Halloween party menu

[BobbieTables]

I'm having a Halloween party for around 20 teens and 30 adults. I'll be at work until about 4, so trying to work out what to serve as food. My first thought was to do loads of jacket potatoes with meat and veggie chilli, cheese, guacamole etc... as I can prep it all in advance, but am I going to be finding abandoned bits of potato all over the house for weeks?
Any ideas of wise mumsnetters?

Witches fingers hot dog sausages (black olives cut in half for finger nails), ketchup for blood. Oranges hollowed out and filled with bright jelly . When jelly is set, cut pumpkin face (simple eyes & nose) into oranges. Did this when mine were little but always look fun on the table.

In your circumstances I wouldn’t be faffing with making cute “spooky” bits and pieces. I think your idea of jp’s and chilli is the way to go. But I’d try to contain it by announcing food time at some point and maybe raising the lights/changing the music just while people eat, then going round with black bags encouraging waste to be collected and cleared before resuming the ambience. A bit like they do at parties in church halls! Rather than setting it all out and available all evening.

We do a vomiting watermelon - carve a face, empty out the inside, and buy a load of prepared cut fruits and have it all spilling out of the mouth to pick at. Quick, looks impressive, and easy to pick at.

The main thing I would do given the amount of people is a very decent bulk of some easy regular cold buffet party type food such as pizzas, sausage rolls ;- your jacket potatoes are also a really good shout if you can manage making them at the time (am assuming will be served warm) - etc so people fill up on those (actual content depending on your budget, maybe do some of each - I find pizzas really helpful to accommodate different tastes/needs), then add a few treat / Halloween themed things, like a few cute desserts / sweets if short on time (other posters will be better at advising for those!). As people will be happy if they are well fed really at the end of the day 🙂, more than pretty layouts

Just to add bbc foods has a whole Halloween section
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/occasions/halloween

For teens I’d focus on Halloween drinks tbh. When my daughter had a party I made up some vodka jelly cocktails in syringes!

I always did jacket potatoes and chilli for bonfire night and never found bits of potato everywhere.

Chillis in slow cookers, two big trays of jackets in the oven (they can be done in advance and just warmed on the day if that helps you at all).

I’d cheat and just buy the extras pre-made and use those catering style disposable bowl/tray things not plates, and disposable cutlery

Hot dogs are the go to Halloween meal here. Last couple of years DD has had a group of friends who use our place as a base of operations from which to dress up and then to replenish their sweet bag. Whole load of sausages in the oven, can be kept warm for a good while in there if things go off schedule. Big stack of hot dog buns, bowl of fried onions, cheese slices, some coleslaw/corn on the cob for sides and they just help themselves til they’re full.

I’d imagine in a group of 50 there will be a few who won’t eat chilli. So I’d do the chillies like you said but also add coleslaw and grated cheese.

I'd do what you suggested, make a chilli and a beany/veg one for those who don't eat meat.
Greek yogurt/sour cream, grated cheese.

Have a couple of bags of frozen chips on standby, because kids are always hungry. Lots of ketchup and mayo.

If you'rensping pudding, I'd do something like a couple of trifles in trays. One chocolate/coffee based - buy chocolate cake, pour a little coffee or coffee liqueuer over, whipped cream. Layer. Finish with chocolate Halloween figures.
Fruity one - madeira cake (shop bought), tinned or frozen fruit (cook with a bit of sugar to make a compote, should bought custard, finish with whipped cream, sprinkles or Halloween Dec's.

My Halloween buffet will be ..

Eyeball spaghetti. Tomato spaghetti with meatballs mozerella olive eye balls

Eyes balls on sticks (boiled eggs with olive pupils)

Vomiting watermelon

Ghost strawberries (dipped in white chocolate with dark chocolate faces)

Monster jelly. (Gummy worm in jelly)

Mummies in blankets (sausages in bacon with eyes)

Do you have space for everyone to sit down whilst eating ? This could be an issue particularly if you have carpets as they can be messy especially if drinks are involved.

We did a jacket potato party a year or so ago but only for around 30 guests. I cooked 50 potatoes and probably only had about 6 left. It can be a messy meal but we got away with a few minor spills/accidents.

I'm trying to remember exactly what I had, but I made a chilli con carne, baked beans, tuna mayo and a vegetable curry as well as a ton of grated cheese (I just bought bags of grated 3 cheese mix), spring onions, tubs of sour cream, homemade guacamole, sweetcorn, coriander jalapeños, coleslaw, a tub of crispy onions and bottles of BBQ/chilli sauce/mango chutney plus a huge tray of green salad and a cucumber and tomato one.

I bought some recyclable food bowls from Amazon, borrowed several slow cookers to keep toppings warm but had to pop to b&m and stock up on ladles and serving spoons.

I am a feeder/over caterer so probably offered too many toppings/potatoes but either froze them or turned them into soup and made some loaded potato skins.

I had a friend who did an event for similar numbers and just made a serving station with several slow cookers filled with a lovely variety of different soups in slow cookers with ladles disposable cups and lots of nice bread/garlic bread/croutons/cheese and a charcuterie board and it was lovely. Everyone raved about it and she said the cleanup was so easy.

Somethings I've made in the past. The pumpkin is an impressive table decoration too!
Most can be prepped beforehand too.
https://easyhealthyrecipes.com/puking-pumpkin/
https://www.happyfoodstube.com/eyeball-deviled-eggs/
https://www.thecountrycook.net/halloween-hot-dog-fingers/
https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/monster-burgers.html

I love Hallowe'en but I wouldn't want my food to be too horror like

Can you get black table covers and napkins ? (Paper ones )
YY to the soup (use cups not bowls ) , loads of french bread
Your potatoes - baked and maybe some wedges
Sour cream. chilli. grated cheese
Sausages -you can oven bake , maybe sticky glazed
Salads
Crisps

I made a chocolate cake with a chocolate 'lid' shaped like a coffin.

Will people be in fancy dress or regular clothes (more difficult to eat in costume)

We're eating a Mary Berry recipe Apple Cake , it's delicious . I used Bramley Apples and some demerara sugar on the top. It'll be better tomorrow I think .

Thanks everyone for these suggestions! There won't be space for everyone to sit down at the same time and yes, it will be fancy dress. DHs suggestion is don't do any food just booze, which seems a bad idea at 7pm.
I think I'm going to stick with JPs and a few different toppings - might also do tortilla chips and the vomiting pumpkin idea. Plus tons of sweets for us & trick or treaters.

i often do a really good pumpkin soup, home made rolls and sausage rolls! It’s always the simplest meal I serve at any event and to be fair goes down really well!!!
oh and a cheese board