How to Throw a Hallotean Party

As you know I love Halloween, it is one of my favorite holidays.

Last year some friends and I held a tea party every month and of course I had to have a Hallotean party! I wanted to share what I did early, just in case any of you want to take any of my ideas and use them this upcoming October.

Invitations:

So the first thing you need for a party is invitations. I like to make my own cards and sent everyone a boo-tiful one made with some skeleton stickers I had. With each one I incorporated tea.

Decorations:

After planning that came decorations. I love Halloween so I already had some decor from black candlesticks, to a Frankenstein bust, Munster memorabilia, and more. I also decorated some pumpkins and made sure Northanger Abbey was represented as well.

Menu:

I was able to figure out my menu pretty quickly as I have a Tea Time magazine subscription, a Betty Crocker holiday cookbook, Pinterest, etc. I had a lot of recipes to choose from.

Tea Choices:

I went with Victorian Earl Grey (as there are a lot of gothic Victorian literature) and the Dia de Los Muertos tea MadsenCreations made.

Food Menu:

Our Menu was Matcha Mummy Scones, Cocoa Cat Scones, Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, TeaTime Magazine’s Roasted Carrot Sandwiches, Monster Mash Roast Beast (Beef) Sandwiches, Butternut Squash Soup, Swamp Brownies (inspired by Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School), and Applesauce Cake.

Matcha Mummy Scones

For these I used my Matcha Scones with Lemon Drizzle recipe but cut them out with my skeleton head cookie cutter and made the drizzle go across like Mummy bandages. I also added chocolate chips for eyes.

Cocoa Cat Scones (Double Chocolate Scones)

I wanted to have black cat scones, but these ended up being a lot harder to maintain the shape than I thought they would be. I ended up only making a few before going back to the original triangular shaped scones. The ones that did come out looked very cool. The recipe came from 5DollarDinners

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter cold
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F.
2. Prepare baking sheet with a baking mat or parchment paper.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
4. Stir to combine. The mixture will be uniform when ready.
5. Use a fork or pastry blender to cut in the butter and coconut oil. The mixture will resemble crumbly lumps. This should be done as quickly as possible so the butter and oil don’t start to melt. It might take around 3 minutes to get the butter thoroughly blended in with no large clumps remaining.
6. Add milk to the mixture and stir gently just until combined. It will look dry and crumbly and that’s okay.
7. Move dough from bowl to baking sheet and form a rounded loaf. Be careful not to work the dough too much because the heat from your hands will melt the fats.
8. Divide the loaf into 8 wedges with a floured knife. Do not cut all the way through the bottom. Stop about 1/2 inch from the liner.
9. Top with all of the chocolate chips and press them gently into the mounded dough.
10. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 375 until golden brown.
11. Serve Double Chocolate Scones warm from the oven.

TeaTime Magazine’s Roasted Carrot Sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 2 cups ¼-inch sliced carrot
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper in 1-inch squares
• 1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper in 1-inch squares
• 1 cup ¼-inch sliced yellow onion
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup cream cheese softened
• 10 thin slices whole-wheat bread frozen

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.
2. In a large bowl, combine vegetables, olive oil, Italian seasoning,
   and salt, tossing until well coated.
   
3. Spread in a single layer on prepared
   baking sheet.
4. Bake until vegetables are tender,
   25 to 30 minutes. Let cool completely on baking sheet. Once cooled,
   finely chop roasted vegetables.
5. In a medium bowl, combine
   cream cheese and roasted vegetables, stirring well.
6. Spread cream cheese mixture onto 5 bread slices. Top with remaining bread slices, making 5 whole sandwiches.
7. Using a serrated bread knife in
   a gentle sawing motion, trim and
   discard crusts from sandwiches.

Monster Mash Roast Beast (Beef) Sandwiches

This one’s MadsenCreations came up with and they came out super cute and delicious!

Ingredients:

• Bagel Buns
• Mayonnaise
• Mustard
• Tomatoes, Sliced
• Black Olives, Whole
• Cheese
• Roast Beef, Sliced
• Sliced pickles
• Toothpicks
• Red onions, sliced

Directions:

1. Lightly toast the bagel buns.
2. Add mustard and mayonnaise to taste on buns.
3. On bottom bun layer roast beef, cheese, tomatoes, red onion slice, and add a pickle on top. Top with bagel bun top and add olives, using a toothpick to keep them steady.

Games:

Game 1: Monster Maker

Take a piece of paper and fold it into three parts. Have people work in teams of two or three and assign each to one part of the body (head, torso, or legs). This was hilarious and a ton of fun to see what everyone made. I didn’t take any pictures, but the winning was fantastic.

Game 2: Halloween Trivia

For this game I asked a series of questions and for every one someone answered correctly they got a point. If they had a different answer from anyone else they were given three points.

1. Name a Tim Burton Film
2. Name a Color associated with Fall or Halloween
3. Name a Fall Holiday
4. Name a food or drink made mostly in fall
5. Name a horror film movie or TV Show
6. Name a Universal Monster or Monster Movie
7. Name a film, TV show, or book with a ghost/paranormal characters
8. Name a film, TV show, or book with a vampire
9. Name an Alfred Hitchcock film
10. Name a Halloween costume you’ve worn
11. Name a symbol associated with fall or Halloween
12. Name a film or TV show that has a supernatural or paranormal family
13. Name a film, TV show, or book that has a detective

I had a lot of fun with our tea parties, and I hope this helps if you want to plan your own Hallowtean!

For more party posts, go to How to Throw a Valentea Party

For more Halloween posts go to Halloween Has Ended…But It’s Not Over

For more tea posts, go to Matcha Ice Cream

For more recipes, go to Turkey and Cheese Flower Sandwiches