Halloween How-To: Martha Stewart This Halloween, I've costumed you as some of the biggest forces in the design world: Jonathan Adler, Simon Doonan, and Kelly Wearstler. But, you must also consider the queen bee homemaker herself, Martha Stewart.
For election night, go patriotic with the decor. Serve the food on modern, red trays. Since Liberty and I are hosting our bash at a local bar, the napkins and plates will be paper and plastic. Tie red, white, and blue balloons to the bar ends. Serve the drinks in Obama or McCain cups. Arrange a bouquet of red, white, and blue flowers. Hang a stars and stripes banner above the door, so guests know they are at the right bar. Put white candles in red glass votives and place them on the bar tables. When guests arrive, offer them a metallic star necklace.
How's this for a Halloween fright? A woman in Auckland, New Zealand, was opening a package of Heinz-Watties "choice cut" frozen green beans when she came across a strange-looking foreign object. The unidentified frozen object in question was a shrunken mouse's head.
"I thought it was a little husk or something so I took it out of the microwave and pulled it out. It had eyes looking back at me," said Jacquie Lewis, the surprised recipient. If she hadn't stopped to take a closer look at the one-centimeter-wide object, she could have eaten it. She described the experience as "incredibly nauseating. I thought, 'If this is your head, where exactly is the rest of you?'"
Heinz-Watties explained that wildlife can get into its food products from time to time, but the thought of this happening to someone still makes me shudder. Have you ever found something in your store-bought products that shouldn't have been there?
Just in time for Halloween, Dylan's Candy Bar in New York City has expanded. An additional 5,000 square feet have been added, making it the largest candy store in the world. Opened in September 2001 by Dylan Lauren, daughter of fashion icon Ralph, the store sells more than 5,000 varieties of candy — from bulk chocolate treats and gummy candies to 21 different colors of M&Ms and novelty sweets such as three-foot-tall lollipops and candy mobile phones. A real-life Candyland, Dylan's is a destination for kids and adults alike with its candy-themed clothing and jewelry, a private party room, and a soda shop.
To celebrate the store's expansion, Dylan's hosted a grand reopening party earlier this week that brought out the child in all of its attendees, including yours truly! Here's my behind-the-scenes look at the fiesta.
Behind Valentine's Day and Christmas, Halloween is the third biggest candy-selling holiday of the year. For kids, trick-or-treating makes Halloween one of the year's best holidays; for adults, Halloween is an occasion to buy scrumptious sweets.
I've already purchased Reese's peanut butter cups, because they're my cutie's favorite. But what will you be handing out? Will it be your favorite candy (since you finally have an excuse to buy it!), or will it be something you don't like, so you won't eat it? Are you giving out traditional candy bars, or opting for homemade treats, like caramel apples or popcorn balls?
I was thrilled last weekend when, while out eating Chinese, I came across a Taiwanese small plate that I enjoyed growing up. It's slivered pig's ears, and it's delicious, with a light soy-sauce flavor and both a gelatinous and crunchy texture.
This soup ends up being a good source of three blood pressure-lowering minerals since the milk adds calcium and the potatoes deliver a dose of potassium, as well as magnesium.
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Just Cavalli
Max Mara