Randy Sarafan grew up near apple orchards, like me, and shares with us his method for making delicious apple cider donuts.

Instructables user Jayefuu writes:

This is a recipe for a fantastic green thai curry paste. The original recipe I've long since lost, I make up a large batch once every 6 months or so and freeze it in blocks. Once made I can pull a block out the freezer any time I like and fry it with chicken, coriander, carrots, beans and coconut milk to make a wonderfully creamy curry.

Sarah James at Instructables is a tireless force when it comes to holiday eats (and food photography, holy delicious!). Behold her candy apple tutorial!

There's a spot I retreat to in the hills of New Hampshire where three heavily laden apple trees are completely overlooked by the locals in the fall. I'm not certain of the apple variety, but, other than the occasional black spot and worm hole, the fruit is incredibly crunchy, tart, and flavorful. The trees are flanked by a few smaller crab apple trees and, um, a graveyard. Some people could be creeped out thinking of their apples being fertilized by the dead. I, on the other hand, see it as a splendid way to participate in the inevitable cycle of life.

I managed to pull down about 40 pounds of apples a few weeks back and, upon returning to my humble city apartment, cooked up 15 pints of apple butter. Because, really, when is the last time you had some local, wild-foraged apple butter?

Now that Halloween is over, I feel like the holiday season is ready to begin. I love all the cooking and baking that happens this time of year, but most of all I love how the family gatherings always end up in the kitchen. I'm going to help you get ready for the first big one — Thanksgiving — by providing you with recipes and tips throughout the whole month of November.

I'm lucky that as a young bride, my mother-in-law gave me some excellent tips when it was time for me to host my first Thanksgiving. I especially appreciated her tips on how to roast a turkey. She introduced me to brining, something I had never before heard of, but I knew that the turkey I had eaten at her home was the best I'd ever had, so I followed her advice. Here is my twist on the brine recipe she first gave me as well some great tips for roasting a flavorful turkey. Anyone who's ever eaten my turkey says it's the best they've ever had. And it's all thanks to my mother-in-law. I'm lucky to have such a sweet one!

The leftover turkey carcass from this recipe makes the best homemade turkey broth, but you'll have to stay tuned throughout the month for that recipe, along with ideas for your side dishes and our family's favorite pumpkin pie recipe.

I have a story to share. The other day, I bought some pumpkin gnocchi, and last night I decided to make it with sage fried in brown butter to cheer up my sick husband. I checked my trusty copy of How to Cook Everything for the cooking time (they're done one minute after they rise to the surface), and put the water on to boil. Now, as the book said, the gnocchi rose to the surface, bubbling merrily away. It was 7:46 pm. I'll just give it an extra minute, I said to myself, to make sure they're really done. At 7:48, I reached for the pot to drain it into my colander, and all that was left was pumpkin water. (We had angel hair pasta with sage and brown butter sauce and it was delicious, thank you very much.)

So, this is all to say that despite my disastrous relationship with gnocchi, this sweet potato gnocchi recipe over at Sassy Radish looks good enough to tempt me to not just get back on the horse and cook gnocchi again, but to make it from scratch! But don't worry, I'll be watching that clock like a hawk.

Happy Halloween everybody! If you're having a party and looking to gross out your guests, try this bloody brain shooter cocktail recipe. It uses a little lime juice to curdle some Irish cream that you apply to the shot with a straw to make brain-like strands. Add a touch of grenadine "blood" for a final touch. [Thanks, Fil!]

How-To: Eat a Pomegranate - Natures Juice Box
By Wendy Tremayne

It is pomegranate season. Starting in September and continuing through February pomegranates all over the northern hemisphere are ripening. Native to Persia, popular in the Middle East and India, the pom is now cultivated all over the world. It was not until 2002, however, when a variety of U.S. studies pointed towards the fruit's health benefits, that pomegranate juice made it to U.S. grocery shelves. Perhaps the most curious thing about the fruit's long history, evidenced in literature since the written word began, is the fact that few people know how to eat one.

There are more than 700 varieties of pomegranates. Each fruit contains 600 or more juice-encapsulating seeds that range in taste from sweet to sour (higher tannins) and in color from pale yellow to red and dark purple. The pomegranate's nutritional value includes a good deal of vitamin C, B, and potassium, as well as antioxidant properties. Studies suggest that the pom offers benefits in preventing and/or treating health conditions such as prostate cancer, diabetes, lymphoma, the common cold, atherosclerosis, and coronary artery disease.

