Spooky Halloween Dinner
by Victoria Shearer
Wava Hawker, of Perrysburg, Ohio, is the coolest grandmother I know! Especially around Halloween. Ever since her twin grandchildren, Katelyn and Jackson, were five years old, Grandma Wava has tricked and treated them to a special spooky dinner in October. This, the seventh year, was no exception.
Wava draws from the cauldron of spooky food ideas available on the Internet for her inspiration, but she puts her own quirky twists to the dishes on the menu. “The first year the kids were scared to eat the foods because of the scary, icky names,” she recalls. “Since then they have been very happy to come up with the names. But the kitty litter cake was too much. It really grossed them out!”
Katelyn and Jack, now twelve, and their friend, also named Katelyn, helped prepare the spread and had a ball devouring this year’s creepy repast. The menu? Witch’s Brew Soup, Candy Corn Quesadillas, Scarecrow Veggies, and Weiner Worm Sandwiches, all washed down with Blood Punch and Swamp Water. I wonder what next year will bring?
Spooky Halloween Dinner Menu
Blood Punch: "A very spunky and tasty concoction of frozen lemonade concentrate, cherry Koolaid - with 1/2 cup sugar - and Ginger Ale. Floating eyeballs and gummy worms optional" from 7LayerStudio.com.
Swamp Water: A murky greenish drink "straight out the swamp" from Purple Chocolat Home.
Witch’s Brew Soup: Green cheesy spinach soup from Annie's Eats.
Candy Corn Quesadillas: Actual cheesy quesdillas that look like candy corn (they're not made from candy corn!): From ILuvHalloween on Tumblr.
Scarecrow Veggies: The cutest veggie platter in the shape of a scarecrow. From a blog called It's Written on the Wall.
Mummy Dogs: Delicious and adorable mummies from L'Ecole Culinaire.
Weiner Worm Sandwiches 1: Made by grilling strips of hot dogs. From MyRecipes.com.
Weiner Worm Sandwiches 2: One of among 75 Recipes from BuzzFeed for Halloween.
Weinder Worm Sandwiches 3: This recipe involves bacon and red peppers as well as strips of foot-long hot dogs. From Food Network.
Victoria Shearer is the author of Leftover Makeovers: Great New Meals from Last Night's Dinner, Slow Cooker Classics from Around the World: Fresh Ideas for Slow Cooking, Quick, Cheap Comfort Food: 100+ Fresh Recipes for Meals in a Hurry, and other cookbooks that contain recipes your kids will love to cook with you... and eat!