Last week was Sharon’s 2nd Annual Witches and Wine Halloween party. Truth be told, I’m not a big costume person but one doesn’t want to miss this gathering. Lots of old friends and potential new ones gather to eat and drink the night away; two of my favorite things.

So while Sue drove us to Santa Rosa, we attempted to put on our Halloween fingernails. In hindsight, probably not the best choice of where to do that, which I realized when I dropped one between the seats. Say bye bye. But luckily we had 24, no doubt meant for clumsy people like me.

Being my first endeavor with fake fingernails, I hadn’t noticed they came in different sizes. So I pressed on whatever I happened to grab. Not until they were stuck like glue did I realize my mistake. I then pried off half the nails, which was no easy feat. Those little suckers meant business.

Let me just say, I don’t know how women with long fingernails function. Both Sue and I have very short fingernails. But with these on, we struggled to do just about everything. I continually poked myself in the face and had trouble holding my martini glass. Sue had her nails off an hour into the party. What a wimp. I at least lasted 70 minutes.

Now don’t get me wrong; this was a witches and wine party but I’m not a wine drinkin’ kinda gal. It either puts me to sleep or gives me a headache. Therefore, I arrived with a jug full of my famous (or infamous) lime drop martinis — a mixture of vodka, fresh squeezed lime juice and simple syrup. In other words…

Hours beforehand, I put the pitcher of lime drops in the freezer until they turned into adult slushies. And because you can’t have a lime drop without proper glassware, I brought some beautiful martini glasses a friend gave me. All martini lovers know the glass you drink from only enhances the experience. I mean, would you drink a margarita from a paper cup? You would?! Never mind then.

Once again this year, ladies vied for prizes for best costume, appetizer and dessert. I, however, was not one of them. I wore the same purple v-neck as last year, striped purple leggings, a spider necklace, lace spiderweb gloves, spider earrings, one of my tennis skirts and a witch hat with gray hair attached — good practice for me since I recently decided to let my hair go gray. (I’ll keep you posted on how long that lasts.)

Tons of scrumptious appetizers filled Sharon’s huge dining table. I found it too difficult to decide which was best since the non-meat ones I tried were all fabulous.

And the overabundance of creative desserts left little room on the exceedingly long countertop.

But I must formally protest the winner of the dessert category — my fellow Halloween-nail-wearing-witch, Sue. Okay, you be the judge:

Here’s what I made: I baked chocolate cupcakes, topped them with a decadent cream cheese and butter-based frosting which I colored orange, then painstakingly decorated each by hand with black piping. Total time: about 90 minutes.

Here’s what Sue made (And I’m being generous using the term “made”): She bought pumpkin pie at Costco, cut out little circles with a cookie cutter, topped them with a cream cheese mixture, sprinkled them with cinnamon and nutmeg, then put them in cupcake holders. Total time: roughly 15 minutes.

Next year I’m buying Twinkies. I’ll stick a plastic spider on top and call it a night. Sue, you’re goin’ down!

Happy Halloween everyone!