Baked eggs makes a tasty brunch that's just as easy to make for six guests as it is to make for yourself. The Kitchn has some great ideas for making this preparation method your own.

I'm not sure who decided that Halloween cupcakes, cookies, and regular-sized cakes were a good idea for Halloween, but I'm not the one to buck tradition, especially when it involves frosting. And creative decorating.

So over the years I've made quite a few graveyard cakes, and in recent years I've branched out to spider cakes, ghost cakes, jack-o-lantern cakes, and dirt cakes. I do, however, refuse to make a litter box cake, no matter how many times I get sent the photos, links, and recipe. Apparently, imitation cat poop is where I draw the line.

Ive figured out that donating the majority of the cakes to the local Halloween Carnival helps reduce sugar consumption. Well, until my kid wins a cake in the cakewalk and brings it back home. But at least I tried!

Here are some hints for making fabulous Halloween cakes, if you dare!

• For glowing eyes on the Ghost Cake, use halves of egg shells, rinsed off and dried. Then place a sugar cube in each half of the shell, poor a very small amount of lemon extract on the sugar cubes, and light that sucker. Don't leave this unattended!
• For the ghosts on the Graveyard Cake, I've used cut-and-slice cookie dough, cut out sugar cookies, and lollipops wrapped in white cloth. Whatever you've got around will suffice.
• For legs on the Spider Cake, find some Pockys, which are delicious cookies from Japan. I've found them at Cost Plus and specialty grocery stores. I also thought Pirouette wafers might work, or maybe even Twix bars.
• For all the cakes, don't be afraid to substitute Skittles for M&Ms for Reeses Pieces for Gummy Bears. Most anything will work when seen in context -- you're bound to hear "Oh, those are the spider's eyes," or "Oh, little bears are lining the walkway, how spooky!" (As opposed to, "Why did you use Skittles instead of M&Ms? That doesn't work at all!")

I'm not quite ready for winter, but I do love that soup season is on its way here. There are few experiences better than warming up to a bowl of hot soup after a long, cold day. And the flavor combinations that a bowl of soup can bring are unlimited: sweet, savory, hot, cold, spicy, mild, and everything in between. This recipe for Spiced Butternut Squash Apple Soup is a little of both sweet and savory. It's low in fat, full of veggies, but still filling. I recommend serving it with a fresh loaf of warm, crusty bread. If you have time, this recipe is fantastic, but bakery purchased bread works just as well.

To save time, you may purchase pre-peeled and chopped squash, available in many supermarkets. Just toss the cubes with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and roast as directed for the whole squash in the recipe below, though it will take less time.

Halloween is a great excuse to get a little greusome in the kitchen, and this meatloaf hand is a perfect example of that. Megan of not martha shows how she created the meatloaf masterpiece, complete with onion slice fingernails and wrist bones.

Instructables user NoFiller writes:

Pectin causes jams and jellies to gel. When using a pectin poor fruit, pectin must be added or the result will be nothing more than a fruit syrup. I refuse to use store bought pectin because I think it takes the craft out of jam and jelly making. Usually I just add apple skins and cores to whatever I'm making, but I thought I'd give making my own pectin a try.

Savory Baking: Warm and Inspiring Recipes for Crisp, Crumbly, Flaky Pastries by Mary Cech, photographs by Noel Barnhurst

As it gets colder this autumn, what could be lovelier than a leisurely weekend day in a warm kitchen? Baking at home is fun and rewarding, but there are only so many cookies and cakes you and your family can take. All that prep time and careful attention should yield a delicious and healthy meal with which to feed your family or guests, not just a guilty pleasure! I don't have a big sweet tooth, but I love to bake, which is why Savory Baking by Mary Cech is the perfect addition to my cookbook collection. The book starts out with an overview of ingredients, equipment, and techniques specific to baking, to ensure your success. More so than stove top dishes, it's important to know what to expect in a baking recipe, so the overview of crepe, souffle, and doughs techniques is empowering.

This book is full of inspiring dishes, broken down more by what type of pastry they use than what course they're for: quick breads, flaky pastry, rustic cobblers and betties, puff pastries, cookies, and, finally, sides and sauces. The gorgeous photos tend to draw focus to those particular recipes, but, really, every dish sounds delicious. Baking can be a time-intensive endeavor, so while I wish the book included time estimates for each recipe, I loved reading through the 75 delectable possibilities for this review.

