In The Life Of Our Halloween Queen.......Motto: Go Big or Go Home...(Jean's recipes below)

The Food...

The Festive....





The Offspring....





Eyeballs:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 c creamy peanut butter
1/2 c butter, softened
1 t. vanilla extract
3 3/4 c. powd. sugar
12 oz white candy coating, chopped (or whirte choc chips)
1 T. shortening
20 green and 20 blue m&m's
red decorating gel in tube

Cream peanut butter and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in vanilla. Gradually beat in powd. sugar. Shape into 1" balls. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Melt white coating or chips and shortening in microwave until melted and stir til smooth. Dip pb balls into coating and allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper. Place m&m in center. when set, pipe bloodshot lines going away from the pupil. Makes 50.

To see a picture of them, go to http://tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Scary-Eyeballs


Cookie Witch Fingers:

Ingredients
•1 cup butter, softened
•1 cup confectioners' sugar
•1 egg
•1 teaspoon almond extract
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
•1 teaspoon baking powder
•1 teaspoon salt
•3/4 cup whole almonds
•1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel
Directions
1.Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
2.Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
3.Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
4.Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
5.Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

To see a picture of these, go to allrecipes.com/spooky witches fingers.

The vampire cupcakes were just white cupcakes with two holes poked in them from a skewer and then I dripped a little red decorator gel from the puncture wound.

The critters were just chow mien noodles covered in melted chocolate and dropped on wax paper by spoonfuls. I then added candy eye from Walmart.

For the Watermelon brain (I added some strawberry glaze after I carved it to make it creepier) idea and the apple mouth idea, go to www.skinnytwinkie.com/2010/10/healthy-halloween-treats .