Halloween Hijinks: Edible eyeballs anyone?
By Mary Mendoza
October 2003
Halloween, the one day of the year it's legal for normal people to dress and act like lunatics, is fast approaching. And not a moment too soon! After ten months of Donald Rumsfeld, the California gubernatorial recall race, those "Decorating on a Dime" makeovers, the Bennifer thing, Hurricane Isabel and Lisa Marie's debut album, we need a break!
So I did a little research and came up with some Web sites to help you get the most out of Halloween. They run the gamut from goofy (a do-it-yourself coffin, edible eyeballs, and a Bela Lugosi lawn ornament) to elegant home decorating and culinary tips from brilliant highly overpaid world famous experts.
What the list does not include are ghoulish or macabre Halloween sites. If you want to be frightened out of your wits rent an Adam Sandler movie.
Nobody does it better than the folks at HGTV http://www.hgtv.com where you'll find a gazillion Halloween ideas ranging from instructions on making a "human hamburger" costume (hold the relish, please) to building your own backyard cemetery.
This year Martha Stewart, http://www.marthastewart.com is gearing up for the fight of her life as she goes to court over some unpaid parking tickets. Despite her problems Martha's interest in Halloween hasn't waned. Her Web site is full of clever things to do to pumpkins and gourds, tantalizing recipes and ingenious decorating ideas. Gosh, she's good.
The folks at Fun-Kins® http://www.funkins.com supplied the props for the movie "Halloween Resurrection" and are geniuses at turning orange polyurethane foam into realistic looking pumpkins. You can carve and reuse these beauties, too!
If you're into the real thing Pumpkin Carving 101 http://www.pumpkin-carving.com offers tips on carving and juggling as well as instructions on how to bury your post-holiday pumpkins with "love and dignity."
At last count there were more than 200 Halloween related recipes on the Food Network http://www.foodtv.com site. Everyone from Emeril to Wolfgang has gotten into the act. Dishes include such perennial favorites as "Skeleton Crudité" and "Penne with Pumpkin Sauce" to "Witches Finger Cookies in Raspberry Coulis" and "Graveyard Pudding with Whipped Cream Ghosts."
The people at Hersey Foods http://www.trickortreats.com have gone the extra mile to create an entertaining site that offers free online games, a host of cute party ideas, and fun recipes such as "Cemetery Cake," and a "Yummy Mummy Cookie."
Ben and Jerry, http://www.benjerry.com/halloween, the ice cream guys, host an "Interactive Haunted House" and "Flavor Graveyard" on their kid-friendly site.
Disney online http://www.family.go.com focuses on wholesome stuff for families with young kids and features Halloween costumes to make at home, craft ideas, recipes for "creepy cuisine," and pointers on parenting.
Cheese, mayonnaise and Jell-O figure prominently in the recipes on the Kraft Foods site http://www.kraftfoods.com/html/features/halloween but somehow it all works. I was also happy to see that their "Howlin' Halloween Party," is still going strong with clever decorating ideas, pumpkin carving tips, sound effects and free printable stencils.
You can find out what the most popular costumes will be this year and link to numerous Halloween sources at Everything Halloween http://www.everythinghalloween.com.
If you're all bloody thumbs when it comes to sewing costumes check out the selection at Seattle's Display & Costume http://www.displaycostume.com. They also have a frightfully good assortment of bats, rats, skulls and other holiday essentials.
Pam, a gracious and helpful iFloor reader from Maine, alerted me to Sunshine Crafts http://www.sunshinecrafts.com, a nifty site where you'll find all sorts of inexpensive Halloween decorations and craft making supplies.
If you're in the market for a wind-up running nose, a brain gelatin mold, or a box of glow bones, Archie McPhee http://www.mcphee.com is the place to be. At Archie's every day is Halloween. Isn't that how it should be?
Happy Halloween!
Biographical Sketch - Mary Mendoza
Madcap Mary Mendoza, formerly known as Hurricane Mary, lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, son, three cats and 200,000 Sunset magazines.
Madcap's humor columns and feature stories have appeared in publications around the Northwest as well as online. She is the author of The Adventures of Madcap Mary, a collection of humorous stories. Madcap can be reached at madcapmary@comcast.net. Her Web site will premiere soon at: http://www.madcapmary.com.
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