Halloween: Amusement Parks are Tricked out

I love Halloween. Shouldn't come as any big surprise since I run Murder on the Menu. So over the next few weeks or so, I'll be giving some info about places to go for a fun Halloween event--for your company or your family. I'll also be giving you links to recipes and other ideas for the holiday--and a link to mystery novels set during Halloween.

I saw a great article in today's USA Today about Amusement Parks that are tricked out for Halloween. Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia is having "Terror Behind the Walls". Six Flags in various states will hold a "Fright Fest". Universal Studios in both Universal City and Orlando will have "Halloween Horror Nights". Even Hersheypark will have "Hersheypark in the Dark." Read the entire article here.

If your local park isn't on the list, check them out online. They may be doing a Boocrew or Howloscream or at least a Haunted House!

Live in the San Francisco Bay Area? Check out the Haunted Bay website. Calendar, lists of haunted houses and pumpkin patches.

Want Murder on the Menu/TeamBuilding Unlimited to provide entertainment or team building for your Halloween party? We can do a Monster Mash Murder or any theme you'd like, as well as a delicious "Have Your Halloween Cake and Eat it, Too!" team building event. Now that's a major treat. You design and decorate cakes for Halloween and either eat them when you're through or take them back to the office. Great idea for a Halloween party!

World Chocolate Masters: Chocolate Challenge

TeamBuilding Unlimited/Murder on the Menu does a Chocolate Challenge that's a lot of fun and pretty scrumptious. In this team challenge, each team must build a structure entirely of chocolate or chocolate related products. I've seen great buildings, hospitals, palaces and castles from different teams at Genentech, Hitachi, and PDL BioPharma and other companies.

Taking this competition a step further and having nothing to do with us: :-), the World Chocolate Masters competition invites Chocolatiers from all over the world to enter a similar competition.

The finalists of the World Chocolate Masters 2009 work within a limited time of 11 1/2 hours. Each of the contestants has to create a complete range of chocolate items:
- a chocolate showpiece to the theme of "Haute Couture"
- a moulded and a dipped praline
- a chocolate pastry
- a gastronomic chocolate dessert
- a decorated "Haute Couture" hat

It's the hat that's the building part of the competition. Talk about a Chocolate Challenge!

The objective of both the National Selections and World Finals is to "provide a high interest format to promote the best artisans around the globe and support the best chocolate practice."

Lionel Clement, the French born chocolatier and the head chocolatier for the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, is the U.S. Candidate at the World Chocolate Masters competition. He topped four other pastry chefs at a daylong competition in NY last November. In the structural part of the competition he used several layers of chocolate to produce a silhouette of a woman's face, with long hair and a fancy hat. That won him the chance to compete in the world competition.

Clement will face chocolatiers from 12 other European countries, China, Japan, Thailand, Russian, Canada and Mexico. The showdown will be in Paris. Clement has been practicing for four months with his flavors, four months designing and developing his show pieces and 4 months practicing, so he'll be able to get everything done within the 11 1/2 hours at the biennial culinary competition that starts October 14. The judges will judge competitors on a roughly 25-pound showpiece, as well as two identical layered cakes to serve eight people, a gastronomic chocolate dessert, two different pralines and the decorated haute couture chocolate hat.

"It has to be unbelievable, and at the same time you've got to be able to make it because otherwise it's not going to work," said Clement. "It's not only how to make and build master showpieces, it's also about flavor."

The competition is serious even if its participants wield only sweets; a prize of euro 75,000 ($109,000) is on the line including a euro 20,000 package (roughly $29,000) for the winner. The competition is organized by Barry Callebaut, the Switzerland-based cocoa and chocolate manufacture. The large showpiece has to be made almost entirely of chocolate or cocoa-derived products. They stay together with cocoa butter or melted chocolate.

Another amazing part of the competition is that each competitor works alone in hauling and assembling their piece and is also judged on how clean their workspace is 45 minutes after they're done. Clement said, "During the whole competition, it's only you and yourself — that's it."

At TeamBuilding Unlimited, nothing is singular. We encourage our teams to work together to build their showpieces. Everything we do at TeamBuilding Unlimited is customized to include the theme of the meeting, goals and objectives, jargon and buzzwords. In the Chocolate Challenge, we supply the chocolate materials and usually give you about 1-2 hours to complete the project. We have prizes, too, but not monetary! After all, the goal is to work together as a team in a fun challenging teambonding way!

To read more about the World Chocolate Masters, go Here.
The Participants
The Jury

To read more about the Chocolate Challenge at TeamBuilding Unlimited, go here.

Barrango: The Perfect Holiday Venue

I thought I knew most of the more unusual venues in the San Francisco Bay Area, but I was wrong. Recently I had a tour of Barrango in South San Francisco, and I was stunned. Barrango is a bit of Toyland and Candyland mixed with huge holiday displays plus more--and it's all behind a secret door. As I wandered through the incredible lifesize and supralifesize displays, I felt like I had fallen down the rabbit hole.

Barrango is the perfect venue for a holiday party--or any time. It's always a Winter Wonderland there, with a nod to the tropics in a few places. Barrango, known for their quality manufacturing and designs of seasonal decor since 1906, as well as fully working carousels, has created several very unique event spaces for holiday parties, weddings and other events in their showplace. Barrango can hold small intimate board meetings, seated events of 5 to 150, or large cocktail receptions of more. There are also several imported antique bars in the space that are just fabulous. Read the history of Barrango here.

I can't wait for Murder on the Menu and TeamBuilding Unlimited to work at Barrango. What a terrific place to do Trikes for Tots or Bears that Care! Bring your holiday party to Barrango!