This was the first Halloween where I handed out candy to Trick or Treaters. This is a really conflicted experience for me! I hate buying candy, and I really hate encouraging kids to eat crap when there is so much good food out there. But, I remember being a kid, and shooting beams of disdain from my eyeballs when I had made the trek up someone’s stoop, only to find a bucket of dry Sunmaid raisins awaiting my greedy hands. I suggested to my friends this year that we hand out dates, “nature’s candy,” but that was quickly shot down. So, I bit the bullet and bought all the Hershey’s crap, Kit-Kats, Reese’s and tiny little Baby Ruth bars.

But, for my friends who came over to celebrate Halloween with me, I made real food. — a salad of bitter dandelions greens, chicory and a honey-sherry vinaigrette, Bouillabaisse, and potato salad. Then I forced them to pose for a portrait in my backyard, some with salad in hand. A tiny Halloween rebellion albeit, but it made for a nice little photo-series.