Dissolve lemon gelatin in 1 cup water in double boiler, add marshmallows and stir to melt. Remove from heat. Add pineapple juice and cream cheese. Beat until well blended. Cool slightly. Fold in mayo. If you have a truffle candy mold or round ice cube trays, pour the mixture in the molds and leave to set in the fridge. Otherwise pour into a deep ceramic dish and chill until thickened or firm enough for scooping into eyeballs. Using a melonballer, scoop full balls of the mixture and set aside for decoration. To decorate, use liquid food coloring and an old detail paintbrush and get creative. You will need black food coloring for the pupils. Also, if you are in a hurry, instead of painting the colored irises, you can carefully dip the ball in a small pool of food coloring to approximate the iris, but still paint on the pupils.

For 1999, I found rubber ice cube trays that worked beautifully with much less waste than the melonballer technique. I sprayed the rubber trays with non-stick cooking spray beforehand like you would any gelatin mold, let the gelatin mixture sit in the refrigerator to set, then I was able to carefully pop the eyeballs out to paint them. Some of the eyeballs did break, and they do have one flat side, but that actually works, since then they don't roll around while you are trying to paint them. Since 2001 I have found that Wilton truffle candy molds are even better, since the swirl design on the top is the right size for the cornea shape on the eyeball. When using the truffle molds, one recipe makes about 9 dozen eyeballs - plenty for a party crowd!

Beat all ingredients except powdered sugar in medium bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Pour batter into plastic squeeze bottle with narrow opening. Heat 8-inch skillet over medium heat until hot; grease lightly.

Working quickly, squeeze batter to form 4 straight, thin lines that intersect at a common center point to form a star shape. To form cobweb, squeeze thin streams of batter to connect lines.

Cook 30 to 60 seconds or until bottom is golden brown; carefully turn. Cook until golden brown; remove from skillet. Cool on wire rack.

Heat oven to 325 F. Bake cookies on ungreased cookie sheet 5 to 7 minutes or until almost crisp (cookies will become crisp as they cool). Remove from cookie sheet; cool. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Store cookies in container with loose-fitting cover.

Tips:
If you don't have a squeeze bottle at home to use, you can pick up a plastic picnic-style bottle for ketchup at your grocery or discount store.

Frosting:
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

18 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
9 cream-filled oval vanilla sandwich cookies
1 cup whipped topping
Green and brown decorator’s icing or piping gel
Pumpkin candies and gummy worms, optional

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt; set aside. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, water and cocoa; bring to a boil. Add to flour mixture; beat well. Beat in sour cream and eggs.

Pour into a greased 9-in. x 13-in. x 2-in. baking pan. Bake at 350 F for 35-38 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine butter, milk and cocoa; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat; stir in sugar and vanilla. Pour over the warm cake. Crumble chocolate cookies; sprinkle over frosting while still warm. Cool completely.

For tombstones, use icing to decorate vanilla cookies with words or faces; place on cake. For ghosts, make mounds of whipped topping; use icing to add eyes and mouths as desired. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

This isn't so much a recipe as it is a creative display. Arrange the blue corn chips in a coffin in the shape of a long-dead corpse. The natural blue corn chips have almost a dusky shade of brown in them that hints of decayed skin. Serve with a nice blood-red chunky salsa as accompanying entrails.

For 1999 I got more elaborate. I found a larger coffin that happened to fit a rubber skeleton I have had for years. I lined the coffin with crushed velvet, propped up the skeleton, arranged the chips around him, and set the crystal bowl of "entrails" between his calves...yummm...