# Question about Food at parties



## baybeedoll (Oct 18, 2004)

How many of you have food at parties? Does it usually get eaten? How long are your parties & what time do they start? Im asking because Im unsure what to do this year. The past 3 parties we have had food..mostly just munchies but alot went to waste.
what we had was:
Chips & salsa
devil-ed eggs
cupcakes
bowl of candy (of course)
bowl of chex mix

Now every year the party starts at 7 which is after dinner time in my opinion and we wanted to have food cause well its just kinda scary to have a bunch of booze and nothing to eat! I am wondering what the best types of food to have that will get eaten. What are your thoughts on this?? I don't want to spend alot of time like I did last year on cupcakes & devil-ed eggs to have em sit there and not eaten. Any feedback or discussion is greatly appreciated


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## colmmoo (Jul 23, 2005)

I find that finger foods go fastest. You can get some chafing tins with fueld from Party City to keep them warm. 

Pigs in a blanket do really well, as do chicken taquitos (you can get a whole box from Costco's, Sam's, etc.)

I find that pizza does really well also. You can always heat up a slice in the oven. 

Our party doesn't last that long - 7-12:30 am. 

For some reason, cookies or brownies are eaten faster than cupcakes.


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## themrs (Oct 30, 2003)

The food is a big deal to me so I go all out. It is the center piece of the kitchen-so I do put out a huge spread. What you listed really didn't seem like much. I guess maybe try some hot options if you want people to eat and I agree that cookies are usually received better then cupcakes. Good luck.


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## llondra (Sep 29, 2004)

Food is part of the decorating for me, so I tend to go all out. But, it's certainly true that some foods always seem to get gobbled down, and other food only gets eaten if people are actually hungry ;-)

Chips and Dip seem to go over pretty well. Just not 3 or 4 different dips... no, I'm not guilty of that... of course not....

ANY type of hot finger food - pizza rolls, "mummy toes" (pigs in a blanket), poppers.

Brownies, cookies - I think cupcakes are too big and messy... plus, maybe they just look like too much food

I keep the fruit and vege trays small because people do like them, but just a nibble here and there from each person.

Our parties usually start around 7 or 8pm... people pick a bit the first hour, and eat more as the evening goes on. Funny thing is right about the time the party is winding down, people always seem to make a final graze-by - if it helps to get rid of potential leftovers, I'm happy!


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## baybeedoll (Oct 18, 2004)

Thanks for the responses  I am thinking of keeping it really simple this year and going with cookies & candy and probably chips & veggies & dip. I wrote on the invites
"Tricks or Treats welcomed" hoping that people get the idea of bringing a little something with them..either booze or snacks hehe because we always spend tons and this year we are gonna do it different!


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## Corpse Bride (Oct 3, 2006)

Making halloween themed food for the party is half the fun. The finger food does seem to go over the best. Our food menu usually includes: a few different dips like the shrimp brain dip and pumpkin cheese ball with crackers, vegies and dip, monster munch a cereal, m&m, pretzel mix, cookies, Mummy dogs, and deviled egg eyes and witches brew to drink. 

Every year i mix it up a little like add something or take something away according to what people seem to like or if i want to try something new.


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## jodi (Aug 24, 2006)

we do finger foods, desserts and maybe a meat dish (like cocktail weinies in BBQ sauce), cheese. Gotta have some protein to absorb the alcohol, that & bread. I tend to overdo the dips, but I'm trying to be better


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## great_ghoul (Aug 14, 2004)

I agree- when you keep things small - people are more likely to eat them. FOr instance, I do little chocolate cupcakes, that most people eat in one bite. They always disappear. I think it's because they are so tiny - you don't have to commit to more than you can eat. 

I have also done that fun bread snake that showed up on this forum before. Use a big meat cleaver for hacking a piece off, and watch the guys go for it


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## MsMeeple (Aug 21, 2004)

Dutch people don't pick at and help themselves to food. It has to be offered to them. So, I do a buffet type thing and after the 'game/activity', I invite the winning team to open the buffet. We have many 'repeat' guests so they learn quickly not to eat too much before they come lol The only food that I usually have left over are the items that look so gross that not everyone dares to try them....like the litterbox cake.

MsM


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## Jackielantern (Oct 31, 2005)

We serve:
Stroganoff meatballs (I've had problems in the past mixing bbq & alcohol )
shrimp brain dip w/crackers
spinach dip w/bread
cheese, also w/crackers
Chips
Spiked punch

The snacking starts off slow, but progresses as the night continues. Nothing fancy but everyone seems to like the food provided, especially the meatballs.


