I have great memories of family Thanksgivings. Of course, in the good old days, the women did all the cooking while the menfolk watched football. Afterward, as we all digested and got a bit slowed down by the big meal, the gents would return to the den to watch yet more football and the women would gingerly wash all the silver and special plates and glasses that only came out for this one day a year.

    Miraculously, I have only cooked one complete Thanksgiving meal in my entire life, and this one was for a less fortunate family living near us in Virginia. When I delivered it, I tried to loiter on their doorstep, smiling, waiting, shuffling my feet. What did I expect from them, a more profuse “Thank you for this Thanksgiving feast?” I even told my husband I wanted to go back the next day to make sure they enjoyed it, make sure my mashed potatoes were savory enough, my pie crust cooked through.

    For the next 16 years, our family always went to the in-laws’ farm in Pennsylvania. My measly contribution would be Susan Stamberg’s famous cranberry relish. Since I have moved to East Hampton year round, I have been cooking in restaurants every Thanksgiving. Therefore, we have accepted any and all invitations for the big meal.

    This year will be slightly different. My son’s friend Angus pronounced recently that the only thing that would get him out East would be to have Thanksgiving dinner with us at our new house in Sag Harbor. Sadly, once again, I will be working on Thanksgiving Day, cranking out pecan and pumpkin pies at the Living Room restaurant. But we will have a lovely Thanksgiving meal later in the day . . . catered.

    I have found that the problem with being a guest at a friend’s house is you have no leftovers. This year, we will have leftovers.

    Let us not forget the meaning of this day. My father, a disabled World War II veteran, always invited soldiers and veterans to our Thanksgiving meal. This year, let’s keep in mind and help those who have suffered more than we have from Hurricane Sandy. Serve one less pie and donate the money to the American Red Cross.

    Okay, I’m stepping off my soapbox now and back into the kitchen. Here are some recipes for some awesome side dishes to go with your turkey.

Click for recipes

New at Rowdy

    At Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, new on the menu at lunchtime is a “roast turkey gobbler,” which is a sandwich of fresh turkey breast on toasted eight-grain bread with stuffing, gravy, and onion-cranberry marmalade. It is served with baby field greens. Also new on the lunch menu is a chicken salad sandwich and a pastrami sandwich. At dinnertime, the Rowdy menu now offers a baked brie appetizer, and, as entrees, local swordfish, salmon, an all-natural pork chop, beef short ribs, coq au vin, and butternut squash lasagna.

Zokkon Opens

    Zokkon, a new sushi restaurant, is opening in East Hampton, in the Montauk Highway building where Bamboo, and most recently, Shiki, used to be. The space has been redone. Toyo, the chef and owner of Suki Zuki in Water Mill, is a partner in the venture.

Amazing FoodBook

    The Edible School Garden Group, a part of the Slow Food East End education committee, has launched a fund-raising campaign on Kickstarter.com to raise money to publish “The Nutritious Delicious FoodBook.” The book contains kid-friendly recipes and links to videos, including cooking videos for adults. It offers healthy meal options for families pressed for time, with dishes that can be prepared by children as young as 10, and includes tips on nutrition and cooking techniques from local chefs as well as recipes collected from among more than 18 Long Island school districts.

    The goal is to distribute 10,000 free copies of the interactive book, in various formats, to young children and their families, in an effort to change the way that people eat.

Topping Rose Brunch

    The Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, with the celebrity chef Tom Colicchio at the helm and Ty Kotz serving as the chef de cuisine, is now open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. On the menu are dishes such as the “Bridgehampton Town Fry,” with scrambled organic eggs, fried oysters, and chili dust, a croque monsieur, and mushroom risotto cakes with eggs, spinach, and bacon broth. In addition, a pastry basket can be ordered, served with apple butter, cinnamon butter, and fresh ricotta.

Winter Farm Shares

    The Quail Hill community farm in Amagansett has winter shares available. Vegetables that will be distributed from the farm’s root cellar and greenhouse between now through Feb. 23 include carrots, beets, potatoes, cabbage, ruta­baga, sweet potatoes, squash, garlic, greens, and more. Harvest pickup days will be biweekly, on Fridays and Saturdays. A family share is $360, while a single share is $225. Those interested can send an e-mail to Rharris@PeconicLandTrust. org.

