[margaret]

For the past 2 years, there are 8 of us that get together to celebrate Halloween by having a Witches Luncheon. We would like this to become a tradition where our daughters/ daughter-in-lawsand their children (once they have children) would also be able to attend. We have a banner that we sign every year in a different colour of pen and put the year behind our names. Since Halloween is my favourite time of the year, I have become the official hostess and try to come up with different theme each year. Everyone dresses according to the themes and we have been having a ball! The first year we were to dress up as a witch but think out of the box ... we had a Christmas Witch, a Pink Witch, a Witch Doctor ... The second year we had a murder mystery ... In a haunted hotel. Everyone showed up in their character Witch. I hope to figure out how to get my pictures onto the site for you to see.

This year the theme is Enchanted/Spooky Forest and we will be having our luncheon in the forest ... the lunch this year will be a mystery lunch where people will have a menu to pick out what they will be eating and how they will be eating it ... but won't have a clue as to what they are choosing.

I have pretty much figured out the decor ... I am hoping to get a couple of wall murals of a forest ... going out to cut down a few dead trees and somehow have them standing around the room ... a camo netting for the canopy of leaves on the ceiling ... moss covering the table with wood slices as place mats ... bugs, twigs and such. I will try to carve or wood burn each witches initials into the wood slice for their place setting. Candles and candelabras will also be floating over the table ... if I have enough moss ... I would like to cover the chairs in moss as well.
Branches and spanish moss will be hung from the ceiling and I will have a lot of crows, bats and spiders all over the place as well as spider web in the trees.

When everyone arrives ... in the living room I am going to put tree stumps in a circle and have a faux fire pit and cauldron in the centre ... this will be where everyone will wait and have a drink until all the guests arrive and we have our meal.

I will once again have my husband and brother in law in charge of the kitchen and serving ... but since this meal will be so time consuming when getting each persons individual menu together, I am going to get my sons involved as well.

During the meal ... I saw a variation of this on the forum ... I am going to have everyone pick a spell book and inside will be a list of words ... for example HOCUS POCUS , GHOST, WAND ... and the witch will have to ... in conversation get someone to say a word on her list. The person who gets their list done first will have the first pick of the Magic Boxes that will be the favours, the second person, second and so on. The meal itself will be a slow going ... so I think the game will work well.

I saw these Magic Boxes on an Esty site and since I have the time and think that it would be fun ... decided to make them myself ... They will contain some things like lavender, copal, chamomile, mortar and pestle, turkey feather, abalone shell, sage, candles and such. This will all be put into an old jewellery box ... 8 of which I found on ebay ... so they will all be different ... so first done the game ... first choice.

So now I will get to the point ... I need ideas for the menu of the luncheon. The only thing that I know I will do is a salad ... dead leaves ... that will have a choice of items to put on it. You get the greens but it is what you put on it that will be the mystery. Witches teeth ... croutons, maggots ... cheese, goblins finger nails ... pumpkin or sunflower seeds. I would like everyone to have a basic item and then all the stuff that goes on it is the real mystery. Do I go with a pasta or chili ... what should the main be ... does anyone have any ideas ?

I welcome any suggestions on my theme and really would like help on my menu.

Another thing I am at a loss at is my invite ... I always send out the invites ... something out of the box that actually goes into a box ..

Help Help Help!

 

[Jenn&MattFromPA]

What a fun theme! Sounds like you have a lot of details worked out and a lot of experience in how to pull it together too, so that's great!

I hope I don't sound like a downer, but with your mystery dinner menu, please consider whether you have any particular or picky people who would be ordering. I'm not the most adventurous eater, so I'd feel uncertain with not knowing what was going to show up on my plate, but since I was a guest in someone's home & wouldn't want to be rude, I'd feel obligated to eat it or at least make the attempt. Maybe you could just announce that part of the fun is in the not knowing what you'll get, but if anyone wants, you have a "menu key" that could be passed around that explains each option. Just a thought!

Since you are going to have salad, an option for a main dish could be quiche since that pairs well with salad. You could prepare some simple/plain ones and then have them topped with different ingredients like onion, spinach, different types of cheese, ham, bacon, crabmeat, tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke, olives, broccoli - and so on and so on!

I'd suggest pre-printing some "order forms" that list all of your "mystery toppings" on them. It could say "Goblin Stomach" (or something yucky that would be the quiche or whatever entree) at the top, and then list each topping by the yucky name. The Witch Guest could put her name at the top, then circle all the toppings she wants, and when the menu card goes back to your kitchen, they just top the quiche/entree with that item, and then they'd know who to deliver it to. Would make for less confusion in the kitchen, I'd think, and then your guests would get the fun of puzzling over the menu cards & what they'll pick, and comparing it to everyone else's choices. And the menu card could be a souvenir too.

I'm currently working on a gnome & toadstool birthday party for my almost 3 year old, so I've got those projects on the brain. With that said, an invitation for your Enchanted Forest could be a box with a few "toadstools" inside. Get some white merangue cookies and some white chocolate disc meltables from a local craft store. Put a dot of melted white chocolate on the flat bottom of the merangue cookie and "glue" a marshmallow stem on. Then dust the toadstools with cinnamon and they look cute & can be an edible invitation. Then you can use white & brown toadstools on your invitations along with some sketched out brown, branchy trees for that forest look.

Hope any of these suggestions work for you! Have fun planning a great party!

 

[margaret]

Oh thank you so much for all your input !!!! You have a ton of great ideas! Love the Menu Card as a souvenir and the invite ... done and done! The 8 people are all members of our family ... girlfriends, wives , in-laws and nieces so I know what they will and will not eat ... they are pretty adventurous ... but the quiche is a great idea and the toppings will make it a lot of fun! Thanks again ... good luck on your party ... that will be a blast with the little ones.

 

[offmymeds]

Sounds like a wonderful family tradition!
I like the pasta idea...meatballs, different sauces, chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, avocado, parm, mozz cheese, for different toppings

You could also use a big toad for your invite. put a ring in its mouth.......(practical magic) hahaaa

 

[margaret]

Thanks you for your ideas ... I like the pasta idea as well. I have to throw in some unexpected and totally wrong items ... like jellybeans or m&ms ... they will be able to pick them out but still may enjoy them later? I have found this paper log that you can make ... you print out the pieces on the printer and then assemble them ... makes a small log with an opening ... some spanish moss with a frog and the written invite in his mouth k... the frog would be unexpected in the log ... that could work! Have to find 7 frogs that will fit into the log.