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I will admit that, although I admire the idea of that Halloween classic, the kitty litter cake, I'm not a fan. When I throw a Halloween party I put a lot of work into everything, including the food, and it would distress me that some folks would not want to partake of something that tasted good just because it looked gross. What a waste of time, food (and money) that would be.

My tastes incline to Halloween food that's spooky, but still looks edible. Also, Halloween sweets and Halloween savories that are elegant or have some charm to them, some eerie artistic quality. I've found that it's been a bit hard to track down the ideal Halloween menu, but here and there I've encountered really great ideas from very inventive people, and I'm happy to share them.

I will admit that, although I admire the idea of that Halloween classic, the kitty litter cake, I'm not a fan. When I throw a Halloween party I put a lot of work into everything, including the food, and it would distress me that some folks would not want to partake of something that tasted good just because it looked gross. What a waste of time, food (and money) that would be.

My tastes incline to Halloween food that's spooky, but still looks edible. Also, Halloween sweets and Halloween savories that are elegant or have some charm to them, some eerie, artistic quality. I've found that it's been a bit hard to track down the ideal Halloween menu, but here and there I've encountered really great ideas from very inventive people, and I'm happy to share them.

When I came across these skull cookies I was utterly charmed and captivated. They're artistic, evocative with just a hint of scare. They were originally done for the Mexican holiday, the Day of the Dead, but they are at home on a traditional Halloween menu as well. For the recipie (and all-important skull-making techniques) visit 101cookbooks.com.



The brain mold is another Halloween food classic that I like in theory, but often don't like in practice. I was surprised when I came across a brain mold delicacy that I really liked, and it wasn't a jello recipie (see picture, above). This brain mold dessert is vanilla panna cotta in pomegranate sauce (heavens!). This is the work of egullet.com member tejon (egullet.com is a great food resource, and not just for Halloween food). Tejon also had a go at the traditional, Martha Stewart witches' fingers ('tho these are cookies and not pretzels), with similiarly fantastic results (see below).



I'll definitely be keeping a watch out for more edible gems like these.