Our Halloween show is one we look forward to all year long — so much so that we keep the theme a strict secret until October 31st.
Well, Halloween is finally here, but we're still keeping the theme hush-hush… because this year, the "Rachael Ray Show" Halloween Extravaganza is a spooky speakeasy!
So don your flapper dresses and get your cocktail shakers ready, because we're recapping the entire clandestine celebration.
The party doesn't start until Rach walks in, so that's where we'll begin. Watch the video above to see Rach's Halloween costume reveal (literally, she appears out of the fog!) and check out the photo below to see her gorgeous flapper look in more detail.
Honestly, we love this theme for many reasons, but mostly because it's the perfect excuse to kick things off with a John Cusimano cocktail. Rach's hubby-slash-mixologist is making a Candy Apple Cocktail that is just the bee's knees.
For Halloween dinner, Rach is whipping up Deviled Pumpkin Grilled Cheese and Roasted Garlic Pumpkin Soup. A meal so delicious, it's scary!
And what's a speakeasy without a cast of hotsy-totsy characters? We welcomed a few special guest trick-or-treaters over the hour.
First, Anne Burrell Boo-rell treated us to Halloween "Blood Vessel" Beef & Sausage Stew. Then, makeup artist-to-the-stars Mally Roncal pulled off an adorable amBOOsh makeover, last-minute Halloween costume-style. See how it happened in the video below:
Ambush Makeover: We Help NYC Woman Put Together a Last-Minute Halloween Costume Backstage
And we were visited by Kate the Chemist, who provided the tricks by conducting some spooky science experiments. Check it out:
Halloween Science Experiments: Spooky Foaming Pumpkin Patch + More
But the real guests of honor (as always) were our studio audience members, who went all out and truly brought it with their incredibly creative Halloween costumes. So as is tradition, we closed out the hour of festivities with Rach's favorite part of the annual Halloween show: choosing the winners of our audience costume contest!
While everyone in the audience went home with a special treat thanks to Kodak, Rach's team was able to narrow down the tough competition to choose first, second, and third place winners. Watch it all go down in the video below:
All The Winning Group Costumes In Our Annual Halloween Audience Costume Contest
3RD PLACE WINNERS: HOLY GUACAMOLE
In third place, we have "Holy Guacamole!" Seriously, how cute is this idea? These four ladies from Bloomfield, New Jersey, dressed up as organic vegetables (tomato, pepper, avocado and lime) from their own community garden, then added halos and angel wings. And they even brought a garlic prop for Rach!
The third place winners each got 2 tickets to see Beetlejuice on Broadway.
2ND PLACE WINNERS: CVS RECEIPT + PRICE CHECKER
In second place, we have perhaps the longest CVS receipt in all of Manhattan, escorted by the price checker responsible for printing it out. A+ for creativity, accuracy and execution on this one.
The second place winners got a 55" 4K Ultra HD Magnavox Roku TV and a pair of Roku TV Wireless Speakers.
1ST PLACE WINNERS: MADAME ISABOO'S CARNIVAL
And finally, drum roll please…
In first place, we have Madame Isaboo and her band of carnival characters! Named after Rach's pitbull Isaboo, of course, Madame Isaboo is a carnival fortune teller with a motley crew. Amazing!
The first place winners are headed to the Breezes Resort and Spa in the Bahamas for 5 days and 4 nights including roundtrip airfare.
Happy Halloween, everyone!
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