Another Spooky Halloween Treat

By Sandy Hu

I love Halloween but I often don’t have time to bake something special. Rather than ignoring the holiday, this year, I cheated with a baking mix and canned frosting, just so I could have fun making some ghoulish treats. If you have time to bake from scratch, so much the better, of course.

I baked up a batch of chocolate cupcakes from the mix, spread the cupcakes with canned frosting, then sprinkled them with chocolate cooking crumbs for “dirt.” Then I had two ideas for decorating: one uses Milano cookies for headstones to make mini graveyards. The other, featured here, turns cupcakes into pumpkin patches planted with marzipan pumpkins.

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Trick-or-Treating Pasta Party

By Marilyn Hunter

On a night like Halloween, the last thing you’re thinking about is dinner. Luckily, my boys love pasta … all shapes and sizes. It’s one of their favorite dinners as long as there’s plenty of Parmesan cheese. Andrew calls them “Parm junkies!”

I figure things could be worse. I care more that they’ll eat lots of goodies that are good for them, especially on this night of goblins.

Before setting out for a marathon night of trick or treating, fuel your little ones with a pasta party fit for an athlete (Ben is James Harden on the Thunder) or a hungry gangster (Nick is Al Capone). Setting up a carb-loading pasta bar pleases everyone, gives them the energy they need and cuts your workload in half.

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Long Day, Short Night

By Lori Powell

Lately I have been working into the evening Monday through Friday and then at least one day on the weekend. So I’m trying to get better at meal planning.

I love leftovers so that’s not the problem. I just don’t love the same dish for three nights in a row.

So I am trying to make things that I can transform easily into something else. One of my tricks is roasting a ton of vegetables -- roasted vegetables are one of fall and winter’s delights. All you need is a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and any fresh or dried herbs that you have kicking around, and you have a meal starter for a week’s worth of dinners.

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All Hallows Eve Supper

By Katie Barreira

This Halloween, for the first time since moving to Manhattan almost seven years ago, I will be receiving trick-or-treaters. As someone who participated in the ritual candy gathering far beyond the socially sanctioned age (I was still casing the neighborhood for candy when most kids my age had a plan of attack that included toilet paper), I take my new role as purveyor of treats very seriously.

Since Halloween falls on a pesky weeknight, it’s important to be prepared. I recall sitting down to dinner and getting only a few bites in before the doorbell would begin to ring. So, for Halloween dinner this year, I’ve decided to make a bubbling cauldron of cheese fondue with seasonal veggies for dipping; it’s the perfect meal to be taken in bites between my ghostly guests.

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Rice Cooker Stars in Pantry Meals

By David Hu

Last week was Pantry Week on Special Fork and I shared some of my favorite tips and tricks for what to stock in your pantry. One thing I didn’t mention is my trusty rice cooker. A rice cooker is key to effectively using rice, a go-to pantry staple, since it cooks your rice for you while you make the rest of the meal.

So with that in mind, we’ve been running a Zojirushi rice cooker sweepstakes than ends this week (Sunday Oct 21, 2012). It’s not too late to get in on the action. Click here to enter.

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