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.

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.

Michael's Classic Christmas Ideas for Holiday Entertaining

I've collected my favorite ideas for everything you'll need for a delightful Christmas holiday. Peruse these ideas below for Christmas and holiday entertaining inspiration:

• Appetizers for New Year's Eve
• Baked Ham with Raspberry Glaze
• Christmas Dinner Side Dishes: Twice-Baked Potatoes and Jeweled Winter Salad
• Christmas Eve Buffet Dinner
• Cookie Decorating Techniques
• Cookie Gift Boxes for Christmas
• Fudge Tarts, Christmas Snowmen Cookies
• Gingerbread Cookie Boxes
• Gingerbread Roll
• Mediterranean Crown Roast of Lamb
• Selecting Champagne for New Year's Celebrations
• Setting Up a Holiday Baking Pantry 101
• Tian of Root Vegetables and Squash, White and Sweet Potato Swirls

Michael's Classic Thanksgiving Ideas

I've collected my favorite ideas for everything you'll need to put Thanksgiving dinner on the table. Peruse these ideas below for Thanksgiving Day dinner inspiration:

• Au Gratin Potatoes and Carrots
• Green Beans and Fennel
• Herb Rubbed Turkey and Spicy Pear Stuffing
• Homemade Cranberry Sauce
• Homemade Pies from Your Kitchen
• Savory Rice Pilaf
• Thanksgiving Stuffings
• White Cheddar Biscuits

Present Food Gift Baskets for Christmas

A food gift basket is a Christmas gift that's sure to be treasured by its recipient. Of course, you can purchase food gift baskets already assembled, or you can create your own gathering items that your friends and family will love. For the friend who loves hosting cocktail parties, include a book on hors d'oeuvres and garnishing tools. Or, for a delicious way to start Christmas Day, pack a basket with all of the fixings for Christmas morning breakfast.

If you're putting the baskets together, begin with the essential materials: You'll need an appropriately sized basket, packing material, ribbons and gift tags. Pack all the items securely. If the basket doesn't have a lid, wrap it in cellophane or tissue paper, then tie it with a ribbon.

Our food gift basket suggestions can be tailored to suit other tastes and interests. You can adapt this idea to other areas, including gardening with a basket filled with seed packets, garden gloves and a few tools.

FOOD GIFT BASKET IDEAS

Hot Cocoa Gift Basket

• Individual packets of cocoa
• Cellophane bag of cookies or biscuits
• Stainless-steel whisk
• Jar of preserves
• Stoneware mugs

Breakfast Gift Basket

• Bag of pancake mix
• Pure maple syrup
• Reversible cast-iron griddle
• Juice glasses
• Spatula

Hors D'Oeuvres Gift Basket

• Hors d'oeuvres cookbook
• Pastry brush
• Mini muffin tins
• Pastry bags with couplers and assorted tips
• Garnishing tools
• Serving tray

Making Chocolate Stars

Look to melted chocolate for ways to create more unique and fun garnishes for your holiday desserts. With melted chocolate and a resealable plastic bag, you can create a galaxy of chocolate stars (see instructions below) to garnish dessert plates or cluster on top of holiday cakes or pies.

Chocolate Stars
Makes Enough to Decorate a 9-inch Cake

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces semisweet, bittersweet, or white chocolate, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vegetable shortening

Directions:

1. In the top of a double boiler or in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally, with a rubber spatula, until smooth.
2. Spoon melted chocolate into a small resealable plastic bag and with a needle pierce a small hole in one corner. Gently squeeze from the top end of the bag, using steady pressure to keep the chocolate flowing freely.
3. Pipe melted chocolate onto a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet, forming a square. Pipe a second square at a 45-degree angle to the first square. Repeat to make as many stars as you want. Let stand until firm. Peel stars from waxed paper.

NOTE: In place of plastic bags, you can use either durable or disposable decorating bags, available at cake decorating and craft stores. Decorating tips are usually sold in sets of six, 12, or more. If you use professional decorating bags frequently, you'll want to purchase one or two writing tips, one or two star tips, and a leaf tip.

Vegetable Holiday Appetizers

Give your guests something to nibble on while they're enjoying cocktails before the big meal. Try this simple appetizer for starters--Herbed Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes.

Herbed Cheese Stuffed Tomatoes
MAKES 36 STUFFED TOMATOES

• 3 dozen cherry tomatoes, about 1 to 1-1/2 inches in diameter
• 2 tablespoons of homemade or commercially prepared pesto
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced 
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely snipped
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely snipped
• 1 tablespoon fresh tarragon, finely snipped
• 1 8-oz. package cream cheese
• 4 oz. fresh goat cheese
• Fresh parsley or dill sprigs, for garnishing (optional)

With a sharp paring knife, cut off the top of each cherry tomato (the stem side). Hollow out the inside of the cherry tomatoes, using a small teaspoon or a melon baller. Invert the tomatoes onto a baking tray lined with paper towels and set aside. Place the pesto, garlic, parsley, chives, and tarragon in the bowl of a food processor. Process the mixture for 15 seconds. Add the cream cheese and goat cheese to the bowl. Process the mixture for an additional 30 to 45 seconds or until the mixture is smooth. Transfer the cheese mixture to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe the mixture into each of the cherry tomatoes. Garnish the top of the mixture with a sprig of fresh parsley or dill. Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to a baking tray, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Selecting Cheese for Appetizers

Around Christmas and New Year's Day, you're sure to find yourself hosting or attending a holiday party or two. What to serve your guests (or bring to the party) can always pose a challenge. Vegetable platters with dip are the most obvious choices for a buffet, but this year, why not go for a little more gusto and incorporate cheese into your appetizers?