Thanksgiving Options

    Those who want to get out, and stay out, of the kitchen on Thanksgiving may head to Michael’s at Maidstone restaurant in Springs, which will be serving from noon to 9 p.m.

    In Montauk, another option will be the Gulf Coast Kitchen at the Montauk Yacht Club, which will be serving a Thanksgiving Day buffet from 1 to 8 p.m. The price is $29.95 for adults or $16.95 for children ages 6 to 12. Little ones under 6 can eat for free.

Winter Prix Fixe

    Throughout the winter at Red/Bar Brasserie in Southampton, on Sundays through Thursdays excluding holidays or holiday weekends, diners may choose a two-course prix fixe for $29, or three courses for $34. Starter choices will include a soup or salad, braised pork belly, and local yellowfin tuna tartare, the latter two for a $2 supplement. Main courses included are fish of the day, rigatoni with Bolognese sauce, and sauteed calf’s liver.

Dinner and a Movie

    At the Plaza Cafe in Southampton, a $39.50 dinner and a movie deal includes a three-course meal and a ticket to the Southampton Cinema that can be used for any show. Tax and gratuity are extra. The special is offered on Sundays through Fridays, and on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. Main course choices include horseradish-crusted local cod, sliced flatiron steak, herb-marinated free-range chicken, and farfalle with fresh Gulf shrimp.

   The tiny Sag Harbor Baking Company on Division Street is about to celebrate its one-year anniversary, and Mimi Yardley and Margaret Wagner, who have known each other since kindergarten in Sag Harbor, couldn’t be happier with their first year. With hands full of orders for their first Thanksgiving, Ms. Yardley said last Thursday that there has been a “great response.”

    Royal iced turkeys and leaf-shaped cookies, which Ms. Yardley described as a “simple, rich and delicious butter cookie,” topped with vanilla or chocolate icing, were popular items for Thanksgiving.

    And naturally there were many orders for pies, too, including apple crumb, pumpkin, apple cranberry, and pecan, one of their most popular. Pumpkin cheesecakes are also available.

    Their baked goods are “the real deal,” Ms. Yardley said, made with no preservatives and real butter.

    After opening their doors for the first time on Dec. 3, 2011, Ms. Yardley said that the mild winter was the perfect way to begin, giving them a chance to develop relationships with the customers who have become regulars.

    The summer, she said, was “just bananas.” Operating as a “two-girl show,” Ms. Yardley said that her mother or Ms. Wagner’s daughter occasionally fills in at the counter when it is very busy. In addition to custom cakes for birthdays and special occasions, “summer was fantastic with weddings.”

    Responding to popular demand, the ladies began baking some gluten-free products, too, although Ms. Yardley said their kitchen is not gluten-free because they bake other products in it. They bake at least one variety of gluten-free muffin per day, as well as gluten-free brownies, macaroons, and cookies. They also make gluten-free cakes by special order, using a flour blend of organic brown rice flour, tapioca, and potato starch.

    Their homemade granola, a simple honey-vanilla flavor, has developed a loyal following — they even ship it to New Jersey. Scones are very popular, too, she said, and the shop’s coffee is a special blend roasted in Brooklyn.

    Both women left Sag Harbor after attending Pierson High School together, Ms. Wagner for San Francisco and Los Angeles, where she became a pastry chef after attending the California Culinary Academy.

    Ms. Yardley became a certified public accountant in New York City. Now, both married, with seven children between them, ages 9 through 16, they are once again residents of Sag Harbor.

    Winter hours for the shop are Thursday through Monday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. During the summer season, they close only on Tuesdays.

   The Montauk Brewing Company is open every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Those who stop in can pick up growlers of the company’s Driftwood Ale, an American-style extra-special bitter beer.

Breakfast at the Diner

    The Highway Diner and Bar, which opened recently and has been drawing a crowd for lunch and dinner, has added breakfast hours. The doors open daily at 8 a.m., and breakfast is served all day. The new eatery is in the building on Montauk Highway in East Hampton most recently occupied by Rugosa.

