What We Made for Halloween Dinner

Halloween at our house is always a mix of kid excitement, adults getting excited because the kids are excited, and the last-minute hustle of pulling it all together.

My favorite hack for getting my husband to join in on the family fun? Find the t-shirt version of the costume. Then he’s super down, and honestly I respect that, because some men’s costumes are a little bit much. This year we were incredibly lucky — we fit perfectly into the Incredibles family!

The funniest part: I told my in-laws about three days before, and they put together their own complementary Incredibles characters. So they were all in on the fun, which means I had to be all in on the food and the theme. And we made it fun, as we always do.

Here’s everything we made:

Vampire Blood Punch

Serves 6.

• 3 cups pomegranate juice
• 1 1/2 cups tart cherry juice
• 1 cup apple juice
• 2 cups sparkling water
• Juice of 2 limes
• Handful of blackberries, muddled, plus extra for garnish
• A few sprigs of fresh rosemary

Muddle the blackberries with a rosemary sprig or two in a pitcher. Pour in the pomegranate, tart cherry, and apple juice and the lime juice, stir, then top with the sparkling water right before serving so it stays fizzy. Serve over ice with a blackberry and a rosemary sprig in each glass.

Stuffed Jack-o’-Lanterns

Serves 6.

• 6 large orange bell peppers
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1 bag (8 oz) shredded cheese, cheddar or Monterey Jack
• Salt and pepper
• Siete taco seasoning, to taste

1. Heat the oven to 375°F.
2. Cut the tops off the peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes. Keep the tops.
3. Carve a jack-o’-lantern face into the side of each pepper with a small sharp knife. Do this before filling, while they’re empty and sturdy.
4. Brown the beef and onion in a skillet over medium-high heat, breaking up the meat, about 8 to 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and Siete taco seasoning and drain any extra fat.
5. Stir half the cheese into the beef mixture.
6. Stand the peppers upright in a baking dish and fill each one with the beef mixture. Top with the rest of the cheese.
7. Cover the dish with foil and bake 25 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 more minutes until the peppers are tender and the cheese is melted and bubbly.
8. Pop the tops back on like little lids for serving.

Spider Egg Bites

Makes 24.

• 12 eggs
• Mayo
• Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper
• 1 can sliced black olives

1. Place the eggs in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, cover, remove from the heat, and let sit 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to an ice bath, then peel.
2. Halve the eggs and scoop the yolks into a bowl. Mash with mayo and a spoonful of Dijon until smooth, then season with salt and pepper.
3. Fill each egg white with the yolk mixture.
4. For the spiders: place half a black olive on top of each egg as the body, and arrange thin olive slices around it as legs.

Ghost Bananas

• 6 bananas
• Dark chocolate chips

1. Peel the bananas and cut each one in half. Stand each half cut-side down so it stands up like a little ghost.
2. Melt a small handful of the chocolate chips and dot on two eyes and a mouth with a toothpick, or press mini chocolate chips directly into the banana for the face.
3. Serve right away so they don’t brown.

I hope you find this blog helpful and make some of this stuff next year. Don’t forget to save it!
Love you,
Amanda