INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

October 22, 1997 It's almost Halloween, and your little monsters are
champing at the bit. They want to have a party, but you're too busy to do
much planning or baking. Take a cue from Sally Mills, a member of the
Cedarburg City Council who is leaving the planning to her 13-year-old
daughter, Leslie.
Halloween is the perfect holiday to let kids' imaginations run wild, and to
let them practice in the kitchen. With supervision from adults, planning a
Halloween party can be a great experience for kids.
Leslie Mills is inviting 13 friends to her party. She and her friends will
entertain another 12 kids: Leslie's 8-year-old twin siblings, Kelly and
Kyle, and 10 of their friends.
Is her mother crazy?
Of course not. She set parameters for the party and made her expectations
clear. She told Leslie that she needed to find another adult chaperone --
perhaps the mother of one of her friends. She also went over Leslie's
written game plan to make sure there were enough activities for the younger
kids. Leslie, who began planning the party in September but didn't get
final approval from Mom until last week, came up with some great ideas to
feed and entertain her guests. "Since we'll have little kids here, we'll
get small, tart apples at the orchard to make caramel apples," Leslie said.
She'll also buy apple cider at the orchard.
Leslie may borrow a simple idea from a cable TV show for a pumpkin-shaped
cake. (More about that later.) Here's the best part: Leslie decided the
rest of the party food should be potluck. Her friends will each bring a
favorite treat to pass. "I told them 'nothing gloppy' because 8- or
9-year-olds will be eating it," she said. "If they can't think of anything
else, they can bring Halloween Oreos."
Leslie figures the unfinished basement in her house is perfect for the
party. She'll do a black and orange theme with crepe paper.
Each of her friends will oversee an activity booth with themed costumes.
Two "ghosts" will be in charge of the ghost bean bag toss; two "dead
people" with nooses will assist the little kids with a lively ring toss;
two "fisherwomen" will oversee the fishing-for-candy game; two "gypsies"
will be fortune-tellers who will predict a sweet treat for each child,
Leslie revealed); and "creepy hands of scary monsters" will pop out of a
well to dispense candy.
At first, the witches were going to serve punch, Leslie said. But then she
decided they should be stationed at the booth with the cooked spaghetti and
peeled grapes. You know the game: the grapes are a dead man's eyes, the
spaghetti is his brain . . . "I like doing things with little kids," Leslie
said, adding, "kids usually say I'm the best baby sitter they've ever had."
Leslie figures her little brother and sister and their friends can be part
of the party for two hours, then her friends can stay another three hours
to have their own fun. Donna Roloff, co-superintendent of Sunday school at
Bethany-Calvary United Methodist Church, 7265 W. Center St., plans an
annual Halloween party for children who attend Sunday school, plus their
friends.
She's making spiders with the help of children who attend the church's
before- and after-school care program. They also are invited to the party.
The spider's legs are thick, black pipe cleaners bent into shape and glued
into a clump under the body. The spider's body is a square of nylon black
netting, glued to the top of the legs, then filled with candy corn and tied
shut with orange and green ribbon once the glue is dry. For the spider's
eyes, green Lifesavers with orange M&Ms in the center are affixed to the
body with frosting as the glue. To attach the eyes to the spider, two round
label stickers are stuck together with the netting layer between. Glue the
lifesaver to the exterior round sticker. Each spider leg is inserted into a
tiny gum drop foot as a finishing touch.
Roloff also will make cat "suckers" with peppermint patty heads,
chocolate-chip ears and noses, orange Tic Tac eyes, orange Twizzlers
Pull-a-Peels whiskers, and orange straws as sticks to hold onto. (The ears,
noses, eyes and whiskers are attached with frosting.) Yellow and green
ribbons are tied under the cat faces.
Another fun treat on Roloff's party list is candy corn cups. Her helpers
will paint Styrofoam cups -- the bottom orange, the middle yellow, and the
top left white. She'll fill the cups with candy corn and insert a cookie
tombstone. For each tombstone, half of a rounded-edge sandwich cookie (such
as a Snackwell or Vienna Finger) is frosted and decorated with a short
epitaph, such as "R.I.P." The cups also will contain "bugs" that stick out
of the top of the cup. The bugs are made from a miniature gumdrop pierced
with a toothpick. Mini-M&M eyes are attached with frosting.
If you have an artistic flair and some time to spare, an edible haunted
house makes a showstopping decoration.
continued in part 2

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