Hi Everyone,

Happy Halloween – part II

“Dishing with Diane” had the honor of being asked to participate in a local fundraiser toward different charities during a local Halloween party.

I jumped at the opportunity since that was part of my background before my heart transplant; running fashion shows and fundraisers and I know the strain of getting donations and sponsors so I wanted to help with anything I could do.

I decided to donate a “Halloween Dessert Tray” and asked that it be raffled off toward The American Heart Association.

The following is my finished product before we wrapped it to go and it was off to auction. I hope you like the tray and it gives you some ideas for your Halloween get-togethers.

I baked the oatmeal cookies and the rainbow cookies but if you are pressed for time, this tray can easily be completed with all store-bought goods with a little “Halloween” enhancement from you”.

I’ll tell you how…..

Stay well & safe and have a Happy Halloween!

The rainbow cookies were made using the same recipe from my Christmas cookies but used different gel paste to color the dough.

The link to the recipe is below but you can also find these cookies in a variety of bakeries for Halloween.

Rainbow Cookies

The donuts can be homemade or you can buy a box of Entenmann’s chocolate frosted donuts and frost three thin circles on the top of the donut and run a knife through the circles toward the outer edges of the donut to get the spider web effect. Let the donuts sit and set before adding to a tray.

The oatmeal cookies can be homemade or store-bought and this time, pipe four rows of white icing directly across the cookie (leaving a space for the eyes) and add a criss-cross design on top of the cookie. Add edible sugar wiggly eyes on top for the mummy look. Let the frosting set before adding to the tray.

The candy eyes can be purchased in Michael’s Arts & Crafts.

The large sugar cookies of the ghost, pumpkin, and trick or treat bag were purchased in a bakery (I am definitely not that talented).

The cupcakes can be homemade or you can find a decent selection of Halloween cupcakes at Costco, grocery stores, or bakeries. I added the cupcakes to spider cupcake holders to continue the Halloween theme.

The cupcake holders were purchased at Crate & Barrel and I am not sure if they are still a stock item.

Additional fillers to complete the tray- My suggestions: I used black licorice, Halloween Peeps marshmallow treats, candy corn, candy sugar pumpkins, Chocolate popcorn with Halloween assorted candies, and snack-size Halloween candy that I placed underneath for a surprise layer of goodies…

More suggestions– Chocolate-covered white pretzels with holiday sprinkles, nutter butter cookies dipped in white candy melts can look like ghosts, mini popcorn balls and the list goes on and on….

To complete the tray I always included a package of Halloween napkins that can be used as a plate when making selections off of the tray and to name the theme of the tray.

Just have fun with the tray and let your imagination run wild.

Depending on the age of the recipients, you could also add plastic spiders to the tray and spider web gauze, or skeleton hands to keep the theme going, but always be mindful of small objects and any choking hazards with little ones around.

I did not include any of those items on this tray because I wasn’t sure of the age group that would receive this tray.

Until my next post, make every day a celebration!

Diane

Please ask your family and friends to “follow”, “like” and “share” DishingwithDiane.com 

Once you become a member, you’ll never miss a post…

Also, continue to send me your comments, I love hearing from you.