Enjoy Life Foods never stops baking up fun. Just in time for Halloween, they have released a favorite recipe from their cookbook, Cookies for Everyone! and come up with a new cookie recipe from their test kitchen that uses their newly named Enjoy Life cereal. Formerly Perky's Nutty cereal, the new Enjoy Life Crunchy cereals will have the same great, crispy taste, but without the nutty name. Fitting, since they are nut-free cereals!

Also, Enjoy Life is hosting a 2nd Annual Halloween Party on Facebook. From now through November 1, 2009, you can join others on the Enjoy Life Facebook Fan Page in allergy-friendly trick-or-treating and win great prizes! For the opportunity to win, become a Fan of Enjoy Life's on Facebook, send a photo of your child in his or her costume to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , visit the page each day to view the latest party-goers, and tune in on November 3 to see if you won.

As for the promised recipes, I think all of your witches, princesses, and superheroes will gobble these gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, corn-free, egg-free, and vegan cookies up, food allergies or not!  ...

It really is wonderful how many food allergy cookbooks are beginning to pop on the market. When it comes to free-from diets, you can never have enough recipe options, and each book seems to come from a different angle.

Most recently, I was contacted by author Brianna Rose Monson about her new title, Allergy Free for the Family Cookbook. It includes over 100 recipes that are free from 7 of the 8 "top allergens," including milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, fish, and shellfish. In addition, 88 of the recipes are gluten-free ... and I am sure you experienced gluten-free folks could work your magic with specialty flour blends to enjoy several of the remaining recipes too.

We will be doing a full review on the book soon, but ... you may not want to wait around for us. So, I asked Brianna if we could feature a recipe from her book for our viewers. She promptly responded with this wonderfully seasonal recipe that she promises is delicious and fun for the ENTIRE family during the fall pumpkin season ...

The well-loved blog Dinner at Christina's is hosting a birthday giveaway this week, and the winner will receive a copy of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook AND My Sweet Vegan: passionate about dessert. The giveaway is open to entries through Friday, October 30th, with the winner to be announced on the 31st, but the information and recipes in these books will keep on giving through the holidays ...

Recipes like Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cheese-Free Scalloped Potatoes, and a quick Condensed "Cream" of Mushroom Soup (who says you have to live without that green bean casserole or any of your favorite crockpot recipes?) dot Go Dairy Free to make it a year-round gem. While My Sweet Vegan provides all of the sweets you will need to create smiles throughout the season: Soy-Free Coconut Fudge, Pumpkin Pecan Pie, Ginger-Pomegranate Cupcakes, and Fall Harvest Pie.

Head to Dinner at Christina's birthday giveaway for your chance to win!

I could toil in the kitchen for hours on end, laboring to create perfectly cute Halloween eats and treats to dazzle at upcoming parties. But let's face it - though I can create some scrumptious recipes (if I do say so myself), when it comes to artistic ability and creativity, my talent ceased to develop after kindergarten. I believe that was the year of the black cat for me.

Fortunately, there are already dozens of wonderful recipes and fun presentation ideas to make your party special. My job this week is simply to deliver them to you. 

All of the following are dairy-free (see my notes too!), some are vegan, egg-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and/or nut-free ... but whether it is for little ghosts and goblins or the more mature and life-size witches and vampires, there are bound to be some recipes in the selection below that will scare up some fun for this weekend's coming celebrations ...

Both Hannah and Alisa sampled the new Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Kefirs. While the strawberry and vanilla were quite tasty, the original was a bit too sharp for drinking straight up. Using her dessert expertise (she is the author of My Sweet Vegan after all!), Hannah developed a creation that is not only probiotic-friendly, but downright delicious ...

It was a challenge to brainstorm some dessert that would still highlight the unique flavor of the kefir, without being entirely sour itself. Quickly realizing that a baked good would only detract from its bright tartness, off went the oven, and on went the stove. Dreaming up a creamy, tangy concoction, in no time at all, I had exactly what I had been craving all along; Cheesecake. But not just any cheesecake, of course, and not even any vegan cheesecake this time. Not a speck of soy, be it in the form of tofu or faux “cream cheese” enters the picture here, and coconut kefir fills out the bulk of the dessert.