A Cozy Halloween Party

 This isn't the year for big ,lavish Halloween dos;. A smaller one with just the family is not only budget affordable but nice and comforting.There's something cozy about having a fun meal with family or a very small group of friends. You can still have the Halloween  themed foods - just without all the hullabaloo.

What's a party without pizza. You can easily create one with ready made dough and sauce. Pillsbury along with stores like Stop and SHop and Acme sell premade tubes of dough. Have the kids - or friends - create fun jack'o lantern faces using peppers and olives.  You can also used cut salame and ham for the face if you;'re into meat lovers pies. Another fun idea is jack o lantern stuffed peppers.These are regular stuffed peppers.It's just carving out faces in bell peppers. Stuff them with a fun chili like stuffing. Add a good pinch of garlic /pepper blend into the ground beef , turkey or plant based meat. You can top them with slices of cheddar cheese too. This brings to mind jack o lantern cheeseburgers. Cut out two triangles and a crooked smile on cheese and place on grilling burgers.The cheese should melt all over the burger creating a pumpkin effect. A totally different twist is serving the elegant pumpkin soup. THis is a tasty blend of pureed pumpkin, sauteed onions, chicken or veggie broth and whole cream. This is the perfect potage for a chilly fall night.

What about desserts? COnsider graveyard pudding cups that are mini trifles of layers of crushed chocolate cookies and chocolate pudding.Take Pepperidge Farms Milano cookies and write RIP on them to represent tombstones. You can also turn the cups into pumpkin patch by switching in a few candy pumpkins and gummy worms.Another idea is pretzel pumpkins. Tis is dipping small pretzels in orange white chocolate  and letting them set .They'll resemble pumpkins when they dry. Add green icing leaves. A fun spin on a caramel apple is a stuffed baked apple. Core four apples. Layer, chopped caramel, butter  and chopped nuts in the core area. Microwave for a couple of minutes and serve with either whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. ANother idea is a caramel apple cone.Layer ice cream, chopped apples tossed in cinnamon and caramel in a waffle cone. You can also do a Halloween treat bag cone. Add any flavor ice cream and layer with mini M&M;s mini Reeses cups and brokem candy bar pieces. Add some syrup if you want  or add a chocolate hard shell or it.

 Halloween is always more special if spent with family and a small group of friends. Have a tiny party with good food and desserts. It Amy be your most memorable one.

Can Gen Z Be Influenced To Cook

 Can the next generation cook? Yes, thanks to influencers and platforms they can stir and whip. Now there are chefs who are Tiktok stars that are also urging them to open a cookbook and cook.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this in yesterday's New York Times Wednesday Food section. She focuses on Tini Younger who has influenced hundred of Gen Z wanna be cooks.  She is a chef, unlike other Tiktok cooks, graduating from the Disney Culinary Institute in Oelando FLoritda. She is one of the most popular figures on the platform.This Tuesday shell be publishing her first book Today We Are Cooling----, a collection of recipes that is also a teaching manual.There are no corners cut. SHee doesn't recommend utsing pregrated cheese.She urges readers to grate it fresh.It comes with detailed photography demonstrating basic culinary techniques. The books should sell well thanks to her legions of followers. In JUly Time Magazine named her a "Titan", one of the world's most influential digital creators, along podcasters Joe Rogen and Alex Cooper and the comedian Kareen Rahna,. TikTok even sent her to represent its' brand at the Cannes Lions, the annual media and entertaining gathering that follows the famed Canne Film Festival.The Times gives tow fo her recipes, her famed baked macaroni and cheese and her peach so there's pork chops.

Yet is Gen Z ready to cook?According to a 2025 research by the Food Industry Association they like the idea of cooking but the least likely to cook at home.They are turned off by the high price and would rather use Uber Eats for the easiness of it.Blame their parents too. Millennials  doubled down during the pandemic with such influencers as JOanna Gaines of Magnolai,Meredith Hayden of Wishbone kitchen and Hannah Neelman of the famed Ballerina Farm.They flourished on INstagram.Cookbooks by and for this newest generation are just hitting the market.Another Tiktok favorite, Nara Aziza Smith a firmer model, at age twenty five and mother for four published her first cookbook.Homemade. Her style is young trophy wife getting all d ressed up in make up a nd gown (she is a former model)Still, influencer cookbook sales are uneven.It;'s iffy if kids will purchase a book that has recipes they can get on line.Somerimes it works as with Joanne Lee Molinaro who published the niche The author's fan helped boost sales.

Can all this make Gen Z cook? Maybe . Yet the urge can also come from family and culture more than influencers. It's up to them in the end.

Scary Candy Scary Pricing.