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## NemesisOfTheFlesh (Sep 26, 2006)

we usually had our over dinner, and had people contribute the little things, we always made a huge roast or chicken then laid it out inside the skeleton as its guts. it was always a hit. try dressing it up a little


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## NemesisOfTheFlesh (Sep 26, 2006)

I forgot to add that it was a PLASTIC skeleton, not a real one, and not the kind in your closets either


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## HauntedHorror (Aug 8, 2006)

I think what went the fastest at my parties was eyeball cookies... They're really tasty! It's sugar cookies with a mini Reeses PB cup in the middle. Here's a recipe:
http://www.womansday.com/holidayrecipes/5661/eyeball-cookies.html

Also the chips get pretty well demolished.


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## drunk_buzzard (Sep 9, 2003)

Sometimes I have quite a spread and other years I go simpler. This year due to time constraints and a smaller budget I'm just having people chip in for pizza. I'll make some desserts and that will be it.

My big thing is time. I have a small kitchen and it takes time to cook the stuff I love to have at the party. Sometimes I end up spending more time in the kitchen than I do actually hosting!


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## Haunty (May 31, 2006)

My Halloween party starts between 5-6pm.
We do a potluck supper. Generally the hosts will provide a hot dish or two, soft drinks & wine coolers, some desserts. By the time everyone brings stuff, we're pretty much covered. If it's cold out, the hot food & drinks go over better.


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## Escargot (Oct 9, 2006)

I'll have a party at my place this year.
For some practical reason, I think a buffet is the best.
We'll have:
-Deviled eggs
-Monster toes (pigs in a blanket)
-Halloween burgers
-Monster pizzas
-Bat wings (chicken wings, 2 types: spicy hot and honney BBQ)
-Several dips with crackers and nachos
-Bat eyes (black olives stuffed with cream cheese)

For the sweet food:
-Papier-mache pumpkins filled with candies
-Witch Finger Cookies
-maybe cupcakes or brownies

For the drinks:
-A huge cauldron with Witches Brew Punch
-2 or 3 pitchers with alcoholized and non-alcoholized cocktails 
-Unholy water


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## Lilly (Sep 26, 2006)

After our trail all the haunters come in the house for food and beverage. I used to make all the food myself, but some of my friends said they feel bad and would love to bring something. So this year we are having pot luck which will really help me regarding saving time. I am making chicken wings, that's it. I get the big bags from Sams Club put in the big crock pot and done. We don't eat till about 11:00 so everyone is usually hungry. Hot food goes best, sweets least. I buy one or two novelty beverages, like pumpkin beer, bloody mary's soda and coffee. 

Before the days of the trail we would have parties. On the invite I would put, "bring your favorite horror 'de orve to share". There is always plenty of food either way, and the thing about pot luck, if there is stuff left the folks that brought it take it home so I don't waste anything. Our parties usually started 7-8 range.

Lil


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## HauntedMiss (Oct 23, 2006)

*All about the food*

like many of you, I feel the food is one of the most important parts of the party. We held our annual party this past Saturday and had around 54 guests throughout the course of the evening. The party startd at 7:30 and ended fairly early, with last guests leaving around 12:45. For the first time ever, we almost ran out of food... and we had a ton of it. More people ate than drank this year, I think.

We served buffet style:
Vomit in a Bucket (queso)
Decaying Flesh Bites (blue corn tortilla chips)
Witch fingers (Cheetos)
Monkey brains (cocktail meatballs in BBQ sauce)
Lorena Bobbit Bites (cocktail weinnies)
bat wings (chicken wings)
brain freeze (jello in a brain-shaped mold)
Monster sand"witches" (chicken salad sandwiches in dinner rolls, made to look like monsters using olives, pickles, etc)
Crusted Pus Sores (jalapeno poppers)
Severed finger-sandwiches (pimento cheese sandwiches cut into strips)
Deviled eyes (deviled eggs, made to look like eyes w/food coloring and olives for "pupils")
FrankenFruit (fruit salad)
Misfortune cookies (didn't do fortune cookies, just regular Halloween cookies and chocolate chip cookies. Typed up misfortunes and tied to the cookies, which were in baggies)
Scream Brule' (individual shot glasses filled with chocolate pudding w/a candy corn on top)

Drinks were:
Ghoul Ade (non-alcoholic punch); Witches Brews (lots and lots of beer); EYEced tea (tea w/eyeballs incased in the ice cubes); unholy water and Monster Ritas (used the buckets of margarita mix; added tequila; froze and served. We went through two buckets)


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## mt4106 (Sep 25, 2006)

HauntedMiss said:


> like many of you, I feel the food is one of the most important parts of the party. We held our annual party this past Saturday and had around 54 guests throughout the course of the evening. The party startd at 7:30 and ended fairly early, with last guests leaving around 12:45. For the first time ever, we almost ran out of food... and we had a ton of it. More people ate than drank this year, I think.
> 
> We served buffet style:
> Vomit in a Bucket (queso)
> ...



what was your "Ghoul Ade?"


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