Halloween Cupcake Ideas

I readily admit that Halloween is one of my favorite holidays as my birthday is the day before. 

If you've decided at the last-minute to go ahead and do something festive for Halloween--whether for friends or family, the kids or their school party, the office, or wherever--, we have three ideas for dressing up purchased cupcakes so they'll look fabulous.

Of course, the first step is to purchase the cupcakes from a reputable source.  A reputable source is never a supermarket, no matter how upscale.  Trust us, if you knew how they make their baked goods...No, better to buy from a pastry or cupcake shop, a restaurant, a caterer, or a small-batch baker.  At least you'll know that 1) the cupcakes will taste better and 2) they won't have trans fats or tons of artificials in them.  All the better if wherever you buy them puts them already in Halloween-themed cupcake papers.  Ask wherever you buy them to not make the frosting so peaky.  Here's why:

For the cool piece de resistance, decorate the cupcakes with any or all of the following three easy ideas:

• Buy Milano-type cookies and with a squeeze bottle (a good investment if you entertain at less than $1.50 each at party and restaurant supply stores) write RIP on the cookie, then cut a horizontal slash in each cupcake and insert the cookie about 1/3 of the way in the slash so it looks like a tombstone. 
• Cut a small round hole in the top of each cupcake and insert a marshmallow about 1/4 to 1/3 of the way in; before doing so cut little holes in the marshmallow near the top and insert chocolate chip "eyes" so it now looks like a ghost. 
• Cut a chocolate wafer thin mint into fourths, place two pieces on each cupcake to make cat ears and finish the cat face with jelly bean eyes and nose (mouth too, if you want) and black licorice strings cut into cat whiskers.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

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Halloween Goody Buffet Ideas

If you're looking for serving ideas for a casual Halloween get together, here are ideas for a cool Halloween goody buffet you can put together in minutes with no cooking.

Serve goodies on or in orange and black serving bowls and decorate the goody buffet with Halloween-themed paraphernalia to your heart's content.

Choose from the following:

• Boo cups (fill bottom of glasses up to about halfway each with crushed Oreos or chocolate cake or cupcake crumbs, top with peaked dollops of whipped cream and two chocolate chip eyes to look like ghosts)
• Cheetos "worms" (especially in a black bowl!)
• Orange and/or black  M & Ms
• Gummy worms
• Trick-or-treat bowl with mini candy bars or other pre-packaged mini candies--guests of all ages will indulge!
• Witches' brew punch--So many witches' brew punch recipes are lovely but complicated.  No worries.  A super easy one: Orange sherbert+lemon lime or pineapple or kiwi-strawberry soda--add more sherbert if you start to lose the orange color with the soda

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Susty Party biodegradable plates fall order going out

Small Foods Ideas for Your Party

The idea of using small foods for entertaining brings a smile to most people's faces.

By small foods we don't mean Spanish tapas or Greek meze--these are more correctly called "small plates" foods as the foods themselves are not specifically small.  Instead, it's the plates (and the portions), not the food size, that are small for tapas and meze.

No, small foods are foods made as or cut into small size, and there is something fun and comforting at the same time about them.

Don't believe that small foods can't be used at more formal occasions like weddings and fundraisers--if done right, they add flair and make guests happy.

Here are 14 ideas for small foods that add a wonderful touch to parties:

• Small custard cups of macaroni and cheese
• Beef or crab cake sliders
• Mini quesadillas cut out with a cookie cutter or (easier) cut into triangles
• Mini sweet and savory pies--So easy nowadays with wonderful little pie makers like the one from Sunbeam
• Mini puff pastry empanadas--Also easy to do with a cookie cutter, just cut out circles with a cookie cutter, add filling, fold over, seal edges, and bake (don't forget to baste with butter for the full decadent experience)
• Mini soup cups or shooters (cold soup for any size group and hot soup for a small group)
• Mini desserts--cupcakes are popular but also look into small sizes of any dessert. Some bakers specifically make well-known desserts like cheesecakes or layer cakes in small sizes, perhaps 4" or 5". 
• Shakes or smoothies shots
• Mini dessert shots
• Mini pizzas
• Mini skewers of any kind
• Frittatas and quiches cut out with a cutter into small rounds
• Mini (individual) ramekins of lasagna
• Mini creme brulees or other custard desserts (use the smaller size of custard cups)
• Any type of tartlet

And here's how to make a great easy mini dessert display in 10 minutes:

1. Buy cakey brownies, at least one inch thick, from a reputable baker
2. Cut out small circles from the larger brownie squares with a cookie cutter
3. Dust tops of these rounds with powdered sugar or frost the tops with cream cheese frosting
4. Serve.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Another Easy Dessert for Fall Gatherings: Cheese&Wine Course

At this VERY busy time of year, many people would like to have guests over and want to serve a dessert, but are unsure of what to serve, where to buy it, don't know how to bake, etc.

Here's an idea that will definitely add a cool factor to your gathering and is easy to pull off: serve a cheese course as the finale with some fruit and wines paired to the cheeses.

In Europe a fruit and/or cheese finale to a meal is the order of the day except for big Sunday lunches or holidays, when sweet desserts are served, and then they are quite rich and spectacular, often bought from the artisan pastry shops in every village and town.  Nostalgia bite: our old fave pastry shop, run by a kindly and phenomenal Belgian immigré baker on General Aranda Street in Madrid's upscale Rubén Darío neighborhood, and its individual apple puff pastry tartlets glazed with apricot jam.

But if you're looking for an easy, interesting, sort of edgy way to end a meal at your gathering this fall--or even a stand alone food idea for your gathering--a cheese/fruit finale with wine is cool.

How Tos

Ask your wine store to recommend 1 or 2 wines for the cheeses you want to serve.

With Red Wines, Serve:

• Goat cheeses
• Young Cheddar
• Camembert
• Gruyere or any of the Swiss-type cheeses
• Aged Gouda
• Manchego

With Dessert Wines, Serve:

• Aged Cheddar
• Blue cheeses
• Dry or regular Jack

One ounce of type of cheese per person is enough.  Take cheese out one hour before serving.

Fruit to Serve:

• Grapes (champagne grapes are pretty if you can find them)
• Sliced pears
• Quince paste (Spanish membrillo)

Use salad plates, forks, and knives for this course.  Or go casual and eat as finger foods.  Plate the cheese and fruit and serve to your guests, or have guests serve themselves from a platter.

Done. And a cool way to end your meal, or as a cool light spread itself.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com

Private ckg. class: Tiramisú