Every year the time comes for the spirits to roam free for the Halloween celebrations on the night from 31 October to 1 November. This festival, which originates in Ireland, is now a permanent feature of the calendar almost everywhere in the Western world. So how about throwing your own Halloween party this year, with spooky decorations, eerie music and gluten-free pumpkin dishes to tickle any taste buds…?

Of course the party venue has to be a bit gloomy – candles or special black-light lamps (warning: these are not exactly cheap!) create the right atmosphere. As for some haunting decorations, you could try some homemade Jack O’Lanterns, spider webs made of wire and wool, gruesome masks or some simple votive candles.

Totally gourdeous or what?
The right music for this kind of party could be the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”, Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” or, for fans of classical music, Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana”. You can find lots of delicious pumpkin recipes that are totally gluten-free but full of Halloween flavour in the pumpkin special on our recipes page.

If you have been invited to a Halloween party then phone the host in advance, explain your dietary condition and offer to bring along an appropriate gluten-free dish.

Spider webs and little devils
You have no interest in Halloween but your children do? Even this can be gluten-free. You could bake some gluten-free ghoulish ghost biscuits and mysterious spider web crêpes together or prepare a sinister devil’s dessert.

You can then serve all of this at a fancy dress Halloween party which your children can invite all of their friends to. Think of suitable games for the little fairies, ghosts, witches, vampires and skeletons. How about ghost eating where the children compete in eating chocolate tea cakes decorated with grimacing faces, which are still delicious even without gluten?

DIY ghosts!
Rubber snakes, spiders or other monstrous beasts, ghosts made from paper and black paper table cloths which you can cover with drawings of spider webs are great as party decorations. Or you could make some funny ghosts with your children.

If your child is going trick-or-treating round the neighbourhood with their friends then you should make sure that the adventure remains gluten-free. Make sure that your child knows exactly what they CANNOT eat. It is a good idea to make sure they do not leave home with empty stomachs and then there will be less risk that they will start snacking.

Gluten-free ghouls
If your child is going to a Halloween party at a friend’s house then find out beforehand whether there will be any gluten-free food and give your little one a delicious gluten-free treat to take with them, and make sure that it looks cool and spooky so that there will not be any tears!