Celebrating Halloween at my house
To celebrate Halloween, I decided to throw a little party, which was held in my stables. As you know, I just love Halloween and I had that fabulous space decorated fantastically. My chef, Pierre, made a smooth and satisfying pumpkin soup, served in hollowed out pumpkins. The main course was a Choucroute garni, which is an Alsatian dish of sauerkraut garnished with potatoes and a variety of sausages and smoked meats. On Monday, I blogged about Schaller & Weber and that wonderful store supplied us with all the ingredients.Â
This really fun party was filmed for television and is on my show today. It was also photographed for my new entertaining book. Michael Natiello, the creative director of the Great Jack-o'-Lantern Blaze (yesterday’s blog), was a guest at the party and he invited everyone to see the blaze after dinner – a fitting end to the evening. So, again, without giving too much away, please have a little peek at the party décor.Â
What a fun party! Love the soup served in the pumpkins!
Posted by: Connie Weiss | October 28th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Hi Martha, Wow, what a fun blog about a fun party for a fun holiday! Martha, I know you love Halloween and this spectacularly decorated party in your fantastic stable is the icing on the cake! Your decorations are fantastic and the food is to die for! I'll bet the Schaller and Weber sausages, etc. were delicious. All of the food looks absolutely scrumptious. Thanks for letting all of us see all of this. I can almost taste that delicious food. I love the little white owl decorations and the real barn owls. Did the girls get to attend the party? I'll bet they had fun if they did. Thanks again for sharing your love of Halloween. Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | October 28th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Oh my gosh they could have been my most favourite of all the photos yet! I loved it all. First, not that I like making personal comments about anyone, but you look truly beautiful in that photo decorating the tables. I want to know your secrets. It must be throwing parties for friends!!
That pumpkin soup looked scrumptious and served in the carved out pumpkins must have been something else. I loved the chilled drinks, the pastic plates, the boxes for the chocolate, the owls. What a great atmosphere. Thanks for sharing once again and given I don't get access to your TV show I love to see the photos. Thanks you so much because it takes a lot of work I am sure to do so, so many ideas there and so much fun!!
Posted by: Lilly | October 28th, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Oh what a fun Halloween party this looks! Hope there weren't any vampires there with the garlic on the one dish. *wink*
Posted by: Jennifer Love | October 28th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Martha
In pix #1- You will bring anyone home to your parties these nights won't you!!!!!!!!
Hope you all had a spooky night.
Happy Halloween and boo to you~
Pam from California
Posted by: Pam from California | October 28th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
This very old celtic tradition seems very joyfull
it is like making death a friend.
Posted by: * Ewa In The Garden * | October 28th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
I've never been a fan of Halloween, but I do love the pumpkins on the stone wall - I hope you grew them on the farm!
Posted by: Jayne | October 29th, 2008 at 12:21 am
This looks like such a fun party! Looking forward to seeing your new entertainment book.
Take care.
Posted by: Maureen | October 29th, 2008 at 12:51 am
What a ghoulishly wonderful party! Love all of the great idea -- Where did you get the plates?
Thanks again for the inspirations!
Happy Halloween!!!!
Posted by: Skeeto | October 29th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Where did you get those plates????
Please tell.
Oh, and of course, what a fantastic party! The halloween party we all wish we had time to throw!!
Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Sally | October 29th, 2008 at 3:15 am
.
Happiness in every moment!
Andrea and the Weims
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Posted by: andrea and the weimaraners | October 29th, 2008 at 3:35 am
Martha,
COOL BEANS!! The party and decorations look fantastic, and I can not wait to see today's show! Thank you for inspiring us!
I too love Halloween, and am lucky enough to be in the audience for your LIVE show on Friday. I will be the Statue of Liberty... with a few Martha touches! I have always admired your ability to teach (I am a teacher too) and inspire through creativity... which I hope is my gift to my students too!
Friday to getting closer and my EXCITEMENT IS BUILDING!!!
Until we meet, have a great few days!
Posted by: Jeanie Curry | October 29th, 2008 at 3:44 am
The Choucroute garni looks scrumptious and the decorations are great! Who had all the fun making those coffins? I guess we will see all the guests in costume on the show today and I'm sure the party was a blast.