 How can anyone not give out candy for Halloween? It's tradition.It's part of the American canon. Yet with rising costs treat givers are having tummy aches about what and how much to give out.

Regular contributor Kim Severson delved into this new All Hallows scare in today's New York Times Wednesday Food section.. Cany , especially  chocolate prices on on a rise. - as is everything these days.Once recent survey has shown that seventeen popular Halloween candies showed a fifteen per cent jump in cost. A one hundred piece bag of candy is now a whopping $16.96 up a staggering seventy- one percent since 2 021 according to a digital media company finance Buzz. Google's most highly rated search was "where can I find cheap Halloween candy?" Thanks to this candy sales are down six percent this October compared to last year at this time. why the high prices?  Blame global warming. A climate driven cacao supply crisis sent prices to record highs in 2025. Companies then began formulating their chocolates with less expensive ingredients and selling smaller packages at higher prices. A bag of Reeses  miniatures now weighs  15.8 ounces than last year's 17.6 and costs a dollar fifty more.

What;s a treat  giver to do? Well luckily, kids are going away from chocolate. preferring the tart and zingy flavors of  Sour Patch Kids ,Skittles, and Nerd  Gummy Clusters.Others are giving away cheaper treats like temporary tattoos and trinkets that can be bought in bulk at lower prices.One treat giver, Tami Adolphson of Salt Lake City considered  turning off her porch light and ignoring  the kids. She and her husband closed down their trucking business last year so their budget is tight.Yet how could she miss out on a very satisfying experience? She caved in and went to CostCo where she s[ent $21.39 on a bag of mixed chocolate bars. Another way of celebrating the holiday is giving out much need school supplies.Cynthia Thomasset of Shilling ham PA. not far from  Philadelphia is doing just that. She plans to have plenty on hand because her neighborhood draws a lot of kids from poorer neighborhoods. People are getting creative. Angie Vasey of  Round Lake Illinois  will be giving out ramen,Magen and Matt Pillan will be giving out some candy but with a cup of Matt's homemade chili. However some don't; care about the costs like Mitch Collins of Oakdale California He bought close to two hundred dollars for candy just to keep up the traditiion,

Is keeping  a Halloween tradition work the high cost? Some say yes.Some say no. It's really depends on the cost and the budget.

A Good Fiber Diet

 Does the average American get enough fiber? That depends on the diet they're under.Women should have fifteen grams while men should bee eating eighteen grams a day,Yet thanks o busy lives, those recommendations are ignored. What to do ?Follow a good fiber rich diet.

Regular contributor for the paper''s nutrition and health Alice Callahan wrote about this dilemma and provided a diet in todays;; new York Times Tuesday Science Times. Why a push for fiber? Because it one of the best strategies for improving health.It nourishes gut microbes, lowers blood pressure and cholesterol and improves digestion. It also helps and improves heart health and reduces Type 2 Diabetes and such cancers as colon and stomach cancer as well as breast and ovarian cancer too.Many people flimch when they hear that they need to put some fiber in their lives yet it's easy. Fruit and veggies have it.  This makes for refreshing eating. Instead of the usual breakfast Ms.Callahan recommends a bowl for melon chunks and grapes and a blueberry muffin.The average breakfast of bagels, butter eggs and bacon have none. A side of lemon or grapes and a kind of dessert could work too.Another idea is scrambling eggs with beans or veggies (May the last so not to create a gassy stomach for work)Avocaod toast works because avocado holds five grams of fiber. Another day starter has scrambled eggs cooked with pepper  spinach and black beans.Rolled oats can have raspberries and pecans, Flax seeds and chia seeds also raise the fiber levels 

What about lunch? The average sandwich on plain white bread has no grams of fiber.Adding lettuce and tomato slices help but not by much. Switch  it out to a colorful salad> The bowlful CNA still have tasty ingredients like ham and cheese but then added veggies like cucumbers and tomatoes along with shredded romaine lettuce leaves.Avocado toast or pita with hummus also makes an excellent fiber rich mood day meal;For  a hot meal think brown rice and lentils.Dinner has fiber rich pasta and rice which are versatile. Ms. Callahan suggests fettuccine with  two and a half grams of fiber cooked with shrimp  and Alfredo sauce.TRy  chickpea pasta which is super fiber rich at eleven grams with peas and a homemade pesto sauce,The peas are fiber rich with three and a half grams of fiber and the sauce which has .5 grams.Quinoa and  mashed potatoes also have fiber.Mashed potatoes have three  grams and its; paired with grilled chicken breast and salad. Quinoa is served with tempeh, edamame and fiber rich sweet potatoes for a tasty and different dinner.

