There’s no way I could let this week go by without trying something fun for Halloween. Unfortunately I have very few kitchen supplies so I had to get back to basics and try to jazz up something that everybody needs on Halloween: ICE.
I tried to come up with a few different ice cubes that would be spooky. Some turned out better than others and I had some more ideas after I photographed the post which I’ll mention through the post!
Bloody Eyeball Cubes!
I saw this idea first on a Martha recipe. I didn’t follow the recipe exactly though because I didn’t want to go buy green olives just for this. So I just used some tiny black olives that I had. I think they worked fine although maybe not quite as dramatic as the green guys.
There’s no doubt about it though – this is kind of a time intensive situation considering that we’re just making ice cubes.
The most important thing about this recipe is to make sure you have a pretty good paring knife. I really like the Wustof paring knife. It’s a great deal for $11 on Amazon right now.
To start with the eyeballs, get some small/medium radishes and wash them well. Try to get nice round ones and make sure they fit in your ice cube trays before you start cutting.
Slice off one end and dig out a little hole for the olive. I left my olives whole which gave the eyeballs a kind of bulging effect.
Next, take your paring knife and carefully scrape off sections of skin. You don’t need to peel the radishes. The skin is really thin. Just take your knife and gently scrape. The skin should come off in thin layers so you’ll be able to leave red streaks.
It took me one or two radishes to get the hang of it but then I got pretty good at it.
Pop the olives back in and freeze them in a tray!
These guys would be great in any clear or light colored cocktail where you could see the eyeballs easily.
Slime Cubes!
This one is substantially easier. My goal was to make an ice cube that looked like it had streaks of snot in it!
All I needed was some grapes and limes!
Turns out when you mush a grape, it kind of looks like the biggest booger in the world.
I used the lime juice just to keep the snot green and also figured that lime juice goes well in a lot of cocktails so it might actually taste good as well.
I just mushed up a few grapes well and added in some fresh squeezed lime juice. Looks like snot to me!
I should’ve photographed these in liquid because they looked a lot better in a glass. They turned a bit more transparent so you could kind of see through them.
Also, if you let them melt you’d end up with snot in your drink which is great for Halloween right?
Bloody Rat Droppings!
Ok. So this was kind of my fail of the day. My original idea was to make a bloody bits ice cube with pomegranate seeds and cranberry juice so it would kind of look like guts.
The pomegranate I bought at the store though was completely rotten so I had to change directions.
I went with rat droppings which happen to look a lot like whole black peppercorns.
Just add these to some ice cubes with a red liquid and you’re all set!
I think this one might be more about delivery…
One idea I had after the fact was to use tomato juice for the liquid and use the ice cubes for Bloody Marys! Of course, you have to be kind of careful with these because it’s not very pleasant to accidentally bite down on a whole peppercorn.
I actually had a lot of fun making these up. The radishes might be a bit advanced for kids, but the others would be pretty fun and easy – especially the slime ones.
For Halloween this year, I won’t be making any of these unfortunately because I’ll be in the middle of Indiana driving to Colorado.
But you should make them!
I’m sure there are dozens of other cool things you could do with ice cubes. If you have any good ideas, leave a comment of course!
Yasmin
EWWWWWWWWWW!
Nick
Oh you love it.
Lauren
OMG these are so fabulously disgusting. Love it!
Kris
Those are great!
Ashley
Eeew gag me with a spoon
Kim in MD
How fun? Who says Halloween is just for kids? :-)
Jeff
if are anywhere near bloomington indiana you need to stop, so many great restaurants
erisgrrrl
W00T Indiana!
And while it's too late, I second Jeff. Bloomington is like a bizarre midwestern mecca of culture! :D
OnlyMortal
For the eyeball cubes (If you have time) use purified water, boil it, then let it cool and then boil it again and let it cool again….. Use this twice boiled water and your cubes will be crystal clear so the eyeball can really pop up!! Spooky