Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Probably because of the sheer amount of sugar involved. As a kid (or adult for that matter), what other holiday can you dress up funny and stuff your face full of candy and sweets and not get yelled at? And then there are all of the fun (and sometimes absolutely disgusting) things that you can serve to your friends at Halloween gatherings that you would never dare to serve on any other holiday. The only time it is permissible and even encouraged to put worms, spiders, bugs, and bats in your food. Happy Halloween!

Halloween Crisp Treats

1/2 cup butter
10 cups crispy rice cereal
9 cups mini marshmallows
2 cups candy corn
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
candy pumpkins
orange food coloring

Grease a large jellyroll pan. In a large saucepan over low heat, melt the butter and marshmallows together. Mix it together until it is smooth. Put the crispy rice cereal, candy corn, and mini chocolate chips into a large bowl and mix well. Mix the orange food coloring into the marshmallow mixture and mix well. Put the marshmallow mixture into the cereal mixture and mix it together quickly. Spread the mixture into the greased jellyroll pan and press it down into the pan with well-greased hands (butter works best). Press the candy pumpkins onto the bars, keeping in mind how big or small you will want to cut the bars. You can have fun with this by serving it in a bed of gummy worms, cut “bites” out of the candy pumpkins and have the gummy worms look like they are eating the pumpkins.

Sparkling Halloween Punch

4 cups apple cider
2 cups orange juice
2 cups pineapple juice
2 cups apricot nectar
6 cups chilled gingerale
orange and lemon slices
gummy worms

In a large bowl, mix the apple cider, orange juice, pineapple juice, and apricot nectar. Refrigerate for 2 hours or more. Right before you are ready to serve it, mix in the gingerale and add the orange and lemon slices. Drape gummy worms over the sides of the bowl. For an added Halloween touch, put small plastic spiders in ice cube trays and fill with water. Put in the freezer and add the spider ice cubes to the punch.

We are all in a hurry. We live busy lifestyles, often juggling our careers, our families and our relationships. It is no wonder that many of us resort to ready meals and takeaways. We know that they are not exactly healthy, but they are fast, and fast is good. Spending hours in the kitchen after a long day at work is not a very appealing image.

It’s no secret that cooking with fresh ingredients is a lot healthier for you. There are no added preservatives or other unknown names on the wrapper with lots of numbers attached to it. There’s less salt, less sugar and less fat. And let’s not forget that fresh food tastes better.

You don’t have to be a Jamie Oliver or Nigella Lawson to be able to cook. Nor do you have to spend many hours in the kitchen. Adding a salad to your meal only takes a few minutes – the time it takes to wash and slice a lettuce, some onion, pepper, tomato or whatever you prefer. Mix it all together and you have something fresh and healthy that night. If you place some meat under the grill, you have a pleasant dinner in virtually no time.

Everyone knows that vegetables and fruit are good for you. But did you know that when you eat a lot of junkfood, you will feel sluggish, lacking in energy and that your mood can be affected? People who use fresh ingredients tend to feel happier and more energetic. This does show that our bodies may function on less healthy food, but that it functions far better on a balanced diet.

Consider growing your own herbs. You can grow them just about anywhere – if you have a garden, that’s great, but they do well enough on a balcony or windowsill. Herbs add a lovely flavour to your meals and they look nice, too.

When in a hurry, a nice and easy meal to cook is a pasta dish. Instead of simply buying a jar of sauce, consider spending a little time to make something yourself. This only takes about half an hour and it is very rewarding. If you have a smaller family, you will probably have leftovers for the next day, which means you can simply heat it up and have another nice dinner.

You could fry some mince. Slice an onion, some garlic, peppers and chili peppers. Fry these in a bit of olive oil and add them to the mince. Add some diced tomatoes and perhaps some tomato puree, add herbs and spices to taste and you have a very basic but rather tasty pasta sauce. Boil some wholemeal pasta and you’re done. Of course, you can add as many ingredients as you like – this will depend on your creativity and preference.

A similarly versatile dish is chili. You can add a load of vegetables to this, which means it is very healthy and full of flavour. A pan of chili can last a couple of days, again making a good, easy meal for the next day.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. Have a look at some quick and easy recipes online, then give them your own twist to accommodate your taste buds. Many meals are easy to prepare and take up only a little of your time.

You’ll soon feel healthier, happier because you know you are eating well and because cooking is a rewarding experience, and you may even start enjoying yourself in the kitchen.

If you are looking for fine Italian wine and food, consider the Campania region of southern Italy. You may find a bargain, and I hope that you’ll have fun on this fact-filled wine education tour.

It is located in the southwestern Italy on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its total population is about 5.8 million, making it the second most heavily populated region of Italy.

Campania’s best-known city is its administrative center, Naples, once glorified by the phrase “See Naples and Die,” which referred to its beauty and not its high crime rate. Other well-known cities include Sorrento, a playground of the jet set, and Pompeii, destroyed by Mount Vesuvius about two thousand years ago.