Fudge Company Contends

    Donna McCue and her company, Fat Ass Fudge, will be among the contenders on an episode of “Shark Tank,” the TV show on which entrepreneurs seek to convince investors to back them, airing on ABC on Tuesday. Ms. McCue, an East Hampton resident, who has been an intuitive or psychic, a stand-up comedienne, and an author, said her company was chosen from a pool of more than 31,000 applicants, and that her appearance on the show will highlight her “effervescent and no-holds-barred attitude.” Fat Ass Fudge makes gluten and lactose-free organic fudge that is sold on the company Web site and at East End farmers markets.

Holidays at the Living Room

    On Saturday, the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will begin serving a special Swedish “Christmas table” menu, featuring four courses at lunch or dinner for $36 per person plus tax and gratuity. The menu will include herring three ways as a starter, followed by an assorted cold meat plate, with Swedish Christmas ham, gravlax, and country pate, and, as an entree, roast pork loin with gravy, braised red cabbage and potato puree or codfish with horseradish, potato terrine, winter kale, and brown butter. A trio of desserts will include mini waffles with lingonberry cream, saffron cake with candied hazelnuts, and “Ris a la Malta,” a traditional Swedish holiday dessert.

Holiday Dessert

    Double ginger crackles will be prepared during a free cooking demonstration at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday. The recipe is featured in this year’s holiday issue of “The Best of Fine Cooking.”

Fireside at Bostwick’s

    Bostwick’s, which features fireside dining, is now open Friday at 4 p.m. for dinner, and serves lunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday.

    Sustainable winemaking paired with seasonal food is a way of life for David Page and Barbara Shinn, one that “keeps the community of food and wine intact,” said Mr. Page on Sunday afternoon. Whether it’s breakfast at their Farmhouse Inn, or an organic wine dinner offered about 10 times a year at their Shinn Estate Vineyards, the couple is committed to offering the best of the best when it comes to wine and foodstuffs, grown in their garden or greenhouse or procured from someone they know.

    Shinn Estates’ premier wines, produced on Oregon Road in Mattituck exclusively with solar and wind power, have been acclaimed both locally and by national publications. One of just three wineries in the country to be “third-party certified” (by professional inspectors) for sustainable practices, the vineyard is also one of only two that lists all its ingredients. There are some 30 commonly used ingredients in wine that are not disclosed, Ms. Shinn explained, including preservatives, color extracts, sugar, glycerin, wood chips, nitrates, and even monosodium glutamate (MSG). “Just like a bag of Doritos,” she said.

    Doing “everything possible to shorten the list of ingredients” is part of their mission, said Mr. Page. Successful recent batches contained exactly one ingredient — grapes.

    Soil nutrition is key in reducing additives, Ms. Shinn said. Long Island Sound seawater is used for its trace minerals, as well as compost.

    Wines offered for tasting, purchase, and on the menu in many restaurants include Malbec, merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Franc, Sauvignon or Pinot blanc, rosé, chardonnay, and a sparkling brut, as well as brandy and grappa.

    After meeting in California, the chef and viticulturist created Home, a restaurant in Greenwich Village, pairing New York State wines with local culinary treasures. The couple operated the restaurant for 15 years and it is still in existence. The farm-to-table restaurant has since given birth to “Recipes from Home,” an award-winning cookbook, as well as the Drovers Tap Room and Home Away from Home, a take-out shop.

    Seeking to reconnect with nature, the couple purchased a 20-acre historic North Fork estate, sold the development rights to the town of Southold, planted vines, and became just the second family to inhabit it since the Tuthills, its original owners in the 1880s. Joining them on the farm is “a dog, a cat, and a bunch of chickens,” not counting the many who visit their Farmhouse Inn annually to enjoy sunset over the vineyard, walk or ride to a nearby beach, or explore the neighboring communities.

    With “no lack of culinary creativity,” Mr. Page said he and Ms. Shinn serve inn guests a breakfast with eggs from their own chickens, home-cured local bacon, and cheese courtesy of a local cow. Wine dinners might include smoked duck leg, leafy greens, potatoes, and carrots from their garden.

    Weekly tours of the vineyard and winery led by Ms. Shinn are popular year round with visitors, who learn about her progressive farming techniques. A popular lecturer on the subject as well, she has spoken at such institutions as the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian.

