Halloween Entertaining Ideas with Tastefully Simple

I have to say, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.  I think it all started with my Dad, the ultimate lover of Halloween.  My mom would get us all bundled up (yeah, bundled up--can you imagine a little 4 year old with a purple princess dress and telling her she has to wear a SNOW SUIT because it just snowed over a foot!?  It didn't go over that well, let me tell you...) and out the door in record time to get to every house possible.  We lived in the sticks, like literally, the middle of the woods and since we couldn't go door-to-door, my dad would drive us everywhere to trick-or-treat.  We would see our neighbors, relatives (we couldn't miss my Grandma's homemade popcorn balls), my dad's customers and of course all of the houses of people we only "knew" one night a year--the ones who gave away FULL sized candy bars.  We would come home absolutely exhausted with huge bags of candy and amazing memories we still hold on to today.  

These days I deck the house out, make festive food and enjoy every little trick-or-treater that rings our doorbell.  I think back to our trick-or-treating days and honestly pray that it doesn't snow like it did "that one year."  

When Tastefully Simple asked if I would do a Halloween Post for October let's just say they didn't have to ask twice.  So today, I used two of their fun products and with a little inspiration from them, I whipped up two quick and easy Halloween Treats.  First is the Amaretto Graveyard, it looks super impressive and would be the centerpiece of your treat display but honestly took just a few minutes to whip up.  The second is the Samba Scare-tini.  Wow, was I impressed by this cocktail, and it's such a pretty color!  

Here is how I did it...

Start with a box of their Awesome Amaretto Cheese Ball Mix ™  

Toss a block of cream cheese (I used a reduced fat version) in a small bowl

Pour in the Awesome Amaretto Cheese Ball Mix ™ ...

And, well, mix.  

Until it is fully combined.  As you can see I started with a fork and moved to a spatula.  The spatula worked much better

Spread it out onto your serving plate

Like so and set it aside for the time being

Then get to work on the tombstones...this was VERY easy!  Don't mind my gross cutting board, I swear it's clean...and I should probably just toss it at this point.  ::mentally adding cutting boards to my birthday/Christmas list::

Pipe on RIP or crosses on the tombstones

I also used these little chocolate covered graham crackers for tombstones as well.  Ps. when's the last time you had one of those?! With coffee, wow, that's all I'm saying.

Anyways, pipe RIP or crosses or whatever creepiness you would like to on them as well.

Sprinkle the chocolate crumbs onto the top

And place the tombstones.

I added little pumpkins that come in the "autumn mix" candy corn bags.

And a few fall sprinkles.

There you have it!

I mean come on, how adorable is that!?  And it took less than 30 minutes to make--maybe even 15 minutes total.  Man, I should have timed myself!

On to the Samba Scare-tini!  I started this the night before hence the lighting.  First, you take the bucket and rinse it out

Pour the Samba Sangria mix ™ x into the bucket

Add vodka...now we are talking!

Some water

And give it a quick stir

Cover

And into the freezer it goes for 12-14 hours.  Truthfully I left mine in the freezer for two days since it RAINED all weekend.

Anyway, take it out of the freezer.  Another confession, the day before I took a peek and kind of "fluffed" the mixture up with a fork to see how it was doing...that's why the top isn't completely flat.  Know that step is not necessary.

Anyway, just scrape the mixture and add it to martini or any other pretty glasses you may have.

Serve with festive straws and you have got the easiest party drink you will ever serve!

I love that you can serve a slushy party drink without standing over the blender the entire night!

I also tried it by adding a little lemon lime soda and to be honest, I liked that even more than the original!

It was slushy perfection!

Now, I'm dying to know...what are your favorite Halloween memories and recipes you would like to share!

If you would like to purchase the Awesome Amaretto Ball Mix ™ and Samba Sangria Mix ™ from Tastefully Simple, check out their website here!  They are doing a special for these Halloween recipes and a few others that would complete your Halloween party menu!  10% off for the month of October! I am certain that your party would be a hit and think about how easy it would be to get everything put together!

Happy Halloween!!!!!


**NOTE: I was provided with products for this post and compensated for working with Tastefully Simple in Project Simplicity.  As always, the opinions are my own.**