Campania devotes about 100,000 acres to grapevines; it ranks 9th among the 20 Italian regions. Its total annual wine production is about 52 million gallons, also giving it a 9th place. About 64% of the wine production is red or rosé (a bit of rosé), leaving 36% for white. The region produces 17 DOC wines and one DOCG wine, Taurasi, one of the two DOCG wines produced in southern Italy. DOC stands for Denominazione di Origine Controllata, which may be translated as Denomination of Controlled Origin, presumably a high-quality wine. The G in DOCG stands for Garantita, but there is in fact no guarantee that such wines are truly superior. Only 2.8% of Campania wine carries the DOC designation. Campania is home to almost three dozen major and secondary grape varieties, with a few more white varieties than red ones.

Campania is not a major producer of international white grape varieties. Common Italian white varieties include Falanghina, Fiano, Greco, and Coda di Volpe.

Campania is not a major producer of international red grape varieties.The best known Italian red variety is Aglianico, best expressed in the DOCG wine, Taurasi, and Piedirosso.

Before we reviewing the Campania wine and cheese that we were lucky enough to purchase at a local wine store and a local Italian food store, here are a few suggestions of what to eat with indigenous wines when touring this beautiful region. Start with Scialatielli alle Vongole, Herbed Pasta with Clams, Garlic, and Cherry Tomatoes. Then try Branzino all ‘Acqua Pazz’, Sea Bass in ‘Crazy Water’. And for dessert, indulge yourself with Coviglie al Caffè, Coffeee Custard and Ladyfingers.

OUR WINE REVIEW POLICY While we have communicated with well over a thousand Italian wine producers and merchants to help prepare these articles, our policy is clear. All wines that we taste and review are purchased at the full retail price.

Wine Reviewed

Mastoberardino Radici ‘Fiano di Avellino’ DOCG 12.0 % alcohol about $20

When you see a green band on an Italian white wine bottle, you have a DOCG wine, Italy’s top of the line classification.

Mastoberardino is the largest and best known producer in southern Italy. Fiano di Avellino is an indigenous white grape variety. They came together in an excellent wine.

The wine had a beautiful straw color. I found it to be delicate yet complex and elegant, not the least bit thin. At the first pairing it held up to spicy barbequed chicken and barbequed eggplant slices. Among the many flavors, it was spicy and smoky.

The next pairing was with whole wheat pasta and chicken meat balls in a peppery tomato sauce. Here the wine took on a floral character.

I would have loved to taste this wine with the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana (Water-Buffalo Mozzarella cheese) described in my article “I Love Italian Wine and Cheese – The Latium Region” but it is not sold in my city. I had to settle for Pecorino Sardo, a nutty cheese made in Sardinia, an island almost directly west of Campagnia. In the presence of the cheese the wine became almost unctuous.

I really feel that this wine deserved its top of the line designation. The best white wines often come from cold climates such as Germany and northern France. Who would have thought that such a fine white wine could come from sun-baked southern Italy? The neighboring woods and eighteen hundred foot elevation of Avellino are certainly an essential part of the final product, well worth the $20, which is more than I usually spend on a wine bottle.

If you travel to the Caribbean islands or along the coast of Central America, you'll often see lobster on the menu of the restaurants. This isn't the true, or Maine type lobster you may be more familiar with, but rather a somewhat similar looking creature called the spiny lobster or rock lobster.

Have no fear. Spiny lobsters are every bit as delicious as their more northern distant relative. But there are some differences between the two that you should be aware of, especially if you're the one doing the cooking.

It's quite likely you'll encounter a spiny lobster in your local supermarket any day now, if you haven't already. Spiny lobsters are generally more abundant and less expensive than true lobsters, and acceptance among consumers is growing. In many restaurants in the U.S., when you order lobster tails, you'll be getting tails of spiny lobsters.

You should first of all know that the cousinship between spiny and true lobsters really is a distant one. They are related by virtue of both being crustaceans, but that's about it. Spiny lobsters are actually more closely related to freshwater crawfish (also spelled "crayfish"). In fact, some varieties of spiny lobsters are called see crawfish.

Spiny lobsters lack the claws, or chelae, of true lobsters. Thus, most of their meat is to be found in their tails.

You can cook a spiny lobster much as you would a true lobster, except of course that you must forget about getting any claw meat from it. If it's a good-sized specimen, though, rest assured that your spiny lobster will yield a generous portion of delicious meat from its tail alone. When cooked, that meat will be white, well textured and with a distinct hint of sweetness to it.

If you're starting with a whole lobster, you should place it in boiling, salted water, and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Lobster tails can be cooked the same way, except you should reduce the cooking time to 8 to 10 minutes. Total cooking time will depend on the size of the lobster, of course. (If you're cooking a whole spiny lobster, you'll know it's done when its shell has turned a bright reddish orange.)

After cooking, take scissors and snip off the underside of the shell of the lobster tails. Lift the meat out of the top shell and put it in a bowl or on serving dishes.

