Halloween Candy Corn Votives

Jack-o'-lantern bright and trick-or-treat sweet, these easy-to-assemble candy-corn votives will shed a festive orange light on Halloween high jinks. Fill the bottom of a plain glass jelly jar with a handful of candy corn--enough so that when you set a smaller glass votive on the surface of the candy, the top of the votive is flush with the top of the glass. Place a candle inside the votive glass, wick pointed upward. I like to use tea lights, which give off a glow from the center of the votive, since they are shorter than traditional votive candles. Fill in the space between the circumference of the votive and the edges of the jar with candy corn so that the votive itself disappears. You'll need about a cup of candy corn per light. Nibble only when you've blown out the candle.

Vanilla

Vanilla Crescents

Discover wonderful recipes celebrating vanilla, including a decadent Olive Oil Cake with Vanilla-Bean Rhubarb Sauce and Vanilla Crescent Cookies. Plus, more sweet ideas for cooking and baking with vanilla.

Sweet-and-Spicy Pumpkin Seeds

Some families often challenge one another to create the year's scariest jack-o'-lantern. Roasted pumpkin seeds, seasoned with a generous sprinkling of salt, are a bountiful by-product of this annual competition.

I've updated this seasonal favorite by using such flavorful seasonings as coriander, cinnamon, ginger and freshly ground black pepper. For best results, pumpkin seeds must be dried in the oven before tossing them in the spices.

Whether for cooking or carving, choose an unbruised pumpkin that feels heavy for the size of the pumpkin; it will keep, uncarved, in a cool, dry place for up to a month.

RECIPE

SWEET-AND-SPICY PUMPKIN SEEDS

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin seeds from 1 medium pumpkin (about 5 to 6 pounds)
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Open pumpkin from the bottom, removing seeds with a long-handled spoon. Remove pumpkin seeds from flesh and set seeds aside; discard flesh. Spread seeds on baking sheet in an even layer. Bake until dry, stirring occasionally, about 50 minutes. Let cool.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine 4 tablespoons sugar, salt, coriander, cinnamon, ginger and pepper. Heat vegetable oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pumpkin seeds and 2 tablespoons sugar. Cook until sugar melts and the pumpkin seeds begin to attain a golden color, about 1 minute. Transfer seeds to bowl with spices using a slotted spoon and toss seeds in spices to coat. Let cool. Seeds may be stored in an airtight container for up to 1 week. 

Halloween

Pumpkin Carving

Discover a ghoulish beef goulash for All Hallow's Eve. Plus, discover the art of creating carved pumpkin creations and a technique for flavored roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Halloween III

Peanut Brittle

All the tricks and treats you'll need for a bewitching Halloween party: Peanut brittle, spooky sweets and more, including some very scary surprises your guests won't forget.

Halloween

Caramel Apples with Chocolate Coating

Halloween treats and sweets--learn Michael's secret for sensational Caramel Apples with Chocolate Coating. Plus discover a Halloween Jack-o'-Lantern Cookie perfect for trick-or-treating and a haunting way to light up the Halloween sky.

Halloween Pumpkins

Halloween Pumpkins

Join expert Joost Elffers for pumpkin madness. Get fantastic ideas for carving your Halloween pumpkins. Plus, glowing candle creatures and more great and inventive ways to celebrate Halloween.

Halloween-Themed Cocktails: Graveyard Ghoulada and Ice Cube Eyeballs

These glasses are sure to elicit some blood-curdling screams. Plus, toast your Halloween guests with ghoulish flair by adding floating eyeballs to their drinks.

GRAVEYARD GHOULADA

Usually, glasses are rimmed with salt to help flavor cocktail favorites like margaritas. But at Halloween, rims coated with vampire's blood are much more appropriate for the holiday. If you experience any difficulty extracting the blood of an unsuspecting victim, you can substitute 1 teaspoon light corn syrup and about 2 tablespoons red food coloring--a mixture that is sure to give your lips a hideous, vampirish gleam. Pour the corn syurp mixture onto a small plate, slowly twirl the glasses into the mixture to coat the entire rims and turn the glasses upright. Let the "blood" drip slightly for a ghastly effect, then fill the glass with a bloody good drink.

RECIPE

Graveyard Ghoulada

Makes 2 medium drinks

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice, plus more if needed
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 tablespoons good-quality rum (optional)

Directions:

Whisk together all ingredients. Place 1 scoop crushed ice in a blender, and add drink mixture. Blend until the mixture is smooth; add more pineapple if mixture is too thick. Carefully pour drink mixture into prepared glasses; serve.

