The Scare-o-meter

When it comes to Halloween decor, there are different levels of fright. A one being a blowup Tiger holding a pumpkin. A ten being a demon baby with an axe coming out of it's head. 

The neighbors really get into the spirit with the decor, but in the 1-4 range of fright. 

I suppose that makes sense, considering the average trick-or-treater visiting Dandelion Wine is under the age of six, and dressed in some sort of Disney get-up.

After taking inventory of the loot we scored at the pop-up Halloween store, Justin and I realized we needed to adjust our decor to try to maintain good re pore with the neighbors. 

Loot was divided, and anything over the scare factor of 5 was donated to Brehan & Brian's Halloween party that happened on Saturday. Which by the way, was epic. Here's how this weekend's party ranked on the scare-o-meter:

Skull-Clown entry way, Scare-o-meter score: 6

Creepy clown, scare-o-meter score: 9

Unicorn playing with a giraffe and a blue princess, scare-o-meter score: 0

Unicorn & Raven Princess, combined scare-o-meter score: 2

Unicorn & Creepy Clown, combined scare-o-meter score: 6

No party is complete without good finger food. Warning: there are lots of cutesy Halloween dishes lurking out there on the Internet. They involve food coloring, marshmallows, tootsie rolls & pretzels morphed to look like pumpkins, finger nails, spiders, etc. Resist the urge to slave in the kitchen for hours, creating something that looks kinda cool, but no one actually wants to eat. My holiday advice to you: don't ever sacrifice taste for presentation.

 I brought my go-to dessert: Nutella Cookie Cups. I found this recipe on Daisy Chubb's Tea & Treats, and modified by following the Original Toll House Cookie Recipe. 

Nuetella Cookie Cups

photo courtesy of daisychubb.com

Grease a cupcake pan with butter. Follow the Toll House Cookie recipe, but instead of adding semi-sweet chips at the end,  scoop about a tablespoon of dough into the  cupcake pan. Bake at 375 for 11-13 minutes. As soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, press down the center with a melon-baller, then fill your indent with a scoop of Nutella. 

You can whip up a dozen of these babies in 20 minutes. Make this your go-to for all your holiday parties this year.

xoxo

-Lisa