Food

The little goblins at your door later this month might come back for more if Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Caramel is what you drop in their bags. Then again, you might want to keep it for yourself, Spokesman-Review reader food panel members said.

Getting out the door in time to do some serious trick-or-treating calls for a warm, filling and fast dinner. So get your young ghouls and witches off to a good start with this speedy recipe for cheesy soft polenta topped with a sauté of chicken sausages, roasted red peppers, greens and mushrooms.

Just the word "bacon" is enough to make some people weak in the knees. Cookbook author James Villas is one of them. "I don't hesitate for a moment to proclaim bacon to be the greatest and most beloved food on earth," he says in the opening line of his new cookbook. Villas waxes on about his love for cured and smoked pork throughout, offering recipes for everything from breakfast (of course) to dessert. Bacon and Peanut-Butter Chocolate Truffles, anyone?

Creep out your kids and gag your guests this Halloween by brewing up beakers of "blood" and purple ooze for them to drink. Both drinks have serious gross-out factor, but are easy to mix and can be made with or without alcohol, depending on the age of the goblins who will be slurping them.

Homeless benefit – Transitions will host a breakfast Wednesday at 7:30 and a lunch on Thursday at noon to raise money and awareness of its programs to help homeless women. The meals will be served at Red Lion Inn at the Park and will feature information sessions. There is no cost to attend, but donations are welcome. (509) 328-6702. Oktoberfest - Happy hour at 5:30 p.m., dinner and dancing at 6:30. Menu consists of Schnitzel, red cabbage, spaetzle, gravy and peach kuchen, authentic Bavarian wine and beer tasting; Friday, at Sons of Norway Tordenskjord Lodge, 6710 N. Country Homes Blvd.; $12.50, reservations required; (509) 326-9211.

Colville Farmers' Market - Wednesdays, noon-6 p.m., through Oct. 17. Third and Oak streets, one block east of Main (Highway 395). (509) 732-6619. Farmers' Market at Sandpoint - Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesdays, 3-5:30 p.m., through Oct. 13. Farmin Park, Third at Main. (208) 265-8267.

Hungry for more local food news and recipes? Add this bookmark to your favorites: spokesmanreview.com/blogs/freshsheet. We've launched a Fresh Sheet blog, where I'll be dishing about recipes, kitchen tips and tricks and fun food finds. I hope you'll drop by to read it, add your own thoughts, post recipes, and ask questions.

Chiles Rellenos look complicated. After all, the traditional Mexican dish involves charring, stuffing and frying chile peppers. Turns out, making rellenos at home only looks tough. It's certainly not a "quick-dinner-after-work" dish, but it doesn't take all day, either. It's a process, but the end result is pretty tasty. This should be a relief to one reader who called Food Editor Lorie Hutson for a chile rellenos recipe.

Schug Carneros Estate Wine Dinner - Six-course dinner with wine. Reservations required. Today. 7 p.m., Max at Mirabeau Park Hotel, I-90 at Sullivan Road. $115, includes tax and gratuity. (509) 922-6252. Gary Fox Memorial Cruise and Wine Tasting - Benefit to raise money for additional equipment to go with the Side Scan Sonar Unit. Boarding at 6 p.m., cruise from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. Board at the Boardwalk Marina, Coeur d'Alene. $50. (208) 446-1300.

Colville Farmers' Market - Wednesdays, noon-6 p.m., through Oct. 17. Third and Oak streets, one block east of Main (Highway 395). (509) 732-6619. Farmers' Market at Sandpoint - Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesdays, 3-5:30 p.m., through Oct. 13. Farmin Park, Third at Main. (208) 265-8267.

Buyers are wary when food makers start messing with a classic. But in this case tasters, both young and old, were happy with the new flavors of Oat Cluster Cheerios Crunch. The slightly sweet, cinnamon touched whole-grain Os mixed with crunchy oat clusters were a hit with the Reader Food Panel, earning four stars for flavor from both kids and adults.

Some recipes have a story. Whether it's the carrot cake passed down three generations before it was finally written down or the cake innovated to rely on an unusual ingredient because others were in short supply, America's Test Kitchen has collected them in a new cookbook.

Have Your Cake and Seniors Eat, Too - Dessert auction presented by Mid-City Concerns and Spokane Meals on Wheels. Heavy hors d'oeuvres and no-host bar. Each winning bidder for items will receive a correspondent dessert item made especially to go with the item. Proceeds benefit services to low income seniors (i.e., hot, nutritious meals, exercise classes, prescriptions, etc.). Thursday. 5:30 p.m., Northern Quest Casino, 100 N. Hayford Road, Airway Heights. $35. (509) 232-0864. Hope for A Wild Future Dinner and Auction - Benefits Conservation Northwest's work keeping the Northwest wild, from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies. Sparkling wine reception and hors d'oeuvres, silent and live auctions, live music. Dinner, fine wines and specialty desserts. Keynote address by wilderness champion Brock Evans. Register online at www.conservationnw.org/about/ spokane-auction. Thursday. 6-9:30 p.m., Davenport Hotel, 10 S. Post St. $70. (509) 747-1663 or (800) 878-9950, ext. 18.

Colville Farmers' Market - Wednesdays, noon-6 p.m. Third and Oak streets, one block east of Main (Highway 395). (509) 732-6619. Farmers' Market at Sandpoint - Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m., Wednesdays, 3-5:30 p.m.. Farmin Park, Third at Main. (208) 265-8267.