Folks, I started this thread to ask for help for myself and anyone else who is looking for an idea of what to bring/send to a school party next week. Edible suggestions, since stickers and crayons are nice but not tasty. If you’re looking for help too, please give us an idea of how many people X needs to serve, and anything you have ruled out.
I will be making something for about 24 people, and I am determined that this food will not require frosting. Suggestions for something festive and not too time consuming, since I’ll be making it after work Tuesday? The only food allergy that anyone has it apples. Thanks!
Keep it simple. Kids like simple. I’d go with something classic like brownies or Rice Krispie treats or maybe cookies with Reese’s Pieces or something.
I went to a barbecue a while ago and was cheered by young and old for bringing plain, unfrosted brownies. Everyone else had gone gourmet and the poor kids couldn’t find any dessert without weird or yucky ingredients (nuts, fruit, etc.)
Get the small (mini) sized cupcake pan, and make mini-cupcakes. They’re great for kids with smaller appetites, and hungry kids just grab second or third. Don’t heavily frost them, if at all. The kids will just eat the frosting and leave the cake. If you must frost them, heat the frosting up until it’s a thick liquid, and dip the tops of the cupcakes in: You’ll get a nice thin coat of frosting (reducing the number of sugar-stoned kids will make the teacher quite happy!), it’s easier than doing it the traditional way, and it’s fast.
This is a tricky one because, on the one hand, it’s a party, so people (I’m assuming it’s kids, because stickers & crayons was an option) want junk food, but on the other hand, it’s halloween, the annual trip to worship at the altar of junk food.
Ahh, what the heck. It’s not like their teeth are going to last forever.
Get a couple rolls of Pillsbury ez-bake halloween cookies.
One year for four different classrooms I made rice krispie treats.
The neat thing was I colored them orange, green, purple, and you guessed it BLACK!
Kids loved them cause they were different, but I got a perverse thrill in the fact that parents would cringe when they saw their kids with black lips and tongues!
Find a craft store to get the black dye. Wiltons has a good one that doesn’t taste bitter.
I did popcorn balls for them all the same way the year before.
And carmel apples the year before that, but that one is a bit expensive.
Oooh, Mermaid took mine. Another one is Fish in the Sea:
Get clear plastic cups. Throw in a couple Swedish Fish candies. Cover with blue Jell-O. Let the Jell-O set, and voila! Little fishies in water. One tip here is to make sure that the Jell-O has cooled (but not set) before you pour it into the cups-- if it’s too warm, the candies will half-melt, and the result is really icky.
Whatever you decide to make, just be careful to make each item exactly the same as every other item. Kids instantly start squabbling over the perceived status of various colors, amounts, etc.
How about a nice spinach salad? It’s healthy, festive and easy to make. All the other kids will be bringing sweets - booooring! You’ll be a hero for providing what kids really want: roughage!
Make cupcakes in ice cream cones. Not “sugar” cones, the old fashioned cake cones. You can stand them up in muffin tins to bake. If you sprinkle the tops with colored sugar or the like, you wont need to frost.
