A Little Cheesy: Halloween Dinner Party

I am a HUGE Halloween nut. As a kid, I loved trick-or-treating and eating from my huge bucket of candy every day after school, all year long. But it wasn't until I went to college that I started craving a fun, sophisticated Halloween experience. You see, I went to a small university where the students just weren't interested in the spooky holiday. I almost went trick-or-treating for UNICEF once, but I sprained my ankle and was sidelined indefinitely. When I moved to New York, I was so excited to watch the annual village parad e and attend parties thrown by friends and acquaintances, and I had a great time doing so. Just over two years ago, though, after being a devoted Martha fan for a few years, I began to crave a slightly different Halloween experience: the dinner party. This year was our third annual Halloween party and I think I have finally come up with a magic formula. To throw a successful, but still small, bash you need:

A spooky but sophisticated ambiance

Several courses of tricky treats

A grand dessert finale

And of course, required costumes!

Before delving into recipes, I'd like to say a little something about the meaning of the holiday. Although the day has roots in several cultures and religions (Roman Pa rentalia and feast of Pomona, Celtic Calan Gaeaf, Mexico's Day of the Dead, and All Saint's Day, amongst others), I believe that it's current meaning is more secular and philosphical.

You see, I hate all things scary. Horror movies, frightening practical jokes, any potentially dangerous situation, and above all, the dreaded nightmare. I prefer to be safe, secure, and away from all that stuff. So, why then, do I love this spooky and scary day? I finally get the chance to mock and tease all of the things that I am afraid of! I find it really empowering. I'll admit that I still tend to focus on fictional frights (goblins, ghosts, vampires and zombies) rather than the grotesque and possible (psych units gone awry and anything slasher), but I still feel satisfied and relieved by the end of the frightful night.

This year, I opted to place a menu with silly, spooky names at each place setting. This was a huge hit at the party and guests loved to look back and forth between their plates and the menu in order to figure out which tricky dish they were eating at the time. My favorite recipes from our 2010 Halloween Dinner Party:

Eyes of Newt Salad with Cockroaches Combine fresh baby spinach leaves with cubed apples or pears, and candied pecans. Top the salad off with peeled concord grapes. Served with my signature Spiced Sesame Salad Dressing.

Sauteed Broken Bones with wild fungus in a garlic creme sauce. This recipe was adapted from a ricotta gnocci from The New York Times. I sauteed an assortment of mushrooms in olive oil with fresh sage and tossed with the "broken bones" before serving. I can't wait to make this again, and maybe with a butternut squash sage sauce (for semi homemade recipe, cartoned soup would work nicely).

Goblin Claws Roasted artichokes, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with breadcrumbs. Roast at 425 degrees until the outer leaves are golden and fanning outward, while the bottom of the stem is easily pierced with a fork.

Jack O'Lantern Brulee I combined Emeril Lagasse's pumpkin custard with Martha Stewart's candied pumpkin. This was one of the biggest hits of the whole night and I hope to be able to make it again for Thanksgiving! Guests loved being able to eat the shell.

Throughout this post, you've found a few photos from this year's bash. I'd also like to show you some of my favorite photos from Halloweens past:

Red Velvet Skull with marshmallow fluff icing