The Bubbling Cauldron

Halloween lovers have you ever seen a more perfect pot for your kitchen? I purchased this immediately and it is staying on my stovetop all year round. The size is just right for cooking meals for two to three people. This fun cauldron can be purchased at Wayfair.

A Spring Dinner

Finally made the hollow chocolate Easter bunnies that I pinned years ago. Easter bunnies surrounded by edible moss and violas. The perfect vessel for Kahlua and Cream sipped with a cute polka dot paper straw.

Always happy to use my Bordallo Pinheiro cabbage dinner plates with galvanized chargers. The embroidered mushroom napkins were purchased last December from Terrain. The wicker rabbit basket holds a live viola and I added two terra cotta pots with a live strawberry plant and additional violas. Basket and violas are from local garden center, Suncrest, in Peninsula, OH. The green watering can was an antique outing find years ago.

 This has to be one of the prettiest spring farfalle pastas. Pastificio del Colle pasta was purchased from World Market. I added pearl mozzarella, caramelized shallots, chopped petite carrots, diced yellow bell pepper, cubed fresh zucchini, and fresh dill. I drizzled Stancato's Citrus Vinaigrette over all of the ingredients and it's a refreshing, not too tart, dressing. Hot Cross Buns from our local market, Heinen's.

Remember Sizzler steak houses from the 70s-80s? I believe they are still in business on the west coast, but not be found in Ohio. My family used to dine there a lot and one of the famous items on their menu is Malibu Chicken. This is my version of that item. Don't really need a recipe for it. Pound large chicken breasts until thin and then brown on both sides in a frying pan with olive oil. Place in a large baking dish with some olive oil to prevent sticking and layer some good quality Black Forest ham on top of the chicken. Place a large piece of Swiss cheese on top and bake covered at 325º for 20 minutes until cooked through. If using thin Swiss cheese, place one more slice on the top of each chicken breast when done baking. The carry-over heat will melt the cheese slightly. Malibu Chicken has a mayonnaise and Dijon mustard dipping sauce. I topped chicken and dipping sauce with fresh lemon thyme from my garden.

Fresh asparagus was slightly sautéed in olive oil and minced garlic. When bright green and still crispy remove from pan and place some fresh lemon zest over asparagus.

Happy Easter!

A Merry Grinchmas 2025

 Definitely not a dinner for a stomach that is two sizes too small! Cameron cooked a Roast Beast (standing rib roast) to perfection. Shayne made Max 'n Cheese that was super decadent. We toasted the meal and being with loved ones with a Feelin' Grinchy Cocktail. But first, it all starts with an invite and menu.

The Fiesta lemongrass dinner plates are the perfect shade of Grinch! Coupe and drinking glasses from World Market. Small black-and-white ceramic frame from Anthropologie. Live Lemon Cypress Grump trees from Trader Joe's.

Cricut Grinch hands served as place cards/favors with a half domed plastic container with Hershey's Grinch kisses. There was also a Grinch package of various hot chocolate flavors with an edible candy cane spoon and freeze-dried mini marshmallows. Under everyone's plate was a card to score "Who is the Grinchiest?" Winner played Santa during the gift exchange. No surprise...Chris won that one 💚

Stink, Stank, Stunk Grinched Eggs had French onion dip, roasted garlic, and topped with Asiago cheese. 

Feelin' Grinchy Cocktail was 1 oz. rum, 1 oz. Midori, 4 oz. of Sprite with a frozen grenadine heart. The coupe glasses were rimmed with lime green coarse sugar. 

Max 'n Cheese was Ina Garten's famous baked macaroni and cheese recipe.  

The Roast Beast was so tender and flavorful and was served with Alton Brown's horseradish cream and whiskey cream sauce from wellcookedmeal.com. 

The Who Hash had to come in custom cans. I couldn't find a label that I liked, so it was off to Canva to design my own. We ate a lot of canned green beans prior to this dinner.

We're All Mad Here

Welcome to our topsy-turvy Halloween tea party. A little spooky, a lot silly, & entirely mad! There were potions to sip, curious cuisine to savor, riddles/trivia to ponder, & games to play. Laughter was mandatory, sanity was always optional.

Each guests was asked to create a unique Wonderland-themed top hat to wear for the party. The most creative hat wins a special prize & you can help select the winner. See the hat entries below & how to cast your one-time vote.

Are you ready to step through the looking glass?