    The vineyard tour features the custom-designed solar panels and wind turbine, “perfectly implemented,” said Mr. Page, to supply the 50,000 kilowatts of power required yearly. With rebates, tax incentives, and a federal grant, the sustainable power is expected to save $10,000 per year over its 25-year expectancy and pay for itself in five years.

    “Just like the English settlers who started farming on Long Island in 1640 and the Native Americans 10,000 years before that,” Ms. Shinn has a mission to sustain agricultural use of the land for many more generations, working with 14 other vineyards as part of the Long Island Sustainable Winegrowers. The group guides others in returning to traditional conservation methods that avoid soil erosion, runoff, and the overuse of nitrogen fertilizers known to have a negative effect on Long Island’s bodies of water. Techniques include biological control of insects as an alternative to chemicals, which, Ms. Shinn remarked, “kill everything.”

    It’s “almost impossible” to get a room at the Farmhouse Inn in the summer, said Mr. Page, theirs being the only place to stay within a vineyard. Weekends are often booked year-round as well. Whether from New York City, New England, California, or Japan, guests seek peace and quiet away from the highway and just a mile from the beach. The couple has traveled extensively, but, said Mr. Page, there is “nothing like this.”

    As cold weather sets in, guests may choose to read or enjoy wine and cheese in a cozy sitting room heated by a wood-burning stove, while day visitors fill a warm, wood-filled candlelit tasting room within the expanded 125-year-old barn.

    The next wine dinner will take place on Dec. 15, when a maximum of 34 guests will be served from a wood-burning oven in a venerable dining room. Mr. Page said the menu will likely include Long Island duck from Crescent Farms, local fish from the Southold Fish Market, vegetables from the couple’s greenhouse or their winter share at Sang Lee Farms, and maybe even persimmon pudding. A friend has a tree.

    The Plaza Cafe in Southampton will participate in Cancer Awareness Month by donating $5 from every prix fixe dinner served on Wednesdays throughout  October to two local organizations, Lucia’s Angels and the Ellen Hermanson Breast Center.

    A $32, three-course prix fixe is offered Monday to Friday from 5:30 to 6:45 p.m. and includes a selection among starters such as Long Island seafood chowder, organic greens salad, and prosciutto-wrapped shrimp, and entrees including horseradish-crusted local cod served with roast garlic mashed potatoes and crispy leeks with chive oil, sliced flatiron steak with potato-spinach hash and crispy shallots, herb-marinated free-range chicken with wild mushroom polenta and baby vegetables, and farfalle with gulf shrimp, asparagus, peas, sun-dried tomatoes, and prosciutto in lobster sauce. Dessert is included as well.

    The restaurant serves dinner nightly at 5:30, except on Mondays, and Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Film and Food

    At Nick & Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton, a two-course dinner will be served along with a ticket to the East Hampton movies on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday for $35 per person. The menu will include a choice of antipasti followed by a choice of a pasta dish or a wood-oven pizzetta. The “film and food” special is not available during holiday periods, or in combination with other specials.

Nibbles and Drinks

    The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton has resumed its happy hour, which includes half-off cocktails and bar menu items. The specials are available from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

Autumnal Dishes

    A list of autumnal dishes added to the menu at Muse in the Harbor in Sag Harbor includes, as starters, apple salad with smoked Gouda and smoked salmon “bacon” served on a Gruyere cheese bread pudding, beet and sweet potato salad with goat cheese and arugula, lobster pot pie, and fried blowfish served with sweet-potato chips. Entree choices include jumbo shrimp casino, tilapia Wienerschnitzel, “Thanksgiving meatloaf,” mushroom parmesan, and wine-braised boneless short ribs served on pumpkin sage polenta with collard greens.

Daily Specials

    At Pepalejefa, a takeout food shop on Sag Harbor’s Main Street, different fall specials are offered each weekday, except for Wednesdays, when the shop is closed. Among the soups of the day are Tuscan bean and French onion, lentil and sausage, artichoke soup, fish chowder, and black bean soup. Other daily specials include chicken, meat, pasta, and vegetable dishes. A daily “lunch box” boxed special is also available, featuring a choice of entree served with potatoes and a vegetable.