I picked up a copy of your new Cooking School book and checked out all 504 pages last night. What a fantastic book! I love it! I found out I still have a lot to learn in the kitchen and this book has everything I might want to know about cooking, and I don't have to be afraid to ask! You, Sarah Carey and all your helpers did a wonderful job. The photography is beautiful and that includes the shots taken of you. Congratulations and I think Miss Weyer would be proud! Trish
Posted by: Trish | October 29th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Happy Halloween Martha. Loved all the pictures. I love this time of year and love seeing all the fun things you do. I am trying to do the coffin boxes but not coming out as great as yours. I will keep trying. I loved meeting you in New Orleans last Saturday. It was such a thrill to see you and get my book signed.
Posted by: Beth | October 29th, 2008 at 4:41 am
What a great time everyone must have had! You're awesome!
Posted by: Lori Stewart | October 29th, 2008 at 5:15 am
Martha,
I am watching your show as I type. The Party decorations look AWSOME!! They look even better than I expected, and easy to make! You and your creative staff have given me many good ideas! The tree you and Joey are making for the fall can be kept up all year and decorated for every holiday. Eventually the leaves will fall off and you can add items that look like snow. WOW!! Great idea!
I can not wait to see you on Friday for the LIVE Halloween Show! Look for the Statue of Liberty and Rocky(my daughter)!
I am all EXCITED!!
Posted by: Jeanie | October 29th, 2008 at 5:54 am
Such a sweet face on that owl Martha!!!
Love your spider plates for the party:)
Happy Halloween....BOO to You! hee-hee
kayellen
Posted by: kayellen | October 29th, 2008 at 6:10 am
This looked like alot of fun, Martha!...your barn "backdrop" is a perfect setting for festivities like this! The tablescape of decorations and food was very befitting - everything looked cleverly put together! (and yummy! - comfort food! [the choucroute and baked apples]...Mmmmm!!)
What an impact those pumpkins on the stone wall make!...whew!...that's alot of pumpkins! I liked the lantern-spiderwebs, too. That little barn owl really posed for a picture, didn't he?!...he was a cute little thing!
I'll look forward to seeing this episode tonight after the workday is done. I'm such a ninny...I forgot to record you on Monday, so I missed whatever went on that day. Yesterday (Tuesday), I was absolutely loving your rundown of your recent weekend - you kept talking and talking (and even said so!), but it was so impromptu and not tele-prompted...I enjoyed it very much! Good shows abound there at MSLO!
Stay warm, today, Martha! It's blustery here in Maryland with 20-30 mph winds, and I'm sure windchills are a little lower there, being a little north of us!
Brrrrrr!
=^..^=
Posted by: Cindy Bricker | October 29th, 2008 at 6:23 am
So fun! I love all of your details and I love that you share all your pictures
Posted by: Melissa | October 29th, 2008 at 7:13 am
Great photos! I love those faux bois plates too.
Love the decor for the party - great, spooky atmosphere and a load of fun. Thanks for all the Halloween inspiration!
Posted by: Emiko | October 29th, 2008 at 8:54 am
Hello Martha,
I still believe you are The Great Pumpkin!
Happy Halloween to you and all of your ghouls!
Posted by: Tinay | October 29th, 2008 at 9:17 am
I'm hosting an intimate spooky soiree on Halloween Night... Thanks for all of the inspiration!
On my website, I'm currently featuring photos of Festive Fall tables that I created at the Fall Entertaining class I teach. Please visit http://www.occasionskc.com to see them!
Happy Harvest!
Posted by: Jenny Steffens | October 29th, 2008 at 10:46 am
I love the tree branches and am going to try this next year. The snowy owl is just the perfect thing for an elegant Halloween - seasonal yet beautiful.
Posted by: MarthaAndMe | October 29th, 2008 at 11:21 am
I loved the segment on the show about this party:-) Great ideas:-)
Posted by: susieshomemade | October 29th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Hi Martha, Just wanted to tell you I tried to make the carousel pumpkin & everything went well until I got to gluing the witches to the dowels, IT DIDN'T WORK! HELP! what kind of glue did you use? It's almost Halloween and I don't have my pumpkin out!!!!!
Posted by: Lisa Molina | October 29th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Oooh! I love a good Halloween party! Here where I work we do Halloween BIG and I've been decorating the library all week! (We had a conference last week and couldn't decorate until Monday, I was nearly crushed having to wait so long!) Mmm, that soup looks divine, I am milking a cold so I'd love some for my throat!
