Caramel Apple Party

The 2nd Annual Caramel Apple Party is coming up this Friday, October 28th! I love hosting this Fall party and think it will be something I do no matter where we are in the future. Actually it all began the Fall of 2008 with these girls

and these apples...

We enjoyed making the caramel apples and hanging out. I'm not exactly sure what happened in 2009, but we made it an "official" party last October and now here we are another year later ready to celebrate again! I will tell you, each year Tara and I have done more research in an attempt to make the caramel-dipping process a little better. So far we have been frustrated with the caramel running down the apples and pooling at the bottom. Why does it seem so difficult to make good-looking caramel apples? They are delicious, regardless, but we're ready to perfect our skills! We've tried putting the apples in the fridge to make them very cold and make sure the caramel is hot. We've tried making sure the apples are perfectly dry. But, so far, with little success. This year, I will be trying the following:
1. Making my own caramel
2. Washing and then rubbing the apples vigorously with a dish towel. I've read repeatedly about a type of waxy coating that is put on apples and I do believe this has been our downfall the past several years.

I went to Target over the weekend and perused the $1 section and found a couple of fun items to use for the party. A big chip bowl that is black and has orange polka dots and says 'Happy Halloween' and a glittery candy corn platter! I also found some cute napkins. I'm excited to get to use them soon! Our apartment has been decorated for Fall for awhile, so it really won't take too much extra decorating on our part, mainly just cleaning and rearranging the apartment to fit 14-16 people :o)

This year our menu consists of:

Taco Soup -- with, of course, tortilla chips and shredded cheese (Must. Haves!)
Easy Mexican Dip
Red Velvet Cake Balls
Ghoulish Punch -- I'm excited to try this new recipe!
Caramel & Apples -- with mini reese's pb cups, maybe some mini reese's pieces, and possibly some crushed pretzels (I just saw this idea today.)

The guests are helping me out by bringing their own apples for dipping and then a few side items. I love spending time with my friends! I'm planning on trying to have a fun, non-scary Halloween movie going in the background -- mainly for the boys while the girls are making the apples -- and then we'll play some fun games. I hope to be able to report back with lots of great pictures next week!

To life... full of fun, fall parties!