Adieu Till Spring

    The Harbor Bistro in East Hampton has served its last meal until spring, although fans of its cuisine will find Bistro-style offerings on the menu at its sister restaurant, the Harbor Grill, which is open all year. The Harbor Grill is on Three Mile Harbor Road just south of the head of Three Mile Harbor.

Bell & Anchor

    At the Bell & Anchor restaurant on Noyac Road in Sag Harbor, two prix fixe choices are now available all night on Thursdays and Sundays, and on Fridays and Saturdays until 6:30 p.m. A two-course special is $30, and three courses are $35. Both include a choice of appetizers such as brandade with potatoes and garlic, salads, and chowder, followed by fish of the day, steamed mussels with french fries, flatiron steak, or an herb-crusted pork chop served with mascarpone polenta and asparagus. Dessert is also included. The Bell & Anchor also offers raw bar specials such as Montauk Pearl oysters for $1.50 each and local Little Neck clams for $1 each.

    It’s that time of year . . . kind of. One day it’s 70 degrees, next day it’s 42. This puts me in the mood for casseroles. Hearty or light, rich or delicate, it’s a good time to utilize the end-of-season corn and tomatoes and incorporate them into whatever kind of casserole, stew, or chili you like.

    It could be a rich, cheesy penne dish like one from the famous Al Forno restaurant in Providence, R.I., or the light and spicy chicken chili recipe that I wrestled from my good friend Beverly Kazickas.

    If you are going to stew or braise something on top of the stove or bake it in the oven it is essential that you have the right piece of equipment. That would be the Dutch oven, a heavy cast iron vessel coated in enamel that can go from stove to oven to under the broiler to refrigerator. If you are going to assemble a casserole and simply bake it, then a glass Pyrex dish or ovenproof ceramic dish is fine. But Dutch ovens have lids to hold the heat and preserve the moisture of the dish, so that’s another reason you should have one. Plus, they’re better looking than a glass Pyrex dish when you bring them to the table to serve.

    Cooking vessels for casseroles and stews have been around for centuries. In the late 17th century the Dutch were producing these molds with dry sand over cast iron to create a smooth, heatproof surface. In 1704, an Englishman named Abraham Darby traveled to the Netherlands to study their process, then returned home and produced and patented his own version which then made its way to the American colonies. Because the Dutch ovens could be used for anything from boiling to baking to stewing, roasting, and frying, they were a treasured piece of equipment. In fact, they were so treasured and durable they would be passed from generation to generation, as they were in Mary Ball Washington’s (George’s mum) will to her two grandchildren.

    Similar cooking pots existed in other cultures — the bedourie of Australia and potjie of South Africa. In Japan the pot is known as nabemono, “nabe” meaning pot and “mono” meaning things or stuff. Nabe kakomu means “sitting around the pot.” The Japanese believe that sharing nabemono will create warm relations between the diners who eat together from the pot.

    A casserole, from the French word for saucepan, can be anything from a ragout to hotpot, cassoulet, tagine, moussaka, lasagna, shepherd’s pie, gratin, rice timballo, or carbonnade. The general difference between a stew and casserole is a stew is cooked on top of the stove, a casserole baked in the oven.

    For a while casseroles were a popular potluck dish, usually something smothered in canned cream of mushroom soup such as green bean casserole, topped with canned fried onions, and tuna noodle casserole. These dishes remain popular in the Midwest and are called “hotdish.”

    So adopt the Japanese philosophy, make a cozy fall casserole or ragout or chili and create warm relations among family and friends dining together around a shared pot.

Click for Recipes

    The Hampton Seafood Company, which has a lineup of daily soups and lunch specials, is offering free delivery to businesses in East Hampton Village between 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. from Mondays through Fridays. The shop also has two discount programs. A “loyalty card” allows customers who have their cards punched each time they buy something to claim a 15 percent discount after the 10th purchase.

    Teachers, emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and police are being offered another card that entitles them to a 10 percent discount on every purchase.

Celebrating Halloween

    Two Montauk restaurants will close for the season after holding Halloween parties this weekend. At Swallow East, those who come in costume to a party starting on Saturday at 9 will get their first drink on the house. D.J. Mr. Pockets (James Ryan) will play music, and there will be specials on mixed drinks for $5, shots for $4, and $3 for beer. The winner of a costume contest will receive a $100 gift certificate to the restaurant that can be used next year.

