Halloween Spirits

Looking for that special Halloween drink tonight? Not afraid of spirits? Go to Drink of the Week.com for some wicked brew!

Want wine only? Choose some Halloween themed wines such as:
Vampire Wines. Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet, Merlot Rose, Pinot Grigio, White Zinfandel or Chardonnay.
Dracula wines: Zinfandel and Syrah (originally the grapes for this wine were grown on the Transyvlanian plateau, now they're made from Califonia grapes.
Poizin from Armida Winery in Healdsburg is a 'wine to die for'.... The wine, a zinfandel, comes in a great bottle with skull and cross-bones, and it's all packaged in a coffin.

For more fun Deadly Wines, go to Celebrate Wine. Other labels include Leelanau Cellars Witches Brew, Evil (updside down and backwards label), Owen Roe Sinister Hand, Toad Hollow Eye of the Toad, Zeller Schwarz Katz.

Want to give the personal touch to your Halloween wines? Add ghoulish labels or rebottle in cool jars with apothecary labels from Pottery Barn (or do them yourself). For a great article, go to Spooky Halloween Bottle & Glass Labels.

Don't forget some bloody toasts!

Halloween Chocolate Cemeteries

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. And, I'm always "dying... for chocolate."

These spooky Halloween cupcakes are fun to make and eat. Use any one of the following decorating ideas on its own, or put several together to create a tray of different treats. Easy to bake, you can use any devil's food cake recipe.

To make a cupcake cemetery, spread devil's food cupcakes with chocolate icing. Dip the top of each frosted cupcake in crushed chocolate wafers to create the look of dirt, then insert shortbread-cookie tombstones, piping them with scary messages like "Boo!" or "R.I.P." in royal icing.

Top more devil's food cupcakes with chocolate ganache and chocolate-wafer "dirt," make a hole in the center of each cupcake with your finger, and position half a gummi worm to look like it's slithering out of the hole.

Happy Halloween! Boo!!!

How to Create your own Spooktacular Halloween Party

Murder on the Menu is in the business of creating super Halloween parties, but maybe you want to do something on your own. Here are a few tips. Your guests will be 'dying' to attend. You can adapt these ideas for kids or adults.

Invitations: Use a cool evite or send an invitation in the mail. Your invitations will let your guests know what to expect when they come to the party. What to wear, when to arrive, what to expect. Here's a cool site for invitations.

Costumes: Depending on the theme of your party, you can ask your guests to come as their favorite sleuth, Dead Celebrities, Monsters (doing the Monster Mash), Ghouls and Goblins, etc.

Decorations: Many choices available-- glow in the dark pumpkin lights to crime scene investigation scenarios, complete with blood and gore. I often use crime scene tape, keep the lights low, glow in the dark tape for the body on the floor. So many choices. Of course, it depends on the type of party you're planning. How about Mr. Body: stuffed pants in stuffed shoes (remember the socks) sticking out from under a couch or skirted table?

Food: I'll be posting my favorite ghoulish cupcake recipe soon, but there are so many great recipes on the web right now. Check out the Food Networks' Devilish Delicious Treats.

Drinks: Drink of the Week has put together a Halloween collection or recipes for dastardly drinks, murderous martinis and creepy cocktails!

Activities: Mystery Box Game, create your own or hire Murder on the Menu. The game of Clue with Multiple games available for larger crowd. Pumpkin carving. Bobbing for Apples. More Great Halloween Games.

Music: Spooky Halloween CDs. There are several CDs with themes from TV crime and mystery shows, too.

For more great ideas and tips, go to Cheryl Williams' website.

Boo!!!

Pacifica Library Mystery Fundraiser

The Pacifica Library Foundation is having a fall fundraiser to celebrate and support the launch of Pacifica Connected. Enjoy an evening out at Pacifica's very own Castle, the Sam Mazza Castle, sampling sumptuous food and fine wine as you relax to the sounds of live jazz music. As the darkness of All Soul's Eve descends the atmosphere will change to one of intrigue as guests are thrust in the middle of a spine-tingling murder! Who can you trust, and who will betray you as you follow the clues to uncover the guilty? Theatrical entertainment provided by Murder on the Menu.

Additional entertainment at the event includes a silent auction and a raffle.

To order tickets for the Murder Mystery at the Castle ($125.00 per person), simply visit www.greatlibrary4pacifica.org and click on the red "donate now" button on the bottom of the page.

Holiday Party ideas

Murder on the Menu / TeamBuilding Unlimited would love to work with you to make your holiday event a smashing success. It's not to late to plan your company party. We have lots of ideas to add spice and fun to your Holiday Party. We can customize any event for groups of 5 to 500. Anywhere in the World. Have no budget? Contact us, so we can suggest low budget ideas you can do on your own -- or with a little help from us.

All Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited events are customized to include information on your group, company, jargon, goals and objectives and more! All our events are interactive because they're all about you!

Murder Mystery: Our mystery events are customized, interactive theatrical presentations -- a welcome form of corporate entertainment. The spotlight of fun is on employees and friends as our actors bring out the corporate energy and unique creativity of your guests. MurderOnTheMenu.com

Delicious Designs: The Great Gingerbread House Competition
Teams work together to design, build and decorate the best Gingerbread House to reflect their company and/or their group within the company. All materials are provided including instructions, gingerbread, decorations, icing, candy, sprinkles and other goodies! You supply the resourceful creativity and dynamic energy. So roll up your sleeves and get down to food basics. Design a delicious gingerbread house which reflects the raison d'être of your group.

The Charity Challenge: Trikes for Tots
TeamBuilding Unlimited has added a special element to our teambuilding events. After a series of engaging, fun and competitive Wacky Games, participants will work together to build Tricycles for Tots. Enter into the Season of Giving-Year-Round.
TeamBuilding-Unlimited.com

We have lots of other ideas for holiday parties--The Arresting Detective, Elves, A French Knight, Hats Off to You!