Halloween treats

By Culinate staff

October 29, 2007

The tricks of Halloween are around the corner; here are some treats on our minds.

1. Go to a local farm to pick out the prettiest, weirdest, biggest, and most colorful pumpkins. And apples — see No. 4, below.
2. Clean all those slimy pumpkin seeds, then toast and spice them for a crunchy snack.
3. Roast some of those pumpkins instead of carving them (OK, so we have to buy cooking pumpkins, not carving ones, for this) and make a few loaves of pumpkin bread with the soft, squashy results.
4. 

   Plentiful pumpkins.
   Concoct candy apples for a Halloween party, or coat them in caramel sauce instead. (And we’re sad that we can no longer give these away at the door to trick-or-treaters.)
5. Whip up a batch of homemade candy. Here we give kudos to Chow, which has made something of a specialty out of DIY versions of junk-food classics, such as Twinkies. Check out their latest article on DIY Halloween candy, including homemade versions of peanut-butter cups, Almond Joy, Twix, and Snickers.
6. Sample a pumpkin-flavored beer, such as Buffalo Bill’s Pumpkin Ale, Blue Moon’s Harvest Moon Pumpkin Ale, and Brooklyn Brewery’s Post Road Pumpkin Ale.
7. Make soup to eat before hitting the streets. Some fall favorites? White Bean, Chard, and Pasta Soup and Potato-Kale Soup.
8. And finally, build a bonfire, then stand around it sipping hot mulled cider (cider simmered in a pot with cinnamon sticks, cloves, and a little ground nutmeg and allspice).