Mad Hatter invitations arrived in April to our party guests. This was to allow for arranging of flights and work schedules, plus any food items that were headed to Texas didn't encounter damage due to the heat. Top hats were constructed of lidded cardboard soup containers & then flocked. Adornments are Wonderland-themed items & some personalized pieces, like the rabbit hat pin for friend Claudia, who loves her bunnies. I lined the inside with handmade art papers that I once used to make my Halloween papier-mâché cone figures. Black paper shreds provided protection for the contents of the hat.

The lid of the hat instructed invitees to "Open Me" & discover treats, party menu, & a note on the hat/fascinator contest. Mini glass "Drink Me" bottles contained strawberry milk powder with sugared glitter stars & "Eat Me" checkerboard shortbread cookies.

Since the center of the table displayed the spread of food, the majority of the decorating was found above the guests. Beautiful silk and paper mushroom lanterns hung among a black flickering chandelier to illuminate the evening. 

The place settings had salad plates from Williams-Sonoma's Spooky Soiree line. They were gifted to me by my boys last year and they are beautiful! These plates sold out quickly in 2024, but WS offered them again this year, along with new dinner plates, serving bowl, mugs, & a redesigned platter with the witch image in the center. Stumbling upon the Victoria & Albert Alice in Wonderland porcelain pastry forks made my day. The forks have Victorian artist John Tenniel's original Alice in Wonderland illustrations. They coordinate perfectly with the Spooky Soiree line. Each guest had their own monogrammed Anthropologie tea cup. The Madeline embroidered placemats are also from Anthropologie. Mushroom glasses were from our 'BOOtanical Garden' dinner in 2021.

The place cards/menus were created with my Cricut and feature a brass chain with a cute white rabbit figure or key charms.  

Party Favors

I've been bidding on Anthropologie monogrammed tea cups for a personalized touch. Each guest took home their cup, skeleton tea spoon, tea strainer, tin of English tea, Chessmen cookies, & small jar of Bonne Maman preserves as a tea bag shaped party favor. 

The great thing about a Wonderland theme is the endless possibilities for food & decor. Inspiration came mostly from Pinterest & the Lewis Carroll novels. Being a gardener, if something involves moss, mushrooms, & insects, I'm all in. The looking glass piece combined all of those things. I love the idea of a Wonderland mirror that seems perfectly at home nestled among a boxwood hedge & fireflies.

First things first, you can't have a tea party without good quality, delicious tea! The menu had us sampling butterfly pea flower, Darjeeling, & Milky Oolong. Butterfly pea flower tea was used because of its ability to change its blue color to purple or pink when an acidic substance, like lemon juice, is introduced to the brew. See science in action with Cameron's Wonderland Iced Tea. Want green tea instead? Add an alkaline substance, like baking soda, for that effect. Perfect for a Cheshire Cat changing tea. Homemade sugar skulls added a sweet, spooky touch. Do you take one skull or two?

Cameron's Wonderland Iced Tea

A shimmering potion served in a whimsical glass mushroom, it beckons you to sip and see the world as Wonderland does—curiouser, brighter, and just a touch more magical. A cold version of butterfly pea flower tea, lavender & lemon syrup, and a sprinkling of edible gold glitter crafted by Cameron. I hear that sometimes he believes as many as six impossible things before breakfast!

SCONES SERVICE

Top tier:  Vanilla Bean

 Bottom tier:  Pumpkin with Maple Glaze + Matcha Ginger Spider Webs

Served with clotted cream (Cornwall style) & assorted jams

SAVORY SERVICE

Off with Their Crusts! Halloween Tea Sandwiches

 Halloween Bread with Curried Chicken Salad

White Rabbits with Egg Salad

Checkerboard Sandwiches:  Cucumber with Whipped Chive Cream Cheese & Pea Shoots + Smoked Salmon with Whipped Cream Cheese & Capers

Last minute edition of Cheshire Cat ham & cheese sandwiches.

Tweedledee & Tweedledumplings 

Steamed mushroom & Chinese spinach dumplings with spicy & sweet dipping sauces. I purchased store-bought frozen dumplings at a local Asian market. Get a small pot of water with a good amount of orange food coloring gel & stir thoroughly to dissolve gel. Bring to a boil & place 2 dumplings at a time in the water for 2 minutes. Constantly turn dumplings around to make sure the orange color is as uniform as possible. Remove dumplings & place on a tray until all of the dumplings have been colored. Proceed to arrange them on a greased steamer basket & steam for the remaining time according to the directions on package. Remove & place on lightly greased parchment paper to cool. Do not use paper towels because it will stick to the bottom of the steamed buns & remove the dough. I placed celery leaves & stems for the tops.

