Here is your last opportunity to enjoy one last shot of “El Diablo” a perfect drink for the Halloween Season. Its name translated means “The devil”. Salute!

Ingredients >
4cl Silver Tequila
2cl Creme de Cassis
2cl fresh lime juice
Ginger ale

Preparation > Pour the lime juice into a highball half filled with crushed ice. Add the tequila and the cassis. Top up with the ginger ale. Stir. Add more crushed ice and garnish with a wedge of lime.

The Ghost Dog >

For years a local tavern owner always took his dog to work with him, and soon the patrons became quite smitten with the adorable little pooch. Then one day the dog up and died, and the heartbroken patrons decided the bar needed some sort of memorial to the dog.

Then came the answer: Remove the corpse’s tail and hang it above the bar for all to see, in tribute to the pup’s perpetually wagging tail.

Which was all fine, until the dog ascended up to Dog Heaven and was greeted at the gate by the canine version of a saint…who wouldn’t admit a dog that obviously was missing an appendage.

Barred from heaven by the absence of a tail, the dog was allowed to return to Earth to retrieve it.

It was 4 or 5 a.m., long past closing time for the bar, when the dog’s ghost pawed at the tavern door, awakening the sleeping bartender inside.

The bartender was overjoyed to see the apparition, and the dog explained his predicament: “Can I please have my tail back?”

Sadly, the answer was no.

When the dog protested, the bartender shook his head and explained: “No way. Under terms of my liquor license, I’m not allowed to retail spirits after hours!”

Vampires in a bar >

So these vampires walk into a bar. And the waitress comes to their table to take their order.

“What would you like?” she asks the first vampire. “Oh, I vould like some blood,” he says.”

Turning to the second vampire, she asks for his order. “I vould like some blood,” he also says.

Finally the waitress asks the third vampire for his order.

“Oh, I vould like some plasma.”

So the waitress tallies up the order, taps her pencil on her pad, and sums up: “OK, so, that’s two bloods and a blood lite?”

Picture This >

The newspaper photographer was scouting out the alleged haunted houses in town, looking to capture a real ghost on film for the October 31 paper.

In one creepy old mansion, a ghost appeared. The photographer explained what he was doing and pleaded that the ghost stay visible while he took the picture. The ghost kindly obliged, and the photographer set up all his equipment and snapped the picture.

Racing back to the newspaper darkroom, he was crestfallen to find all his pictures turned out so underexposed there was nothing visible on the prints.

Which was just another reminder that the spirit is willing but the flash is weak.

A Ghostly Tale > 

The longtime waiter was mourned by his customers after he passed away. So beloved, in fact, that several patrons went to a seance to try to contact him.

They all held hands in the dark around the table as the medium called out: “Snark Withers! I summon the spirit of Snark Withers!”

Silence.

“Snark Withers!” the medium called out again. “I summon the spirit of Snark Withers!”

Once again, silence. The people around the table grew restless.

Sensing a problem, the medium bellowed, “I command the spirit of Snark Withers to come forward!”

And sure enough, a ghostly apparition appeared floating above the table, and all recognized the image of their lost friend.

“Great to see you!” said one of the patrons. “But why did it take so long for you to come?”

Turning up his nose in disgust, the ghost replied, “This isn’t my table!”

Halloween has always been a tough holiday for health-conscious parents. Sure, it’s only one day a year, but the leftover treats you don’t hand out and the candy your kids bring home is likely to hang around the house for weeks. Here’s some advice.

Think small. Handing out full-size candy bars will make you the hero of the block with kids, but not parents. Offer mini-bars and snack-size treats. Tufts nutritionist Christina Economos likes snack-size pretzels, raisins, dried fruit and Chex-mix because they can be used for school snacks and decrease the overall calorie load in the trick-or-treat bag. Others hand out mini-sized kid favorites like peanut butter cups and candy bars, but parse them out one at a time rather than by the handful. “Does anyone believe that kids really like apples and other ‘healthy’ stuff on Halloween?’’ asked Tufts nutritionist Susan B. Roberts.

Choose less-indulgent candies. Chocolate covered raisins still count as candy, but they are at least packed with fiber and other healthful nutrients. Peppermint Patties are low in fat.

Try organic chocolate. Several studies show real chocolate has health benefits, but most commercial candy bars are so highly processed many of the healthy flavonoids are lost. Pediatrician Dr. Alan Greene gives out small organic dark chocolate squares from Trader Joe’s and other sources. An added bonus during cold and flu season, dark chocolate may help treat coughs, according to one study. And if you want to hand out a social studies lesson with your candy, give Fair Trade chocolates, which you can often find at health food stores or on the Web.

Don’t rule out lollipops. New York University nutritionist Lisa Young notes that even though they’re still all sugar, candies like lollipops that take longer to eat are a good idea because they help kids eat less overall.

Skip the candy. This doesn’t mean turning off the lights and refusing to answer the door. Instead of candy, hand out stickers, tattoos and other non-candy items. One year I gave mini Play-Doh containers. This year, I’m giving glow-necklaces. Non-candy treats are a lot more expensive, but to me it’s worth the extra cost to help lighten the Halloween calorie load.

Finally, some simple strategies can keep kids from indulging for weeks on leftover Halloween candy. Sift through the Halloween haul with your kids and get rid of candies that aren’t their favorites. Dr. Roberts says that when her daughter was young, she managed to dispose of about half the candy her child collected before they got home. Older kids add their stash to a community bowl for the family. 

Related Links >
http://www.divinechocolateusa.com/buy

http://www.clevelandclinic.org/heartcenter/pub/guide/prevention/nutrition/chocolate.htm

http://www.drgreene.com/21_1880.html

SPIDER FAMILY > Makes 12 big and 36 small

12 chocolate cream filled biscuits
36 mini chocolate cream filled biscuits
1 cup crisp chow mein noodles
1 cup chocolate chips
1 tsp solid shortening/spry
1/3 cup smarties

* Carefully insert the chow mein noodles into the cream centre of the biscuits to make legs. Melt the chocolate chips and solid shortening in the microwave oven on 50% power for 2-3 minutes; stir until smooth.
* Place the big and small spider on a wire rack and spoon the melted chocolate over them. Use a knife to spread the chocolate and separate the legs if necessary. Place two smarties on the spiders to form eyes. Refrigerate for 20-30 minutes until firm.