It's not very Halloweeny but I made a great chicken, rice and broccoli casserole the other day. Sorry, I have no recipe, as I generally just ad lib with any casserole recipes but there are scads online you can use as a guide.

I used leftover shredded rotisserie chicken but you can use any chicken you have - just roast or poach before adding to rest of the casserole ingredients. Start with a basic mirepoix, 3-4 cups cooked rice (I used a white/wild rice blend), 2-3 cups shredded chicken, head of broccoli cut into florets and lightly steamed, and a veloute made with chicken broth. I often flavor the veloute with a dash of sherry and I add some sour cream for richness. Season to your choice (S&P, thyme, etc.). Mix together, fill a lightly buttered casserole dish and heat at 350F until heated through....maybe 20-30 minutes.

I typically top mine with Swiss or Gruyere cheese before baking but you could certainly use cheddar or jack if what you like or have on hand. And I use something crispy for a final topping - buttered cracker crumbs or panko, corn flakes, french fried onions bits, etc.

Serve with a simple green salad.

How about autumn fare such as white chicken chili for dinner? I use this recipe, it's delicious (but not spicy at all, add to it if you like heat!).

https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/moms-white-chicken-chili/

Then for an appetizer you could serve a pumpkin shaped cheese ball or some other cute, themed food. Same for dessert, a chocolate cream pie, or caramel apples, or sugar cookie cutouts. I have found that adults will go crazy over decorated sugar cookie cutouts every single time!

Or baked apples for dessert, filled with brown sugar butter crumble...these look so good!

https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baked-apples/

Ina Garten's Chicken Stew is a favorite for us at Halloween. It's really good but I'm not sure about gluten free since there's flour involved. ..?

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/chicken-stew-with-biscuits

chloebud: Do you cook your own chicken breasts (for this recipe) in the slow cooker? If so, is excess fat an issue? Also, is this very spicy/hot?

Lizbeth, I've roasted chicken breasts for it (as in the recipe), but now I always use rotisserie chicken from Sam's Club or Costco. It's so convenient and good. This is not the least bit spicy/hot. It's really tasty and perfect for a Fall dinner. Making the biscuits is preferable, but I've cheated a few times and used frozen in a pinch.

I'm with annie in making food look spooky. Kind of in love with the baked skulls, those are very fun. For a few years I picked up those little Halloween cookbooks that used to be in the supermarket checkout stands. Most of them are from Pillsbury and Taste of Home...

https://www.pillsbury.com/holidays-celebrations/halloween

https://www.tasteofhome.com/holidays-events/holidays/halloween/

Martha Stewart is also a fun source for this sort of thing. She has food spooked out and ideas for a spooky table:

https://www.marthastewart.com/1502349/halloween-recipes

I agree Martha Stewart has some fun ones. These are some I've done several times, especially the fingers.

https://www.marthastewart.com/314352/jack-o-lantern-tarts

https://www.marthastewart.com/315007/guacamoldy-with-creature-chips

https://www.marthastewart.com/356428/ladies-fingers

I would make dessert as a bunch of mini wrapped candy bars in a decorative pumpkin bowl!!

I saved this pic last year of the "Feet Loaf" Annie mentioned. :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdXAzTnEj4o

Wow, those are nicely done feet!

Annie, your sculpting skills are amazing!

Boo, those are not "my" feet, mine didn't look nearly that good! So, are you going "spooky" or are you going "seasonal"?

This year the grandkids are not trick or treating, and I think that's a wise decision. Makayla is working, Bud just turned 15, they're both kind of old for it anyway, they only dressed up to placate me, LOL. Madi and Maci are 7 and 8, and were disappointed about missing the trick or treat tradition, but I told them I'd make them buckets and fill 'em up, they'd get as much candy as they would would knocking on doors, and it would actually be the stuff they like. (grin)

So, I'll be making pizza heads with extra blood/sauce to dip them, that fruit salad barfing pumpkin, probably some cupcakes or cookies, and lots of those dessert bars that seagrass mentioned, LOL.

I also have a "reverse trick or treat" tradition, one neighbor has 5 kids and they never trick or treat, so a couple of years ago I knocked on the door and was greeted by their smallest guy, he was about 4. I handed him a bag of candy and he was confused. I told him it was "reverse trick or treat", instead of asking for candy I gave it away. He very seriously looked at me and said "that's weird. Cool, but still weird". LOL I've reverse trick or treated them every year since then, because it's "cool, but weird". I like that.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Annie

i hosted our dinner club for Halloween a few years back and opted for simple seasonal dinner of pork chops on the grill, acorn squash and I don't remember what else....but I went all out with decorations. had a halloween fabric runner on the table and made cloth napkins of the same fabric, screaming ghost s here and there and every mirror had a ghost looking back at you....made from organdie and glued on with white kayro syrup...which cleaned up easier than the glue stick I used another year!. Pumpkins on the table and small Trick or treat bags as favors!

While I admire the creativity and skillful execution, those meat feet are a little too realistic for me -- I would completely lose my appetite if I saw those on a table. :p

The police in our small town has a FB page and is taking names and addresses of families with children and will deliver candy to them on Halloween, encouraging the kids to dress in costumes for the event - no personal contact but at least a way for the kids to enjoy the evening.

Party music are you talking about your feet or perhaps your husbands' 😂😂😂

I'm referring to the blood-like gore. Sorry, I shouldn't have said anything.

I originally was thinking seasonal. However, I showed the DH the feet loaf and he was hooked. So feet loaf it is. I also found some recipes for ghost mashed potatoes online too. I'll be making apple cupcakes with a pecan caramel topping for dessert. Loved all the responses. Hope it gave a few others ideas of what to make for Halloween.

I'm sorry to say that feet loaf will have to wait for another day. Two people tested positive for Covid this week at my friend's work. So they cancelled. Except for going to work, they will be self quarentining for the next two weeks.

Oh, geez, I hope everyone gets healthy quickly, and that you stay healthy.

The cases are going up fast here again, and the only people I'll see tomorrow will be the grandkids. I still made pizza heads and I've got a small watermelon to make that jack-o-lantern spitting fruit salad and I made Halloween cupcakes with chocolate frosting. The two youngest were very disappointed that they would miss out on trick or treating, so all four grandkids will get Halloween buckets. I told Madi and Maci that there would be so much candy in those buckets that there will be more than they would have gotten out trick or treating anyway, LOL. Bud is 15 but still wanted the candy. Makayla has a relatively empty bucket, but at the bottom is a Panera Bread gift card, she loves their Asiago Cheese bagels, more than candy, LOL.

Happy Halloween anyway...

Annie