Curiouser & Curiouser Crudités

Crudités with Absolem's blue cheese dipping sauce & topped with salted pumpkin seeds. Dip was a good quality blue cheese dressing with one drop of turquoise food gel. I crumbled a small wedge of blue cheese for the top. The mushrooms are radishes that had small circles carved out using a mini corer. The stem was a white carrot. Our market carries a bag with a variety of colored carrots that includes white, yellow, orange, & red carrots. The red carrots have a dark yellow center as shown in the photo. I also used orange bell peppers, young asparagus, canned mini whole corn cobs (found in the Asian section or Asian markets. My experience has been the whole corns are usually found at Asian markets.), zucchini, fresh green beans, & the more tender center celery stalks with their leaves. All served in Weck mini tulip glass jars.

DESSERT SERVICE

Un-Birthday Mini Cakes

The un-birthday cakes are actually wedding anniversary cakes! Chris & I will be celebrating 35 years later this month, so our Halloween party was a way to celebrate this milestone with family all together. My gold doily order kept getting delayed, so I canceled it & made my own gold spider web doilies on my Cricut machine. The dessert forks were a wedding gift from my Grandma & Grandpa Watanabe. I think they would be happy to know that they are still being used.

 

The Queen of Hearts' Strawberry Tarts

                                                  

"Well, if I must, I must," the King said with a melancholy air, and, after folding his arms and frowning at the cook till his eyes were nearly out of sight, he said, in a deep voice, "What are the tarts made of?"

"Pepper, mostly," said the cook. 

Our strawberry tarts give a nod to the novel with a hint of pink peppercorns in the jam.

The White Rabbit's Pocket Watch Cookies

Half biscuit, half watch- these Earl Grey shortbread cookies are the preferred snack of rabbits, hatters, & anyone who likes their tea with a side of punctuality.

Magical Mushroom Macarons

Perfectly safe for tea-time nibbling- these mushrooms won't make you taller, shorter, or stranger (probably). Never having baked macarons, I can attest that the two main ingredients in this confection are tears and prayers. I didn't have the time to go for a third try, so these are from the Target's Favorite Day frozen line. May not be Ladurée, Pierre Hermé, or Bouchon Bakery, but these did the job in a pinch. 

A~ I See the Tulgey Wood

B~ A Stitch in Time

C~ Checkmate the Jabberwock

D~ Tulgey Toast

E~ Cheshire Couple 

F~ Free Fallin'

Congratulations Shayne!

