Halloween recipe inspiration: Food Network Kitchens turn ordinary foods into freaky Halloween snacks with exclusive and easy-to-do recipe ideas.

I recently came across Food Network Magazine‘s article about Mix-and-Match Chocolate Bark and was inspired to whip up something spooky for Halloween. The ingredients were simple, the directions were easy and the result was mouthwatering brilliance.

I decided to adapt the chocolate bark for the fall season and Halloween. I chose a dark-chocolate cookie with orange cream filling. You could use candy corn, orange marshmallows, orange-colored candy melts or any other Halloween-inspired treat.

Halloween Bark

1 (12-oz.) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips
15 Halloween-themed cookies (like Oreos), chopping each cookie into four pieces

Keep reading for directions

Join us on Wednesday for a Facebook chat with Food Network Kitchens about Halloween recipes and entertaining. Bring your spooky-food questions and let us help you take the fear factor out of hosting a memorable Halloween bash.

It kicks off this Wednesday, October 24 at 1pm/12c on Food Network’s Facebook page.

There has always been something deliciously spooky about wire baskets. Even the quaintest Victorian type conjures up memories of my Connecticut childhood when small groups of us ventured out on Halloween, letting the owls guide our way down seemingly endless and dark winding drives to the trick-or-treat prize.

Now I love placing something orange (but not too bright) or a dulled red fruit in a wire basket as a nod to the Halloween palette. Something with an irregular shape, a root vegetable perhaps, also looks great in a black wire basket, especially when it’s sticking out through the wire.

I’ve seen black wire baskets in stores and on many websites this season, and am quite fond of the vintage pieces from any century or style: Victorian, art deco, midcentury or shabby chic. Any of these will do.

Since they have a common denominator of black wire, the styles mix well. With their various shapes and sizes, they create a wonderful focal point, either in a row or clumped together on a coffee table, or by the entrance or front steps, where trick-or-treaters or party guests will be sure to spot them.

Keep reading for DIY tips

Kids who ring Alton Brown’s doorbell on Halloween don’t get the usual fun-size candy bar. Over the years, the Browns have handed out homemade taffy, candied apples, headless marshmallow bunnies — you name it. But of all of Alton’s Halloween creations, nothing tops his candy corn. As usual, Alton and the Good Eats team approached the project as a science experiment: They created the recipe in April but used a dehumidifier in the kitchen to mimic crisp fall air. Alton also tested every imaginable food coloring before choosing gel paste. The resulting recipe, which appears in his latest cookbook, Good Eats 3: The Later Years, is easy — and super impressive, Alton says. “When you tell people you’ve made candy corn, they say, ‘Holy cow, you made your own?!’” Plus, a lot of candy corn haters realize they actually like the stuff when it’s homemade. For the record, Alton will take his candy corn any which way. “I’m not a snob,” he says. “I won’t turn down the store-bought stuff.”

Alton says the candy corn tastes better after a few days: It dries out a little and becomes chewier, and the flavor intensifies. Find out how to make it with this step-by-step.

It’s no secret that Sandra Lee is the queen of Halloween. Year after year, we watch as this semi-homemade maven redesigns her kitchen into a themed masterpiece and cooks up ghoulishly simple eats and drinks to celebrate this spooky holiday. But perhaps most impressively, Sandra dons next-level Halloween costumes that all but transform her into the timeless characters she portrays. Some of her most-memorable outfits include Alice in Wonderland (pictured above), which she sported in last year’s Sandra in Halloween Wonderland; Audrey Hepburn, complete with a sky-high bun and signature sunglasses; and a sword-yielding Lady Marian.

This year we’re asking you, the fans, to relive Sandra’s top Halloween moments and vote for her best-ever costume. Check out all 18 of Sandra’s costumes here, and then cast your fan vote for your favorite look up to 10 times per day.

For more Halloween tricks and treats from Sandra, watch this collection of videos in which she shares no-fail tips and recipes to help you host a hauntingly easy Halloween bash.

Visit Food Network’s Halloween Headquarters to find recipes for scary-good sweet treats, party-ready munchies and more Halloween must-haves.

Home cooks and Thanksgiving dinner guests have another reason to be thankful this year: Giada De Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, Aarón Sanchez, Alex Guarnaschelli, Sunny Anderson and Ree Drummond are back for a second helping to answer some of the toughest questions about holiday meal-making on our annual Thanksgiving Live! program, a two-hour call-in show hosted by turkey master Alton Brown on Nov. 18 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m.

From solutions to dry turkey and lumpy gravy to Food Network stars demonstrating helpful tips and delicious recipes, experts will be on hand to address perennial problems.

Do you have a question you need answered? Viewers have the opportunity to submit questions in advance via Facebook and Twitter by using the hashtag: #ThanksgivingLive. You can also ask your question here. Leave your question in the comment section below, and then tune in to Food Network on Nov. 18 from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. to see if your question has been answered.

One of the most recent additions to the Food Network website is the addition of product guides, guides in which readers are offered insight into some of the products that editors believe are among the best in helpful cooking tools, tabletop items and edibles available online. A lot of these product guides are tied to the season, like Food Network’s Summer Cookbook Guide. In August the editors began working on our fall product guide. Thanksgiving may be several weeks away, but we have to start working on these guides as early as the summer months to make sure that every edible product that gets selected for the guide has been tested (i.e. eaten) and approved by our staff.

For about two weeks, our office was flooded with an array of samples — from gourmet marshmallows to specialty cocktail mixes and Thanksgiving gumballs (turkey-flavored included!). After organizing a formal tasting within Food Network’s digital department and consuming probably 20 times more than our daily allowance of sugar, the most-popular products were chosen.

Keep reading for our final picks

Even the most delicious cuisine is enhanced by presentation. Think of it as a backdrop, a stage set that brings your feast to life. What I bring to the party is everything but the food itself. I’ve always been fascinated by how food is presented on tables and settings of all types. In this new weekly column, I’ll be sharing my favorite design snippets and scenarios, based on my adventures as a Food Network designer and an avid connoisseur of style and design. So feel free to indulge here, but with your eyes only.

Think of these as essential presentation elements. The collectible trivet, from the most basic to the highly embellished, protects your counter and table surfaces from heat damage.

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Since today is Labor Day and the unofficial end of grilling season, it’s likely that platters of ribs, hot dogs or burgers will find their way to your picnic table. So how do you maintain a meatless meal when friends and family around you are indulging in meaty main dishes? There are indeed ways to keep your Labor Day menu flavorful, hearty and deliciously meat-free that don’t include eating around the chunks of chicken in the pasta salad or nibbling on fruit and carrot sticks all afternoon.

If you’re attending a backyard bash and the host has requested you bring a dish to share, reach for your favorite meatless one. The Pioneer Woman’s Baked Creamed Corn With Red Bell Peppers and Jalapenos (pictured above) is a five-star recipe from Food Network Magazine that feeds a crowd and can be made with just a handful of ingredients. This potluck-friendly classic is loaded with vegetables and pairs well with traditional cookout fare and meatless items alike.

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