Halloween Treats from Tantalizing to Terrifying!

This weekend, even though the mercury is still hovering around 80º in my Northern California town, we pulled out our Halloween decorations and began decking the house both inside and out in preparation for the spookiest holiday of the year. Fall is my favorite season for many reasons. Having grown up in Hawaii, I never got to experience a change of seasons, never got to see the leaves turn every year, never had to wear a coat over my Halloween costume. I love all those parts about the fall, but what I love most is being able to break out hearty, homey (and yes, sometimes creepy!) autumn recipes.

Once our Indian summer starts to wane, we might start our mornings with a warming bowl of oatmeal made with low-fat milk and topped with honey, cinnamon and dried fruit, or a plate of heavenly pumpkin pancakes with a luscious yogurt-raisin topping. On Halloween morning, however, my girls might find themselves face-to-face with a creepy black forest haunted smoothie. That is sure to wake them up!

Snacks include pumpkin cookies or pumpkin bread, roasted pumpkin seeds, or pumpkin-shaped cheddar cheese bites (cut-out with a small cookie cutter).

Dinners often feature hearty Moroccan vegetable stews served over couscous, slow-cooked lamb shanks with creamy-cheesy polenta, chicken and dumplings, or our family favorite cheese ravioli with pumpkin sauce. And sometimes we reverse that and serve pumpkin ravioli with a blue cheese and sage sauce.

Before going out trick-or-treating this year, we'll cap off our meal with these Pumpkin Yogurt Cheesecake Shakes.  That should give my girls the energy they need to circle the entire neighborhood (twice) in search of treats.

What are your favorite Halloween recipes or traditions?