So this post is all about quick stuff you can throw together 15 minutes before the party. Both of these appetizers are cheese-involved because cheese is a great way to bring some quick flavor to an appetizer dish.

Two Halloween Appetizers

Yield: Serves 8.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

Mozzarella Eyeballs
1 pound fresh mozzarella balls (you can find this in the deli section normally)
1/2 Cup Kalamata or black olives, sliced
1 Jar roasted red peppers
Toothpicks

Putrefied Cheese Log (Adapted from Martha Stewart. I know her recipe is called "Petrified" but Putrefied is a much better Halloween name in my opinion.)
5 ounces Blue Cheese (honestly you could use any cheese you wanted here I think. Just grate it up if it isn't crumbly.)
5 ounces cream cheese
Blue and/or green food coloring (just a few drops)
1/3 Cup Sesame seeds. Black work best, but are also hard to find. I just used regular and toasted them.
Crackers

Directions:

For eyeballs:
1) Drain red peppers and then give them a spin in a food processor.

2) Cut your olives into slices.

3) Cut a little divet out of each mozz ball so olive fits snugly on top.

4) Put eyeballs together and secure each olive with a toothpick.

For cheese log:
1) Combine blue cheese and cream cheese in a bowl and mush it all together with a fork.

2) Once it is all combined well, then add a few drops of food coloring and work it through the cheeses.

3) Then scoop cheese mixture out onto some plastic wrap. Gently fold the plastic wrap over and roll the cheese into a log. Try to compress the cheese really well so it forms a solid log. Sometimes it helps to twirl the ends around which tightens the plastic wrap around the cheese log.

4) Let this sit in the fridge for a few minutes just to firm up.

5) Meanwhile, toast sesame seeds (if you want) over high heat in a dry pan. They should take about 10 minutes to toast up nicely.

6) Let your sesame seeds cool after toasting and then just roll your cheese long in them and press to down so they stick to the outsides.

7) Serve it with crackers!

Mozzarella Eyeballs

This is a really simple dish that you can make in about 15 minutes. In dark lighting it kind of resembles a bloody dish of eyeballs. Always a crowd pleaser.

You can probably see where I’m going with this. First, drain your red peppers and then give them a spin in a food processor. Heck, if you are really in a rush, you could just use tomato sauce here people.

Quick and easy sauce.

Next, cut your olives into slices. Is this even a recipe?

I used kalamata because I'm fancy like that.

The only tricky part about this, and I’m pretty sure it is optional, is to cut a little divet out of each mozz ball so your olive fits snugly on top.

Make a little divet for the olive.

Then put your eyeballs together and secure each olive with a toothpick! If I were to make this again, I think I would serve it in a shallow bowl rather than a plate so the sauce would cover more of the eyeballs.

Easy and quite tasty actually.

These are pretty classic flavors that go really well together so it’s a surefire win for an appetizer.

Putrefied Cheese Log

This is kind of an odd one, but basically it’s a flavorful cheese spread formed into a log and coated with sesame seeds which somewhat resemble maggots I guess. I will say that it’s very tasty. Especially if you are a blue cheese lover like me.

Can't go wrong with blue cheese!

Just combine your blue cheese and cream cheese in a bowl and mush it all together with a fork. Once it is all combined well, then add a few drops of food coloring and work it through the cheeses. I think I added a bit too much green, but you get the idea.

Then scoop your cheese mixture out onto some plastic wrap.

Looks Gross but that's the point.

Gently fold the plastic wrap over and roll the cheese into a log. Try to compress the cheese really well so it forms a solid log. Sometimes it helps to twirl the ends around which tightens the plastic wrap around the cheese log.

If you’ve ever made compound butter, it’s the same idea.

Kind of like making compound butter.

Let this sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes just to firm up. Meanwhile, you can toast your sesame seeds (if you want) over high heat in a dry pan. They should take about 10 minutes to toast up nicely. Toasting sesame seeds is not as finicky as pine nuts or something with a lot of oil in them.

Let your sesame seeds cool after toasting and then just roll your cheese long in them and press to down so they stick to the outsides. Serve it with crackers!

