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Crave-Worthy Recipes

Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins

Rice Krispie Treat Pumpkins_3

No tricks here! These Rice Krispie pumpkins are the easiest treat on the block. Make them for Halloween or for Thanksgiving, and they’ll be just as festive. If you’ve ever made Rice Krispie Treats before, you know your hands can get pretty messy. That marshmallow mixture can stick to your fingers and become really frustrating — but don’t fret! I’ve figured out how to rolls the balls without making a mess. Also try these Mummy Rice Krispie Treats for Halloween. The trick? Spray your hands with nonstick cooking spray, like Pam. I’ve tried all sorts of methods, including butter, but nothing works better than Pam. Just trust me on this. Spray your palms with a healthy coating and rub them together like you would to put on lotion. This way, you get the oil around the sides of your fingers and in all of the little corners that marshmallow could…

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Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are America’s favorite Halloween candy, poll finds

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are America's favorite Halloween candy, poll finds

Americans love Halloween candy, but let’s face it — not all candies are created equal. Some candy gets devoured before Halloween even ends, and others will linger clear through the New Year. So which candies do Americans like most? Perhaps not surprising to peanut butter fanatics, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are America’s favorite Halloween treat (36%), according to a recent poll conducted by Monmouth University. Snickers came in second (18%), M&M’s ranked third (11%), and Hershey bars and candy corn rounded out the top five (each with 6%). “Candy corn even making the list may surprise some people, but it is one of the top-selling Halloween candies in the country,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute. Love it or hate it, check out The Sweet History of Candy Corn. America’s Favorite Candies According to the poll, these are America’s top 10 favorite Halloween candies: Reese’s…

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A fun sized history lesson on fun sized candy bars

A fun sized history lesson on fun sized candy bars

Shouldn’t “fun sized” candy bars be really big and the ones given out on Halloween you eat in one bite be named something less rosy? It’s a question just about every kid in the past 50 years has asked themselves on Oct. 31. But just when did these bite-sized Butterfingers and snack-sized Snickers become the norm? Well, it seems the first shrunken versions of popular candy bars can be credited to the former Chicago-based Curtiss Candy Company. Now part of Nestlé thanks to a series of mergers and acquisitions, the company produced a “Buddie” size Baby Ruth bar in the early 1930s. “Junior” sized versions of their Baby Ruth and Butterfingers candy bars came along in the 1950s. Hershey also got in on the game early when it began selling its sleek “Miniatures” candy bars in 1939. Small candy bars had been well established by the time candy manufacturer Mars…

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Crave-Worthy Recipes

3 delicious roasted pumpkin seed recipes

Perfectly roasted pumpkin seeds three ways

Fall means indulging in all the flavors of the season, but all of those pies, pastries, cobblers, and Halloween candy aren’t exactly the most diet-friendly snacks. For the lighter side of fall foods, be sure to roast the pumpkin seeds you pulled from your Jack-O-Lantern’s. Pumpkin seeds are high in magnesium, potassium, calcium and so much more. But just because pumpkin seeds are healthy doesn’t have to mean they taste healthy. Here are three pumpkin seed recipes that are anything but bland. Garlic Parmesan These savory seeds are great tossed on salads or served as a snack all on their own. Ingredients 2 cups pumpkin seeds (Run seeds through cold water to remove from stringy pulp, then dry them out overnight, or place in the oven on a well-greased baking sheet on low heat for 30 minutes.) 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese 2 tsp…

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Where to get Halloween 2019 food freebies and deals

Where to get Halloween 2019 food freebies and deals_2

Don’t just indulge in candy this Halloween. Treat yourself to anything from creepy cocktails to freaky flapjacks. Here are 14 places you can score scary-good deals and freebies this Halloween. And check back soon! We’ll be updating the list as the specials come screaming in. Applebee’s Celebrate Halloween with a $1 Vampire cocktail; available for a limited time. This “freaky tiki” rum cocktail is made with run, strawberry, passion fruit, dragon fruit, and pineapple juice. It’s topped with vampire fangs and a cherry. Baskin Robbins Scoops are just $1.50 at BR on Halloween. Choose from any of the ice cream chain’s 31 flavors, including the flavor of the month, the Candy Mashup, made with all your favorite Halloween candy classics like Snickers and caramel cups. Bubba gump Kids eat free with (purchase of an adult entree) at Bubba Gump on Halloween during its “no tricks, all treats” promo. Chipotle Boorito…

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Is white chocolate actually chocolate?