Cheese is one of the most versatile ingredients you can use to create impressive and delicious holiday appetizers. Light or heavy, rich or delicate, cheeses come in various shapes and sizes. Goat cheese (made from the milk of goats) can be purchased in logs, round disks, square blocks and even pyramid-like shapes. Fresh cheddar cheese is often sold in blocks that can be sliced or grated, depending on your recipe. Some imported cheeses, such as Brie, come wrapped in paper or covered with a natural fungus that acts as a natural ripening agent for the cheese.

When purchasing your cheese, keep the following in mind: Soft consistency cheeses tend to be mild in flavor, while firm consistency cheeses tend to be more pungent in flavor. Try to avoid purchasing cheeses that have been tightly wrapped in plastic (also known as "shrink-wrap"). And certainly avoid any cheese that has a dark black mold on it. The best place to store cheese is in the coldest part of your refrigerator. Keep the cheese loosely wrapped but not open to the air inside the refrigerator.

If you're going to be preparing a cheese platter, think about choosing cheeses that have contrasting flavors, textures and colors. Sharp cheddar, mild gouda, seeded herb, Roquefort or Swiss cheeses make a visually appealing layout along with crackers or sliced fruit.

Party Planning Details

I think one of the best parts of hosting a dinner or a special event is seeing how your hard work and efforts bring happiness to the faces of the people you've invited. You want everything to be just right, so make sure you give yourself enough time to prepare in advance for the event. The worst thing you can do is wait until the last minute, rush around trying to get everything in order and then be too tired to enjoy the company of your guests.

If you're hosting a holiday dinner, take the time now to shop for non-perishable items--things like baking goods, plastic wrap, food containers, etc. As the day of your event approaches, create a list of things you have to do so that you won't forget anything. A few days before your party, make sure you have all of the ingredients you'll need for all of the recipes you'll be using and that you have the right size cookware called for in the recipes.

Your list of things to do should include preparation tasks, such as thawing the turkey and baking pies, along with the time each task will take. We've probably all heard the horror stories from friends and co-workers of individuals who somehow forgot to thaw the turkey and woke up Thanksgiving morning to discover a still-frozen turkey.

The evening before your event is a good time to do tasks like filling containers with flowers, putting together centerpieces, setting out your linens, flatware and place settings. These are tasks that you likely won't find time to do if you wait until the day of to do.

Call for Recipes for Favorite Holiday Dishes

Recipes on Suite101.com would like to feature some of your favorite dishes for the holidays, so that's why I'm putting the call to out for recipe contributions for holiday dishes. Whether you have a spectacular side dish that rivals green-bean casserole at Thanksgiving, or a spicy glaze for baked ham at Christmas, I want to hear from you! And don't forget too about Halloween and New Year's Eve as well.

Take some time to puruse through your recipe file and submit your favorite recipes. Here's how to get involved:

1. When sending recipes, please be specific with directions, measurements and sizes of cans, packages and pans. Send your recipes to me via e-mail at recipes@suite101.com. Also, please include your full name and the name of your hometown. If you would like to include a few words about the recipe, you can submit that as well.
2. Please remember to submit recipes that are your personal recipes only, not one from a friend, copied from a magazine, downloaded from an Internet website, etc.
3. By submitting your recipe, you grant the right to use your name and hometown and state on the Suite101.com Recipes page as well as publish your material on the Internet. We may contact via e-mail if there are questions regarding your submission.
4. Individuals whose recipes are selecting for publication on Recipes will receive confirmation by e-mail that their recipe has been selected for publication on the site.

Floating Hands and Faces in Punch

Use these ghoulish ice cubes to keep Halloween beverages such as a macabre blood punch cold and creepy.

Watch Halloween guests become terrified as they sample your witch's brew with a ghoulish touch: hands and faces floating in punch. These icy anatomical structures will perfectly chill your brew. Just prepare your favorite blood punch (a macabre mixture of red fruit drink and ginger ale) and float the body parts in the punch. Or, you can fill a bucket with an assortment of these icy creations to keep bottled beverages chilled.

Floating Hands and Faces in Punch
MATERIALS

• Powder-free clear plastic gloves
• Twist ties
• Baking sheets
• Cornmeal
• Molded-plastic face masks
• Wide duct tape
• Plastic shoe box
• Bubble wrap
• Scissors

For Ice Hands

1. Rinse gloves thoroughly, inside and out. Add enough water to fill the gloves loosely but not so full that the fingers will not move. Fasten the gloves tightly with a twist tie. Place cornmeal on a baking sheet and lay the hands on the cornmeal. Freeze.
2. When hands are frozen solid, rinse off cornmeal from gloves, carefully cut off the gloves with scissors at the rubber band. Peel away from ice hands. Float hands in a bowl of punch for scary fun.

For Ice Faces

1. Select a mask with distinct features for the best effect. Rinse the mask with water and dry off. Tape closed all the openings (eyes, nose, mouth) inside and out with duct tape.
2. Line a plastic shoe box with bubble wrap to support the mask while freezing. Place the mask face down in the box, and fill the mask 1/3 full with water, leaving space along the top for shifting. Freeze the mask for 2 days.
3. When face is frozen, loosen the mask from the ice form by quickly placing it in a bowl of warm water. Release the mask from the ice form and float the ice face in the punch bowl.

SOURCES
Powder-free clear plastic gloves
Available at pharmacies and housewares stores

Check out some more creepy Halloween drinks to serve to your ghosts and goblins.