Maggots!?

Mine kind of looks more psychedelic than putrefied, but whatever. It’s pretty darn delicious. The sesame seeds make it in my opinion.

Totally gross dude.

The best thing about going to a Halloween party (or hosting one) is seeing lots of little appetizer dishes all around that you can sample throughout the night.

You could make both of these dishes in under an hour and they would be pretty well received at any party.

Have any other quick appetizers? They don’t have to be Halloween specific, but if you do, leave a comment!

The worms are pretty straightforward to make. Basically they are a really sturdy gelatin mold that you mix with cream to produce a kind of milky texture. The cream also gives the worms some great color. Why are these worms of doom? Well, just look at them?! Don’t they fill you with a sense of dread?

Creepy!

There are just a few simple ingredients for these guys. You can make 100 worms for under $10 depending on Oreo costs in your neck of the woods. They were definitely the most expensive part for me.

Bloody Worms of Doom

Yield: 50 worms.

Prep Time: 30 minutes + chill time

Total Time: 50 minutes + chill time

Ingredients:

100 flexible party straws
1 6 ounce box of red Jell-o flavoring of your choice (raspberry, cherry, or strawberry are your options I think)
4 packages gelatin.
4 Cups boiling water
1 Cup heavy cream
15 drops green food coloring
20 Oreo cookies (You could set the out without the dirt, but the dirt is pretty tasty honestly.)
Wax paper
An empty paper milk carton or a tall jar or plastic container to keep the worms in while they harden.

Directions:

1) Pour Jell-O and 4 packages of gelatin ingredients all into a large boil and mix them up well. Make sure you don’t have areas of just gelatin or it might not distribute well and you’ll have jelly clumps in your worms!

2) Add 4 cups of boiling water and stir it up well until everything is dissolved.

3) Set the bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes until the liquid is room temperature. SET A TIMER because if you forget about it, it will turn into a very large red block which will be very hard to re-liquefy.

4) While your mixture is cooling, you can get your straws ready. The ones with the bendy necks work best because they give the end of the worm some texture. Make sure you extend the straws to the maximum length by pulling on the ends. Stretch them all out and then secure them with a rubber band so you have one big bundle. If you use the bendy neck straws, make sure to put the bendy necks at the bottom of your container!

5) Once your bundle is together, stick it in a milk carton (washed).

6) Once mixture is room temperature, add cup of cream. Mix it up well. Add green food coloring.

7) Whisk the food coloring and everything together and then pour it over straws and fill up the container.

8) Let this chill in your fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.

9) Cut apart your carton and get your straws separated from the mold. Then lay out 12 inches or so of wax paper and starting from the non-bendy end of the straw, squeeze out the worm using your fingers! If the straw or your hands get slippery, have some paper towels on hand to dry out.

10) Once you squeeze the worms out on the wax paper and have an even row of worms, put another layer of wax paper right on top of the worms and keep squeezing1Then add one more layer of wax paper over the very top layer and you can roll up the worms in a nice little package!

11) Take 20 or so Oreos and remove the fillings with a spoon. Then give the cookies a spin in a food processor or you can just crush them up by hand. Toss the worms in the dirt and pile everything up in a big bowl!

Adapted from an Idea Room recipe.

Making the mixture

If you’ve ever made Jell-o then you can probably handle this. First, get your Jell-o ready along with your 4 packages of gelatin.

Worms deconstructed.

Pour these ingredients all into a large boil and mix them up well. Make sure you don’t have areas of just gelatin or it might not distribute well and you’ll have jelly clumps in your worms!

This is how it should NOT look.

Mix this up well. Clumps of gelatin are very bad.

For regular Jell-o you mix some hot and some cold water but for this we want to use all hot water or we’ll run the risk of not dissolving everything well. That’s a LOT of gelatin in the bowl and want to make sure it gets all dissolved.

For regular gelatin users, there’s no need to “bloom” the gelatin for this recipe. By mixing it together with the Jell-o packet it distributes the gelatin crystals enough to avoid clumping.

