If you’ve never celebrated Halloween in one of Ontario’s parks, you don’t know what you’re missing! You can decorate your campsite, carve a pumpkin, do a night hike, go trick or treating and finish up in front of a bonfire with a few spooky ghost stories and some devilishly good snacks.
Here are some scary good Halloween treats that are easy to make and will delight your little ghouls and goblins.
Spider dogs
So much more fun than plain old hot dogs and the kids can cook them themselves!
Slit both ends of a wiener in an “X” pattern, leaving about an inch uncut in the centre. Spear the dog onto a camp fork, coat with ketchup and cook over hot coals until the “legs” curl up.
Deviled eyes
You can cook these at home and pack them, or bring the cooked eggs and the ingredients and assemble them at the park.
Hard boil a dozen eggs, slice them lengthwise and put all the yolks into a bowl. Mash with mayonnaise, a touch of mustard and a bit of paprika, then add red food colouring until the yolks are red! Spoon the red yolk mixture back into the egg whites. Top each half with a sliced olive for an eye. Dip a toothpick into the food colouring and draw veins across the whites.
Ghostly hot chocolate
Yummy on a cool autumn evening!
Make the hot chocolate as directed and top with a generous dollop of whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate chips for eyes and a mouth.
Mini skeleton cakes
Again, you can do these ahead of time at home to build excitement or decorate at the park.
Frost pre-made chocolate cupcakes with butter cream or vanilla frosting. Using a toothpick, etch the outline of two large eyes. Pipe black frosting into the etched lines, then fill in the eyes with black frosting. Pipe dots for the nostrils and a long line for the mouth, with random short lines so the mouth looks like barbed wire.
Marshmallow ghosts
A spooky twist on an tried-and-true tradition!
These are super easy to make at home before you get to the park! Melt 12 ounces of white candy coating in the microwave, then stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Stir in 1 ½ cups of miniature marshmallows until coated. Drop by heaping spoonfulls onto waxed paper, smooth and flatten into ghost shapes. Decorate with candies for eyes. Cool and store in an airtight container.
Ready to get spooky?
Check ahead to see which parks have special events (not all parks do) and which weekend in October they’re held. Then get the kids dressed in their Halloween costumes, pack them up and head to the park.