The best part of reviewing a recipe book is the cooking (and subsequent eating), clearly. I decided to make the Cambozola Pear Cream Tart, and enlisted the help of a foodie friend. Read the full article for the free recipe! Baking is a great team-cooking activity, since there are usually different concurrent tasks to be done. It's a great time of year to make this recipe, since the pears at the market will be close to ripe enough already. We used Gorgonzola dolce instead of the suggested Camembert-Gorgonzola hybrid, Cambozola, since it looked really good at the Italian market, and both of us love the flavor. We used slightly more than the recipe called for, and the flavor came out delicate and subtle. I think next time I might try a little more cheese, even, to balance with the delicious walnut crust. The most challenging part of this recipe is working with the dough, which is crumbly and delicate, making it easy to overwork, and hard to get into the shell. Tarts are forgiving, though, so perfect placement in the pan isn't critical, as patching up cracks and holes is much easier than with a flaky pastry dough. Besides licking the filling-covered spatula afterward, my favorite part of this recipe was laying out the pear slice in the shell in a sunflower pattern. It's like a pretty little secret hidden under the cheesy filling.

This is great for the intermediately skilled home cook looking to expand his/her repertoire of favorites. The tart I made required that I know how to toast walnuts (dry in a pan is how we did it), separate eggs (crack the whole thing into a bowl and pick up the yolk with your fingers), handle fancy cheese (remove the foil but let the food processor handle the rind), and work with delicate dough (I used a big cake mover to transfer it to the tart pan). Many of the recipes in Savory Baking are sure to become family holiday favorites, and this book would make a fantastic gift for the foodie in your life who's looking for a new set of ideas to tackle. It's inspiring because of the clever ingredient combinations and "why didn't I think of that?" touches that really satisfy the itch to make something lovely and delicious. Check out my Flickr set with more pictures from the making of this recipe.

Book Giveaway Time!

Three lucky CRAFT winners will win a copy of this book, Savory Baking! Leave a comment on this post telling us why you want this book. Make sure to enter your email address in the form field (won't be published). All comments will be closed Wednesday, October 28th at noon PDT. The winners will be announced on the CRAFT Twitter feed later this week. Good luck!

Goli makes a spectacular Dark and Stormy, and when you make one with snow, I think that it's only fair to call it a Dark and Snow-Stormy.

Dark and Snow-Stormy
1 1/2 ounces of rum
4 ounces ginger beer
Generous squeeze of lime

Pack the glass with snow, and then add the ginger beer. Pour in the rum, and add the squeeze of lime.

These chocolate skulls are made in molds cast from real human skulls. Available in your choice of chocolates, including "bone chocolate," "delicious blend of Belgian milk and white chocolates, resembling the colour of freshly cleaned human bones." [via Neatorama]

This autumn take on a cookie classic from Giggly Mama and Family seems like the perfect treat to bake up this weekend! YUM!

These cherry cream cheese danish from Niesz Vintage Home look so yummy and easy to put together. I can't wait to try them for a special breakfast soon!

The farm collective I am a member of is rapidly canning their late tomatoes, before the rain splits them all on the vine. If you find yourself in the same situation or are considering canning as holiday gifts, consider these wonderful labels. They are inexpensive, functional, and lovely. Add your own unique text to the template and choose a color. Lelo in Nopo Handmade takes care of the rest.

Sarah Lohman has a blog called Four Pounds Flour, which is all about historic gastronomy. She writes:

Why bother deciphering a recipe over 150 years old?

You can take a recipe, a collection of words and measurements written long ago, and turn it into something physical. You can create an object that looks, smells, and tastes like something that existed hundreds of years ago. And that's the next best thing to time travel: it's a window to the past that lets you understand a little bit about another way of life.

I ate some of her Chocolet Puffs from the Haveymeyer Sugar Sweets Sale earlier this month, and they were delicious! If you like food and history, you might give her blog a follow.

Having never been a cold cereal fan, I love when the cool fall mornings arrive because it's such a great excuse to make something hearty and yummy for breakfast. This oatmeal recipe tastes just like everyone's favorite pumpkin pie, but with a lot less sugar and fat. It's hard enough to get out of bed during the fall and winter months when it's so dark and cold. The rich smell of this delicious oatmeal will call you from your slumbers, and the added protein and fiber from the whole oats give you that boost of energy your body needs to start the day.

