality taste of The Pasta Shoppe’s pastas. The pastas are made with all natural ingredients and are made in small batches the old Italian way.
- Halloween Pasta, $4.99
- Fall Harvest Pasta, $4.99
- Fall Leaves Pasta, $4.99
PastaShoppe.com
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Fun shapes and old world traditions go into
The Pasta Shoppe’s products. |
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Melissa’s World Variety Produce
If you have limited access to exciting fresh fruits and vegetables, check out the selection at Melissa’s. There’s more to squash than butternut and acorn, for example: Melissa’s has a sampler that also includes Gold Nugget, Sweet Dumpling, Spaghetti, Delicata, Carnival, Buttercup, and Kabocha. Or, seek new tuber treats with a Gemstone Potato assortment: baby gemstone potatoes of white, yellow, red, purple and fingerling potatoes. For your holiday feasts, or as a gift for your favorite vegetarian.
- 10-Pound Winter Squash Sampler
$16.80
- 3 Pounds of Baby Gemstones
$11.80
Melissas.com
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| Melissa’s Winter Squash Sampler |
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3. How to Serve |
Using the right dishes makes any
food instantly more exciting. |
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Impulse! Enterprises
Orange is truly an under-appreciated color. It can glows alone or complement other hues. It’s a hand-blown stemless martini glass and a multi-purpose bowl. Serve martinis, pumpkin ice cream or sparkling ciders in these beauteous bubble bowls. Or, fill them high with candy corn, nut mixes, or gourmet chocolates. Dessert glass, beverage glass, treat cup, seafood cocktail, sides, intermezzos...you’ll find many uses. Of course, orange is a fashion color all year around...but isn’t it a nice reason to celebrate the season?
ImpulseEnterprises.com
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This bowl is all bubbly fun for your Halloween
concoctions.
See our review on Impulse! Enterprises tableware in the Home Zone section. |
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Golden Rabbit
Witches and goblins and ghosts, oh my! Kids will adore these spooky characters and you just may be convince them that if they don’t finish their greens, the spooky folk will leap right off the plate and get them!
- Sandwich Plate, $8.30
- Bread Plate, $7.80
- Child Mug, $4.45
- Adult Mug, $6.85
- Small Tray, $20.90
- Medium Basin, $26.50
- Baby Pail, $13.65
- Small Pail, $29.50
SpatterMatter.com
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First eat your vegetables and then go trick-or-treating
with the matching goodie bucket.
See our review of Golden Rabbit dishes and tableware in the Home Zone section.
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Williams-Sonoma
Halloween dishes aren’t just for kids: these 6-1/4" plates have a sophisticated spin with endearing seasonal graphics that could make even a CEO smile. Made of durable, glazed earthenware with hand-painted classic characters—black cat, witch on broomstick, scary ghost, and grinning and jack-o’-lantern—these charmers are the perfect size for appetizers, salad, dessert, or a plate of cookies and milk.
- Halloween Plates
Set of 4
$36
Williams-Sonoma.com
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These specialty plates printed with either a cat,
ghost, flying witch, and jack-o-lantern will be a
scream at your Halloween bash. |
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4. What’s for Dessert |
We’re happy it’s Fall...if only to
have these great desserts! |
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Chocolate Covered Company
After a big meal, sometimes it’s better to serve something light with coffee and tea (one reason petit fours are so popular). Your guests will savor these fresh strawberries dipped in smooth dark, milk, and white chocolates. Coated with non-flavored Halloween confections or drizzled with orange-flavored chocolate streaks, these berries are the closest thing to a light, but utterly decadent dessert. The hand-crafted berries will have children of all ages “trick-or-treating” for more on Halloween at your house.
- Halloween Berries
1 Dozen
$44.99
ChocolateCoveredCompany.com |
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Enjoy these strawberries dressed in chocolate
Halloween costumes. |
Dancing Deer Bakery Company
Dancing Deer has tons of holiday treats, and their Maple Pumpkin Cranberry Streusel Cake is one of our favorites. It is moist enough to be homemade, and comes so nicely packaged you’re almost more proud of it than something you baked yourself. Dancing Deer Baking Co. only uses ingredients you would find in your own kitchen, and when served with a dollop of fresh whipped cream, no one will even care that it isn’t your grandma’s recipe.
- Maple Pumpkin Cranberry
Streusel Cake
20 Ounces
$19.50
DancingDeer.com
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| Everyone will want seconds of this delicious cake. |
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Graeter’s Ice Cream
End your meal with ice cream and no one will complain—especially when it’s Graeter’s superpremium. Since 1870, Graeter’s has been churning out rich, French custard-style ice cream in all the classics and popular flavors like Black Raspberry Chip and Chocolate Coconut Almond Fudge. This seasonal’s spectacular specials include Pumpkin Ice Cream —so good we’d forgo the pie—and Apple Cider Sorbet, a heavenly frozen version of great cider (consider it as an intermezzo). With cool stuff like this, everyone will be happy to go “trick or treating” indoors.
- 6 Pints, Any Flavor
$70
- 12 Pints, Any Flavor
$110
Graeters.com |
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Pumpkin in its “coolest” form—ice cream! |
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