Is white chocolate actually chocolate?

White chocolate is one of those polarizing foods like black licorice, Brussel sprouts and cilantro — you either love it or you hate it. But what actually is white chocolate, and can it really be considered chocolate? Let’s first look at chocolate in general Chocolate needs no introduction. You’ve had it. You love it in all its forms: bunnies, bars, brownies. But what makes chocolate, chocolate? Well, both the dark kind and the milk kind contain cocoa solids or cocoa powder — which give them their rich brown color — as well as the fatty cocoa butter — the fat that gives them their creamy mouthfeel. White chocolate just has cocoa butter — no cocoa. Both milk chocolate and white chocolate also typically include some amount of milk or cream powder, sugar, and sometimes vanilla or other add-ins. where does cocoa butter come from? Cocoa butter is the foundation of…

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Why we give candy to kids on Halloween

Why we give candy to kids on Halloween

According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend approximately $2.6 billion on Halloween candy this year — that’s a lot of Skittles, Starbursts, and snack-sized candy bars. But as you’re buying bags of goodies to giveaway, you may wonder how this sweet tradition got its start. Well, the answer isn’t totally clear, but let’s shed a little bit of light on this dark holiday. Many scholars think that Halloween can be traced back about 2,000 years to its roots as a pre-Christian Celtic festival called Samhain (pronounced “sah-win”), which means “summer’s end.” The festivities, usually held around Nov. 1, were a celebration of the end of harvest season and the beginning of darkest days of the year. Because the ancient records surviving to this day are largely incomplete, our understanding of the holiday isn’t fully understood. But Samhain is also thought to have been a time for the spirits…

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20 sweet ways to use up leftover Halloween candy

20 sweet ways to use up leftover Halloween candy

Extra large haul this year? Fewer trick-or-treaters than you expected? Whatever the reason, come November 1 you may be left with a lot more candy that you counted on. Here are 20 ideas for what to do with all that candy: Donate it Get it out of the house. 1. Make care packages for grandparents or great grandparents If older relatives don’t have heaps of leftover Halloween candy of their own, send them a care package with some candy, a card, and add a printed picture of the kids (or your pets) in costumes. They would surely appreciate your thoughtfulness. 2. Donate it to the troops Soldiers’ Angels Treats for Troops will send it to deployed troops around the world or distribute it to veterans in VA Hospitals across the country. Operation Shoebox will pack up your candy and ship it to troops overseas. And Operation Gratitude will send it to…

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The most popular Halloween candy in every state

The unhealthiest Halloween candies

This year, American households will drop about $2.6 billion on Halloween candy, according to the National Retail Federation. If we’re going to shell out that kind of cash, it might as well be on candy the kiddos actually want, right? Well, thankfully Candystore.com has taken the guesswork out of what to buy. Researchers at the online bulk candy retailer analyzed 12 years of sales data — particularly those sales in the weeks leading up to Halloween — to determine which candies are most popular. Of course, preferences may vary depending on where you live. Source: CandyStore.com. So what do you think? Do you agree with your state? America’s Top 10 Halloween Candies If we blur state lines and just take a look at America’s favorites as a whole, you might be surprised! Skittles Reese’s Cups M&M’s Snickers Starburst Candy Corn Hot Tamales Tootsie Pops Sour Patch Kids Hershey’s Most Halloween…

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This is why dogs can’t eat chocolate

This is why dogs can't eat chocolate

While you’re on the fast track to a candy coma this Halloween, remember that just a small bite could have deadly consequences for your furry friend. All those rumors about chocolate being bad for dogs are true. Chocolate is never safe for dogs — not even on Halloween. Chocolate is highly toxic to dogs and can even be fatal. While most of us don’t purposely share things like brownies and chocolate bars with our pets, unfortunately, dogs have a way of sniffing around and finding those foods anyway. This means, you have to be careful, and instruct kids not to share candy with pets, as well. The best thing to do, is of course, keep candy well out of the reach of dogs — think air tight containers high on top of the refrigerator. Even then, remember that chocolate candy could show up where you least expect it (of all…

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