MAD HATTER TOP HAT INVITES

Invitations were partially created in Canva

Halloween Wonderland graphics purchased at Creative Market

Lidded cardboard soup containers from Amazon 

Black extra heavy weight cardstock 130 lb (17 pt) from Amazon 

Black flocking powder from Amazon

Flocking application tube from Amazon 

Personalized monogram wax seal stamp from Amazon

Hat pins & charms from Etsy seller Very Charms

Rabbit hat pin from Amazon

Feathers from Etsy seller Feather Craft Shop

Tape measure ribbon from Etsy seller Sugar Pink Boutique

Drink Me 40ml glass bottles from Amazon

Strawberry milk sprinkles from Amazon

Checkerboard cookie recipe from Fifteen Spatulas

Organic black cocoa powder from Amazon

Clear cellophane cookie bags from Amazon

Original paper lining was purchased at Paper Source

 Blick Art Materials also carries large sheets of fine handmade papers

CEILING, TABLE, & WALL DECOR

Vietnamese silk lanterns from Etsy seller macynvintage

Battery operated lantern lights from Amazon

Black chandelier from Amazon

Flickering E12 chandelier light bulbs from Amazon

Williams-Sonoma Spooky Soiree witch salad plates

Porcelain V & A Alice in Wonderland pastry forks from Alice-in-Wonderland.net

Madeline embroidered round placemats from Anthropologie 

Black metal tiered trays from HomeGoods

Black-and-white polka dot teapots, sugar jar, & creamer from HomeGoods

Black-and-white checked espresso cups from Amazon 

Various monogrammed Anthropologie tea cups purchased on e-Bay

Tea strainers from Amazon

Black skeleton tea spoons from Amazon

Porcelain white rabbit napkin rings from Amazon 

Cloth harlequin napkins from Amazon

 Antique oval picture frame from Amazon

Vintage Alice in Wonderland journal graphics purchased at Creative Market

Miniature Czech pink & teal spun cotton mushrooms from Etsy

Reindeer moss available at most craft & garden centers

Faux grass table runner from Amazon

Harlequin candle holders from Michaels 

White Rabbit serving tray from Michaels

Faux boxwood panels from Amazon

Realistic firefly lights from Firefly Magic

Ceramic mushroom bowl & spoon from Amazon

Antique bronze white rabbit charms from Etsy seller ShineDIY

Antique bronze white rabbit key charms from Etsy seller ShineDIY   

FOOD PREPARATION/RECIPES

⏰ is a time-saver store-bought item. A good homemade vanilla pudding is better, but sometimes you just need to rein it in.

Butterfly pea flower loose tea from Amazon

Darjeeling & Milky Oolong teas from Harney & Sons

Paper flamingo straws from Amazon

Sugar skull recipe from YouTube video Not Quite Nigella

Checkerboard invitation cookies from Fifteen Spatulas

Vanilla bean scone recipe from Simply Suzanne's AT HOME

Pumpkin scone with maple glaze recipe from Broma Bakery

Matcha scone recipe from Tea Time Magazine

(2" cookie cutter used for all scones)

⏰-Devon Cream Company~English Double Cream

⏰-Duerr's Ginger Conserve purchased at World Market

⏰- Wilkin & Sons Ltd Tiptree Passion Fruit Curd purchased at World Market

Halloween bread recipe from Lorraine Elliot

Curry chicken salad from Mad About Food

Glass Weck mini tulip jars from Amazon

⏰- Dumpling Daughter Spicy Sweet Soy purchased at World Market

Ina Garten's famous Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe

Midnight Black Buttercream recipe from Tara's Multicultural Table

Silicone number mold from Amazon

Tart shell recipe from Winnie Lee

⏰-Bonne Maman strawberry preserves used in tarts

Pink peppercorns for strawberry tart jam from Amazon

⏰-Dr. Oetker Original Pudding Vanilla from World Market 

Earl Grey shortbread recipe for pocket watch cookies from Sprinkle Bakes

Pocket watch cookie cutter from Etsy seller HouseOfTootSweet

Shimmer pearl & gold fondant used for pocket watch cookies

⏰-Target's Favorite Day frozen macarons

Last, but not least, a comprehensive source of all things Alice in Wonderland can be found here:

https://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/

 

A Cauldron of Comfort

 

Cozy, but a little cursed, a satisfying meal for a cooler summer night. Split pea soup is easy to make and this one is no exception. I used Ina Garten's recipe and substituted/added ingredients that were more on the Halloween side. A store-bought rotisserie chicken provided the necessary bones that you would expect in a witch's stew. Our local market carries a nice German Westphalisches Pumpernickel, so the hearty bread will have a touch of toad pesto butter. For dessert, Chris & Shayne will get to taste test one of the desserts for this year's Halloween dinner. They have no idea that another Summerween dinner is being conjured up!

Silicone toad mold is available on Amazon. Melt one stick of unsalted butter with 2 Tbs. of good quality pesto. Pour into mold and let it freeze until completely frozen. Butter needs to be frozen to remove from mold. After removing from mold, keep in the refrigerator for several hours to soften prior to using.

31 Ideas for a Halloween-themed Dinner

BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE, BEETLEJUICE!

After a break in 2023, we're back with a fun theme for 2024. All you have to do is say Beason, Beason, Beason! This year's dinner focused on the original movie because planning for these dinners takes months and the sequel wasn't released until September 6th. We did get to attend the advanced Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice movie screening thanks to Taylor!

In true Beetlejuice fashion, the after dinner games included charades and a round of movie trivia.

Resources for dinner items and recipes can be found below.

Let's draw a door and knock three times. Are you ready?

I designed the dinner invite with menu in Canva. Invites and menus materialized in May, so our intrepid friends had plenty of time to brave the Cross Bronx Expressway and two dozen tollbooths to be with us. May their buildings go condo.