Anyway, then add 4 cups of boiling water and stir it up well until everything is dissolved!

Kind of slimey.

Cool the mixture

We need to add some cream to this, but don’t do it now! I made this mistake the first time I did it because I wasn’t thinking and my cream immediately curdled and I had to start all over. To do it correctly, set your bowl in the fridge for about 20 minutes until the liquid is room temperature. SET A TIMER because if you forget about it, it will turn into a very large red block which will be very hard to re-liquefy.

Worm molds

While your mixture is cooling, you can get your straws ready. The ones with the bendy necks work best because they give the end of the worm some texture. Make sure you extend the straws to the maximum length by pulling on the ends. Stretch them all out and then secure them with a rubber band so you have one big bundle.

Worm bodies.

You might think that 100 straws is a lot, but it really doesn’t take that long to handle them. Once your bundle is together, stick it in your carton or container. I decided to use a very large, tall jar I use to store pasta normally.

In hindsight, I would’ve used a milk carton (washed obviously) because these straws were a pain in the neck to remove once they were solidified and with the milk carton you can just cut it apart.

One note on straws

If you use the bendy neck straws, make sure to put the bendy necks at the bottom of your container! If they are at the top, your mixture might not fill up high enough to get to the bendy part and you’ll have non-textured worms. If I went to a Halloween party and they had non-textured worms, I would probably leave. Just saying.

In retrospect, a carton might be easier.

Finishing the mixture

Once your mixture is room temperature, add your cup of cream. Mix it up well.

Cool.

Also add your green food coloring now which gives the worms a bit more bloody and doom-like coloring.

Color drops!

Note on the cream: It’s pretty hard to get your cream completely combined. It’s okay if there are some dots of cream in there. It also might separate a bit in the final product, but it should still harden without a problem.

Whisk the food coloring and everything together and then pour it over your straws and fill up your container. It probably won’t go all the way up the straws. Let this chill in your fridge overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Making the worms

Ok. Now for the fun part. Cut apart your carton and get your straws separated from the mold. Then lay out 12 inches or so of wax paper and starting from the non-bendy end of the straw, squeeze out the worm using your fingers! If the straw or your hands get slippery, have some paper towels on hand to dry out.

This is one lonely worm:

Works like a charm! Wax paper is key.

I will say that it does take about 20 minutes to actually get all the worms out of the straws. For me, it was fun for about the first 30 worms. Then it got old. If I would’ve had like two helpers it would’ve been perfect.

Once you squeeze the worms out on the wax paper and have an even row of worms, put another layer of wax paper right on top of the worms and keep squeezing! I did 3 layers of 33 worms each. Then add one more layer of wax paper over the very top layer and you can roll up the worms in a nice little package!

100 worms.

You can keep this in the fridge for a few days without a problem until you need them.

Want to see what I was talking about how I chose the wrong vessel for keeping the straws in place? I had to pry each straw out of this disaster:

Art!

A carton would’ve been much easier.

Making the dirt

Take 20 or so Oreos and remove the fillings with a spoon. Then give the cookies a spin in a food processor or you can just crush them up by hand. Toss the worms in the dirt and pile everything up in a big bowl!

Tastes great with the dirt mixed in.

This was kind of a long post, but now you know how to make worms!

These weren’t really that much work although if you’re like me, they will leave your kitchen and fingers covered with a faint red coating. But seriously, the final product is pretty cool I think.

To kick things off, I made this sweet and very orange cordial: The Candy Corn Martini!

Kind of sweet for my tastes...

Ok. So I’m really not big on sweet cocktails and so I didn’t love this specific drink because as you can imagine, it is really sweet. But it’s pretty and very orange and I think I maybe didn’t put in enough lemon juice to balance the sweetness.

Candy Corn Martini

Yield: 4 martinis

Prep Time: 15 minutes + Time for Candy Corn Vodka

Total Time: 15 minutes + Time for Candy Corn Vodka

Ingredients:

Candy Corn Syrup:
3/4 Cup vodka (you can use the cheap stuff for this)
1/4 Cup candy corn

Final drink:
3 parts candy corn vodka
1 part orange liquor (triple sec)
1 part lemon juice
1/2 egg white (I used one egg white per two cocktails. This is optional, but the egg white does make for a very frothy and delicious final drink.)

