Halloween Themed Dinner "Spiders Everywhere"

I'm SCREAMING and it's not because of this spider themed dinner!!!  I have tried posting this blog three times now and have retyped it several times and it just won't post or save as a draft!  For some reason spiders are just not welcome.  Here goes my fourth time.  Let's hope it works!!! 

This theme has given many of my guests the creeps, but is still a favorite theme of the family's. 

We have done this theme for so many years that most everyone in my family 

will eat the spiders now, including the in-laws. 

The spiders on the jello were made with a licorce crow for the body and black string licorce for the legs.  The huge spider on the salad has cucumbers for the body,
carrots for the eyes and green peppers for legs. 
You can download the spider name card and juice bottle label at
Parties and Patterns.
 I like to put spider rings on the cups. Kids love it and it never seems to grow old.

Creepy Spiders (Chicken Croissants)

 4 cups boiled chopped chicken

16 refrigerated croissant rolls (3 tubes)

2 tubes pizza dough

Three 8 oz. packages cream cheese (softened)

¼ cup butter (softened)

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooked rice for 8

Roll out the pizza dough into a thin large rectangle shape.  Cut the dough in fourths and then in 1/2" strips for the spider legs.  Take a piece of tin foil fold it several times so it’s pretty stiff. The last fold should form a stiff V that is 2-3" on each side. Place tinfoil V on cookie sheet and drape the dough spider legs over the tin foil. This forms the shape of the legs. Cook the legs at 350 degrees for 8 -10 minutes or until browned.

Mix butter, cream cheese and chicken in a large bowl. You can use a large wooden spoon, but sometimes it is just easier to use your hands. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then take the croissant rolls and roll out each individual triangle till it’s pretty thin. Put 1/8th of the chicken mixture on each triangle and wrap dough around the ball of chicken so it is round or slightly oblong. Place spider bodies on greased cookie sheet and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until browned.

Sauce

2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup

½ can milk

½ cup sour cream

Food coloring of your choice for color of spider (I used purple)

Small can of sliced black olives

Blend all ingredients together and heat through. When the croissant spider bodies come out of the oven place on a plate and add spider legs along each side. Spiders have 8 legs, but I only put 6.  Cover body with colored gravy and add olive slices for the eyes. Each guest gets their own spider. Be prepared for your guests to squirm in their seats.

Freaky Spider Dessert

1/2 gallon ice cream of your choice (peppermint ice cream is one of our favorites)

1/2 package oreo cookies, crushed

Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Red hots

Cookie dough recipe for spider legs

Take ice cream out of freezer and let slightly melt.  Put the oreos in a bowl.  With an ice cream scoop, scoop a ball of ice cream onto the oreos and cover the ice cream keeping it in a ball shape.  (This part can get messy, but licking your fingers is a just reward.)  Warning:  Do not lick fingers until all balls of ice cream are coated in the oreos.  Immediately put balls of ice cream in the freezer to harden.

To serve the spiders, place a spider on a plate.  With a skewer stick make three holes on each side of the spider body and insert legs.  Drizzle chocolate fudge sauce over the body and add the red hots for the eyes.

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

1 cup butter, softened
(3oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 tsp. almond extract

2 ½ cups flour

½ tsp. salt

Black food coloring

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and mix well until light and fluffy. Add egg, vanilla. Mix well. Gradually add flour and salt to cream mixture. Add in black food coloring and mix well. Take a teaspoonful of dough and shape it into snake shape pointing the ends.  Place dough on cookie sheet in a "V" to form legs.  Bake for 12-15 minutes. Do not over bake! Remove legs from cookie sheet and cool.

Everyone gets the creeps when they come to my house for dinner.