Eat Your Heart Out

What's cookin' good lookin'? Here are some of my favorite (and super easy) fall recipes. Grab your boyfriend, roommate, or the little kid down the street you babysit and try these traditional treats out for size.

Candied Carmel Apples
The season just got a whole lot sweeter.
Ingredients:

• Butter or margarine for greasing
  
• 5 apples
  
• 14 oz. of caramel candies (1 package)
• 1 teaspoon water
• 1/2 cup of crushed nuts or candies

Directions:

Line a cookie sheet with wax paper, and grease with a dab of butter or margarine. Wash the apples in a colander and dry them with a kitchen towel. If they have stems, you may need to help remove them. Insert a craft stick into each apple. Unwrap the caramel candies and add them to a microwave-safe bowl. Measure out the water and add that to the candies.

Place in the microwave and heat on high for about 3 minutes. Stop the microwave and stir the caramels every minute or so. While you hold the bowl (be sure to use oven mitts--some bowls get very hot!), stir with a wooden spoon or a spatula. Continue heating the caramels until they are completely melted and smooth.

Carefully remove the caramels from the microwave. Dip the apples into the caramel and hold them over the bowl to let the excess caramel drip away. Dip once or twice to coat the apples. If you like, you can also dip them into the nuts or candies. Set them on the buttered wax paper to cool.

Sweet & Salty Pumpkin Seeds
You'll end up wanting a pumpkin-patch worth.
Ingredients:

• 2 cups separated and dried pumpkin seeds (from your jack-o'-lantern!)
  
• 1/4 cup melted butter
  
• 2 tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/4 tsp. kosher salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, toss the seeds with the butter and either the savory or sweet seasonings. Spread the seeds evenly in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring the seeds every few minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely. Taste the seeds and re-season if desired.

Tips:
Choose sweet (sugar and cinnamon) or savory ingredients (cumin and salt), or try a sweet and salty mix.

Creepy Crawly Peanut Butter Spider Snacks
C'mon. We're all kids on Halloween.
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup peanut butter
  
• 1/2 cup honey
  
• 1 cup non-fat powdered milk
• Graham crackers
• Raisins or currants
• Pretzel sticks

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, beat the peanut butter with the honey and the powdered milk. The mixture should form a dough. Place on your work space. Use three-quarters of the dough to make balls the size of walnuts. Form the remaining dough into smaller-sized balls. Lay out the graham crackers. Place a large ball and a small one on each graham cracker. Cut the raisins or currants in half and place them on the small ball for eyes. Break pretzel sticks into desired lengths, then push in four pretzel sticks on each side of the spider's body to make legs.

And don't worry. That award-winning homemade Halloween costume you're working on? You've got time.

Images and recipes from nickjr.com