Help Us Plan Our Halloween Party Menu Good Questions

Q: We're planning a Halloween party in a couple of weeks, and we've got the menu almost set, but we're missing something that's crunchy and salty. We're trying to keep the menu as classy as we can, and sort of harvest-themed. Any ideas for something that will fulfill our needs? (We're hoping to stay away from the usual chips and pretzels.) Here's the menu so far:

• Spiced steak bites with cumin sour cream
• Charcuterie and cheese plates with a variety of crackers
• Seasonal fruits and vegetables (pears and carrots in as many colors as we can find)
• Cherries in a honey brandy reduction with mascarpone
• Pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting

Sent by Claire

Editor: Claire, if you want an appetizer, how about these:

• Spicy Cheese Sticks Served with Sun Dried Tomato Hummus and Green Olive Tapenade

If you want a vegetable or side dish, what about some sexy spicy broccoli or broccoli rabe? Or some pickled cabbage?

Readers, what else would you suggest?

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(Image: Matkonation)

Comments (17)

Toasted pumpkin seeds or spiced popcorn!

I think you should turn those cheese/breadsticks into creepy fingers and toes Martha Stewart has on her website. They're awesome. Other Halloween ideas here.

Hahaha... ok, I missed the "we're trying to keep the menu as classy as we can" part!! My bad.

I second toasted pumpkin seeds with different spices. Or, how about home-fried sweet potato chips (or a mix of root veggie chips). I think this can definitely be classy depending how it's served - you can also sprinkle with different herbs or spices and/or a fancy dipping sauce.

I was also thinking homemade sweet potato chips, which always look lovely when mixed with homemade purple potato chips.

I also like the spiced popcorn idea that Mssassybaskets had.

The rest of your menu looks delicious!

Welcome Home Brands Halloween Paper Baking Cups may be cute for the cupcakes: http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Home-Brands-Oven-Safe-Halloween/dp/B0052LPXTA/ref=sr_1_12?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1318018734&sr=1-12

What about some homemade mustard cheddar crackers? I second the roasted pumpkin (or squash!) seeds and spiced nuts. Pecans are particularly lovely.

This is Claire, despite the screenname.

We thought about spiced nuts, but wanted something a bit more snacky and lighter, since nuts tend to be really filling. Pumpkin seeds strike me as too messy.

I like homemade cheese crackers as an idea, and also spiced popcorn.

Has anyone tried the roasted hominy recipe from this site?

Claire, can you please share your cupcake recipe? Those sound great!

Curried cashews:

http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/02/curried-cashews-recipe.html

I baked pumpkin bread and brownies for ours, then alternated them on the platter--orange and black (brown) presentation.

I made Pumpkin Spice Pull Apart Bread featured on here a few weeks ago--turned out really well.

I also baked off Ina's French Apple Tart. Easy and super tasty.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/french-apple-tart-recipe/index.html

Classy? It's freakin' Halloween! Go crazy!

I do gougeres every year with lots of gruyere in the batter and on top of the puffs as they bake. You can pipe in filling if you like, so crunchy pumpkin seeds could get roughly chopped and folded into a mascarpone (though you're using that in the menu already). You could also do savory palmieres (I use frozen puff pastry) with savory spices.

I'm going for a literary-Gothic-Horror theme in our party. This article and comments will be a great starting place for our menu! :D

How about wrapping grisini-long, thin breadsticks in prosciutto. Butter the breadsticks about half way up and drape the prosciutto around it.

please oh please share the steak bites recipe :)