After taking 2010 off, we were back with a vengeance for Halloween 2011! This year was our eighth party, and it was bigger and better than ever. More than forty guests packed into our house to show off their costumes, sample our spooky food, and have some fun. Most of these photographs were taken by Jonathan Feldman and myself, with a few from Jamie Griego, David Edgar, and Jane Matlock as well. Thank you to the photographers, and to everybody who came along!

Here’s the only wideshot I can find of the food table, and it doesn’t even include everything! On the savoury side we had: Hot & Smoky Baked Beans (made vegetarian and cooked in the crockpot all day); Deviled Eggs; Shooter’s Sandwiches; Meat Pies; Guacamole & Veggies; and Devils on Horseback. On the sweet side we had: Shoo-fly Pies; Witches’ Finger Cookies, Nuts and Bolts; Fairy Bread; Panna Cotta Brain; Pumpkin Pie Pavlova, Eggs of Newt drink, and Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream (floated in the Snook’s homebrew). Oh, and we made a Meat Head. Yes, seriously.

The Snook has made Shooter’s Sandwiches for the last few parties. Each consists of a hollowed out bread loaf filled with savoury yumminess. There’s a mix of mushrooms and shallots, along with a rump steak for the carnivores. After he makes them, he weights them down so they get squished flat. They always go fast!

We know from experience that deviled eggs are a huge crowd pleaser. This year we experimented with a more gourmet recipe, and they turned out really well. As usual, we dyed them in wacky colours to make them a bit more spooky.

These are Devils on Horseback, an old school appetizer from back in the day. Ours consist of pitted dates stuffed with parmesan, wrapped in bacon, and baked in the oven. Everybody loves these!

I saw this recipe for Shoo-fly Pie several weeks ago and thought: “Hey, if we decorate them with plastic flies, that’s kind of gross!” So that’s what we did. Shoo-fly pie is a traditional Amish pie involving molasses and baking soda. We subbed treacle for the molasses, and we dropped a few currants on each one to look like more flies! One recipe easily made 48 mini pies. (We used pre-made pastry cases. We’re not insane.)

Fairy Bread is an Australian crowd pleaser. Nutritionally-devoid white bread with the crusts cut off, spread with butter and covered in seasonally-appropriate sprinkles. Yum.

This is Martha Stewart’s Eggs of Newt. It’s sort of like an alcoholic bubble tea! You boil up tapioca (sago) and then mix it with lemon juice, sugar syrup, and Cointreau. I just did it because I thought it would look ooky on the table. People actually did drink and enjoy it though! (My tapioca continued to swell for hours, so it got thicker and thicker as the night wore on.)

Everybody expects the Panna Cotta Brain, and we do not like to disappoint. We topped this one with whizzed up canned strawberries.

I had a dream of making the ultimate American-Australian hybrid dessert: the Pumpkin Pie Pavlova (PDF recipe). The Snook was skeptical, saying that a sweet topping plus sweet meringue would be sickly. But I persevered, and it was AWESOME. Even the Snook admitted it. People ate the whole darn thing! I topped it with real whipped cream to which I’d added maple syrup. Yum.

I always make these finger cookies, and every year they disappoint me. I just can’t keep them from spreading! I even chilled the dough overnight. Anyway, I decided it was easiest to just call them “Dragons’ Claws” and not stress. They were tasty.

We always try to have something dramatic as a centerpiece, and Meat Head has been on our wish list for years. We finally made it happen. After the Snook carefully disinfected a plastic skull, he painted it with red currant jelly and popped some pickled onions in for eyes. Then we covered it in thinly sliced ham, using more jelly to hold the layers together. It was the most disturbing thing we’ve ever made, and the guests LOVED it. A few even tried a piece of ham as the evening wore on! Massive success.

And now on to the guest pictures!

Our costume theme for this year was “Childhood Heroes.” My Wonder Woman Underoos were a prized possession, and the Snook even made his own Greatest American Hero outfit when he was little. These costumes are 85% rented, 15% DIY. We made the Snook’s cape, and he crafted his own insignia belt buckle. I sewed my own starred skirt, as the costume shorts were a little, uh, brief. The wigs were lent to us by Rodd’s sister Jeannie. Pretty sweet, huh!

Speaking of Jeannie, here she is with Chris and their son Kurt. Kurt was his favourite character Tintin, and his parents were Thomson and Thompson. Kurt even dyed his hair! He had a small Snowy dog too.

Josh and Jamie came as Lego men, and it was seriously creepy to see them walk up the front steps! Here they are with Cookie Monster, aka my friend Zena. Poor Zena was overheating in that fur suit! Points for dedication though. She even brought us a bag of homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Kunaal certainly had the best entrance of the night, cueing up the Indiana Jones theme song on his iPhone as he walked in. Tia made a lovely Red Riding Hood in her self-made cape.

From left to right: Meg as a seriously cool dead Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez; Erin as the Black Swan (in an amazing handmade tulle tutu); and Jane as a dodgy London rioter.

I love a good witty nerd costume. David came as a Commodore 64.

Here’s the amazing Jonathan, ferocious lion and photographer extraordinaire!

Amy and Rob were rockin’ some sweet Star Trek uniforms, complete with tricorder and phaser. (Amy still holds the record as being the only person to have come to every single one of our Halloween parties! Let’s keep the streak alive!)

We actually had TWO Princess Leias at the party, but Donna was the only one mad enough to tie actual bagels to her head. 🙂

Mija was a lovely Minnie Mouse. Dave was – I think – serial killer Ivan Milat.

Here’s Amy along with Bex, who was sporting some amazing vintage gear (as always). Loved the pink wig too!

Issy and Derek made for a menacing couple of Death Eaters. She was Bellatrix Lestrange; he was Lucius Malfoy.

Sandra went conceptual in a tuxedo as a “Formal Apology,” handing out printed sorry notes to people all night. It was great. Mary-Helen (again, no photo – sorry!) was a “Tangled Web,” with half-woven textiles trailing her wherever she went.

Toastman was Travis Bickle, announcing himself to the room with the cheery shout: “Anybody order a taxi?”

Here’s the Snook hanging out with newlyweds Hank and Megan (Dead Easy-E and Dead Lisa Lopez, respectively).

The Legion of Super Heroes! Snook, me, and O’lin as an AWESOME Hit-Girl. (You can see Jody in the background as our other Princess Leia.)

Lego Man, Indian Jones, and Wonder Woman.

That’s all, folks! See you next year!