A Gourmet's Halloween Party

The usual Halloween party consists consists of cocktail wienies with dough wrapped around them and some drink died vampire blood red. Yet you can still have a themed party with good and fun to eat food. It's just getting creative with top notch ingredients.

Popcorn is a party must and it can be upgraded to scary good. First pop it in olive oil. This is easy to do if you have a Colonel Popper type of microwave popper. The olive oil gives the corn a rich flavor. After popping add sea salt and rosemary for more flavor. Cheese is another must serve and you can cut out the words BOO or create little ghosts from the delightfully smoky Gouda cheese. You can also cut them in jagged tooth shapes and rename them "vampire fangs" or "monster molars". Bruschetta get'a a cool but frightening renaming, Make the tasty tomato mix as more of a dip and rename it Deadly Nightshade Dip. The plant along with its' cousin , eggplant are from the deadly nightshade family. You can also combine the two along with onions into a "Risky Ratatouille". Serve with slices of crispy, warm baguettes , with the ends cut to resemble the ends of bones. Keep in mind that both the bruschetta and ratatouille can also top both pizzas and flat breads.

If you want to go ultra gourmet think lobster or even shrimp fra diavolo , done in the style of the devil monk (now that's a hair raising thought). The sauce is crushed red pepper cooked in a classic tomato sauce. Add some cayenne for eye watering heat. Another main dish idea is vampire fighting chicken cooked with forty (!) cloves of garlic. This classic French dish combines chicken with butter, chicken broth and white wine with those forty (!) cloves into a tasty main meal, perfect with sliced baguettes. Serve with graveyard moss - spinach with mushrooms. A sinfully sweet dessert is the perfect end to any of these dishes. Candy apples are always a Halloween must but grow it up a bit with a candy coating of brandy, apple cider and red hot cinnamon drops  cooked with the usual sugar. Put the apples on sturdy rwigs instead of tongue depressors. Cookies and cupcakes are nice endings too. Think dark chocolate skeleton cookies made with 90 per cent dark chocolate bars and cupcakes done in the Mexican hot cocoa style  baked with fiery spices.

Halloween can be a time for gourmet fun. Bring out the lobster and rich chocolate. This a tasty trick or treat for the sophisticated palate.