    At the Backyard restaurant at Solé East, a Halloween party will start at 8 p.m. on Saturday and feature free bar food, entertainment, and “witches’ grog.” Admission is free, and the inn will offer specially priced rooms that night.

    Rowdy Hall in East Hampton, which stays open all year, will have its 13th annual “Rowdyween” party on Wednesday — Halloween — from 8 p.m. to midnight. A $30 fee at the door will admit those in costumes only, and include a free drink and passed hors d’oeuvres. Drink specials will include $5 draft beers and $5 well drinks, and there will be a D.J. spinning tunes. A total of $500 in prizes will be awarded for the best costumes. Tickets can be purchased in advance for $25 online at eventbrite. com.

The Hideaway

    Montauk’s hidden-away Mexican spot, the Hideaway, which is at Diamond Cove Marina, is still serving throughout the fall. It is open on Friday night beginning at 5, as well as on Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner, beginning at noon.

Specialty Pizzas

    At Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton, the fall brings a menu of wood oven-baked pizzas, offered on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday nights. Choices include a margherita pizza with tomato, basil, and house-made mozzarella, pizza with eggplant, pesto, and arugula, and a “Romano” pizza with tomato, olives, capers, anchovy, and ricotta. Also, a pizza with butternut squash with ricotta and caramelized onions, and one with house-made sausage, fontina cheese, and tomato.

Race Lane

    Race Lane restaurant in East Hampton has a new fall menu. It offers bites at the bar, a nightly prix fixe, and specials on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday nights when pro football games are played, featuring two-for-one bites and cocktail, beer, and wine specials. Race Lane serves nightly except on Tuesday and Wednesday.

    I have always loved Halloween. I love candy, I love being scared, and I love to wear costumes. Growing up in a small community in California, when our family went trick or treating, my brothers and I, all hopped up on sugar, would walk or run door to door and our parents would trail behind in the family station wagon. We knew all of our neighbors, and would end up at the Kuntsles’ house, our Swiss friends who would have an awesome Halloween party with popcorn balls and plenty of games like bobbing for apples.

    Perhaps I lacked imagination at that age, because every year I would wear the same costume. My mother would take the tail off of my favorite stuffed animal, a leopard, and sew it onto my leopard print pajama bottoms, et voila! On November 1, the tail went back on my poor abused toy.

    When we moved to the suburbs of Virginia, my brothers and I got a little more mercenary. We would beg our parents to drive us to the most densely populated subdivisions so we could collect maximum candy for minimal effort. We also firmly believed in the “trick or treat” rule. If you’re not home to hand out Kit Kats and Almond Joys, we will leave toilet paper in your trees or smash your pumpkin. Rotten kids, I know.

    According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend close to $72 per person on costumes, cards, and candy on Halloween; 73 percent will hand out candy, 47 percent will carve a pumpkin, 20 percent will visit a haunted house, and 12 percent will dress up their pets. Approximately 40 percent will wear a costume. Of that 40 percent I imagine the majority will wear either Obama or Romney masks and the rest will be Honey Boo Boo, the child beauty pageant contestant.

    When it comes to food for Halloween parties, this is a great holiday for using food coloring. Make deviled eggs and color the yolks a ghastly green. Make a Mexican seven layer dip and pipe a spider web design with sour cream over the top, plastic spiders optional. String cheese can be cut on the diagonal and topped with sliced almonds for fingernails. Or you could just go the Alfred Hitchcock route and serve an entirely blue meal. Blue is said to be the least appetizing color of all.

    If you want to be really junky, wrap strips of packaged crescent dough around hot dog halves to make mummies. Put crumbled Oreos and gummy worms on top of chocolate pudding to replicate worms in dirt. As for me, I like a good old-fashioned caramel apple.

    When you carve pumpkins for Halloween, don’t forget to save the seeds for toasting. You can also hollow out pumpkins and serve dips or soup in them. The best edible pumpkins are the pale orange squat ones known as “cheese” pumpkins. These also make the best pies.

    When my son was little, Winnie the Pooh was his favorite costume. We would tape up a plastic pumpkin bucket to look like Winnie’s “huny” pot. Now that he is a strapping young man, he leans more toward ghoulish and bloody characters, although this year his costume will be the self-deprecating comedian Louis CK. How a black T-shirt and baggy Dad-jeans constitute a costume I have no idea.

