I’ve mentioned before that I don’t care for some of the darker elements of Halloween. The celebration of gore, blood and death doesn’t appeal to me at all. But I can have lots of fun with spiders, ghosts (the fun kind) and the more lighthearted side of the holiday.

Ever since I was a little girl, Mama Bear served “pigs in blankets” (hot dogs cut in half and wrapped in refrigerated biscuits, baked at 425 degrees) and a big batch of homemade vegetable soup. Sometimes we might mix it up a bit and serve chili instead.

Other snacks include a delicious scarecrow dip. The dip itself is made with one 16-ounce container of sour cream, one 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese and one packet of taco seasoning. Mix the ingredients together and place in a round dish. The scarecrow’s hair is shredded lettuce, the nose is shredded cheddar cheese, two black olive slices for eyes and diced tomatoes for mouth (you can use some extra olive slices for teeth). We made a cute little burlap hat to top off our scarecrow. It is too cute!

SCARECROW DIP

SPIDER CHEESEBALL

We made our favorite cheeseball recipe ( mix together 4 ounces cream cheese, 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, 1/4 teaspoon paprika, 1/8 teaspoon onion powder, 1/8 teaspoon celery salt, 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 cup chopped green onion). Form the mixture into the two body parts of a spider. Then cover the whole body with crushed black tortilla chips and use sliced green olives for the spider’s eyes. Use black pipe cleaners for nice, long legs. Serve with crackers. It may be scary but it tastes delicious!

DEVILED SPIDERS

Make your favorite deviled egg recipe and use sliced olives to form the spider’s body and legs. Couldn’t be easier! Make a lot because they go fast.

The dessert buffet is different each year, depending on some of the fun ideas we want to try.

MUMMY TRUFFLES

These simple desserts are made by crushing one package of Oreo cookies and combining with one 8-ounce package of softened cream cheese. Roll into 1-inch balls and refrigerate for an hour or so. Dip each ball into melted white chocolate (you’ll need about 16 ounces) and place on waxed paper. While the white chocolate is still wet, place two mini-chocolate chips for eyes. Drizzle remaining white chocolate over truffles to look like mummy bandages.

BOO BROWNIES

Bake your favorite box of chocolate brownies, per package instructions. After brownies have completely cooled, cut into circles with a 2-inch cookie cutter.  Place on waxed paper and frost with white frosting. It helps to microwave the frosting for approximately 20 seconds for a better spreading consistency. Melt 6 ounces of chocolate chips in the microwave, place in a sandwich baggie, snip a corner and squeeze eyes and mouths to make your ghosts complete.

ARACHNID COOKIES

Any chocolate chip cookie recipe will work for this fun treat. Remove freshly baked cookies from the oven and, using a toothpick, drag some of the melted chocolate to create spider legs.

CREEPY CRAWLY CHOCOLATE CAKE

The cake can be made from scratch or a box mix. Just make sure you end up with three round 9-inch cakes. The frosting can be homemade or from a can, but you’ll need two cans (we recommend chocolate frosting for the layers and white frosting for the outside). Stack and frost cakes on a round platter. Melt approximately 8-ounces of white chocolate in the microwave and place in a plastic sandwich bag. Snip the corner of the bag and pipe on the white chocolate to resemble a spider’s web. After the chocolate has hardened, decorate the cake with plastic spiders. Definitely creepy!

HAPPY

HALLOWEEN!!