Remember when everyone hated Brussels sprouts? Remember when everyone started to love them again? These small green orbs are members of the cabbage family with the same ability to be enjoyed raw in salads or slaws or turned into tender, caramelized nuggets of goodness when cooked. But before you get to cooking them, you need to prep them.

If these green orbs are new to your dinner rotation (or hey, you just need a refresher), here is everything you need to know to prepare these wondrous vegetables before cooking.

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Americans buy approximately 600 million pounds of candy for Halloween every year. If you’re not sure what exactly that looks like, consider this: The Titanic weighed about 100 million pounds. Now, picture six Titanic ships made of candy. That’s a lot of candy!

And it does make one wonder: Where did this sweet tradition get its start?

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If you’re anything like me, you throw your plastic water bottle or yogurt container into the recycling bin when you’re done with it and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. After all, you’ve just done something, albeit small, to help the planet.

But what actually happens next? “The answer is way more complicated than people think,” says Heidi Sanborn, executive director of the California Product Stewardship Council.

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“Faith! It’s the cocktail of the summer,” said my colleague Janel last week when she was visiting me in Columbus. On our way to dinner we were chatting about our cocktails of choice, and Janel quite handily talked me into trying a Gold Rush for myself. Well, it wasn’t that difficult. Do you know this drink? You should.

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Ever since learning the three R’s in elementary school, I have worked hard at reducing my carbon footprint, especially in my kitchen. I love Meatless Mondays, I use plastic-free storage containers for leftovers, and I gave up bottled water in favor of a Brita tap.

With all the negative things going on in the world, though, I decided I needed to try something even more radical to connect me with what I feel is most important.

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Everyone wants to be the cool house on Halloween. But if you hand out bad candy, all the great decorations and spooky music in the world won’t save you from eggs and toilet paper.

To find out which candies people hate the most, bulk candy retailer CandyStore.com looked at 10 years of sales data and 12 independent “best” and “worst” candy rankings, and surveyed 40,000 people. After crunching the numbers, they came out with a definitive list of the worst candies to find in your Halloween haul.

Stay safe, and avoid these 10 terrible “treats.”

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Apple cinnamon toaster strudels, those super-sweet frozen pastries, were definitely a guilty pleasure growing up. I have to admit, it’s been years since I last enjoyed one — until this recipe came along.

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If you are way more into it being pumpkin spice season than Halloween, I’m going to show you how to put together a low-key party that celebrates the season more than the actual holiday of Halloween. You can pull it off with a three-ingredient cocktail and a batch of gooey pumpkin spice Rice Krispies treats. Here’s how to make it happen.

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Zucchini bread was one of the first things I learned how to bake from scratch. It was full of oil and topped with a mound of cream cheese frosting. My 20-year-old self was in love. Nowadays, especially since I bake so often, I try to look for healthier options. These apple-zucchini muffins are the perfect compromise — with their oat crumble topping and dollop of sweetened crème fraîche, that super-rich cream cheese frosting is hardly missed.

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There’s just something about shrimp scampi that causes oohs and aahs to break out around the table. Perhaps it’s the combination of tender shrimp bathed in a buttery white wine sauce, or maybe it’s the way everything gets swirled together with a hearty dash of pepper and fresh torn parsley.

For the knowing cook, this is one of the fastest dishes you can make on a weeknight — especially when everything (from the protein to the pasta) comes together in one pot. So invite your friends over tonight and tell them you’re cooking up something fancy.

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