Sarah James at Instructables shows us how to make a Halloween take on deviled eggs: deviled eyes!

I love popcorn balls — who doesn't? Truthfully I can't remember the last time I ate one. But it's a sure bet I know when my next one will be: right after I finish taking the photos for this post. Growing up, Mrs. Adams, my best friend's mom and our Brownie Troup leader, made the best popcorn balls of all time. They were pink and I begged my mom to make the exact same ones but they never tasted the same. Now that I think back on it, my mom only kept margarine in the house and Mrs. Adams must have used butter.

As a kid I was treated to all sorts of decorated foods that took on the characteristics of either an animal or some sort of character. I was a finicky eater as a toddler, so to make eating more fun my mom did a little food styling with celery sticks, cling peaches, and raisins and made little stick figures. For my birthday, it was either the Barbie-style doll cake (2 half round layers of cake around the doll's body to create her skirt) or the classic Baskin-Robbins clown cone (an ice cream cone turned upside down so that scoop is the face and the cone is the hat, decorated accordingly), which they still make today.

I had never encountered a decorated popcorn ball until recently. I was flipping through the pages of Better Homes & Gardens Birthdays and Family Celebrations, published in 1963. Featured in the Halloween section, there is a "delightful idea" for dad and the kids to have a little popcorn ball decorating party. They looked so freakin' cute that I just had to try them out for myself.

I suggest you treat this like a craft project. Take a trip to a shop like the Sweet Factory (where you can purchase small amounts of candy) and be inspired by what they have in the bins. The cake-decorating aisle at most major craft stores is where you can find the nut cups that they are propped on. Or, if you have the time, search eBay or Etsy for vintage or decorated nut cups.

It's easy and fun to create adorable edible pumpkin decorations in no time. Just use delicious almond paste, or marzipan to sculpt as if you were working with clay. Almond paste just blanched almonds and sugar, ground into a paste. Marzipan is almond paste, plus flour. Either one will work perfectly for this project. I chose to use almond paste because it tends to have flecks of color in it from the skins of the almonds, while the candy dough of marzipan is more often pure white. I wanted the flecks because I think it lends some extra realism to the final pumpkin. Use the decorations on cakes, or just serve them as their own yummy treats. Once I covered an entire chocolate cake with pumpkins, pears and apples. Make them ahead of any event, and then store in the fridge for up to one week.

For more inspiration, check out the Quick Craft article in Craft Magazine, Vol. 5.

Instructables user megmaine writes:

Fresh raw almond milk is delicious, healthy, unprocessed, and economical. There is no waste, no unrecyclable plastic-lined tetra-pak boxes or cartons to put in landfills and drink BPA out of, and this tastes much, much better than storebought. The resulting almond meal is a free bonus, useful in cookies, crumb crusts, porridge, granolas, or in lieu of bread crumbs in stuffings and dressings, breaded crusts, etc.

PT on the MAKE blog points to this Starry nom edible masterpiece...

Growing up in northern New Mexico has left an indelible mark on my senses, particularly my sense of taste. I love spicy food, I hate cilantro (it's not commonly used in New Mexican cooking), and I'll always pick pintos over black beans.

In the fall, you could walk into any kitchen in almost any northern NM village and find a pot of pintos beans simmering on the stovetop. If you were even luckier, there'd be fresh red chile sauce simmering next to the beans, some homemade flour tortillas wrapped in foil in the oven, and maybe even some crumbled chorizo sitting in a skillet nearby.

A pot of frijoles is easy and economical to make, plus fills your tummy with something yummy and satiates the craving for warm, nourishing food I get when the weather starts to cool down. The only hard part of the recipe at all is that you need to soak the dried beans overnight, so plan ahead!

When I was setting out to write down the recipe and document the process, it got me thinking about other New Mexican dishes I'd like to share -- calabacitas, posole, homemade tortillas, sopapillas, and more. Stay tuned!

Recipe: Pinto Beans

Ingredients
Pinto beans about 2 cups dried
Stock or water
Onion 1 medium, chopped
Garlic 3-4 cloves, minced
Red chile powder New Mexico is best. Found in the Hispanic section of the grocery store, usually in cellophane packets.
Vegetable oil for sauteing garlic and onions (optional)