Planning A Cocktail Party Menu

Yesterday was October 1 and I sent out my Evite invitation for my Halloween party first thing in the morning. After logging into the Evite site all day to see who had opened their invitation, who had responded and who had still yet to read it, I decided its time to stop obsessing and narrow down the menu for the fete.

After years of helping people select their menu for cocktail-style wedding receptions and other parties as an event planner, I pride myself as somewhat of an expert in this arena.

For a simple menu, generally 3-5 items are plenty. I always include something salty, something sweet, something creamy and something crunchy. For more elaborate events or to build more of a dinner buffet, start with that and add a chicken dish, beef or pork dish or carving station and a seafood offering.

With that in mind, I'm keeping it simple for my Halloween cocktail party this year and limiting it to just a few items. For Halloween I always like to keep the food on the "spooky" side. Whole roasted garlic heads remind us of vampires and are creamy, delicious and not strong at all when baked. I'm serving that with stone-ground wheat crackers.

For the crunchy, a selection of raw vegetables with sun-dried tomato dip does the trick. Carrots with sliced almonds on the ends standing in a cocktail glass look like severed "fingers." Small green florets of broccoflower look like little "brains." Peeled whole radishes and stuffed olives look like "eyeballs." Add some cucumbers, grape tomatoes and a ranch dip and that should do the trick.

I like to make pumpkin hummus in a small pie pumpkin with the top removed. An easy tip for this it to buy a good quality garlic hummus from the deli and then add a 1/2 small can of solid packed pumpkin (not the pie mix) plus a little cinnamon and nutmeg. Cut the top off the pumpkin, scoop out the seeds and most of the flesh and fill with the hummus. That, along with some blue corn chips will satisfy the salty component.

As for sweet, I usually pick up some brownie bites from the grocery store bakery. This year I am also going to make a childhood favorite: Haystacks. Melt 1 cup of butterscotch morsels in a glass bowl in the microwave. Add 1/2 cup of peanuts and 2 cups chow mein noodles. Mix well and scoop out on waxed paper by the teaspoonful.

For drinks, I always serve red and white wine, a pumpkin ale with a light beer and a "signature" liquor drink. Dark & Stormy cocktails (dark rum and ginger beer on the rocks) are on tap for this year. Of course always have a selection of bottled water, club soda and diet cola for the non-drinkers. Boo-Appétit!