Posted by: Jenna Z | October 29th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Where were the horses for all of this?
Posted by: Heather | October 29th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I loved the grand centerpiece with the branches and darling owl but the wonderful unexpected touch came in the form of having the live owls. Brilliant!
Posted by: Laura Ingalls Gunn | October 29th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Wow! All details thought of...
That food looks absolutely fabulous!!
Posted by: Lisa @ Stop and Smell the Chocolates | October 29th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
I love the tree center piece at the table. It's really elegant. Something about the clean silhouette of branches makes a space beautiful. The choucroute garni looks delicious. Roasted garlic is fantastic. I remember we were in Chiva Som, this spa hotel in Hua Hin, Thailand and they don't serve butter there, just roasted garlic cloves along side bread. Yum!
Posted by: ShopLittleGifts | October 29th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
What a wonderful spooky party! I loved the decorations, you have such a creative staff to work with and are so talented yourself. I've been watching you since you first started on TV and being about your age you were an inspiraton to women like me. I figured if Martha can do it so can I. I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your show and let you know I'm a long time fan.
Posted by: Mari | October 29th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
I loved the show and all the pictures from your party. Will be excitied to try the tree braches and owls, so pretty. Good for a kids, Harry Potter party. Thanks for sharing. Will the recipes be on the recipe site? Love pumpkin soup.
Posted by: Glenda Staples | October 29th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
I have so enjoyed your Halloween ideas. I have used several for planning my party. However the coffin boxes I made for the grand babies turned out fantastic. I filled them with home-made carmels and shipped them off from Hawaii to Minnesota. Really wish more of your products where available here on the Big Island.
Posted by: Carol Ann | October 29th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
It's all too fantastic, and I cannot get over that barn owl. He/she is so beautiful! You really gave your guests a non-stop good time.
Posted by: Marie | October 29th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Oh I absolutely love Halloween!
Happy Halloween Martha.
x
Posted by: Alison | October 29th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
You always have the best Halloween - every year I pull out your halloween addition I think from 98" and use that as my guide. It's a little wear and tear but I love it!
Happy Halloween
Lisa A
Posted by: Lisa ancarrow-maltby | October 30th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Love it all! Thank you for sharing. I especially love the serving of the soup in the pumpkins!
Got to run....off to pick up some pumpkins! Hope your Halloween isn't too spooky!
Posted by: La Donna | October 30th, 2008 at 8:14 am
WOW!!Martha
Got to see your Party on FLN yesterday evening and the scene was GREAT! Keep UP the work.
The barn owl was beautiful.
Best to all!
Happy Haunting!
Mava
Posted by: Mava Fowler | October 31st, 2008 at 4:46 am
Great decorating.
Posted by: Josh | October 31st, 2008 at 6:52 am
hi martha i am from mildura australia we dont really celebrate hallooween here but i luv watching all the crafts you do would luv to have a white xmas looks wonderful
Posted by: kathy hall | November 1st, 2008 at 11:21 am
Dear Martha = I appreciate so very much all of your wonderful photos & comments on places you've been, people you've met. It's such a pleasure to go to your blog and see what you've been up to!! - always interesting, educational, and fun. Thanks so much for being so generous to share your life with us - Look forward to your next adventure! All the best to you & love, Brenda
Posted by: Brenda Reichert | November 2nd, 2008 at 5:50 pm
I can't believe my friend Cindy finally met you as a guest at your Halloween party. She is truly a Martha Want to Be!
Posted by: Mary | November 10th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Martha, this is the first time I've visited your blog, I'm ashamed to say. I was very pleased to find you in Showcases on the WordPress.org site. You're one of my favorite people and a fabulous role model - and it makes me happy to know that you use my favorite software!
I'm not your "typical" woman, and I'm not much of a homemaker - but your ideas and recipes are perfection. You make me look good and I thank you for it!
Hoping that you and yours have a splendid holiday, and I'm looking forward to visiting your site every day.
Posted by: Rose City Sister | December 11th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Cool!very,very cool!ha!
Posted by: Joe | July 4th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I love your decoration at all, all of it!
Posted by: James | July 4th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Cannot wait until this year's Halloween fun gets going!
Posted by: MrsB | September 28th, 2009 at 10:10 am