Try Halloween as a wine-tasting theme

By Kaui Philpotts
Advertiser Staff Writer

In the past month, not many of us have felt like partying. Frivolous activities have seemed just that: frivolous and meaningless. Yet, at the same time our friends and family have become even dearer, and it's become more important to talk and connect, not to mention let off steam.

A Halloween-themed wine-tasting for a dozen guests can be kept to an easily manageable level. Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser

Call, or send store-bought invitations this week. Ask everyone to wear black, but forget the masks and the intricate costumes (OK, masks are alright, but let's not get too complicated here).

Keep your guest list to a dozen or less, that way it doesn't get out of hand (as well as cost you a small fortune). Plan on serving six wines ranging in price between $10 and $25 a bottle. Go higher if you are a real aficionado, but that should do for the average guy. Two bottles of each wine should do the trick.

If there is a wine store you like to use, ask them to suggest wines that would go well with autumn types of food, like creamy pumpkin soup and roast turkey.

If you were doing a serious wine tasting you would provide spitting buckets and throw the wine out (heaven forbid!), but this is a party. Be sure to have enough wine glasses of the classic, all-purpose sort so that you don't have to keep washing them as you try different wines. Tumblers don't make it here, neither does colored stemware meant to be used as water glasses, or plastic wine glasses for that matter. Consider renting the glasses if you don't have enough.

Your decor and table

Think black, orange, pumpkins and squash, dried maple leaves and such. Check out fresh flower and produce sections of your supermarket. A bunch of dried leaves at Safeway on Beretania Street recently was just $3.98. Buy themed cocktail and dinner napkins. Cut a pumpkin and fill it with fresh flowers (sunflowers if you can find them). Look for felt yardage in black or orange. Be on the lookout for the market deliveries of pumpkins. Mix different sizes, shapes and colors of pumpkins and squash in groupings around your home. Remember candles in your colors too. Mix all sizes and shapes with abandon.

You still have time for mail-order if you get on it right now. Check out Martha by Mail or Flora Dec in Iwilei for rubber spiders, mice and other ghoulish decorator items.

The food

If you are just doing a wine tasting and intend to send everyone home afterwards, plan on doing simple toasts with cheeses (cheese makes wine taste even better). Have baskets of crusty baguettes to clear palates, or spread with cream cheese and bottled tapenade (olive spread). Pick up ready-made crunchy snack mixes of pretzels, peanuts and cereals, or just have bowls of salted mixed nuts sitting around for nibbling. Terra brand sweet potato chips are the right color and reflect the season.

I would never send someone home with so little in their stomach. A day or so ahead, I'd make up a batch of warm, comforting pumpkin soup. Serve it with a hearty bread and green salad. For dessert, make or order a batch of brownies or chocolate cupcakes with Halloween sprinkles (check gourmet shops). Honolulu Chocolate Co. in Ward Center has plenty of Halloween items that would make great party favors to take away.

A time-saving way to spruce up box brownies is to make them according to the package directions substituting kahlua, or another favorite liqueur, for the water and adding a handful (about a cup) of whole macadamias. Always cook brownies a little less than you think they need if you don't want them to dry out. They can be wrapped individually in clear plastic wrap and tied with orange and black ribbon to be taken home.

Scary Pumpkin Soup

3 (15-ounce) cans pureed pumpkin
3 (14.5-ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth
3 cups skim evaporated milk (or whipping cream)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste
Pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds to garnish

In a large saucepan, mix together and heat the cans of pumpkin, chicken broth and evaporated milk. Stir in the thyme, cinnamon and nutmeg and heat to boiling. Correct the seasoning. Garnish with pumpkin or sunflower seeds. Makes enough for 12 to 14.