<p>I’m hosting my book club tomorrow night and just decided to try to serve Halloween-themed food…google, however, has not been my friend! </p>
<p>We tend to serve heavy appetizers and dessert, all homemade. Somehow, my ghost cupcake recipe using milanos and crushed oreos that I served 12 year olds just isn’t going to cut it! I will make a pumpkin or spice cake-type dessert but would love to hear any suggestions for non-kid oriented appetizers and, well, desserts too since I haven’t made a final decision but I’m really struggling to find a balance between the theme and good, wholesome food (a lovely cheeseball decorated as a pumpkin looked promising until I saw that crushed doritos were used to cover the cheese). Help!</p>
<p>Do you have a Trader Joe’s near by? I LOVE their pumpkin butter (and I am normally not a pumpkin person), and they make a few suggestions on how to serve it, but I think it would go well with some cheese and crackers.</p>
<p>Also, they have amazing pumpkin muffins with cream cheese filling in Trader Joe’s.</p>
<p>I also tried an amazing seasonal cake in Whole Foods, but I know you are looking for recipes rather than pre-made. Let me know if you want to know what the cake is though.</p>
<p>Also, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your book of the month? Is it Halloween-themed? I am just asking, because I am always looking for good Halloween-themed books this time of year.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick response! Numerous Trader Joe’s nearby and will check out pumpkin butter but I have no idea what one does with it! Can definitely put it out with cheese and crackers though. I would prefer to make a dessert but, if I don’t, I have decided I will buy an old fashioned pumpkin pie.</p>
<p>Since you mentioned spice cake, I’ll offer this up. I made this FROSTING this weekend on this cake and it was DELICIOUS (can’t tell you how much frosting I ate out of the bowl!)</p>
<p>Instead of making the cake from scratch as the recipe dictates, I just mixed up a spice box cake, added a dollop of caramel sauce I had in the refrigerator and diced up one apple finely and then gave the batter a final quick mix. It was easy but something different than yellow or chocolate cake.</p>
<p>Scoop the seeds out of a small pumpkin and put some of your favorite veggie dip in it. Place in the middle of a large tray and surround with cut up veggies. If the tray is large, small decorative squashes and pumpkins can be used as extra decorative pieces. </p>
<p>Here is a gross looking one if made right. Deviled eggs make great “eyeballs” if you put a black olive in the middle and sprinkle some ketchup “blood vessels” on the egg whites.</p>
<p>15 oz. can of pumpkin
1 3.5 oz. pkg of vanilla (sugar free/fat free if watching calories) pudding
one half cup of skim milk
8 oz. cool whip (cool whip free if watching calories)
2 tsp. pumpkin spice</p>
<p>Using a mixer blend all ingredients EXCEPT cool whip.
When ingredients are mixed well, fold in cool whip.</p>
<p>Use as a dip with ginger snaps, vanilla wafers or cinnamon graham crackers.</p>
<p>My DH loves to just plop some in a bowl and eat it with a spoon. It’s that good.</p>
<p>you could use halloween themed cookie cutters to cut out shapes, pumpkin or ghost for example, out of flour tortillas and bake with a little sea salt and/or spices and use for guacamole, hummus or your favorite dips. </p>
<p>Make “bones” by tying knots in both ends of breadsticks before baking. Can be used for dips, especially hot dips.</p>
Deviled eggs make great “eyeballs” if you put a black olive in the middle and sprinkle some ketchup “blood vessels” on the egg whites.</p>