Ghoul’s Night
Happy Halloween!! If you’re in the mood for a cozy night in with the girls, delicious food, and a witchy vibe, you’ve come to the right place. This year, I hosted a spooky girl’s night/dinner party/coven gathering (…too much?) to celebrate the witchiest night of the year. It was also a very belated birthday celebration for my best friend’s 24th, so I knew I had to pull out all the stops. In the end, we had the loveliest time and enjoyed quite possibly one of the best dinner party menus I’ve ever made. Let me break it down for you:
GHOUL’S NIGHT MENU
TO START,
Witch’s Brew: aka Aperol spritzes, because they’re top tier
Mossy Morsels: Mini Gruyère and chive biscuits with whipped ricotta and hot honey
MAINS
Graveyard Ribs: Soy braised short ribs with toasted sesame seeds and chive ribbons
Ghoul’s Guts: Classic parmesan risotto with crispy thyme oyster mushrooms
Haunted Harvest Salad: With apples, pecans, parm ribbons, and a white wine vinaigrette
DESSERT
Poison Swirl Cake: Italian ricotta cake with a homemade pistachio butter swirl
For the table, I chose to go with a basic white tablecloth, over which I draped a black yarn cobweb to give it a spooky-chic look. Then, I just added a big white candle as a centerpiece, and cutlery wrapped in napkins, tied with yarn, and decorated with a sprig of thyme. I loved the addition of the thyme, as it works both as a decorative element as well as a fun condiment for dinner, which each guest can use to their liking (that was totally planned and so not a fun coincidence).
For decor, I bought some cobwebs and mini spiders, but I also had the idea to make the menu a part of the evening’s vibe! I love making a big, handwritten menu that I can hang up as part of the dinner’s theme, something I’ve been doing since my French-inspired dinner party I hosted last August. So for Ghoul’s Night, I did the same but with an obvious change of vibe, so the menu would feel more on-theme. After hanging it up, I draped some cobwebs on it for the perfect spooky vibe and it was just sooooo cute. I think this is such a simple thing you can do, yet it makes the dinner feel much more special for the guests (and yourself)! I’ve found that people love to be able to know what’s for dinner without having to ask a bunch of times, and this menu is like a fun way for them to find out.
Finally, you want to be able to maintain the vibe throughout the evening. But how, you ask? Music! For Ghoul’s Night, I created a playlist with all of my favorite songs that had a Halloween or spooky vibe to them. It could be that the lyrics were quite literally spooky-themed (think Thriller, My Girlfriend Is a Witch, Pyscho Killer), or that the melody fit the vibe (Puttin’ On The Ritz, Once Upon A Dream). The sky’s the limit here! I personally found that anything can sound spooky when you’re making a playlist 30 minutes before your guests are supposed to arrive :) so you can totally get creative. Here’s a link to mine in case you just want an already made one:
Andddd that was Ghoul’s Night! One of my favorite dinner parties as of yet. If you’d like to get more of a behind the scenes look, check out parts one and two on my Instagram, where I vlogged the whole process. And stay tuned for all the recipes :) Thanks for reading! See you in the next soirée xoxo
