HALLOWEEN PARTY SNACKS

Halloween comes but once a year, and what a fun holiday season it is! Decorating the yard with spooky ghosts, witches, spiders, and bats to delight and scare the neighborhood children. But one of our favorite parts of the Halloween season is the parties. Friends gathering around in fall gear or costumes, little ones dressed as superheroes or witches, the smell of a burning fire and spiced cider filling the air. Yes, Halloween is one of our favorite seasons for another reason as well, the food!

Fall flavors are perfect for Halloween and with so many opportunities you will have to host, gather, or otherwise participate in the holiday spirit, we have some snackable treats that will always be crowd-pleasers! Make sure you always follow safe cooking and handling temperatures, so your Halloween experience does not end up as a nightmare.

GOOEY AND SMOKEY BACON WRAPPED MEATBALLS

Who can resist a meatball? They are one of the most perfect and popular foods with wide appeal from tailgates and cocktail parties to pasta and sandwiches. These pork meatballs, stuffed with mozzarella cheese, seasoned with BBQ spice, wrapped in bacon, and smoked, then roasted till perfectly cooked at 160°F (71°C), they will continue to cook to the safe temperature of 165°F (74°C) after you pull them out of the smoker.

What makes a meatball better than some good sauce? A great glazing sauce for these meatballs is a simple combination of your favorite BBQ sauce and smokey adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers. This mixture will bring some sweetness and smokey heat. If you are not a fan of spice, omit this adobo and use your favorite BBQ sauce.

PREPARING THE MEATBALLS

Combine your ground pork, BBQ seasoning, egg, and BBQ sauce together in a bowl. Make sure to gently combine and mix. If you over-mix this, you will end up with very dense, dry, and chewy meatballs that will make no one happy.

Cut your mozzarella into small pieces, about ½ inch long. It is best here to use low-moisture mozzarella like string cheese, but you can use cheddar, pepper jack, or Colby jack cubes here as well. Scoop out some of the pork mixtures and push the cheese right into the center. Wrap the meat around the cheese and roll it into a ball.

Lay out your bacon strips and gently roll the meatball in a strip of bacon. If you are making larger meatballs, you can do another strip across the side to completely enclose the meatball. Once this is done, dust the bacon with your BBQ spice, set it on a wire rack, and move it to a smoker preheated to 250°F (121°C). Smoke these meatballs for about 45 minutes, or till the internal temperature is 135°F (57°C).

Brush your meatballs with the sauce of your choice, make sure to not use the same sauce you brushed on the meatballs as a side sauce for later since this could lead to cross-contamination, and place in your oven preheated to 400°F (204°C). Let these cook for 6-9 minutes, or till they reach an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C). Serve with your sauce of choice.

THE BEST MULLED CIDER

Cider is an American Fall staple. The great Johnny Appleseed planted apples across this country, so people could make and brew cider, mostly alcoholic cider but cider nonetheless! These days there are no shortages of high-quality cider options on the market, go with the unfiltered variety vs the clear mass-bottled kind for the best flavor and texture.

When you make mulled cider, it is important not to overheat it, so many times a good cider can be ruined with aggressive boiling. Not only does this muddy the final cider, but it can also destroy the most subtle flavors of your spices and create an unappealing flavor. Another tip is to only use whole spices and fruits, this will save you time trying to strain powdery spices out of your drink later. Our favorite spices are very apple-friendly, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, star anise, and a few orange slices.

First things first, toast the spices in a dry pot. Once the room starts to smell like fall, add the cider, spices, and orange peel. Bring this up to 170-175°F (76-79°C) and let this cook for at least 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can use a crock pot on a low setting for about 4 hours. Serve with spiced rum or brandy on the side for the adults.

MEATBALL INGREDIENTS

• 1# Ground Pork
• 1 egg
• 1 T BBQ Spice, you can use homemade or storebought
• 1/4C BBQ sauce, you can use homemade or storebought
• 24 cheese cubes or slices of mozzarella string cheese
• 1 package bacon, not thick cut
• BBQ spice for dusting

Mix the meatballs

Combine your ground pork, BBQ seasoning, egg, and BBQ sauce together in a bowl. Make sure to gently combine and mix, but do not over mix.

Cut your mozzarella into small pieces, about ½ inch long. Scoop out some of the pork mixtures and push the cheese right into the center. Wrap the meat around the cheese and roll it into a ball.

Lay out your bacon strips and gently roll the meatball in a strip of bacon. Once complete, dust the bacon with your BBQ spice set it on a wire rack, and move it to a smoker preheated to 250°F (121°C). Smoke these meatballs for about 45 minutes, or till the internal temperature is 135°F (57°C).

Brush your meatballs with the sauce of your choice, make sure to not use the same sauce you brushed on the meatballs as a side sauce for later since this could lead to cross-contamination, and place in your oven preheated to 400°F (204°C). Let these cook for 6-9 minutes, or till they reach an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C). Serve with your sauce of choice.

MULLED CIDER INGREDIENTS

• ½ gallon cider
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 8-10 cloves
• 2-star anise pods
• 1 tsp allspice
• 2 oranges peeled

Once the room starts to smell like fall, add the cider, spices, and orange peel.

Bring this up to 170-175°F (76-79°C) and let this cook for at least 30 minutes.

Alternatively, you can use a crock pot on a low setting for about 4 hours. Serve with spiced rum or brandy on the side for the adults.