Helpful Equipment:
Cocktail Shaker

Directions:

1) Add vodka and candy corn into a vessel of some sort, cover it, and let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours.

2) Strain vodka before making the drink just because there may be a few bits of undissolved candy corns.

3) Add some ice cubes to cocktail shaker, then add a few ounces of the candy corn vodka. If you aren’t comfortable with guessing at mixology, I would start with 1/4 cup of vodka.

4) Assuming you added 1/4 cup of the vodka, go with 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is best), 1.5 Tablespoons orange liquor, and 1/2 of an egg white. Add all that stuff to your cocktail shaker!

5) Because of the egg thing, it’s easier to make two cocktails at once in a larger shaker so you don’t have to divide an egg white.

6) Once all of that is in the shaker, just shake if up for 30 seconds or so until it is super-chilled and frothy! Pour it into a martini glass and garnish with a few candy corns!

From a Food Network recipe.

Making the Candy Corn Vodka

So it turns out that candy corn dissolves in vodka. That makes it pretty easy to get that very signature, sugary flavor infused with the vodka. All you have to do is add your vodka and candy corn into a vessel of some sort and let it sit for about 2 or 3 hours. It’s probably a good idea to cover it just so stuff doesn’t get in it.

Kind of odd.

After the few hours of sitting, all that awesome orange color will be dissolved in the vodka!

Whoa!

I’d recommend straining your vodka before making the drink just because there may be a few bits of undissolved candy corns.

Mixing up the drink

Add some ice cubes to your cocktail shaker, then add a few ounces of the candy corn vodka. If you aren’t comfortable with guessing at mixology, I would start with 1/4 cup of vodka.

You’ll need these ingredients also!

You could not use the egg white if that is worrisome for you.

Cocktails are usually given in proportions (as I listed it above) that way you can make as much as you want! Assuming you added 1/4 cup of the vodka, go with 1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice (fresh is best), 1.5 Tablespoons orange liquor, and 1/2 of an egg white. Add all that stuff to your cocktail shaker!

Because of the egg thing, it’s easier to make two cocktails at once in a larger shaker so you don’t have to divide an egg white.

Anyway, once all of that is in the shaker, just shake if up for 20 seconds or so until it is super-chilled and frothy! Pour it into a martini glass and garnish with a few candy corns!

Like I said, I’m not one for sweet drinks really so this wasn’t my favorite. Also, I didn’t use enough lemon juice when I made it so it was really really sweet. Be sure to taste it as you go though and adjust to your tastes.

Honestly, I think that this mixture might be better as shots instead of martinis! A full drink of it is almost too much, but it would be cool to have it as a shooter!

10 Other Drinks! Ok. So if candy corn isn’t your thing, I didn’t want to leave you high and dry for Halloween! Here’s 10 links to a variety of drinks that I think would be great for a Halloween Happy Hour.

Witch’s Brew – A pretty good looking lime punch. You can probably fore-go some of the kitschy Sandra Lee decorations. You could also leave out the vodka and add more water (or Sprite) to make a non-alcoholic version. (@ Food Network)

Slime Rickey – The grapes look creepy! I love it. Also, I’m not the only one who digs the candy corn cordial idea. (@ Yum Sugar)

Blood and Bones – I love a good meringue and the hot chocolate recipe looks great! (@ Joy the Baker)

Maggotini – Now this is my kind of drink! Not because of the maggot factor, but because I enjoy gin. (@ Talk of Tomatoes)

Satan’s Whiskers – One more gin based drink, but this one has some interesting flavors going on. Not sure what makes it Halloween-ready besides the name, but it does look tasty! (@ Serious Eats)

Eyeball Highball – Ok. Maybe the most realistic cocktail I’ve seen. It looks pretty real if you ask me. (@ Martha)

