Roasted beets and carrots: colorful,
healthful, tasty. Photo courtesy Love Beets.

We love this dish for the harvest season. It evokes the Halloween and the harvest moon. And root vegetables are good for you as well as pretty. They’re filled with antioxidants, fiber and vitamins.

While we love all of the beautiful varieties of beets we find at farmers markets, packaged, precooked beets are a real time saver.

This recipe is courtesy Love Beets. It can be customized with three different favors: garlic and caraway, orange and maple syrup or capers and parsley.

Preparation time 5 minutes, cooking time 15-20 minutes.

RECIPE: ROAST BEETS & CARROTS THREE WAYS

Ingredients For 4 Servings

Garlic & Caraway Recipe

Orange & Maple Syrup Recipe

 
Capers & Flat Leaf Parsley Recipe

Preparation

Garlic & Caraway Recipe

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. LAY the beets and carrots in a baking dish, sprinkle the garlic and carawayover them and drizzle with olive oil.

3. BAKE for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
 

Orange & Maple Syrup Recipe

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. LAY the beets and carrots in a baking dish. Drizzle the maple syrup and orange juice over them; then sprinkle with orange zest and dot with butter.

3. BAKE for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

1. PREHEAT the oven to 425°F.

2. LAY the beets and carrots in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

3. REMOVE from the oven and stir in the capers and parsley.
 
CARROT TRIVIA
Carrots are native to the Mediterranean. Early Romans ate them wild, then cultivated them.

The original carrots were purple, not orange. Today’s ubiquitous orange carrot was bred in Holland in the late 16th century. You can find heirloom purple carrots and other colors at some farmers markets. A mutant strain of white carrots—the same pale color as parsnips—is also grown.
  

Crystal Head vodka gets our vote for “best packaging.” Photo courtesy Crystal Head.

Today is National Vodka Day, a spirit that comprises up 25% of distilled alcohol sold in America.

Skip the Stolichnaya, the biggest Russian brand, and other Russian imports. We’ve got 10 excellent brands to recommend that are neither made in Russia nor owned by Russian interests.
 
10 EXCELLENT NON-RUSSIAN VODKA BRANDS

Special diet alert: Vodkas distilled from corn or potatoes are gluten free. Crystal Head Vodka is certified kosher.

Absolut Vodka is owned by the French group, Pernod Ricard, and distilled in Sweden. It is made from winter wheat.

Chopin Vodka is a family-owned Polish brand. The original expression was distilled from potatoes; the potato vodka has since been joined by vodkas distilled from rye and wheat, respectively.

Crystal Head Vodka is owned by a Canadian company, Globefill Incorporated, and distilled from corn in Newfoundland. You pay a premium for the crystal skull bottle, but we love it! Here‘s the story behind the skull. The vodka is certified kosher by OU and is gluten-free.

Grey Goose Vodka is produced by Bacardi Corporation, a family-owned spirits company that began in 1862 with rum production in Cuba. The company is now headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Grey Goose is distilled from winter wheat and bottled in France.

Ketel One Vodka is made in Holland. It is jointly owned by the Nolet family of The Netherlands and Diageo, a multinational alcoholic beverages company headquartered in London, England.

Pinnacle Vodka is owned by American distiller Beam Inc., and produced in France.

Skyy Vodka was founded in the U.S. and distilled by SKYY Spirits in San Francisco. The brand is now owned by the Campari Group of Milan, Italy.

Smirnoff Vodka, the world’s largest vodka brand, began in Russia in the 1800s but is now owned by British company Diageo. It is distilled from corn in Ireland, Italy, Scotland and the U.S.

 
Vodka originated in Poland, not Russia.

CHECK OUT THE HISTORY OF VODKA.
  

How do you roll (your apple, that is)? Photo
courtesy Kimberly Reiner | The Sugar
Mommas.

For a family treat or Halloween entertaining, how about a caramel apple bar?

Unlike the crackling-hard red candy apple coating, caramel coating remains pliant and you can press in candies and other garnishes.

Start with this recipe for caramel apples; then pick your toppings.

Also check out our other food bar ideas: breakfast/brunch, lunch/dinner, desserts and drinks/snacks.

Candy & Snack Foods

Look for mini versions of chocolate chips, M&Ms and Reese’s Pieces.

Plus

Nuts

Chop them so they’re easy to roll on.

 
THE PROCESS

1. SET out the plain caramel apples and bowls of toppings with spoons or scoops. Give all participants a soup bowl on a larger dinner plate.

2. SCOOP toppings of choice into the bowl, one-by-one or mixed together.

3. ROLL the apple in the topping(s), pressing hard.

4. TAKE a bite! People can adjust the toppings as they like (something saltier, something crunchier, etc.).

CARAMEL APPLES VS. TOFFEE APPLES: THE DIFFERENCE

For the purpose of candy apples, there’s no difference between “caramel apples,” “taffy apples” and “toffee apples.” The coating is made from melted caramels.

In the world of candy, however, there are distinct differences. Check out the difference between butterscotch, caramel and toffee.