Tips & Techniques Holidays A Haunting Halloween Buffet
A Haunting Halloween Buffet
Cast a festive spell over your Halloween celebrations with a haunting holiday table. Here are some tips to help you create a bewitching buffet.

Tempting Treats
No Halloween celebration would be complete without a selection of tempting treats. To get into the spirit of the holiday, offer desserts with a Halloween theme. A spooky jack-o'-lantern cake, pumpkin cookies, caramel apples and a scary spider web cake are sure to satisfy hungry ghosts and goblins. Ward off spine-tingling chills by serving mugs of steaming hot chocolate topped with chocolate or vanilla marshmallows.

Table-Setting Tricks
For a dramatic presentation, arrange smaller treats on tiered serving pieces. This also makes it easy for guests to help themselves. Use cake stands or ceramic trays to present desserts that will need to be cut, such as cakes, pies and tarts. Set out Halloween plates and mugs on the buffet table, along with flatware and paper napkins in the holiday's signature colors of orange and black.

Devilish Decorations
Flickering pumpkin-shaped candles provide eerie illumination for the Halloween table. For frightfully fun table decorations that double as party favors, fill trick-or-treat totes with candy and small toys. Petite pumpkins and dried Indian corn make lovely seasonal decorations, and helium-filled balloons add a festive touch as well.