Bloody Apple Cranberry Cocktails – An easy recipe that can be made in bulk for a party! (@ The Cooking Photographer)

The Warlock – This drink has some interesting ingredients that you may not know. No better time than Halloween to try out some new beverages! (@ Al Dente)

Pumpkin Cocktail – Get on this one today if you want to have it ready by Saturday! You need to let the vodka infuse with pumpkin for at least a few days. (@ Slashfood)

Blood Orange Cocktail – So this is exactly a Halloween specific recipe, but it has blood in the title! And it’s an awesome color! (@ The Hungry Mouse)

That’s a start, but my hunt for good Halloween cocktails is far from over. Have a favorite? Leave a comment!

Please people, just be careful with the dressing up at work thing. I heard a story about a guy last year who dressed up like a Hooters waitress and was promptly fired upon arriving at work. Given the state of our nation, I feel like companies might be looking, even searching, for reasons to make you pack your bags. So go as something non-confrontational. Like a shy Hooters waitress.

For a lot of people Halloween is a time (especially since it falls on a weekend) to enjoy the pleasures of a deep drunken stupor and possibly a bit of kissy-face. So I thought I would help out by providing a few links to some things that will make your day after hangover a bit nicer.

Sexual Tension Smoothie: When I saw this video, I had one of those Internet moments where I say to yourself, “Why am I watching this?” Anyway, so this weird British duo that has clearly engaged in some Posh and Becks make a shake together that is supposed to help a hangover. I have no doubt that it would. Favorite line of the video is when the woman tries it and proclaims: “Oh wow you can really taste the Ginseng.” Ginseng? Really? I bet. (@ Brightcove)

Breakfast Tacos: Ok. This is a real hangover cure. I mean this is just everything you need to dust off those last few drinks and get your day started! Cheese. Chorizo. Tabasco. What more could you want? Basically any Mexican food is going to be good for the day after. (@ allrecipes)

Ultimate Mac and Cheese: I really like Tyler Florence. I think he makes great dishes that are always very delicious and most of the time actually are the ultimate. I’m not sure that this is the absolute best mac and cheese recipe I’ve seen but it gives you a very solid base and you can leave out stuff if you don’t have it. Some of the stuff is clearly optional. Also, I would recommend making this the day before. This would be awesome at about 11AM for leftovers. (@ Food Network)

Baconnaise: Ok. I’m not sure what this is exactly but it was sent to me by a Macheesmo reader (Yo Ross!) and I thought it would be pretty much perfect for a hangover sandwich. It’s got some fat which is essential and apparently the taste of bacon. I guess I would rate this product as a gamble for the hangover. It is either going to work beautifully or NOT AT ALL. (@ Well. Baconnaise.)

For me though, I’m pretty classic when it comes to a hangover cure. I like a nice cup of coffee and a big plate of steak and eggs. A bloody mary helps the cause also.

Happy Halloween everybody!

The original recipe recommended some interesting fillings such as guacamole. I went for something that I thought would be much better for a party environment: peanut butter and Nutella. If you have never had Nutella, I don’t know what to tell you except: BUY SOME. It’s like chocolate on crack.

Anyway, all you need for these

Baked Bloody Intestines

- 2 packages frozen puff pastry which is four total sheets. This is assuming you want to fill up a full 9X13 baking dish. I only used one package for my test run and you can see that I didn’t fill up a dish.
- Peanut Butter
- Nutella

But first you are going to want to de-thaw your puff pastry. Can you make this from scratch? Yes. But it is A LOT of work. I’m sure that homemade is better but for this recipe you are probably just feeding it to drunkards, so just buy the frozen stuff. It will look like:

Frozen blocks of very buttery dough.

Ok. So you probably have like 45 minutes to let this hang out on your counter. Maybe put a little flour on both sides just to make sure it doesn’t start sticking as it thaws. Then go to the liquor store. You can’t show up to this Halloween party with only baked goods!

After like 40 minutes get out your baking dish and line it with parchment paper. TIP: If you put a few drops of oil under the parchment paper, it will stick to the dish.

Without the paper your intestines might stick!

