Food and Drink Ideas for Fall: A Samhain Fire Pit Party Menu

In the USA, we celebrate Halloween on October 31st. But have you ever stopped to wonder where that tradition began? It originated from the Gaelic Samhain (pronounced Sow-in) festival.

This year, I’m celebrating my Irish heritage with a Samhain themed fireside party on Nov. 2nd to mark the beginning of the darker days of the year. Here’s some fun food ideas.

Charcuterie

Made in cups or wood boats with long fancy bamboo toothpicks so it’s easy to grab by the fire and can be thrown in when done.

Ingredients

Cheese
Cured meat
Crackers
Honey or fig jam
Olives
Fruit, such as blackberries
Nuts
Add utensils
Chocolate

Baked Items

Sweet and savory items are listed below.

Pumpkin Bread

Always a fall hit! Recipe here.

Sausage Rolls

Found on street corners in Britain and Ireland as a filling and delicious meal on the go!

Recipe here. I substituted bread crumbs for oatmeal (ghetta inspired!) because that’s what I had on hand. Also, I used a food processor for the onions, garlic, and pickled jalapeños. More juice helps flavor the oatmeal. Lesson learned: seal the off pastry edges with egg white to help prevent them from popping open when baked.

Baked Brie

Wrap a wheel of Brie with puff pastry. Add jam and bake! Facebook reel here for the wrapping. I cut into a square and wrapped the edges like a dumpling with a hole in center for blackberry jam.

Baked on 420 degrees F for 25-30 min.

Once baked, I sliced like a pie and placed on a cast iron pan with toasted crackers scattered around to eat from the fireside.

Aunt Nora’s Soda Bread

While I couldn’t track down her actual recipe, this one is a fair substitute.

Aunt Nora used to pet me while telling me to cut my hair “now” to make a wig for when I get old and loose my color and volume 😆. Now that I’m nearly 40 and graying, she was probably onto something!

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

I prefer underbaked cookies that are barely browned around edges.

I have a personal recipe from my childhood with my dad that’s my go-to recipe. I can make it on autopilot. Our tradition includes chopping real chocolate bars into smaller chunks that I highly recommend for improved texture. I also love to slightly underbake so edges are barely brown.

While not truly Irish, they come from my own Irish family and are perfect for passing around the fire.

A lovely Irish alternative would be shortbread cookies. My favorite shortbread cookies can be bought from a bakery in Cincinnati called Two Seven Two.

Two Seven Two masterpieces are ¾ inch thick with buttercream icing piped around edges and topped with jam.

Cupcakes with a Fall Twist

Carrot Cake with cream cheese frosting. My favorite recipe is from Norine’s Nest.
Pumpkin Spice & Vanilla: Add pumpkin pie spice and a touch of pumpkin puree to a vanilla cake batter, and top with a cream cheese or cinnamon buttercream frosting.
Chai Latte: Infuse vanilla cake batter or buttercream with chai spices (cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, cloves). This gives a warm, aromatic flavor profile perfect for autumn. Recipe here.
Sweet Potato: Add sweet potato to a vanilla base and top with a marshmallow or cream cheese frosting.
Irish Trilogy Cupcakes A spongy Guinness chocolate cake, filled with rich whiskey ganache, and topped with smooth Irish cream buttercream frosting.

Drinks

These drinks can be made in a crock pot ahead of time.

Hot Chocolate

Stovetop Ingredients

Oat milk
Cocoa powder
Vanilla
Chocolate chips
Whip cream (in a piping bag for fun!)
Bailey’s Irish cream

Full recipe here.

Mulled Cider

Crockpot Ingredients

1 (2 inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled, thinly sliced
2 cinnamon sticks, plus more for serving
2 jugs apple cider
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
1 lemon and/or orange
4 oz bourbon or rum (optional)
Apple slices

View another recipe here. I grated up some apple slices and also added dried spicebush berries, cloves, and dried lemon peel in a tea bag.

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