COSTUMES

I am kitten, hear my roar says your costume. Will you be naughty or nice when you masquerade at the local Halloween events, bars or home costume parties? From siren to pirate, sexy French maid to gorilla, Halloween costumes for adults are all the rage.

Buy a complete costume, or gimmick together bits and pieces. Walgreen’s and CVS Pharmacies have lots of cosmetics, goth nails, glow in the dark paint, body adhesives, masks, fangs and other Halloween accessories. Party City and the local Spirit shops are excellent costume and home party resources, as are WalMart and Target. My favorite are the Tampa Bay thrift and vintage shops,where you can creatively mix and match a gangster and moll, or flapper and zoot suiter such as Sherry’s YesterDAZE Vintage Clothing & Antiques (www.yesterdazevintage.com), the Wooden Nickle (http://woodennickeltampa.webs.com/) or La France. Barely there costumes can be found at Todd’s Couples Superstore (www.toddcouples.com) or Rena’s Wild Wear.

PUMPKIN CARVING

Find your jack o’lantern at the pumpkin patch or local grocery store and pick up your carving tools and kids at WalMart, Target, Michael’s, JoAnne’s. For more ideas , go to www.pumpkin-carving.com/.
First, draw your design on the pumpkin with a water-based marker beforehand. Mistakes are erased easily with a damp sponge.
• Cut the top and any large areas with a sharp, straight-edged knife or serrated metal saw from a carving kit. Carve away from yourself.
• When carving, keep a portion of the knife blade in the pumpkin and use slow, steady saw strokes.
• Cut the lid at an angle so the outside diameter is larger than the inside.This prevents the top from falling into the pumpkin when it shrinks.
• Scoop out seeds and stringy flesh with a large spoon or ice cream scooper.
• Carve the facial features closest to the center first and work outward. Cut out the larger features in sections.
• Use an X-Acto knife for details and the tip of a potato peeler to make small circles and curves.
• Remove carved portions by gently pushing them into or out of the pumpkin.
• Reattach a section that is accidentally removed by using a toothpick to pin it back in place.
• Make design holes large enough to provide adequate ventilation for the candle.
• Flatten a spot in the base of the pumpkin for the candle but avoid digging too deep because the pumpkin becomes prone to rot.
• Make sure the flame is not too close to the top of the pumpkin.
• To prolong the life of the jack-o'-lantern, seal in moisture by coating all cut surfaces with petroleum jelly or vegetable oil, or cover it with a damp towel when not on display.
• You can also use stickers, tempera paint, or markers to decorate their own pumpkins.

HOUSE PARTIES

Spook your guests with mood lighting, spooky music and lots of haunting decorations as they walk up to the house such as skulls that shriek when you walk by or zombies that pop out of tombstones. Line the walkway with lit jack o’lanterns, fill the house with spider webs filled with spiders, dry ice cauldrons and sheet draped ghosts
Serve lots of orange and black food, bowls of gummy candy spiders and fingers, and these cheesy eyeballs and Black Cat cocktail.

CHEESY EYEBALLS

1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Hungarian sweet paprika
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 pound (2 cups) shredded cheddar cheese
1 stick (1/2 cup or 8 Tablespoons) very cold butter, cut into small cubes
24 small pimento-stuffed green olives
1. Whisk together salt, paprika and flour. Set aside.
2. Place the cheddar cheese and butter in a food processor. With machine running, slowly pour the flour mixture down the feed chute and stop as soon as the mixture is combined. Do not over-process.
3. To make the cheese eyeballs, take about 1 teaspoon of the mixture and form it around an olive, leaving the large end with the pimento exposed. Place on prepared baking sheet with "eye" staring upward at a slight angle. Repeat with all of the olives. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight.

Black Cat Cocktail

Pour the vodka and brandy into a glass filled with ice, then add equal amounts cranberry juice and cola.
1 oz vodka
1 oz cherry brandy
cranberry juice
cola

For more information on things to do for Halloween, check out the Guide to Halloween in Tampa