ICE CUBE EYEBALLS

At Halloween--the one time of year when the gory, grotesque and gruesome take center stage--use the occasion to conjure up your wicked imagination with just the type of drink Dracula might have sipped at cocktail hour. With medium-size radishes and blueberries, you can prepare a batch of hair-raising ice cubes that seem to resemble eyeballs--ideal for a horrifying Halloween martini or in a gruesome glass of flavored water for your young ghouls and gals.

Pumpkin Dinner

Individual Chicken Potpies in Pumpkins

Join Michael for Halloween recipes for an Orange-Pumpkin Flan, Chicken Potpies in Pumpkins and Crunchy Pumpkin Seed Salad.

Fall Desserts

Gingerbread Cake

Bake fruity and spice-laden treats to celebrate the best of the season, including an old-fashioned Gingerbread Cake and an impressive and sophisticated Cranberry Pear Charlotte.

Autumn Harvest

Wild Rice Cakes

Create a luscious soup, brimming with the bounty of the season. Visit Bad River Rice and learn how wild rice is harvested. Plus, tips and techniques for cooking with wild rice.

Asian Delights

Asian Chicken Salad

Learn Michael's version of Thai classics, including the recipe for a fragrant and spicy Thai Soup, plus the way to prepare a refreshing Thai Salad. Plus, all the ingredients you'll need for a Thai pantry and answers to your questions on cooking with lemongrass.

Honey

Honey flows from an extractor.

Honey has been called the nectar of the gods--and it's one of Michael's favorite things. Discover its sweet secrets. Follow the bees in the honey hive, learn how honey is harvested and try the delectable recipes that are drizzled with it. 

Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Sweet Rosemary Pear Pizza

Join St. Paul, Minnesota, radio show host and author Lynne Rossetto Kasper and discover the art of making her signature Sweet Rosemary Pear Pizza, Rustic Jam Shortbread Tart and a Supper Tart of Red Onions, Greens and Grapes. 

Rich Coffee Tart

Rich Coffee Tart

Discover the art of French pastry and learn how to bake a majestic Rich Coffee Tart, and discover the secret to the lightest Sweet Pastry Crust. Plus, answers to your questions about crystallized ginger.

Cooking with Apples



Puff Pastry Apple Crowns

Sweet and savory ideas for apples, including a Pork and Apple Quick Cook recipe designed for busy nights. Plus, join master baker and Chef Michel Richard for a dessert fit for a king.

Maple Sugaring

It's a Maple Sugar Harvest. Visit a family farm in Vermont and discover the art of making maple syrup. You'll learn how to tap trees, gather the sap and refine the syrup as you sleigh through the beautiful forest. Plus, discover how to make homemade maple candy.

Italian Home Cooking

Discover the secrets for authentic southern Italian cooking, with a tour of one of New York's oldest Italian markets. Plus, learn Patty Beebout's tips and techniques for canning tomatoes and much more.

Harvest Basket and Simple Salsa

As autumn begins displacing summer, the garden is offering up the last few vegetables of the season. After many weeks of harvesting, you may have a few garden items that you'd like to share with others. One idea to use the bounty is to bring a simple salsa to a friend's house during a weekend visit.

To make a similar version, chop up a white onion, a red onion and several tomatoes; you might use a couple of cherry tomatoes, and one each of the red and green variety. Squeeze out the seeds. Add a few sprigs of parsley and cilantro to taste. To give the salsa some bite, chop up one jalapeño pepper and one serrano and habañero chile. Add the juice of a lime, and allow the mixture to sit in the refrigerator for a few hours or overnight.

Apples II

Pork and Apple Quick Cook

Discover some unusual varieties of apples and learn which apples to use for cooking and which are best enjoyed eaten out of hand. Plus learn how to make sweet Apple Fritters and a Quick Cook recipe--Pork Chops with Apples and Sautéed Cabbage.

Healthy Cooking with Michael Milken

Join cancer survivor Michael Milken to learn the importance of soy as he creates a rich Spinach Cannelloni in Tomato Sauce and tosses a Caesar salad. Plus, Michael's taste test and learn some surprising ways to change the way you eat.

Italian Pot Roast Dinner

Italian Pot Roast

Master Italian Pot Roast, an acclaimed dinner classic, sweet vegetables, including carrots, potatoes and fennel. Plus, boneless pork shoulder, simmered in a rich broth. Learn about a rare and unusual tool for enjoying savory marrow.