    Every year I try to come up with fresh recipes for pumpkin. This year I’m going to make a Thai-style pumpkin soup and caramel apples from scratch, not from melted Kraft caramels.

    Be safe this Halloween, don’t play any tricks, eat as much candy as you want . . . and then brush your teeth!

Click for recipes

   An interesting offshoot of the well-established craft-beer movement is growing at Rowdy Hall.

   Theo Foscolo, a manager of the East Hampton restaurant, made a batch of root beer for Rowdy Hall’s annual beer dinner in March. The reaction was positive, and Miss Lady Small Batch Root Beer was born.

    This summer, the Miss Lady brand — the namesake, Mr. Foscolo’s dog, also modeled for the label — was sold at the farmers market at Ashawagh Hall in Springs, and can also be found locally at Round Swamp Farm and Old Stone Market (formerly Marty’s), and at Brewtopia in Port Jefferson. It is used to make root beer floats at Rowdy Hall — Mr. Foscolo did the same at the farmers market, using Joe & Liza’s Ice Cream of Sag Harbor in both instances — and, he added, goes well with rum.

    With the summer behind him, Mr. Foscolo can point to modest but encouraging results. He sold more than 600 of the 22-ounce bottles, each sealed with a bottling wax reminiscent of that found on Maker’s Mark bourbon, and is receiving inquiries from, and shipping orders to, points across the country.

    Sarsaparilla, licorice root, and anise are the primary ingredients, said Mr. Foscolo, “and I use honey, brown sugar and raw sugar, and a little bit of molasses. I keep it as healthy as I can. People don’t realize that aspartame, high-fructose corn syrup — people are poisoning themselves every day they open up a soft drink. When people look at the ingredients, they say, ‘Wow, this is simple, you don’t have to sound out the words.’ That’s what people enjoy, especially in an area like this where people are a little more health-conscious. It is soda, but not like Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper. It’s a nice alternative, a good, sweet treat that’s not going to poison you.”

    For those accustomed to mass-produced root beer, Miss Lady is certainly different, characterized by a smoothness lacking in its larger competitors. While certainly sweet, it provides a sharp and welcome contrast to the hyper-sugary soft drinks of larger producers. Children and, especially, parents have taken to it, Mr. Foscolo said.

    “People don’t want to drink bad beer anymore. People are opening their minds more to the craft-brewing process, whether it be soda, which is a completely untapped market. It’s really fun to see people’s reaction to it. It doesn’t taste the way root beer, in their minds, should taste, but this is the way root beer tasted 50 years ago. A lot of older people that come to the markets love it. You can see it in their eyes; it’s taking them back to the days of soda shops in Brooklyn. And the kids love it, it’s something different.”

    Miss Lady root beer is made in five-gallon soda kegs. The process, said Mr. Foscolo, who home-brews beer, is mostly about cleaning. “With any brewing, the majority of it is janitorial work. You don’t want to have any contamination with the product, the bottles, the packaging,” he said. “To brew it takes a half-hour to an hour. You put it in the keg, hook it up to a CO2 tank, and let it force-carbonate for about a week. The bottling and labeling is the hardest part. Many a night I was up until 3 or 4 in the morning the day before the market, getting everything ready for the next day.” Over the summer, Mr. Foscolo brewed about 30 gallons per week.

    He is contemplating more products based on the fruits of his labor. Speaking of fruit, a batch of raspberry soda he made last summer, using raspberries from Wesnofske Farms in Peconic, was a hit. “I’m going to continue to do that, especially with the seasonal fruits,” he said. While the sarsaparilla he uses comes from India, by way of an organic spice company based in Oregon, he is considering use of locally sourced honey for the root beer.

    He hopes to add 12-ounce bottles next summer and sell four-packs of Miss Lady in that more manageable size. But in the meantime, he said, “I’m looking forward to the winter so I can focus on expanding the company. I have a lot of ideas, a lot of things I want to be able to bring to the table next summer. This is really just the tip of the iceberg.”

    A taste of Miss Lady Small Batch Root Beer can be had at Rowdy Hall or by e-mailing Mr. Foscolo at [email protected].