Crave something fancier? Cook lobster shells as above, then salt and pepper the tail meat and brush it with melted butter. Top it with a tomato relish made from 2 cups of diced tomatoes, a tablespoon of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 3 fresh basil leaves, 1 minced shallot and 1 minced garlic clove. Wonderful!

Now that your home is going to be the center of attention this holiday season, it would serve you well to decide what to include on your Thanksgiving Dinner Menu. Before we get into the dinner menu specifics, there is one important fact you must realize. You can't please everyone. But with a little ingenuity and prior planning you can please the people who matter most.

Below you'll find two thanksgiving dinner menu tips that will keep your guest focused on food and not your shortcomings as an event host.

No Surprises Thanksgiving like any major holiday is all about tradition. And for this particular holiday more so than any other, its all about coming together to enjoy some great food and of course to enjoy the company of friends and family as well. Most people will expect traditional thanksgiving dishes such as roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing or dressing, cranberry sauce, homemade bread, desserts etc. You can totally turn off your dinner guest by going against the grain and serving something other than what they're used to being served. This may seem like a no brainier, but you will be surprised how many people will complain if you try to get creative. Just try serving something different, than what most people is use to seeing on a thanksgiving dinner menu and they seem to get crazy.

Lend a Helping Hand Not you, you're doing enough just by being the host of this years thanksgiving dinner event. I'm talking about asking you guest to lend a helping hand. This works to your advantage for many reasons. Anyone who agrees to bring a dish has just taken ownership in helping you make this holiday event pleasant for everyone. Even more important is that you don't have to spend too many hours in the kitchen. This will free up valuable time to focus on other important arrangements.

Just remember, the two keys to a successful holiday event are getting your guest (only those who can cook) involved and no surprises. Now you just need to get your recipes in order.

Halloween's just around the corner! Halloween means pumpkins and pumpkins mean baked pumpkin seeds. Yummy! Try this recipe for spicy pumpkin seeds. You'll love them and your guests and goblins will too.

They are so crunchy, delicious, and fun to eat. They're really easy to do, especially if you've just carved out a pumpkin.

So, don't throw those seeds away! Make this an opportunity to impress not only your friends but all the little gobblins in your life, too.

You can also buy pumpkin seeds if you aren't carving a pumpkin this year.

This is a great, healthy snack for Halloween, but you can also use these pumpkin seeds as a topping on salads or a dessert.

What you'll need:
- 2 cups pumpkin seeds (hulled)
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 Tablespoons of brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
- Dash salt

First things first: preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Then, combine water, the pumpkin pie spice, the brown sugar, and the salt in your choice of saucepan - medium sized is good.

Simmer the mixture over low heat for about 10 minutes making sure you stir it until all the sugar is completely dissolved.

Then, add your pumpkin seeds and cook them for about five minutes while stirring occasionally. You'll need to drain the seeds on a paper towel and then place them on a baking sheet.

Finally, bake the seeds for 10 to 15 minutes, turning them over by stirring them a little. When the seeds turn crispy, you know they are ready.

That's it! How easy is that? You can store the pumpkin seeds in an air tight plastic container until you are ready to use them. They are also very tasty right out of the oven.

This recipe makes about 2 cups of spiced pumpkin seeds.

For a variation, try substituting and equal measure of apple pie spice or a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice with a dash of cloves instead of the pumpkin pie spice. So yummy!

After playing 18 holes on a favorite course, those who play golf are bound to be hungry. Take this into consideration when throwing a golf party after the big scramble. Often couples get together weekly to face off on the links and celebrating this friendship will encourage these games for years to come.

Spice up an ordinary dinner party for the golf league by creating a golf-inspired menu. Titleist Cheese Balls, Iced Tee, Fore! Chili and Cart Cupcakes.

To make a Titleist Cheese ball for the golf part gather 8 ounces cream cheese – Softened, 1/2 cup cheddar cheese – shredded, 8 ounces Processed Cheese Spread -- (Cheese Whiz), 1/4 cup green onion -- finely chopped, 1 Clove garlic – minced, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon brandy, 1 tablespoon fresh parsley – snipped, 1 teaspoon paprika, 6 drops Hot Pepper Sauce, 1 1/2 cup pecans -- finely chopped. Place cream cheese and cheddar cheese in a 2-qt microwaveable dish. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. Add cheese spread and microwave on High for 20 to 30 more seconds, or until cheeses begin to soften. Beat until smooth. Place onion, garlic and butter in small bowl. Microwave on High for 30 to 45 seconds, or until onion is tender. Combine with cheese mixture and Worcestershire sauce, brandy, parsley, paprika and red pepper sauce.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Shape into 48 balls. Roll in pecans. Place on a large tray covered with wax paper. Cheese balls should not touch each other. Freeze until firm. These can be frozen for up to a month in advance.

To Serve: remove 12 cheese balls from container and place in circle on serving plate. Microwave on 30% power (medium-low) for 45 seconds to 2 minutes, or until defrosted but still cool. Rotate plate 1/2 turn every 30 seconds. Let stand 3 to 5 minutes before serving.

Serving up this menu will have you being the talk of the sandtraps!