Look at that crocheted sandworm! Made my millennium and smooches to Claudia for once again making me a treasured and appreciated gift. I was able to reuse my favorite Opalhouse Jungalow ceramic plates from Target. They really are the perfect dishes for Halloween. 

Place settings

Adam hands

The crocheted man of the hour! Guess who created this little fiber masterpiece???

The party favors/place cards were one of the first things I put together because you can't have a Beetlejuice party without a Zagnut candy bar. Cricut machine got a workout with cutting hands to hold the Zagnut bars. I purchased green egg carton acoustic foam to mimic Adam's cemetery model, but had zero luck finding dangling lights that hung above the town. 

Beetlejuice silhouette images purchased on Etsy and transferred to ceramic plates with ink jet water slide decals.

TABLESCAPE

Adam's eyeball hands from Amazon:  Mannequin hands, ping pong balls, and buffalo plaid card stock

Barbara mask from Amazon

Beetlejuice marquee sign from Spirit Halloween

Beetlejuice sign from Amazon

Black-and-white striped ceramic pumpkins from JOANN 

Black-and-white striped cloth napkins from Amazon 

Black-and-white striped salad bowl from World Market

Black-and-white striped cloth table runner from Amazon

Crochet pattern for Beetlejuice from Etsy seller AUKILLU

Crochet pattern for sand worm is no longer available on Etsy

Daphe ribbed glassware from World Market

Fake plastic flies from Amazon

Graphic for handmade bioexorcist sign from LegendaryTalesEdit

Graphics for wall plates no longer available on Etsy

 Green acoustic wall panel foam for Adam's cemetery model from Amazon 

Handbook for the Recently Deceased from Amazon

Miss Argentina pageant sash from Sashes Galore Co on Etsy

 Opalhouse Jungalow ceramic dinner and salad plates from Target

Snack/nut bowls from Amazon

Stargazer mini spot lights from Terrain

Unfinished wood boxes (4" x 2.25") for place cards from Michaels

Vintage black and cream oversized tissue fans from My Mind's Eye

Zagnut candy bars from Cracker Barrel

RECIPES

Deetz nuts recipe found at Cookies & Cups

Bag of mixed fancy unsalted nuts purchased at Costco. Since these nuts were not raw, I placed in the oven for 6 minutes versus the recipe's 10 minutes. Perfect mix of sweet, salty, and spicy-just like the Deetzes.

Juno's Smoked Cheese Bites were created by melting smoked cheddar and gouda cheeses until soft. Large plastic straws were cut to the length of a regular cigarette and cut down the middle. Place a small amount of cheddar for the cigarette filter and fill the remainder of the straw with the gouda cheese. Freeze until firm. Remove from straws and put a little bit of edible adhesive at the tip of the cigarette. Dip into fine ground pepper. Freeze again until ready to serve.

Plastic straws purchased at Amazon

Lemony Artichoke White Bean Dip by Sylvia Fountaine

Stonefire Naan Dippers purchased from Costco

Juice is Loose shots were made using Tito's Vodka, 1 box of Chinese Golden Coins Almond Flavor Gelatin Dessert (found at most Asian markets), D'gari Gelatina Negra, and green cotton candy.

You will need two food syringes and tall, skinny shot glasses. 

Miss Argentina Green Lady Cocktail recipe found at 3 Boys and a Dog

Red Beet Hardboiled Eggs by The Sidesmith (topped with black sesame seeds)

Romaine lettuce + combo of sweet lettuces, microgreens (blend of arugula, purple cabbage, rambo radish, pea shoots, wasabi mustard, & pak choi), yellow pear tomatoes, fresh dill cucumbers diced + peeled, and roasted pepitas.

Nashville Hot Chicken Strips by Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen

(original recipe was too spicy, so reduced the cayenne pepper & hot sauce)

Marella Linguine Zebra purchased at Redstone Olive Oil

Jump in the Lime Coconut Bread Pudding by tornadoughalli

(added the zest & juice of one lime + 1 cup of sugar + 1 cup of chopped macadamia nuts)

Shrunken apple head recipe by Garden Seeds & Honey Bees

Hair is Haribo Lakritz Schnecken (black licorice) purchased at World Market

Sweetshop Sprinkles Eyes purchased at Joann

Mouth "thread" is Tootsie Rolls rolled into strings

Candied eyes and mouth strings attached with edible adhesive purchased at Amazon

Edible Diamonddust Gold purchased at The Sugar Art

Next year's theme is already in the works, so stay spooky!