A Mix of Gross and Yummy Halloween Party Foods for Kids

Halloween is a great holiday for kids. They get to dress up as whomever, or whatever, showing off their costumes at school, which isn't conducive to much serious school work, but hey, it's Halloween! Then there's an evening of trick or treating to look forward to as well. Throwing a Halloween party for the kids is the icing on the cake. So, as Mom or Teacher, what is appropriate food for this spooky holiday party occasion? Here are a few ideas for Halloween party foods that are easy to fix and guaranteed to produce giggles and grossed-out expressions.

You want to have a mix of dishes, some clearly cute and edible, with others that have the kids staring in disbelief and then daring one another to eat them. The gross ones are best if they taste good. Otherwise, you'll end up with wasted food.

First, we'll tackle the cute Halloween party foods you use to lure the kids to the buffet. Some Halloween paper plates and napkins adds a festive look.

Add red and yellow food coloring, drop by drop, to a batch of sugar cookie dough, until a proper shade of pumpkin is achieved. Use yellow icing to decorate the faces.

If you don't have a divided bowl, with at least three compartments, pick one up at a dollar-type store. Make a big batch of popcorn and melt some butter in the microwave. Divide in three portions and use food coloring to tint one bright yellow, one orange and the last black. Use red, green and blue food coloring to make black. You may be surprised to see the black popcorn disappear first. So this is one-third yucky, but overall cute.

Spider Brownies are cute, creepy and delicious. Cut the brownies into squares, squeeze a circle of white icing in the center and plop a plastic spider or other creepy crawler from the party store right on top of the icing. The bugs can serve as party favors too.

Now On To Some of the Gross Halloween Party Food

To a gallon of milk, add sufficient green food color to produce a disgusting color. Serve in clear plastic glasses for maximum effect.

Normally called deviled eggs, you can use a few tricks to make be-deviled eyeballs. Cut your eggs in half, scoop out the yolks and set aside. Dip the whites briefly in a bowl of red food coloring water. Mash the yolks, then turn them an unseemly green. Alternatively, you can leave the yolks yellow and fill the eggs. Then, use red coloring and a toothpick to create a bloodshot look. Make squiggled furrows in the egg mixture and drip the red food coloring onto it. The red food coloring will seep into the veins you drew in the egg mixture. You can use thin slices of celery for the pupils. Ewww!

A package of lady finger cookies are easily made into a ghoulish treat. Cut the ends off each 'finger' and dip each in some red gel icing, arranging severed pieces closely, but not together!

These Halloween party foods are a real scream!