Carving Pumpkins and a Haunted Halloween Dinner

Sunday after church we decided to carve our pumpkins and I had planned a Haunted Halloween dinner.  Carving pumpkins is Joe's job every year.  The kids help him pull out the guts and scoop out the seeds and I take pictures and watch with a smile on my face.  I help the kids draw on their faces and cut the shapes out but my husband does all the yucky work.  He's fast and good at it! 

 The kids went a little more fancy this year.  The girls used some patterns--Carlee picked out Belle, Katelyn picked a monster, Jake had a spider in mind, and every year Clark always has his own creative ideas.  Usually he draws a selection and then takes a poll from his family members to pick the winner.

This is very intense!

Usually on Halloween night the kids are so excited to go trick or treating and get in their costumes that I make our Halloween dinner very simple, quick, and yummy.  We have homemade chili, root beer, and rolls with hot chocolate and donuts after the trick-or-treating.  I have thought about doing a haunted dinner for a couple of years now and Sunday was the perfect night to do it.  There were no after school commitments, no rushing to get somewhere for a party or activity and no hurry to get in costumes.  We had all the time in the world to eat our dinner.

I planned the menu of food that I knew everyone would like but every single item used to eat dinner had a spooky name, including the silverware, and glass.  The meal was divided into 4 courses and each person had to pick 3 items for each course.   I would serve them a course at a time and only what they picked so some of them might have been eating with their fingers, or with an empty glass, or even dessert first.  They couldn't trade or ask each other what certain things were.  It was so much fun and some of the kids were pretty good at figuring things out!  I was too busy playing server that I didn't get any pics of the funny plates of food or cute expressions but we had so much fun and the kids are begging to do it again.

The menu consisted of spaghetti and meat sauce, rolls, applesauce Jell-O, mixed vegetables, apples, grapes, green punch, and a slice of chocolate cake or spider cupcakes.

Joe's selections:
Course 1--Devil's Trident, Warlock's Ladle, Vampire Slayer
Course 2--Crystal Ball, Witches Brew, Ghost Smiles
Course 3--Monkey Brains with dragon's blood and chunks, Deer Droppings, Cold Blood with ghost cream
Courses 4--Frog Eyes, Spiders in grass, Skeleton bones

Clark's selections:
Course 1--Vampire Slayer, Monkey Brains with dragon's blood, Warlock's Ladle
Course 2--Witches Brew, Skeleton Bones, Crystal Ball
Course 3--Ghost smiles, Deer droppings, Mummy nuggets
Course 4--Bat Wings, Devil's Trident, Cold Blood without ghost cream

Katelyn's selections:
Course 1--Devil's Trident, Ghost Smiles, Monkey Brains with dragon's blood
Course 2--Warlock's Ladle, Crystal Ball, Witches Brew
Course 3--Deer Droppings, Vampire Slayer, Frog Eyes Goblin Tails and Mummy nuggets
Course 4--Skeleton Bones, Bat Wings, Cold Blood with ghost cream

Jacob's selections:
Course 1--Skeleton bones, Devil's Trident, Cold Blood without ghost cream
Course 2--Bat Wings, Ghost Smiles,, Vampire Slayer
Course 3--Monkey brains with dragon's blood, Crystal Ball, Witches Brew
Course 4--Frog eyes Goblin Tails and Mummy Nuggets, Deer Droppings, Warlock's Ladle

Carlee's selections:
Course 1--Vampire Slayer, Frog Eyes Goblin Tails and Mummy Nuggets, Devil's Trident
Course 2--Crystal Ball, Spiders in Grass, Witches Brew
Course 3--Cold Blood with ghost cream, Monkey Brains with dragon's blood, Skeleton Bones
Course 4--Deer Droppings, Warlock's Ladle, Ghost Smiles