Now you can unfold your pastry puffs. Go slow and if they start to crack either wait longer for them to thaw more or pat them with a few drops of water to moisturize. Eventually they will unfold.

Notice the lines self-made lines. These are helpful.

Now that they are unfolded just cut down the self-made lines. Take your peanut butter and paint a line down the center. Try not to overfill it. Trust me. Once they are rolled up you will get the PB flavor. But you don’t want peanut butter exploding out of your intestines. That would look, well… gross.

Add some peanut butter.

Then the real awesome part. Paint another line of Nutella right over the peanut butter. Again, don’t go crazy.

Now put a layer of Nutella. Not too much Dude.

I was expecting this next step to be hard, but it isn’t really. Just roll over one end and leave just a small lip. Hard to explain but look at the photo.

A tricky maneuver.

Then, simply roll the “intestine” over so the lip covers up the seam. You now have a sealed intestine ready for baking. So grab one and put it in your baking dish seam side down. This is where you can really get creative. Create some twists and turns and smoosh it back and forth to look like, well, intestines. Try to moosh the ends of each section together so it looks seamless. I didn’t do the best job, but I ended up with this:

This looks hilarious.

Then for the blood. And this is where you will gain from my experience. If you look at the original recipe she says to mix red and blue. If you add to much blue you will make purple. You do not want purple blood. You want bloody blood. So if you are going to add some blue, add like one or two drops to your red. You just want to darken your red, not purplize it. I dotted my blood on with a fork to give it kind of a stitch affect. You could use a brush also.

My blood is a bit purple. Sorry.

Then you simply bake this for 25 minutes at 400 degrees or whatever it recommends on your pastry puff directions!

These are very healthy for you. Tell your Doctor I said so.

Do these actually look like intestines??? Well, I’m not sure. I think I will do better on my second time around because I will have plenty of puff pastry to fill the pan. But I can tell you that they are awesome. They are good warm and good cold. They are just good.

When I first served these, we had some friends over. After sampling some of the intestines one of the girls (Hi Julie!) proclaimed, “I’m going to eat the shit out of these intestines!”

I think that pretty much sums up my feelings on this dish.

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Decorative (useless) Gourds

It is almost Halloween. Without a doubt one of my favorite holidays. I love gift giving and all of that stuff but sometimes it is just a bit much. Halloween though is just about hanging out and dressing up and eating your weight in food and drinking your weight in libations. What’s not to love?

My girlfriend absolutely loves these decorative gourd things. She basically talks about them all year long so we also end up with a few of them all over the place which is fine. They look festive and give me something to photograph.

One of my favorite parts of Halloween is checking out ways to make food scary or just dressed up. Dressing up your food is a great way to add a nice tough to a party. Below are some of the coolest that I saw.

Intestines For Your Guests – These look freaking awesome. If you click on any of the links in this post, click on this one. I’m going to be making my version of these and posting the results on Wednesday. Just so cool looking. (@ Canary Girl)

Top 10 Worst Halloween Treats – I hate most the things on this list. The only things I might disagree with are Dum Dums and fun sized stuff. I just love Dum Dums. They are delicious. I’m not sure what their beef is with Dum Dums. And the advantage of fun sized candies is that you can eat many different kinds of candy and not just go all-in on a king-sized 3 Musketeer bar (always sort of a let down). (@ Serious Eats)

Ghosts on a Stick – These are kind of a creative use of fruit on Halloween which I’m normally opposed to. Since these are covered in white chocolate, these look pretty good to me. If I were an unassuming child, I would think: SWEET. A ghost. And then I would bite into it, realize it was fruit, spit it out, and toilet-paper the house of the giver. (@ Noble Pig)

Slime-Filled Cupcakes – This is a pretty cool idea for filling tons of baked goods on Halloween. You could even do this on whole cake if you wanted. That could look pretty cool actually. I would bet that kids (or drunk adults) would love these. (@ Baking Bites)

I hope everyone finds something fun to do with food for Halloween this year. Check back over the weekend for an awesome meatball recipe that is great for game day celebrations.