Fiber is important to the body. Try to incorporate it into the daily diet. It could be in any meal to snacl. Just have it .

Your Go To Sick Day Food

 It may just be a bowl of steaming chicken and rice.It may be plain buttered pasta. Or a cooling ftosty malted>These are the go to foods we want and rave when we feel sick.

What doI  need?A hot soup maybe my bisnonn'a;or great grandmother's recipe for the Piedmontese classic pane pesto ro pom piest.This is a bread crumb soup similar to egg drop. Yet instead of cornstarch thickening it. it;s bread crumbs with beaten egg and broth. It is perfect for those days when I just want to crawl back under the covers.

What s your favorite when you're not up to par. Let us know and if you;re sick, fee better!

Better Than Take Out

Nothing beats a Saturday night of Chniese food what can be better? Actually the homemade version of it - namely the much beloved beef and broccoli. This is an easy dish that can be made up in less time than a delivery.

I have been craving beef and broccoli for a long time. Yet nowadays it's expensive to order take out from my favorite place. I created a simple four ingredient version t hat's beyond tasty.

I used Beyond Steak bits mixed with frozen broccoli.The broccoli was microwaved for three minutes first and then added to the olive oil sauteed beef tips

Flavoring was low sodium soy sauce and Clover Valleys cayenne  pepper - garlic mix. This last added so much flavor and I definitely recommend it for other recipes(I plan on adding a pinch in my tomato sauce for pasta for some kickiness.

Add a good quarter of a cup of the soy (you can add more if you find it the beef and broccoli too bland). and then add the broccoli

I added a healthy pinch of the cayenne pepper garlic mix. This is adequate and flavors the mix nicely.

Cook for about ten to fifteen minutes over a medium flame then let it simmer over a lower one. At this point to make it truly authentic, microwave rice as a side.

This was one of the best vegan beef and broccoli  I've had. The cayenne garlic  elevates both the Beyond Steak and broccoli;I. It definitely added punch to it and made it so much better than the take out version.

You don't need a take out to enjoy a Saturday night. Try this version for a delicious variation of the classic take out dish. It's way better with an extra kick

 

Easy Meals Easy Ingredients

It is hard to create and cooks even days a week. What do you make to satisfy not only family but self? There is a way. Just use simple ingredients that can be stretched into a variety of different dishes. Its easy and the recipes that come with it are easy too.

Regular contributor and master chef Yotam Ottolenghi wrote about this in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. He recommends using versatile ingredients like tomato sauce eggs and rice which figure large in the recipes he also gives.Tomato sauce can go over pasta one night while the next has it spooned over grilled fish or canned beans.Another way is t focus on the here and now of the hour. Cook something easy but substantial, complex but doable. Think a herby frittata with a whole block of feta dropped right in the middle. He gives a recipe for this .The frittata has eight large eggs  ,perfect for a family of four, along with a medium onion and baby spinach.These ingredients along make for a nice and light supper but Chef Ottolenghi adds a variety of bright herb.There's dill and cuminl eaves along with fiery Aleppo pepper for bite.  Then there's that big block of feta the eggs and other ingredients are whisked together and ser into a baking pan. The block of cheese is put in the middle and its  put on the middle rack of a 375 degree prep heated Farenheit oven. It can be served with toasty and buttered sourdough slices for more heartiness.

His sauce is  an unusual spin on a classic recipe.Any kind of tomato is used  ans he recommends using two pounds. Also two heads of garlic are minced and added in. Fresh herbs like oregano are also added a long with "soft" herbs like basil mint or tarragon (for a more authentic sauce just use basil)Sherry vinegar is also used for tang as is a pinch of sugar to contact the tomatoes' tang. This is not a traditional sauce.The tomatoes are roasted in a 375 degree Farenheit oven,  for thirty five to forty minutes. Stir occasionally and then remove. Once cooled add the sherry vinegar and garlic along with oil then mash the garlic cloves.Add fusilli pasta toss together and then add generous amounts of Parmesan cheese. There is also baked garlic rice. This has two cups of the long grained basmati rice first rinsed for a fluffier texture ans then added to a sheet pan with garlic and drizzled with olive oil.The garlic is roasted first in a pan in a 425 degree Farenheit oven for fifteen minutes. The ovenheat is raised to 475 Farenheit and the rice , four tablespoons of butter  and cloves along with cardommon, lemon ,zest and chicken broth is cooked in this .Stir well, nestle the garlic in the rice, heads up and bake for another twenty five minutes inder a foil tent. remove from the oven let the rice steam and thenash the garlic into the dish. Serve.

These are easy dishes with easy recipe and ingredients. They'rea tasty dinner for a busy night. Try them for simple but delicious eating.