Zombie Eyeball Punch Food

BERRY EYEBALL PUNCH

Steps:

• Puree the blackberries, lychee syrup and lemon juice in a blender. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a pitcher, pressing on the solids with a rubber spatula. Add the acai juice and blueberry juice. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
• Gently push a blueberry into the cavity of each lychee. Transfer the punch to a punch bowl or pitcher and add the stuffed lychees, then gently stir in the lemon-lime soda and rum, if using. Serve over ice.

BLUEBERRY RICKETY EYEBALL PUNCH

Steps:

• Stick 1 to 2 blueberries, depending on their size, into the cavity of each lychee. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and freeze, about 1 hour. (Wait until the "eyeballs" thaw a bit before eating, so that you don't choke on them.) Stir together 5 tablespoons of the lychee syrup, the blueberry juice and lime juice in a bowl or pitcher until combined. Stir in the sparkling water and add the lychee eyeballs. If it is a bit tart for your taste, add the remaining tablespoon syrup. Serve in tall glasses over ice, spooning the lychee eyeballs into the glasses as you pour. For a grown-up twist, stir in the gin before adding the sparkling water. Enjoy!

BLOODY EYEBALL PUNCH

Steps:

• Stuff the cherries into the holes of the lychees, using a toothpick to keep them in place if necessary. Place each stuffed lychee on a sheet pan or in a freezer-safe casserole dish. Freeze for at least 8 hours and up to overnight.
• Mix the prosecco, vodka and cherry juice together in a large punch bowl. Taste and add the reserved lychee juice as needed for sweetness. Remove the toothpicks from the frozen lychees. Add the "eyeballs" to the punch and serve with a gummy worm draped over the rim of each glass, if desired.

ZOMBIE PUNCH

Steps:

• Special equipment: toothpicks, a muffin tin, a punch bowl and glasses
• For the eyeball ice cubes: Cut off and discard the top quarter of each orange. Carefully hollow out the oranges (a grapefruit spoon or knife works well for this) and reserve the orange pulp. Put a blueberry in the bottom of each orange and use a toothpick to secure it. Make 8 short cuts along the edge of each orange to make tabs. Then fold back every other tab to make eyelashes. Put a blueberry in each lychee to create the pupil of an eye. Then attach the lychees to the oranges by pushing them on the toothpicks to secure. (Try not to poke all the way through.) Place the oranges in the cups of a muffin tin. Carefully fill the oranges about 1/2 inch from the top with the pineapple juice. Freeze until solid, 4 hours or overnight, removing the toothpicks about halfway through freezing.
• For the punch: Puree the strawberries in a blender with the vodka and triple sec. Pour into a punch bowl. Add the pineapple juice and stir well. Top with the ginger ale. Add the eyeball ice cubes.
• For the black rim: Put the sanding sugar on a shallow plate. Put the reserved orange juice in a shallow bowl. Dip the rim of a punch glass into the juice and then coat with sanding sugar before filling with punch.
• Cook's Note: For the ice cubes, you may need to put 2 blueberries in each lychee depending on how deep the lychee hole is.

ZOMBIE EYES (HALLOWEEN MEATBALLS)

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Whisk Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, parley, basil, and oregano together in a large mixing bowl. Fold in ground beef and mix with your hands until blended. Form 16 equal-sized meatballs using a cookie scoop.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown meatballs for 3 minutes on each side. Transfer cooked meatballs to a baking sheet using tongs.
• Bake browned meatballs in the oven for 8 minutes.
• While meatballs bake, use a plastic straw to punch a hole through each olive half to create a circular 'pupil.' Use the same straw to punch a hole through the center of each string cheese slice. Insert the round olive piece inside the hole in the string cheese slice to create 'eyes.'
• Remove meatballs from oven and let cool until safe to handle.
• Assemble zombie eyes by twirling a few strands of cooked spaghetti around each of 16 forks. Spear a meatball onto each fork and arrange forks on a serving platter. Spoon a dot of spaghetti sauce onto each meatball where you want to place the 'eyes.' Apply the olive-cheese 'eye' over the sauce. Spoon remaining spaghetti sauce over the twirled spaghetti on the forks.